Fox's photo phlub on national TV, explaining Clinton's debate demand
Here's a screen grab of a shot they showed on "Fox & Friends" the other morning. They were illustrating the repeated calls by New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, reported in detail on The Ticket, for a Lincoln-Douglas style debate between the two remaining Democratic presidential candidates, Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama before next week's Indiana and North Carolina primaries.
Remember we suggested in that item that it's a sure sign of someone losing when he/she seeks a "Lincoln-Douglas style debate," meaning one-on-one, no moderator, as Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas did seven times in their fabled U.S. Senate race in 1858.
By the way, do you see anything wrong with this screen shot from Fox?
Hint: That's Lincoln on the right, all right. (By the way, we know subjects were not supposed to smile in 19th century photographs. But do you think that mug would let Abe get elected in today's made-up, beautified media world?)
So the fellow on the left must be Stephen Douglas, right? The winner of that 1858 race that left Lincoln free to prepare for his successful 1860 Republican presidential run. Wrong! Old Steve D. wasn't African American for starters.
That's actually a photograph of Frederick Douglass, the 19th century black abolitionist who sure wasn't running for the Senate in 1858. Fox's producers put up the wrong guy on national TV.
But who's gonna notice on a chat-filled TV morning show? With a tip of the hat to our pals at the Swamp and MSNBC, which caught their competitor's photo flub.
--Andrew Malcolm
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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Could it be his brother? :)
Posted by: Peter Thomas | May 01, 2008 at 09:15 AM
Hardly a flub, more nauseating tactics by FOX news, home of the mindless and misinformed.
Posted by: TruthisGold | May 01, 2008 at 09:18 AM
If American's focused as much on the ineptness of Fox as they do on their muck raking (another 19th century term) we might actually have an intelligent discourse for a change.
Posted by: Jeff Tuttle | May 01, 2008 at 09:22 AM
this is just racist.
foxnews should issue a national apology.
this is completely and totally embarrassing and a new low even for them.
Posted by: Jim Hanson | May 01, 2008 at 09:58 AM
Facts aren't part of the story line. It's black and white, remember? Even I got that memo.
Posted by: Rhys | May 01, 2008 at 05:13 PM
The Lincoln photo is wrong, too. In 1858 Lincoln didn't have a beard--he didn't grow a beard until after he was elected president in 1860. But then, FOX is often confused.
Posted by: Jane | May 01, 2008 at 05:27 PM