Netroots Nation: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at What Faux News Is Really up to...

Steve Friess, as usual, stepped into something interesting... But this time, he stepped into my territory, dammit! Oh, just kidding. Hey, I appreciate him catching something like this at Netroots Nation on Thursday.

Fox News correspondent Carl Cameron, in a conversation at the Netroots Nation convention, said his network blew up the Shirley Sherrod story, that Senate candidate Sharron Angle “always seems confused,” and agreed that his network boosts the Tea Party.

Fox News correspondent Carl Cameron, chatting with a Daily Kos contributor in the media room Thursday at the liberal blogger convention Netroots Nation, mocked his Fox colleagues’ behavior on the Shirley Sherrod scandal and tacitly agreed that the cable network had fueled the rise of the Tea Party movement.

Cameron, speaking to blogger Dante Atkins shortly after Atkins had been interviewed for a Fox segment about the Netroots event, nodded as Atkins repeated comments he made on camera that the Tea Party movement was largely organized by Fox News hosts like Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity.

“Tell me about it,” Cameron smirked.

As the conversation continued, Atkins, a Daily Kos front-pager, cited examples of Fox’s undue sway over events. Cameron then offered one of his own.

“The Sherrod case is an example of some at Fox News trying to have more influence than it probably should,” Cameron said.

Now I should disclose that I knew Dante Atkins back when I was raising hell in California. I asked him about it, and he confirmed what Steve reported (both from asking and eavesdropping) was all true.

And if this is really true, it confirms what I've suspected for quite some time, which is that Faux News really is the mouthpiece of the Republican Party and corporate right agenda. The whole Shirley Sherrod saga was manufactured by the "RightRoots" right-wing bloggers, then parroted on Faux and used by the GOP to accuse President Obama of "reverse racism". Hell, even with all that crap spewed at Sherrod completely discredited, I STILL hear righties call Obama and Sherrod "racist"!

But hey, it doesn't stop there. In fact, the blogger and the Faux News "reporter" then chatted about our election.

During the conversation with Atkins, Cameron also opined about Republican Senate nominee Sharron Angle of Nevada, who is facing off with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in November. Angle is a Tea Party icon who has advocated eliminating Social Security and Medicare, says that teenagers who are impregnated through incestuous rape ought to be required to bear the child, and has said she supports the prohibition of alcohol.

The former assemblywoman has lost a substantial lead in the polls since her June 8 victory as Reid hammers her in TV ads. Angle is making an issue out of the fact that Reid called banks in March 2009 when an $8.5 billion development owned by MGM Resorts International on the Las Vegas Strip was hours from bankruptcy. MGM was able to secure the loans and finish the project, keeping 10,000 construction workers on the job and currently employing 12,000 others in its operations.

The conversation in the media room between Cameron and Atkins turned to Angle. Angle has been criticized for being unavailable to reporters since her primary victory, and Atkins noted Angle has stated she was appearing on Fox News because it was good for fundraising. Cameron said that she hadn’t appeared on the network “much.”

At this point, this reporter noted that she had appeared at least twice, including last week when a Fox News anchor confronted her—and confused her by doing so—on her use of the term “bank bailout” to describe Reid’s MGM intervention.

“Sharron Angle always seems confused,” Cameron said.

So even the Faux News personalities realize Sharrontology isn't a great candidate? Obviously, there must be an objection! Someone? Anyone?



I guess not. But hey, how often do we hear of candidates who base their decisions on media appearances on how much fundraising they can do?

Well, it sounded like quite the conversation those two had about our politics, and about the role of the media. This was just a taste of what's to be experienced at Netroots Nation this weekend...

And I'll have more later! In the mean time, follow my updates at Facebook and Twitter for everything #nn10.