I would not describe myself, all things considered, as a huge fan of Fox News Channel anchor Shepard Smith. Credit where credit is due, though: When a couple of his colleagues tried to hem and haw and generally dodge the reality of the Bush Administration’s recently disclosed torture memos earlier this week, Shep let ‘em have it. "We are America," he reminded them, his voice rising as he prepared to hit those two with an obscenity-laced dose of truth. "I don’t give a rat’s ass if it helps! WE ARE AMERICA! We do NOT f—ing torture!" Check it out, below (NSFW language, clearly).
Damn right. The freakout seems to have occurred on a Fox News webcast, not an actual TV show, which is too bad. As far as I’m concerned, Fox ought to encourage Shep Smith to express his real feelings this way as often as possible on television, though I supposed he’d have to tone down the profanity. Whether you agree with him or not, I think Fox News could only benefit from letting its anchors challenge each other a little more often instead of always mindlessly repeating the party line. Or do you disagree?
Comments (1-30) of 57 Add your comment
Shep Smith is my favorite person on foxnews. In fact, he’s the only person I like on fox news.
This definitely caught my attention. While I may still have my reluctancy to trust Fox News for things, I will keep my eye on Shepard Smith.
While I may not necessarily agree with his opinion, I love Shep. He’s one of my favorites on Fox and I love to see him all emotional about stuff.
Ooh, just wait until Limbaugh takes Shep behind the woodshed and whups some good ol’ conservative values back into his heinie.
Oh to be young and naive. Of course we torture.
Wow, integrity. Standards. How refreshing. How come I never see this kind of stuff when I watch Fox news?
Here’s more of Shep’s greatest hits:
Absolutely awesome.
Shamrock, I don’t think he was denying the existence of torture, I think he was saying “We don’t torture” to mean “We shouldn’t torture.” I think he meant that even if torture “helps,” that America is (or ought to be) better than that.
Which is what America really is about — people can have different beliefs and ideologies, but at the heart of everything should be a belief in the Americal IDEAL. And the ideal does NOT include torture. Shep seems to be on the side of the American Ideal, not American Expediency.
Shep, the cream always rises to the top and you’ve done it. In spite of Fox News, your better self has had enough. Good for you.
Wasn’t Shep the one who stood out on his balcony in the French Quarter after Katrina an mockingly declared ‘Well, it looks like New Orleans dodged the big one AGAIN’ ?!? I haven’t been able to watch the tool since.
ANybody who is in favor of torture better be damn well ready to defend it when our enemies use it on OUR soldiers then. In the eyes of many in the Arab/Muslim world we are considered terrorists and threats to their national security. Now we can debate about the rightness or wrongness of that view but it is the way some of them view us. So what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
I don’t want any of our soldiers tortured, But if we are doing it then we have to be prepared to accept that it’s being done to our men and women.
“…instead of always mindlessly repeating the party line.”
You don’t actually watch Fox News, do you?
Credit where credit is due indeed. Of course, I’ll happily watch Jack Bauer torture people left and right, but I don’t want it in reality.
lol Colbert showed it last night too.
http://tvdonewright.com/2009/04/24/tv-tonight-friday-april-24th-2009/
I watch a lot of Fox news even though I am a dem. but I think you have to watch it all in order to form a educated opinion because if you just watch fox or msnbc you will be a robot Shepard has always been my favorite on Fox he seems honest and won’t go down party lines I think he is wasteing his time at Fox he would be a good network anchor.
Anyone who has gone through military Escape & Evasion (E&E)training learns all about sleep deprivation, water boarding, hot boxes, etc.
This is done to prepare a soldier, sailor, airman or marine if they become a real POW.
I love the “oops.”
Just trying to understand here, ’cause I’m a little dumb and brainwashed (according to Ms. Garofalo)… so FOX should encourage Shep to speak his mind… but CNBC should stop Rick Santelli when he does so. Are those the rules? Freedom of speech, but only for one side…
just a little note. It all depends on the definition of torture folks. some people see waterboarding and sleep deprivation as torture & some like me see torture the way our enemies do. You know, no food, no water, beatings that leave you crippled, deaf, blind or dead, acid burns among others, cutting off of fingers,toes & ears, puncture wounds, electro shock, bamboo shoots in the finger & toe nails, shooting around you, never knowing if it’s going to hit,dragging you tied up behind vehicles,lashes with metal strips, you get my drift. Yes, America should be careful when interrogating but some methods are simply not torture as people want to say. and last time I checked, our enemies don’t like us BECAUSE of our freedoms and stand against their power hungry, depraved control over their own countrymen. if you think for one second that our actions have anything to do with their willingness and even pleasure in torturing ANYONE who is an American, you are the most naive person on the planet.
For those confused about what torture is and isn’t. Here’s the UN convention we signed.
“any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession”
Pretty clear to me that the CIA was inflicting severe pain and suffering. That’s worth an F-bomb
http://www.hrweb.org/legal/cat.html
It was the HEAT of battle.
Waterboarding is NOT tourture. Pulling fingernails out IS!
Let it slide! It was passion!
This will NOT happen again. It should slide. Who watched or heard it?
I first read about it right here.
Get over it.
I do not remember these terrorists signing anything? I want the info from no matter what it takes. Play Christian tunes or make them eat pork!
I don’t give a rats patooti what we do to them. But they were not tourtured! AbuGrab was folks playing with prisoners. They were NOT attempting to extract information.
Shep needs to get over it and stop being such a purist. Glad he is not incharge of our security and I like him?
I love Fox, but Shep Smith is gay. He in a commie and does not belong on my Fox News.
Shep was out of line using that language on TV. We are more divided as a nation then ever before. I am simply amazed how we sit idly by and watch our nation being destroyed from within and don’t even seem to care. One last comment, I’ve read the definition of “waterboarding” and realized this is what my sister did to me when I was 5. Any plans to prosecute her when they prosecute the Bush Administration?
Thank God someone on that fake news channel has some sense in their head.
All of these so called tough guys who say waterboarding is not torture have never been waterboarded especially the person who said their sister did it to them when they were 5. Give me a break. Also I don’t see anyone saying they are willing to be waterboarded. Also if you must waterboard someone 183 times in a month then guess what, “it’s not working”…
Waterboarding is not torture? It most certainly is – We EXECUTED Japanese soldiers for waterboarding American Prisoners of war during WWII in order to extract information from them. Kinda hard to argue its not torture when we hanged Japanese soldiers for it to our troops.
Aside from Shepard Smith who did such great work the during Hurricane Katrina debacle and hosts a straightforward and informative news show in the afternoon, In my opinion, every Fox News blowhard from Brit Hume on down is a shill for the Republican Party. Shame on them.