Neil Cavuto. What a concept.

By Lee Russ

Wednesday, June 07, 2006 at 04:20 PM

For those who avoid Fux News at all costs, Mr. Cavuto is the host (and, he insists, commentator, as well--the better to defend himself against claims of partisanship) of the show Your World.  He's also been managing editor of business news for the Fux Fokes since 1996.

He's also, if you haven't guessed already, as bitter, nasty and partisan as you can get without wearing a uniform with lots of belts and leathers.

A short stroll through Cavuto Land.

A.  Cavuto's "Smear by Question" tactic

What do you do if you want to say something really slanderous about someone, something really beyond the pale of civilized discourse, but you don't want to get stuck taking responsibility for it?  Well, you put the smear into the form of a question, of course:

Examples of Cavuto's many smears by question:

1.  Have the Democrats declared war on America? [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,185426,00.html]

2.  Robert, are Democrats mad at capitalists? [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,185426,00.html]

3. Are Democratic politicians aiding terrorists in Iraq?  [May 22 edition of Fox News' Your World]

4. Is this Treason? Did Senator Harry Reid Go Too Far Calling Bush "Dangerously Incompetent"? [March 23, 2006 "Your World"]

5. Will vicious Dems pay for driving Alito's wife to tears?" [screen text during Jan 12 edition of Your World]

6. "Will we soon be replacing pictures of President Bush with Karl Marx?" [November 1, 2005 Your World]

B. The Direct Insult Masquerading as Self-Defense

While questions are nice and a very underhanded means of slinging mud, The Big Cavuto need not use the interrogatory form to be insulting and smearing:

And by the way, you sanctimonious twit, no one -- no one -- tells me what to say. I say it. And I write it. And no one lectures me on it. Save you, you pretentious charlatan.

Cavuto's May 14, 2003 on-air response to a column by the NY Times's Paul Krugman.

C. Cavuto, die-hard defender of the underdog rich

Here's the problem: Neil thinks that the rich are a repressed minority. Or, if not repressed, certainly subjected to all kinds of discrimination and abuse. The solution?  An ode to those repressed repositories of all that is cash, stocks, bonds, and real estate.

He did a piece titled Eat the Rich? on Wednesday, 6/8/05:

Since it's fashionable to dump on the rich, perhaps it's time we consider what would happen if we didn't have the rich. And what politicians would do if they couldn't find a scapegoat in the rich.

Whose taxes would you hike if your government program is failing?

Whose benefits would you cut?

Whose program would you means test?

Who would you be mean to?

Who would you disparage?

Who would you dump on?

...
Whose private sector smarts would you replace?

If you didn't have the rich to pay for your boondoggles, how would you continue to boondoggle?

How would you survive?

Without the rich, there'd be no one about whom you could bitch. Which makes me suspect, you don't want the rich to go anywhere. Not because you love the rich, but because you love their wallets more.

D. The Softer Side of Neil

Cavuto has multiple sclerosis, and has survived cancer.  You wouldn't know it from the quotes and ideas above, but this has, according to the web site of the National MS Society, left Neil:

...thinking less about himself, and instead spent his time searching for meaning and a greater understanding of how others go through pain and difficulty. In seeking inspiration in other's stories, Cavuto found the strength and courage to face his own challenges and achieve success.

Apparently the search for meaning has been restricted to those suffering physical pain and disability, and the detriments of wealth.  I've yet to see any sign that Mr. Cavuto has much concern for the large number of living human beings who suffer poverty, discrimination, psychological misery.....