Posts Tagged ‘Fox News Channel’

I shared with you earlier an email exchange between myself and NBC 26 reporter Kristoffer Engebretson (Kris Engebretson, the new Joe Friday of Green Bay: ‘Just the facts, ma’am’). I can’t believe this guy continues to try and debate this with me!

Here’s his latest installment in an increasingly more ludicrous conversation (note how he loses his professional cool and starts getting vindictive):

Do your research and check with the organizers, it is not a listening session or a debate, it is a rally. People on the left have been holding these same type of rallies. Your angle on this event is not a story.

If this was a listening session or a debate, it might be a story, but I still wouldn’t think it would qualify. There is nothing wrong with either side telling supporters to go out and show your support for any event. However, it was a story nationally, when the networks discovered information from groups telling supporters to disrupt the meetings.
That was a story.

And why don’t you ask Fox news why they cancelled their interview with you. I’m sure you would love that producers response.

Kristoffer Engebretson
NBC 26 Reporter

lol! I almost feel like a bully on the playground; this man is clearly not equipped to debate on any intellectual level. My response:

Kristoffer,

I am not a reporter, I am a private citizen. Researching stories is not my job, it’s yours; but we all know from your history of investigating that no research is required to back up your angle on a story; if a google search and a screen shot are evidence enough, the Organizing for America email should be as well. I have no angle on this event; all I have is what Organizing for America has told me in their email blast. Again (and this time I’ve highlighted the key terms enforcing my impression, since those points seem to be eluding your sharp journalistic instincts): ” He’ll be talking to constituents and gathering feedback on the need for reform. Whether you ask a question or show your support with a sign, attending this event is a powerful way to show where you stand and thank those in Congress who are fighting for reform.”

And, again, I agree with you that this is not a story, anymore than the story on me was. I just figured that if you were able to turn my story into a breathless expose, you’d have plenty of material to work with here.

Feel free to investigate the Fox news story; I’d love to see them cover this baby from beginning to end. I doubt you’d receive the same accolades from them that you received from Rachel Maddow. Please let us all know what you find out.

Heather Blish
Just a Mom From Down the Street

Let’s see if he can resist the temptation to further expose himself as the biased hack that he is.

Update: he couldn’t resist. Here’s Engebretson’s last (?) stand:

Again, feel free to contact the Fox News producer to find out why they cancelled their plans to put you on camera.

Kristoffer Engebretson
NBC 26 Reporter

My response?

That’s all you got left? Okay, I’m officially bored with this conversation.

May I suggest that instead of spending your morning engaging in a debate with a housewife about whether a story qualifies as a story, you may want to get out there and find out why Congressman Kagen’s office is still refusing to confirm that he will be at this event today, even though the email I received confirms that he will. Now that sounds like a story. Here, I’ll even throw you a bone: here’s some audio of Kagen completely dodging the question during an interview with a reporter on Monday: http://partyofknow.org/2009/08/24/answer-the-question-dude/

That’s a good start for you. Start investigating. Get some sunshine. It’s a beautiful day!

flag@whitehouse.gov delivery status notification

The Politico is reporting that the White House has disabled flag@whitehouse.com:

“Following a furor over how the data would be used, the White House has shut down an electronic tip box — flag@whitehouse.gov — that was set up to receive information on “fishy” claims about President Barack Obama’s health plan.

E-mails to that address now bounce back with the message: “The email address you just sent a message to is no longer in service. We are now accepting your feedback about health insurance reform via: http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck.” ” Source: White House disables e-tip box – Mike Allen – POLITICO.com

When the White House first launched this email address 2 weeks ago and began urging the American people to report on each other, it launched an open and widespread email rebellion akin to the Boston Tea Party. American citizens responded by spamming the address, “self-reporting” (writing letters to White House reporting themselves as guilty of spreading “fishy” emails or videos or of standing in opposition to Obamacare), and most amusingly, sending fish or fishing-related articles to the White House email address.

The email address was plagued by controversy from the very beginning, raising real privacy and Constitutional concerns. As ABC reported on August 5th:

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is sending a letter to the White House today asking the president to “cease this program immediately” — or to explain how Americans’ privacy will be protected if e-mails are forwarded to the White House as requested.

“I am not aware of any precedent for a President asking American citizens to report their fellow citizens to the White House for pure political speech that is deemed ‘fishy’ or otherwise inimical to the White House’s political interests,” Cornyn writes” Source: GOP Senator: White House Encroaching on First Amendment – Rick Klein – ABCNews.com

It also created some serious legal issues:

“The White House is in bit of a conundrum because of this privacy statute that prohibits the White House from collecting data and storing it on people who disagree with it,” Judge Andrew Napolitano, a FOX News analyst, said Friday.

“There’s also a statute that requires the White House to retain all communications that it receives. It can’t try to rewrite history by pretending it didn’t receive anything,” he said.

“If the White House deletes anything, it violates one statute. If the White House collects data on the free speech, it violates another statute.” Source: White House Move to Collect ‘Fishy’ Info May Be Illegal, Critics Say – FoxNews.com

The White House has failed repeatedly to answer questions about what it intended to do with the information it received.

What’s stunning to me is the way that conservative bloggers have completely ignored this story [and I'll have more on that topic later]. Here, for the first time in print, is Heather Blish’s perspective on the media whirlwind around her confrontation last week with Congressman Kagen…

“In many ways, this has been the worst week of my life.

It all began last Thursday. I logged in to Facebook and saw that a friend of mine planned to attend a listening session held by my congressman just a few blocks from my home. Although I’d been aware that Congressman Kagen had been holding sessions across the district all week, I’d had no idea that he was going to be holding one in my home town. I struggled with the decision to attend the meeting and lose several hours of valuable time, but there was never really a choice. I’ve always been politically active, I had many legitimate concerns about the healthcare proposal being debated, and I knew that if I didn’t attend this meeting, I would have no right to complain if the bill passed into law. Read the rest of this entry »