CNN Praises Ted Nugent for His 'Deep Connection With The Facts' on Gun Violence
This Sunday we had Chris Wallace actually calling out wingnut and chickenhawk draft dodger Ted Nugent for some of his hackery on Fox News Sunday. CNN apparently felt the need to lower the bar with this "reporting," and I use that term lightly from their correspondent Deborah Feyerick and host Erin Burnett, who highlighted her interview with Nugent this past Friday and then followed on her show Monday night.
I guess these two decided their network needed some "fair and balanced" reporting to counter that of one of the fellow hosts on there, Piers Morgan, who had Nugent on Monday evening as well and wasn't quite as polite to him as Feyerick was in her fawning interview to put it mildly.
I'm no fan of Morgan and wonder if his part in the phone hacking at his former job might ever catch up to him, but some of his interviews on gun control have been at least informative and interesting if not at times horrifying, like the one with Alex Jones, which was like a bad car wreck you just can't stop watching
Here's more from Media Matters on the preview offered by CNN of the Nugent interview: CNN Praises Gun Extremist Ted Nugent's "Deep Connection With The Facts":
Previewing her upcoming special, CNN reporter Deb Feyerick praised NRA board member Ted Nugent for his "deep connection with the facts" on gun violence. But Nugent's radical views on gun ownership and outrageous and offensive comments about President Obama and prominent Democrats demonstrate that he is not a credible source for information on guns. [...]
But despite Feyerick's repeated praise, Nugent is an extremist on the subjects of both guns and government. Nugent has espoused numerous outrageous and offensive comments about gun violence and prominent Democratic politicians.
On the subject of gun violence, Nugent compared gun owners to Rosa Parks, claiming "there will come a time when the gun owners of America, the law-abiding gun owners of America, will be the Rosa Parks and we will sit down on the front seat of the bus, case closed." Nugent's comments were heavily criticized by civil rights leaders. In his Washington Times column, Nugent wrote that the "embarrassing, politically correct culture" of the U.S. that "mocks traditional social values" contributed to the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut.
Following the 2010 mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona, that killed six people and left then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords with critical injuries, Nugent advised conservatives to avoid calls for more civil discourse and "turn up the rhetoric." Nugent has also called on anyone who uses the phrase "gun control" to be jailed.
Nugent has also espoused radical and offensive comments about public figures. He recently equated the decision to have Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder lead gun violence prevention efforts to asking serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer for child-rearing advice. Nugent also called on viewers of a radio show he appeared on to arrest Holder and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
We've got our own long list on Nugent and the crap that's come out of his mouth at C&L as well. Why anyone at CNN felt the need to prop this guy up as part of the debate over gun control in the United States is beyond me. CNN looks like they're doing their best to play both sides of the ratings game on this issue. I'm not sure who they think they're going to appeal to in the long run by doing this.
Full transcript below the fold.
