Media, Politics

“Can We Try To Kill This?” The McAuliffe Campaign Responds to Turley Column With Bizarre Question
(MSNBC/via YouTube)

 Yesterday I wrote about reports that Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe’s campaign retained the services of former Clinton counsel Marc Elias. The hiring was astonishing not only because of Elias’ controversial record but a still ongoing special counsel investigation touching on his role in the last election. Elias has challenged past elections and I raised the question of whether he might be part of post-election challenges. When Fox News asked the McAuliffe campaign, the response was . . . well . . . a killer.

The campaign responded to Fox reporter Tyler O’Neil with an email sent by McAuliffe spokesperson Christina Freundlich asking “can we try to kill this.”  She later sent out an email which seemed to claim success in spiking the story without having to respond to questions about Elias’ record.

On its face, it seemed like the McAuliffe campaign was asking Fox to kill the story in a Twitteresque fashion. After all, many in the media killed the Hunter Biden laptop story before the election.  Indeed, even journalism deans have called on reporters to kill stories rather than respond to the merits.

If that seems an unlikely request to Fox News, there is the alternative possibility that Freundlich meant the response to go to media allies or campaign staff to see if they could somehow kill the story. If so, it was a chilling first response to the column. It had that Shakespearean Dick the Butcher feel to it: the first thing we do is kill all the lawyer stories.

The greater controversy however remains the hiring of Elias for any election purpose when a special prosecutor is still in the field presumably looking, among other things, at Elias’ role in the 2020 election. (Elias is not the sole or primary focus of the investigation, which is looking at origins of the Russian conspiracy theories before the last election).

McAuliffe does not appear disturbed by Elias’ highly controversial career or his possible exposure in the Durham investigation. Elias’ former law partner at Perkins Coie was just indicted by Durham. Even if he is not indicted like his former partner, Elias is likely to be featured in any report.

I do not disparage any campaign for lawyering up in what could be a close election and there are a host of pre-election and post-election matters for counsel to address. This is particularly true in the state with recent changes in voting rules. However, there remains the question of why McAuliffe would hire Elias in the midst of the special counsel investigation. That is putting aside the allegations of reporters that Elias and the Clinton campaign lied to them to conceal the funding of the Steele dossier before the last election.

While Elias has denounced Republicans challenging elections, he has unsuccessfully challenged elections where the Republicans prevailed.  He was previously sanctioned by a court in a case challenging a Texas voting law.

After Freundlich asked Fox “Can we try to kill this,” Fox said that she sent an email stating “To dispute the challenges of the election.” Fox described it as “ostensibly responding to an email that did not go through to Fox News.” (For the record, I appear as a Fox contributor).

Freundlich then sent out an equally cryptic tweet saying “I think it’s clear based on this story that we did in fact…kill the story.”  That would suggest that she was asking Fox (and others) to simply kill the story.

It is not clear if Freundlich is saying that she was able to get most of the media to kill the story even while openly calling for (and then celebrating) that blackout. There are some newspapers like the New York Post which ran the story but it is not clear if the Washington Post or other media will do so.  It is doubtful that such media would show the same restraint if a sanctioned Trump lawyer was hired by Youngkin to help manage election issues or challenges.

Elias has enjoyed such protection from inquiry in the past. One of the most glaring examples occurring recently on CNN when its media correspondent Brian Stelter asked Elias “what should we be doing differently?” in covering elections. Stelter accepted Elias’ portrayal of his past work as “pro-democracy” and never asked him about objections from other reporters that he and the campaign lied about the Steele Dossier before the presidential election. Elias called on the media to report with a “pro-democracy slant.”  It is an open call for bias and just assumes that Elias’ work is pro-democracy and, by extension, those who oppose his work are anti-democracy.

 

 

 

355 thoughts on ““Can We Try To Kill This?” The McAuliffe Campaign Responds to Turley Column With Bizarre Question”

  1. Since Democrats like McAuliffe and the MSM lack any real solutions to our crumbling society, lies are their tried and true strategy to steal elections:

    “Critical race theory remains big topic in Virginia gubernatorial race”

    Although McAuliffe has said there is no critical race theory in the state’s education system, the Virginia Department of Education’s Office of Equity and Community Engagement lists several books that have been used to develop their work, including “Foundations of Critical Race Theory in Education” by Edward Taylor and David Gillborn and Gloria Ladson-Billings….

    Loudoun County Public Schools spent $3,750 last year on Equity Leadership Coaching focused on critical race theory development, according to an invoice unearthed by the county-based parent group Fight For Schools. In February, about 50 Virginia Beach teachers participated in a training that encouraged all people to admit they are racist. Fairfax County contracted with the New York City Leadership Academy to create an anti-bias community engagement policy that asked parents whether the school should teach students how to challenge power and privilege in society.

    https://www.thecentersquare.com/virginia/critical-race-theory-remains-big-topic-in-virginia-gubernatorial-race/article_a266f7da-3826-11ec-9b4a-c31b9a99f5af.html

    1. Turley is and has been using rage to keep his core cult happy. Turley is and has been part of the right-wing bubble machine that works it’s willfully ignorant cult happy.

      1. Why do you want to continuously portray yourself as foolish? Are you unable to put thought into the things you say?

      2. “Turley is and has been using rage to keep his core cult happy. Turley is and has been part of the right-wing bubble machine that works it’s willfully ignorant cult happy.”
        ************************

        We’re happy to count you among us, Fishy, since we can’t seem to get you out the door with a 50 foot lever and 25 pounds of butter.

    2. Are you saying you also agree with killing the story? Of course you are, You want to kill history because history proves both you, many Democrats and lefties wish to deny the truth that is in plain sight.

  4. The truth is that the MSM is the outsourced Ministry of Propaganda for the Biden Administration. It is 1937 in America AND in Europe where wokeness is a like a spreading cancer. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

  5. I don’t know which is more funny, their hiring a lawyer who contributed to the Russia Hoax to meddle in the 2016 election and destabilize Trump’s presidency, that the lawyer challenges election results while claiming it’s subverting elections for Republicans to challenge results, or their mistakenly emailing Fox News to kill the story, thinking it was one of their propaganda partners.

    Vote Youngkin.

    We’ve already seen what Democrat hegemony brings.

    Massive riots, arson, and looting in Blue cities.
    “autonomous zones”
    burning down a police precinct
    racist CRT taught in classrooms, with CRT materials given to teachers, while the DOE and school boards gaslight us that it doesn’t exist
    very young boys and girls taught that gender is indefinable, with nothing to do with biology. Woman is just a state of mind
    boys and men allowed access to women’s changing rooms with predictable results (see Loudoun where boy in skirt raped and sodomized girl, see registered sex offender exposing himself at Wi spa)
    Anti free speech
    Cancel culture
    destruction of energy independence and reliance upon the Middle East
    Ending pipeline to Canada while approving Russia’s pipeline
    Skyrocketing gas prices, and the price of everything that is shipped
    CA Banning registration of vehicles over 14,001 pounds that are not CARB compliant, with ensuing trucking shortages and supply backups
    CA, infamous for an unstable power grid and blackouts, banning small gas powered motors – lawnmowers, weed whackers, generators…decimating landscaping businesses
    CA banning outdoor dining of restaurants trying to survive while allowing big donor Hollywood to have “craft services”, i.e. catering, outdoors
    Proposed $450,000 payments to illegal aliens who paid violent cartels to get smuggled, were deported and never contacted the government to get their kids (if you die in military combat your kin get $400,000)
    Defining police leading to skyrocketing crime, including rape and murder
    Abandoning our people in Afghanistan to be raped and murdered
    Vaccine mandates causing massive losses in the workforce of police, fire, healthcare workers, airline pilots, and many other essential industries, which results in less availability of policing, slower response times to fire and medical emergencies, and less nurses in the ER, ICU, labor and delivery, oncology, etc. Again, as with other Democrat polices, this leads to MORE DEATH.
    Massive inflation
    Supply shortages
    Higher costs of everything on shelves due to higher fuel costs, loss of transportation vehicles, and the higher cost of doing business

    Higher prices, higher crime…One would think that if policies led to significantly more murders that people would figure out not to vote for those policies, but apparently, voters are pretty gullible.

    I’m at an utter loss as to how Democrats have managed to dissociate themselves from the devastating outcome of their polices.

    A vote for more control for Democrats equals more death and poverty.

    Unless you want more death and poverty, vote Libertarian or Republican. Too many moderate Democrats go along with the far Left agenda against their better judgement.

    1. Democrats (and the liberal press) in Virginia lie non-stop because it comes naturally. To wit:

      Youngkin has vowed to close schools to a subject never taught in Virginia, critical race theory, but its mere mention — largely by right-wing media that power the Youngkin echo machine — has conservative parents fuming that woke-ism is sinking public education, especially in Democratic-trending suburbs whose schools are magnets for newcomers.
      Richmond Times-Dispatch Oct 27, 2021

      Facts:

      note the recommended texts by Virginia Dept of Education, including Ibram Kendi’s infamous, racist book:

      Virginia Department of Education
      What We Are Reading

      ….Below are the resources the Office of Equity and Community Engagement references in the development of our work, as well as texts we recommend:

      Walking the Equity Talk: A Guide for Culturally Courageous Leadership in School Communities by John Roert Browne II
      Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond
      The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children by Gloria Ladson-Billings
      Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice (third edition) by Geneva Gay
      Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique W. Morris
      We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom by Bettina Love
      How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

      https://www.virginiaisforlearners.virginia.gov/what-we-are-reading/

      Democrats win rig elections by lying with the Liberal media being an extension of the DNC talking points.

      This is not what the Founding Fathers intended when they created the greatest nation the world has known for the past 250 years. Americans are fighting mad. The Virginia Democrats and liberal media like the Richmond Times Dispatch hate it. Good. Recall Mason Weems’s book Life of George Washington:

      “Don’t throw away a single shot, my brave fellows, …..don’t throw away a single shot, but take good aim; nor touch a trigger, till you can see the whites of their eyes.”

      “Don’t tread on me” applies.

    2. Karen says

      “ Unless you want more death and poverty, vote Libertarian or Republican.”

      More Trumpist grievance and hysterics. When will they EVER stop lying?

      Never! Vote Democratic!

      1. Biden raised gas prices, increased the threat of war, caused inflation, destroyed the southern border, increased hate etc.

        Trump increased the paycheck to those with the lowest income. Kept inflation in check, kept gas prices down and made us energy independent, permitted fracking so American industries didn’t leave America to China which is causing an environmental disaster, etc.

        This guy Jeff is nuts. Just look at the comparison.i

  6. Idiots like Jeff, Natacha and Anonymous are intentionally trying to ruin or poison the comments section as a form of the heckler’s veto. Being a reasonable follower of politics I actually read liberal sites and I would like to point out that morons commenting over and over again can ruin a comments section and as Exhibit “A” I will give you The Hill. The Hill is a very liberal site but they will “allow” the occasional non-liberal to publish on their site, Professor Turley for example. However whenever you read anything to the right of Lenin the comments sections explodes in disgust. Comment after comment calling names, making ridiculous charges, nonsense liberal idiocy etc etc and it happens over and over again. This is what Jeff and Anonymous want to do here, they want to poison the section so much that normal folks that just want to comment on the issue at hand give up in disgust. They are the Hecklers that yell down a speaker as their form of “freedom of speech”.

    Jeff and Anonymous, you have no friends, you never had a date, your cats are smelly and it’s time you forgot about not going to your prom. Go away quietly and try to live as normal a life as you weirdos can possibly live.

    1. hullbobby:

      Not worth getting riled up about these trolls.

      Jeff is just a troll with no principles; he is just amusing himself with the same boring shtick. Natacha is a loon and not worth responding to. Anonymous is just plain pathetic – imagine a grown man sitting by his computer, hour after hour, hitting the refresh button hoping that somebody, anybody responded to him.

      1. So true. My late mamma had a saying that is apropos to the trolls who have no life and have no ability to reason: they are more to be pitied than scorned.

    2. HullBobby,
      I do not read any of the Anonymous posts, as I cannot keep track of who is who.
      As for the others, I just dont read or comment on them.
      Good point about Professor Turley that he also is a contributor to The Hill and to include USA Today.
      I for one am not going to forever remember the Professor as Fox news, but as a man who dared to stand up for the 1stA and against all those who would oppose the 1stA.
      I agree with your “Hecklers” assessment. The good Professor allows them to post as he is a man of integrity, and true believer in the 1stA.
      The rest of us are afforded the right to just not read or comment to their posts.
      Win-win in my opinion.

      1. FArmer, your comment is spot on. From now on I will ignore all “Anonymous” comments, Jeff, Natacha and a few others. It is people like you, Monument, S Meyer and Karen S that make the comments section fun and worth reading. Guys like Anonymous who comments a thousand times a day and guys like Jeff who is obviously disturbed need to be ignored and that is what I will do going forward. THANKS!

    3. Excellent thoughts and true.

      Truth doesn’t always prevail and the left knows that, so the left uses lies and deceitfulness knowledgable that they are lying. Their goal is to win any way they can because good people have a tendency to forgive and forget until it is too late.

    4. Jeff and Anonymous, you have no friends, you never had a date, your cats are smelly and it’s time you forgot about not going to your prom.

      The prom quip is outstanding. Great imagery.

      But what do smelly cats have to do with their comportment? I dont get it

      1. Estovir asks:

        “The prom quip is outstanding. Great imagery.

        But what do smelly cats have to do with their comportment? I dont get it.”

        Pray on it….you’ll get it.

  7. These pundits are drunk with their own power. The fact liberal media is COLLUDING to MANIPULATE our Government and has done so to control our Election Process is sickening. Woke bs and virtue signaling are now a “thing.” Wow… thanks China Puppet Biden and his crack-smoking offspring! Lots of love for your help with our Economy! 🥴

  8. They don’t care. They are emboldened by the press propaganda arm. I have dozens of liberal friends who still believe the Russia Trump story.

  9. “JT will forever be known and remembered as “Jonathan “Fox News” Turley . . .”

    Tom makes an argument.

    Jack responds: “Tom is paid by the devil. He’s employed by the devil’s disciples.”

    Even if that’s true, it’s irrelevant to the validity of Tom’s argument. It’s an ad hominem reply. It’s a smear campaign.

    A person who respects their ability to think logically, tries to avoid such (obvious) fallacies. What, then, does it say about those who continuously indulge such fallacies?

    1. Very good Sam
      It is clear simple, and easily understood. Unfortunately, the target of your observation, is not near intellectual enough to grasp your simple truth.

  10. Boy did I screw up.

    Gave that troll exactly what he wanted.
    OK. I’ve learned my leason, Never try to reason with a lying troll.

    1. Now get Karen to do likewise. She and a few others keep feeding the trolls. Ignoring them is their worst fear. The trolls are particularly active spewing their usual ad hominems with more ferocity for this possible reason:

      “Biden’s national job approval rating is almost exactly where Obama’s was in 2013 when McAuliffe won with 47.8 percent of the vote. The Republican candidate Ken Cuccinelli lost to McAuliffe in 2013 by 2.3 points, while a libertarian candidate siphoned off 6.5 percent of the vote statewide. In 2021, there isn’t a libertarian candidate running in Virginia.”

      https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/fox-poll-youngkin-takes-the-lead-in-virginia/

      McAuliffe and Biden/Democrats have lost any power of persuasion on most Americans. It took the parents to open the eyes of Americans. Bravo for parents

    2. They are pretty easily identifiable on this comment section if you read for awhile. I just scroll past them at this point. I know some of them are paid trolls, and the rest – it’s a waste of time to try to argue with a barking dog.

  11. Just looked through the Metro section of today’s print Washington Post, and saw nothing about this story. Looks like the story has been killed there.

  12. “However, there remains the question of why McAuliffe would hire Elias in the midst of the special counsel investigation. That is putting aside the allegations of reporters that Elias and the Clinton campaign lied to them to conceal the funding of the Steele dossier before the last election.”
    **********************************
    Oh that’s an easy one: birds of a feather flock together or as an old physics professor of mine once said: “opposites don’t attract; like particles do!”

  13. The farther one moves away from the truth the closer one gets to perdition. Let’s hope its a very fast trip for McAwful and his merry band of dunces.

    1. Hear, hear! Perdition indeed!
      _______________________

      “You are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Twilight Zone!”

      – Rod Serling
      __________

      Next stop, Perdition…for the communists (liberals, progressives, socialist, democrats, RINOs).

      The sin in America is disassociation from the “manifest tenor” of the Constitution, which is the bailiwick of the communists (liberals, progressives, socialists, democrats, RINOs).

  14. It is not clear if Freundlich is saying that she was able to get most of the media to kill the story even while openly calling for (and then celebrating) that blackout.

    Freundlich is a graduate of GW and a “communications professional”.

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/christina-freundlich-4b70711a

    Christina Freundlich
    Political Communications Professional
    Strategic communications professional with a decade of experience working on high-profile electoral campaigns and initiatives. Significant experience in crisis communications, principal management, media relations and managing teams with diverse backgrounds. Served as spokesperson for a wide range of policies and initiatives, specializing in creative approaches and tactics to drive media narratives. Effectively manages multiple projects under tight deadlines while remaining focused on long-term outcomes.

    Education
    The George Washington University
    Bachelor of ArtsPolitical Communication

    —-

    Not even Shakespeare could write a tragedy so full of comical screwups. McAwful is doomed, a modern day Macbeth: downfall due to hubris. Cue the witches.

  15. By hiring the ????ELIAS???? and associates it automatically raises the RED FLAG McAuliffe is expecting a very tough election and strong possibility of losing so hire Elias to set challenges and try to overturn the election. McAuliffe really should look in the mirror for the main reason he might lose, its his policies, anti parent school policies, his ????? history, Biden’s failed left wing radical socialist policies and etc. But, his positions on Parents rights and radical left school board policies are driving Independents, Dems to come out for Youngkin.

    Spiking a story by the main street media is so common to protect the radical left/Biden and etc.

    CNN/MSNBC are they in the News Biz? No they are paid TV for the DEN’s and Radical Left

  16. The dims are so corrupt. They seem to believe the might makes right theory. If they can stifle the truth, they don’t have to tell more lies. #TDS is alive and sick.

  17. JT will forever be known and remembered as “Jonathan “Fox News” Turley, if that is any satisfaction to him.

    Just the other day he was paraded out to appear on a Fox show hosted by the execrable Jesse Watters. In so doing, Turley further sullied his professional reputation. I am beginning to lose all my respect for him.

    I hope Fox is paying Turley a princely sum to endure the humiliation of legitimizing the fanatically Trumpist Watters. By the uncomfortable look on his face, it certainly appeared that Turley recognized that his acting as a “straight man” for Jesse was a new low for him. What’s after Fox? Newsmax?

    1. Discuss the issue which is McAuliffe hiring a guy that denies election integrity in the middle of his campaign claiming his opponent impunes election results.

      Jeff, you really are a lightweight and a hater so why not visit sites you support?

      1. HullBobby,

        Like Turley, I have a job to do. And my efforts are better served confronting you lying Trumpists in the trenches.

        I intend to remain here to enjoy watching you Trumpists abandoning this site in disgust when Turley refuses to call the criminal prosecutions of Trump’s associates and lawyers “witch hunts.”

        Turley rejects Trumpism. Notice that he has NEVER condemned Liz Cheney like every other Trumpist. Why? Because he agrees with her!

        1. Unlike you stalinist progressives, we will still read Turley, Dershowitz, Tyler Cowan and others who while not traditional conservatives and who did not like Trump at all are intellectually honest and thoughtful. Most importantly they are stalwart defenders of Free Speech, an anathema to progressives. We also read the WSJ which has almost a visceral dislike of Trump. But single minded intolerant progressives like you follow the lefitsit mantra like lemmings going over a cliff. Or maybe a better example would be Maoists who dehumanize and destroy all in their path to total power.

        2. …I have a job to do… — JeffSilberman

          We’ve noticed. The only controversy is over who signs your paychecks…

          1. Well played

            Alas, many commenters who once gave the impression of being trolls for hire by ActBlue / George Soros funded firms, are not that skilled. They’re just nucking futs: JeffSilberman has threatened commenters earning a warning from the moderator, Natacha stalks Karen, Anonymous stalks me, Paint Chips goes by, at last count, a dozen sock puppets and has all but 20 words to his vocabulary, and one truly crazed troll who uses every expletive in the book against the host.

            Interesting times!

          2. I’m independently wealthy if you really must know. I consider it my civic duty to pushback against Trumpist liars. I’m serving my country the best way I know how.

            1. Your notion of civic duty is to be uncivil and intolerant. I am sure Goebel’s and Beria also thought they were serving their country as best they could

              1. Alana,

                Are you insinuating that I am as evil as a Nazi henchman and a Soviet butcher?

                Bad as all that? I had no idea…. Wow…

                1. If you were a non-Jewish German under Hitler, I think you would have fit in quite well with those folk.

            2. “I’m serving my country the best way I know how.”

              You could do it better by becoming fertilizer. I’m not advocating for your demise, only telling you how low your persona actually is.

          3. Spanky asks:

            “who signs your paychecks…” to work here.

            Turley. I’m paid to play Devil’s Advocate. Somebody has to do it; otherwise, this blog will have no confrontations, no stimulation, no exasperation! All of which serves to keep contributors engaged! Hasn’t Facebook’s algorithms proven that controversy and grievance sells?

            You don’t have to thank me; I’m just doing my job. Your attacks on me are thanks enough for a job well done!

        3. Jeff, i’m glad you finally confessed to this is a job for you. I hope you’re being well paid for it because majority of us here find you to be an obnoxious, stupid, and unconvincing twit.
          The difference between you and Professor Turley is that he calls balls and strikes and generally does it fairly. You’re just constantly throwing pitches that you hope will take off the batter’s head.

          1. Sailor,

            I love my work. I was being facetious about being paid. I simply said it to get a reaction from you Trumpists. It worked. I often jest to lighten the mood around here.

            I hope to be less obnoxious, less stupid and more convincing. I’m always trying to improve the control of my rhetorical pitches. I’m still a bit of a rookie here. Give me a little more time to up my game.

        4. JeffSilberman — You have a “job” to do? Other than being obnoxious and predictable, what possible “job” could you have on this thread. I bet it never occurred to you, since you seem to think in “either-or” terms, that many on this thread don’t neatly fit into the ideological boxes you are assigning. One can enjoy reading Turley for what he writes, without being a “Trumpist.” We aren’t all constrained by political allegiances.

        5. Jeff says: “Like Turley, I have a job to do. And my efforts are better served confronting you lying Trumpists in the trenches.”

          So just what is your job, who do you represent, what are you paid to come here and muddy the water and WHO are you? Because whatever the topic, you deflect to one of the best Presidents we have had in a dogs age. Fuel, the border, Afghanistan, the economy, education, DOJ. You offer nothing on the topics. All you do is remind us how bad things have gotten in the past 9 months and the dangerous state the nation is in. Folks I know realize the mistake they made voting in the last election. But you keep whipping that dead horse “Trump, Trumpist, Fox News”. So out yourself don’t deflect, who are YOU, who do YOU work for?

          1. You Trumpists like to trigger the Libs. I figured I would trigger you people by facetiously claiming that I get paid to expose Turley’s hypocrisy. I don’t get paid to disparage Fox unlike Turley who DOES get paid to disparage CNN and MSNBC.

            Why doesn’t Turley criticize Newsmax and One America Network for their advocacy journalism? Those Trumpist networks certainly attack Fox News for not pushing that the election was stolen and for banning lawyers Giuliani, Powell and Eastman?

            Anyone care to answer that question? I will keep asking it until one of you Fox viewers answers me.

            1. “You Trumpists like to trigger the Libs.”

              No one needs to trigger the Libs, or should I say leftists and people like you. You are constantly triggered and that is why you gravitate to this blog. You can blame someone else for causing you to act like a pompous a$$ who has admitted he knows nothing.

      2. so why not visit sites you support?

        Silberman is a narcissist. So every site he visits is his favorite. Notice his about-face on Turley. He loves him/hates him, depending on how he is spinning a tale. He’s an American Marxist and will spew anything at any moment. Anything to keep himself front and center.

        1. Olly,

          You know by now that every time you smear me as an “American Marxist, I’m going to call you an “American Nazi.”

          Tell me, how come Turley has never- NOT ONCE- ever mentioned Mark Levin’s book or Mark Levin himself even though they are both Constitutional scholars and Fox brethren? That should tell you how much respect Turley has for Levin-

          None.

          1. Tell me, how come Turley has never- NOT ONCE- ever mentioned… — JeffSilberman

            Your misrepresentations about Turley are mendacious and tiresome…

            You don’t know anything more about Turley’s thoughts and feelings, other than what he has published, broadcast or taught, than anyone else posting here. Do I agree with everything Turley opines? No. But I do respect his reasoning enough to at least seek out his opinion.

            On the other hand, you are nothing more than a paid shill trying to smear Turley whenever possible in an effort to diminish his public influence. Your ideological beliefs and party loyalty are on full display — to hell with facts, logic and commonsense — nothing sways you…

            …I have a job to do… is a Freudian slip, despite your subsequent and insistent deflections to the contrary.

            1. Spanky,

              If you genuinely think I’m paid to expose Turley’s hypocrisy, how much do you think I’m earning?

          2. how come Turley has never- NOT ONCE- ever mentioned Mark Levin’s book or Mark Levin himself even though they are both Constitutional scholars and Fox brethren? That should tell you how much respect Turley has for Levin-

            The last book I recall Turley “reviewing” was from James Comey. It wasn’t flattering for Comey. Yet you presume because JT hasn’t provided any opinion on Levin’s book American Marxism that that means he has no respect for Levin. Clearly JT has no compunction to provide such an opinion where he believes it’s warranted. So your conclusion in the absence of such an opinion is merely wishcasting.

            1. Olly,

              You do listen to Levin as I do. And you well know how often he displays his grievance that not enough Fox colleagues have undertaken to acknowledge his book and take up calling Leftists “American Marxists.” Naturally, he will not name names lest he stirs up an internal dissension. The fact that I can’t recall once Turley ever mentioning Levin by name is indicative that he does not approve of his hateful rhetoric. Levin epitomizes the *rage* in the media that Turley constantly denounces. It’s bad enough for Turley’s academic integrity that he and Levin are Fox colleagues, it’s worse that he will not condemn him publicly (unlike Geraldo Rivera who admirably condemned Carlson’s upcoming “Patriot Purge” false flag narrative as “bullsh*t.”).

              Silence is all that Turley can muster to demonstrate his unwillingness to support Trumpist lies. He will live to regret not having spoken out bravely like Liz Cheney because his silence will not be forgiven.

          3. Don’t boast about just your status as an American Marxist. Start boasting about being a Nazi which in your case is probably closer to the truth.

        2. JeffS-So basically your a Troll/Bott who comes to the site to bust chops? OK fair enough 1. The post administrator has your IP address and should block you. 2. Now that I understand your visit here, I and hopefully everyone will ignore your posts if your not blocked. Dude you have issues!

          2. Margot says that Darren should block me.

            I dare him. I double dare him!

            If he does, it will betray EVERYTHING that Turley has ever said in support of Free Speech. Turley may not agree with my criticism of him, but I know that he will defend to his death my freedom to hold him accountable.

            I support your ability to ignore my comments if they make you uncomfortable, but Turley has made it clear that all contributions are welcome as long as they are civil.

            1. ” Turley has made it clear that all contributions are welcome as long as they are civil.”

              That is correct. Turley even supports your right to make a fool of yourself.

        1. He probably wears higher heels than anyone can imagine, for he keeps his nose high in the atmosphere where the lack of oxygen has destroyed his brain.

    3. Hey Silberman – not nice to see when your party antics are finally paraded in front of everyone is it? Go ahead denigrating anyone and everyone who does so, it just makes the constant hypocrisy of the dim-witted left look so much more execrable.

      1. Witherspoon says:

        “DON’T FEED THE TROLL!!!”

        That’s ok. I don’t eat deep fried food. I prefer toro, chutoro and otoro if you got it!

    5. JS

      And right on cue you ignore the issue and go to Fox.

      Show some intellectual integrity.

          1. Monument,

            Good quote. I often cite it myself. Not bad for a lying Trumpist. I give you credit.

    6. JeffSilberman — I’m sure Turley is going to lose sleep worrying about losing your respect. And did you have a reason for posting this, since it’s pure ad hominem and doesn’t make a counterpoint?

      1. Giocon1,

        As any lawyer can tell, I’m making a record of my dissent. I understand my comments and questions are distasteful and unsettling to you die-hard Trumpists, but Res Ipsa Loquitur is not a Conservative Safe Zone. It is a Free Speech zone. I am simply exercising my freedom- like it or not.

    7. , Turley further sullied his professional reputation. I am beginning to lose all my respect for him.

      You never deviate from your narrative. Never address the post. Never venture into reality(where truth resides)

      I watched the interview and our host kept to the topic and supported himself with the law and constitution

      All the TDS crowd have are accusations that for some reason never state a single fact to support their smears.

      1. Iowan2,

        You have to give me credit for doing my homework before I criticize Turley for appearing with the likes of Watters. I take it that you would not fault Turley were he to appear with the likes of Al Sharpton of Louis Farrakhan to legitimize their standing as honest individuals.

        As far as your accusing me of TDS, may I accuse you of Biden Derangement Syndrome or SDS (Silberman Derangement Syndrome)? What do you think?

    8. Yeh Turleys a joke here in dc. He abandoned anything approaching academic integrity some time ago and utterly debased himself carrying Bill Barr’s water for 4 years. Now Barr is a bigger pariah even than Alberto Gonzalez was at the end of the Bush 2 admin, and where’s Turley? Exactly where he was 4 years ago: ashamedly shilling RNC talking points on disreputable info-tainment channels for the benefit of Q weirdos, tinfoil-hat shut-ins and people who get their opinions from YouTube. Everyone knows he’s a paid stooge of the RNC and treats him and his opinions accordingly. I’m sure he’s well compensated which is why he keeps doing it but yknow there’s a word for someone who debases themselves repeatedly for money.
      It’s a shame too because I used to proudly being my students to his seminar- I loved seeing the looks on the prosecutors’ kids faces as he upended their worldview the way only an outstanding defense attorney can. An old maxim befits this situation: If you lie down with dogs don’t be surprised to wake up covered in fleas.

  18. Shameful machinations by the Dems.

    Glad that at least some of their shenanigans are seeing the light of day.

    Watch the Lefty media ignore or spin the story.

    Watch the Lefty posters deflect (“But Trump…”) or or go haring off in other directions (Turley works for Fox…).

    1. You guessed it! Turley dutifully points out the hypocrisy of the MSM. Similarly, I will continue to point out Turley’s hypocrisy in working for Fox which he NEVER holds to the same journalistic standard he demands of the MSM. And if Turley was man enough to appear on CNN or MSNBC to defend Fox’s advocacy journalism, he would be confronted on his hypocrisy. He won’t because he is a coward.

  19. One would hope that the Fox person responded We could, but this is not CNN or MSNBC.

    Guess it never hurts to ask. But one question, weren’t the new voting laws/regs in Virginia passed by the D’s? What would they complain about – they didn’t work as expected, that is, they didn’t allow us to perpetuate a blue dynasty?

  20. Lets test that hypothesis.
    Does Turley have the influence to get Youngkin to hire Rudy?

    Said in jest of course…

    1. Hey look, Anonymous ALMOST commented on the issue at hand…but not quite.

      Only in our new Orwellian world would we have a candidate, McAuliffe, opining that his opponent is an election denier at the same time as he campaigns with “Governor” Stacey Abrams and hire Marc Elias as his campaign’s attorney. Of course in our Brave New World the media doesn’t report on this hypocrisy and in fact seconds it.

      Fellow people that support the truth and the need for two sides you need to continue supporting sites like Professor Turley’s, Town Hall, PJ Media, Realclearpoliics and of course Fox News. We were in danger of losing Fox when people like Chris Stirewalt, Howie Kurtz and Chris Wallace were taking control of the narrative but as people started to turn off the network thankfully regained their balance.

      RealClearpolitics has been the verybest place for an open discussion of both sides of all issues for a long time and everyone should support it by visiting. Of course as a slightly right of center person with an interest in the law and politics I just love Professor Turley’s site as well.

      1. HullBobby says:

        “I just love Professor Turley’s site as well.”

        Did you love it when Turley characterized Trump’s 1/6 speech as “reckless” and called upon Congress to *censure* Trump for inciting what he referred to as a “desecration” of the Capitol?

        Turley on several occasions has cited Trump’s dishonesty. How does that grab you?

        You agree with Turley or not?

        1. Jeff, yes I did like when Turley said negative things about Jan 6th but I notice that fascist little people like you never, not once, said anything negative about any of the myriad riots that occurred last year. See, people like the good Professor will actually be honest while little fascists like you are just either partisan hacks or weirdo contrarians. Probably more of the weirdo contrarian than the partisan hack because it is easily noticeable how very odd you are just by looking at your comments. It is so easy to spot a guy with no friends, no spouse, no common sense and no decency. Jeff…that is you.

          1. HullBobby concedes:

            “ Jeff, yes I did like when Turley said negative things about Jan 6th….”

            What about Turley calling on Congress to pass a censure resolution on Trump in lieu of an Impeachment. Did you also agree with that?

      2. Hullbobby,

        “ Fellow people that support the truth and the need for two sides you need to continue supporting sites like Professor Turley’s, Town Hall, PJ Media, Realclearpoliics and of course Fox News.”

        That’s the point everyone here criticizing Jeff is pointing out. Turley isn’t criticizing Fox News own hypocritical positions which are far more egregious and common.

        Clearly because he WORKS for Fox News he isn’t going to, but has no problem going after CNN, MSM, etc.

        He claims to be objective and unbiased, but that is clearly not true when it comes to criticism of news organizations that are engaging in the kind of “advocate journalism” he argues against. His own employer Fox News is rife with it. The most glaring problem is that other news organizations that he doesn’t work for are never criticized. Organizations such as newsmax, or OAN. There’s plentiful sources for him to use if he is truly wanting to be objective in his criticism.

        He just doesn’t want to alienate his biggest followers, trumpists. Because they provide the bulk of his blog’s traffic and therefore his sense of credibility.

        1. Svela, I see your embarrassment didn’t keep you away long. We can now finish our discussion of fascism and the other ideologies mostly derived from socialism. I await your comment since you have now had plenty of time to go to an encyclopedia and absorb the written word.
          —–

          Yes, defining fascism is difficult, but it has defining characteristics that differ drastically from the classical liberal/ libertarian. It is the characteristics that determine the different brands of fascism. No ideology is entirely pure, but Marx at times referred to socialism and communism interchangeably. The meanings behind socialism have radically changed.

          Democratic socialism incorporates some of socialism and is a new construct. Democratic states such as Sweden often pointed to HAVING private property. Capitalism depends on private property. Libertarianism and classical liberalism also rely on private property. There are varying degrees and types of control over businesses in the fascistic states, fascism, nazism, socialism and communism. Though some would say, the state ceases to exist in a pure communist state.

          When you look at the various ideologies, you need to note the similarities and differences of their significant characteristics.

          There is private property and less central control in classical liberalism, libertarianism and capitalism (economic).
          Nazism, socialism, fascism have central control. These forms of government look towards larger government and powers over what is printed along with freedom of speech.

          Separate nationalism from the ideologies because all of the ideologies can be nationalistic and militaristic or not. Part of the split between Stalin and Trotsky had to do with their perception of nationalism and militarism along with expansionism.

          In the end, fascism is hard to define because it can be defined in many different ways, but Italian fascism, nazism, and socialism come from the same seed.

          1. Svelaz, I guess the embarrassment you face when faced with accurate information forces you to run away. I understand that. It is hard to face humiliation, but it is harder for you to face the truth.

            Maybe you have learned some of the differences in the ideologies and won’t keep repeating the many statements you previously made. If you have learned a lesson, then that is a good thing whether or not you are man enough to admit you were wrong.

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Res ipsa loquitur – The thing itself speaks

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