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Most Of The Five Side With Brian Williams Over Newt Gingrich, Think Silencing Audience Is A Good Idea

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Recently, Newt Gingrich has had a massive upswing from his new debate strategy; forget the candidates, go after the moderator. Twice now, he’s taken huge swings at the closest representative of the media at the nearest sign of a question that seems untoward. And, twice, he’s been able to reap the benefits of those attacks by milking the audience’s applause like an arena rocker on his third encore. Heck, I think anyone would choose that over actually answering the damn things. Anyway, last night, Brian Williams threw a wrench in Gingrich’s gameplan by keeping the crowd quiet and, of course, Gingrich was not happy. While some conservatives are taking Gingrich’s side today, four out of the titular five on Fox News disagreed, arguing that the quiet was for the best.

RELATED: Newt Gingrich Blasts Brian Williams For Silencing Debate Audience: ‘The Media Doesn’t Control Free Speech’

Greg Gutfeld initiated the conversation, explaining in a monologue that the biggest issue of importance was who could beat President Obama and, since there won’t be raucous audiences in the debates with the president, there’s no point in having them now. Dana Perino pointed out that it’s kind of a good idea to be able to hear the candidates talking about their actual policies instead of grandstanding. And Andrea Tantaros, though less sure than the previous two, couldn’t help but scoff at Gingrich’s claim that Williams was trying to “control” the audience’s “free speech.”

The only one of the group who was taking Gingrich’s side was Eric Bolling who latched onto a sports analogy from Gutfeld and argued that it’s no fun to play a game with a silent crowd.

However, if I may expand on Gutfeld’s analogy with his earlier point, if debating was a tennis match and the debates with Obama were Wimbledon, a player shouldn’t be wasting their time practicing on a clay court.

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  • Gloves Dash Donahue

    In the three Presidential debates coming up, no audience participation will be allowed, Might as well get used to that aspect and ranger on.

     ”I called up the Commission on Presidential Debates, which handles the general election debates, and they confirmed that audience participation has not been allowed in the past in debates, and will not be allowed this cycle either.”

    http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/289088/gingrich-wrong-nbc-prohibit-audience-clapping-debate-katrina-trinko

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Politics-culture-Reasoned-America/100001284363960 Politics-culture Reasoned Amer

    Too bad the rest of the country doesn’t think so!

    11-06-12 — End the Marxist Coup!

    People can’t wait to vote Saul Alinsky out of OUR White House!

  • Anonymous

    How much did Gingrich pay you? 

  • Anonymous

    Ohhh this is the new buzzword I see:)

  • Anonymous

    Many debates in the past have had no audience participation. I swear to god you conservatives have the biggest most paranoid persecution complex I have ever seen.  I always feel like somebodys watching  meeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Michael Jackson 1982

  • Dj Bobby

    you do relize that websites like liberalbias.net have dis-proven these left wing biast media conspriacy theories????

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Politics-culture-Reasoned-America/100001284363960 Politics-culture Reasoned Amer

    Heck, he’s been governing from that playbook for three years!
    He taught the course, you know, in college…you may not have known that because the DNC Media covered that up!

    That’s also why his college writings have been sealed, so we won’t see how much of a Marxist disciple he really is.

    What upsets a lot of people is why the GOP is SILENT on it!

  • Dj Bobby

    you do relize that websites like liberalbias.net have dis-proven these left wing biast media conspriacy theories????

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Politics-culture-Reasoned-America/100001284363960 Politics-culture Reasoned Amer

    No, what about a Czar? – damn Marxists!
    lol

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Politics-culture-Reasoned-America/100001284363960 Politics-culture Reasoned Amer

    This show would drop 20 rating points if they put Beckel in Guilfoyle’s chair!

    - 50 points if he’s in “bermudas” swinging his legs!
    lol

  • Anonymous

    Andrea’s hot. There, I said it.

  • http://twitter.com/TommyBennett Tom Bennett

    Go back and get on your medication.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Politics-culture-Reasoned-America/100001284363960 Politics-culture Reasoned Amer

    So we can believe our own eyes and ears; or we can believe the convoluted sophistry of liberalbias.net…that about say it all?

  • Anonymous

    You have no idea, I have heard that Obama carries a hammer and sickle around at all times, and keeps wallet size photos of Marx and Lenin on him as well.

  • Anonymous

    Yessssss he wants to turn us all into little North Koreans! Have you ever been anywhere else in the world?

  • val smith

    Well the five are finally right about something.

    It was bound to happen.

  • Smack80

    It’s actually a plot by the Chinese to undermine our government. 

  • http://mediamatters.org/ Leedog

    You are correct!! Why doesn’t Dana sit in that chair so we all can see her legs??

  • Smack80

    It’s all in Satan’s plan to set up the anti-Christ. All will be revealed in the election. Both parties are in on it. Think about it, if we are totally divided by our parties, what better time for someone to come forward and unite us. 

  • http://mediamatters.org/ Leedog

    Who made Eric Bolling the leader of The Five?? Why does he get the luxury of sitting at the head of the table??

    He’s not worthy of getting coffee for the remaining four!!

  • http://www.madcharles.com/ MadCharles

    Those brown shirts sure looked lock step. Some one should tell Occupooh to shut up already.

  • Anonymous

    yes she is.

  • Anonymous

    Tranlsation:  The opinions reflected on “The Five” finally are aligned with my own in this instance.

    It was bound to happen.

  • Anonymous

    Andrea Tantaros, so are you trying to say that the Bush tax cuts did work and Williams was wrong in stating otherwise? Guffaw. I wish Newt had protested that truism and Williams had done his homework.
    http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/01/09/bush-on-jobs-the-worst-track-record-on-record/ 

    PS: Note that the answer Newt gave to that question is the same answer the rightwingers deride when Obama gives it in response to a query about the efficacy of the American Recovery Act aka “stimulus” bill which was also another big TAX CUT legislation. .

  • DoNotMindMe

    Liberals think the truth has a liberal bias and you are mentally insane if you don’t agree with them. 

  • Anonymous

    What a bunch of dopes. They think a library silence is appropriate? Is this FOX news or the Daily KOS? They might as well all resign from FOX news and get an internship in Washington where they get paid 1c an hour to polish the backboards on Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan’s private basketball court.

  • Anonymous

    Yes. The only people who should be allowed to express their approval or disapproval of a candidate’s statements is the officially Media-Matters-Accredited Journalists on MSNBC. 

    In fact, Obama should set up a new government department which decides which people are qualified to have an opinion. We could call it the Ministry of Free Speech.

    HOW INTELLECTUAL AND PROGRESSIVE. ANYONE WHO SAYS IT’S NOT IS PARANOOIIIIIIIIDZ!

  • david r

     Makes sense.  A lot of those guys shouting out are on the payroll.

  • Anonymous

    ‘Somebody’s Watching Me’ was released in 1984 by Rockwell, the son of Motown’s CEO Berry Gordy Jr. Michael Jackson and his brother Jermaine Jackson sang back up vocals with MIchael singing the familiar and haunting chorus which you quote.

  • http://twitter.com/bohratom Bohr Atom

    Have to agree as you need some decorum in debates…

  • Anonymous

    “Decorum”.

    It’s supposed to be a debate not a pageant you complete fruitcake.

  • Anonymous

    I agree, actually.

    But he’s the token Fox liberal, so you shouldn’t be surprised as their token liberals always seem to be selected precisely for their stupidity.  On Fox “fair and balanced” means: “3 conservatives, a libertarian who’s basically just a Republican anyway, and 1 really dumb liberal.”

    Which I guess is better than most other shows on Fox where balance means some approximation of “2 conservatives vs 1 right leaning ‘independent’.”

  • Anonymous

    Ha, I knew it. Before I even clicked the article I knew Bolling would take Newt’s side.
    Gingrich could have completely wrong, but since it’s Williams, a huge figure in the supposed liberal media and the hated MSM, Bolling has to take Newt’s side.

  • Anonymous

    Why shouldn’t the Republican audience be allowed to cheer or boo? Theyre so used to doing it at NASCAR events, so why not at presidential debates?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_MLOPAEMD2GZK6XSTJK4GENKXFM netster007x

    Gingrich is a joke. He repeatedly says he’ll beat Obama by defeating him in “three hour Lincoln Douglass style debates”. Sounds good till you realize Obama would never agree to those. When you look at actual measures of electability such as head to head polling, Gingrich falls on his face.

  • Anonymous

    I do not have any idea for silence audience.
    http://forum.freephonehelp.com/member.php?u=273873

  • Anonymous

    Good for the Five.  Make it Six.  I totally agree that these are debates – not raucous soccer matches complete with Waves, high fives, boos and applause.

    Will CNN welcome the lions at the Roman arenas – or will we actually have a debate – as we did with NBC on Monday.  I sure hope CNN opts for a debate.

  • Anonymous

    I was thinking the same thing yesterday while I was watching it. I think she must have refused an end seat, wanting to be taken more seriusly.

  • http://spacegod.tumblr.com/ spacegod

    I don’t understand why people aren’t constantly punching you in the face.

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/LP2JJRVULA72IP6GOYRMSP5QHE rowley

    Why have a live studio audience for the Debate if there’s no response? 
    Why have the 5 show at all, it is worse show on Fox. 

  • DjBobby

    well when u say eyes and ears, obviously its not a fact that the media is all bias….so you need proof in order to prove it, or not prove it….and….thats why my convoluted sophistry website does…..

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