Rumors Ron Paul Dissed By FOX News Untrue

A drumbeat of faux outrage from the Ron Paul campaign is gaining momentum across the web.

"Ron Paul's been dumped from the FOX Republican Debate," bloggers beat out on their drums.

Where did this message originate from? Did FOX really dump Paul from a debate, forum, or Sunday Brunch?

The pieces of the Chinese Finger Puzzle:

The Boston Globe's James Pinell put out this piece:

Paul: Fox News is 'scared of me'

PLAISTOW, N.H. -- Ron Paul said the decision to exclude him from a debate on Fox News Sunday the weekend before the New Hampshire Primary is proof that the network "is scared" of him.

Pindell goes on to enclose a quote from Paul:

"They are scared of me and don't want my message to get out, but it will," Paul said in an interview at a diner here. "They are propagandists for this war and I challenge them on the notion that they are conservative.

Ron Paul supporters found this "Press Release" on the Ron Paul 2008 website:

Press Releases › Has Fox News Excluded Ron Paul?

December 28, 2007 10:39 pm EST

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – According to the New Hampshire State Republican Party and an Associated Press report, Republican presidential candidate and Texas Congressman Ron Paul will be excluded from an upcoming forum of Republican candidates to be broadcast by Fox News on January 6, 2008.

“Given Ron Paul’s support in New Hampshire and his recent historic fundraising success, it is outrageous that Dr. Paul would be excluded,” said Ron Paul 2008 campaign chairman Kent Snyder. “Dr. Paul has consistently polled higher in New Hampshire than some of the other candidates who have been invited.”

Snyder continued, “Paul supporters should know that we are continuing to make inquiries with Fox News as to why they have apparently excluded Dr. Paul from this event.”

The Ron Paul 2008 Campaign website press release cites the New Hampshire State Republican Party and the AP as sources. The release goes on to place the blame on FOX network.

Further investigation by DBKP (actually reading the AP story) revealed the culprits in the non-invitation brouhaha wasn't FOX but the New Hampshire State Republican Party. We also discovered the AP piece referred to a "forum" and not the debate. FOX News is broadcasting the event.

Forum Not Debate!

We contacted the New Hampshire State Republican Party, their press secretary, Barney Keller, told us he wasn't answering any questions and to call the Paul campaign.

We contacted FOX. They didn't know anything about the debate because by now, the story had been turned into, Paul was excluded from the Republican "Debate."

We contacted the Paul campaign and were told they had no idea what was going on, that they were trying to "sort it all out."

The only AP story we could find that related to an upcoming Republican Debate, Forum, or Pancake Breakfast at a New Hampshire Rotary Club.

GOP candidates to meet in N.H. forum
WASHINGTON (AP) — The New Hampshire Republican Party is sponsoring a forum for Republican presidential candidates on Jan. 6, two days before the state's first-in-the-nation primary.
The forum, where the candidates will be questioned by Fox New Channel's Chris Wallace, will be held a day after ABC holds back to back Democratic and Republican presidential debates.
"Never underestimate New Hampshire voters' appetite for politics," said Fergus Cullen, the chairman of the state Republican Party.
Participating in the forum will be Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson.
Unlike a debate, the candidates will face questions from Wallace around a table in a studio on the campus of St. Anselm College in Goffstown, N.H.. The 90-minute encounter will air live beginning at 8 p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel and on Fox News Radio.

FOX News will be broadcasting the New Hampshire State Republican's Forum not a "Debate."
The debate is going to be held by ABC News.

It was the New Hampshire State Republicans who decided to not invite Paul. If this is indeed the case.

What we'd like to know is why Ron Paul and his campaign are carrying on this "faux outrage" at FOX News? Why did they write that it was FOX News' fault that Paul was not invited to the New Hampshire State Republican Forum?

We went and looked again at Plindell's original story. Did Plindell refer to a "forum" or a "debate" in his story about Paul's reaction?

Here's what Plindell wrote:

PLAISTOW, N.H. -- Ron Paul said the decision to exclude him from a debate on Fox News Sunday the weekend before the New Hampshire Primary is proof that the network "is scared" of him.

Another blog, USA Daily, recycled the story once again, but this time, claimed the forum is a "FOX Forum" but also cites an "AP" story as his source.

Ron Paul excluded from Fox News forum
Larry Fester
Published 12/29/2007 - 5:50 p.m. EST
Republican fund raising front runner Ron Paul will apparently be excluded from a Fox News Forum scheduled for just two days before the New Hampshire Primary.

Paul’s campaign said "According to the New Hampshire State Republican Party and an Associated Press report, Republican presidential candidate and Texas Congressman Ron Paul will be excluded from an upcoming forum of Republican candidates to be broadcast by Fox News on January 6, 2008." The decision appears to have been made by Fox News.

We found only one AP story about this imbroglio and we've it copied above. Nowhere in the AP story is FOX News cited as the sponsor of the forum, debate, or Sunday Brunch!

We've also heard rumors that it was FOX News who somehow made the New Hampshire State Republicans not invite Paul. Only someone who fell off a turnip truck could ever believe such an idiotic premise, that FOX News has the power to tell a political group who they are can and cannot invite to their own forum or debate.

At this point, this is sheer nonsense. It's a "forum" not the debate. Angry Paulians are being urged to boycott FOX because Paul wasn't asked to the FOX "debate." Very few know it's a forum sponsored by the New Hampshire State Republicans. Not FOX.

One more time: Forum, not debate. Fox is broadcasting the forum put on by the New Hampshire State Republicans. ABC is putting on the New Hampshire Republican Debate.

* Ron Paul's Exclusion from Forum: NH GOP's Fault, Not Fox plus updates to 7:40 pm

By LBG
Image [Phoenix Woman - Crybaby]