(CNN) – It's rare that two media watchdogs – one on the left and one on the right – ever agree when it comes to assessing coverage on the cable news outlets.
But both the conservative Newsbusters and liberal Media Matters are aiming fire at Fox News' Geraldo Rivera and Judge Andrew Napolitano for recently suggesting the third building to fall on September 11, 2001 – 7 World Trade Center- may have collapsed for reasons beside the widely held belief that fire from the two World Trade Center towers nearby was the ultimate cause.
In a segment that aired on his program more than two weeks ago, Rivera reported on those who claim the building's collapse was more consistent with that which would occur from explosive devices.
"I'm certainly much more open-minded about it than I was," Rivera said of the alternate possibility for the building's fall.
Days later Napolitano – a legal analyst for Fox – said of the theory:
"It's hard for me to believe that [7 World Trade Center] came down by itself. I was gratified to see Geraldo Rivera investigating it. I'm gratified to see the people across the border interested.
"I think 20 years from now, people will look at 9/11 the way they look at the assassination of JFK today," he added, in an interview with radio host Alex Jones. "It couldn't possibly have been done the way the government told us."
In a post on its Web site Tuesday, Newsbusters said the suggestion lacked any common sense and amounted to "moral repugnance."
"Just so Fox is clear about the people whom they've given soapboxes, Geraldo and the Judge are apparently unconvinced by physics, common sense, and the simple human decency of their elected officials," wrote Newsbuster's Lachlan Markay.
Meanwhile, Media Matters Eric Hananoki wrote: "Napolitano's belief in 9-11 conspiracy theories may make things awkward with his Fox News colleagues – especially Glenn Beck - who have denounced 9-11 conspiracy theories and those associating themselves with anyone making them."
A federal report in 2008 determined fires at the World Trade Center site ultimately spread to 7 World Trade Center and weakened critical floor beams and structural columns of the nearly-50 story building, leading to its collapse. The building– which housed offices of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Secret Service and the Giuliani administration's emergency response center - was completely evacuated at the time of its collapse.
Fox News did not respond to CNN's request for comment.
From CNN Politics
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Maybe that was where they moved the dynamite that used to be in Al Capone's vault.
Ho Hum – More FOX Lies – nothing new.
I have 3 words for anyone considering listening to Geraldo: "Al Capon's Vaults".
Rumors has it that the plane was shot down in PA also!!! Even if that was TRUE, so what!
"I think 20 years from now, people will look at 9/11 the way they look at the assassination of JFK today,"
Okay, and the only reason why this is done is because people have doubts...........It's the American WAY and it's not going AWAY!!!
I have 3 words for anyone considering listening to Geraldo: "Al Capone's Vaults".
Did they find all of the stuff that was missing from Al Capone's vault in the rubble? Have a nice day!
Let's think logically for just a minute Geraldo and Judge! IF (for sake of argument) No. 7 was brought down by an explosive device, then wouldn't the responsible parties set this off SOONER, such that it could have caused much more death and meyham? Why wait until it was completely evacuated? And with everyone watching Ground Zero at that time, wouldn't someone (like EVERYONE) noticed a large BOOM before it went down, along with lots of explosive residue? (Ever watched Forensic Files?). There woudl have been LOTS of "explosive" evidence. Was everyone also in the cover up? Just sayin...
Ask him where he got the news or what made him think so? or did he witness it?
'Geraldo and the Judge are apparently unconvinced by physics, common sense, and the simple human decency of their elected officials'
Well be fair, not being convinced by the human decency of elected officials is very easy to do.
Slowly am starting losing faith in Judge Napolitano. Not only on this issue he seems to be an exceptional, I have heard him also on Fox news interviewed by Allan vigorously defending The Wiki Leak man Julian Assange! What a shame!
This coming from Fox is a suprise, how?
I am impressed they wrote "Fox News did not respond to CNN's request for comment." instead of "Fox News did not immediately respond....." Very Impressed.
Fire spread to Building 7? How can a fire spread accross cement? Until we get real answers for 9/11 (declassified documents) their will always be doubt on "WHAT REALLY HAPPEN ON 9/11"
Everybody makes theories about anything that he or she wants to but, usually, when he or she is faced against some data (factual, reliable and which doesn't offends the human intelligence and common sense) that proves his/her beliefs to be wrong he/she stops with the theories. Normal and sane people does that.
Rivera and Napolitano doesn't.
PS: Historical fact, one or two days later AFTER Dresden was bombed in February of 1945, one of it most well known buildings (a cathedral) simply collapsed because the heat of the nearby buildings in fire (the cathedral itself did not suffered a fire) had damaged its structure. Depending on the heat produced by the fire in a building, the structure of the nearby buildings can be (and most likely is) damaged by it. But don't bother to tell that to Rivera or Napolitano.
Al Capone's "vault". Enough said.
Stupidity must be contagious!
Fox News allows all kinds of different view points to be presented and debated, it is why liberal Democrats despise them so much.
Only Fox News would call these squirrels "analysts."
Please don't equate physics with the common decency of public officials.
Such a universe would be uninhabitable.
Only people who have not done their research think that Building 7 fell by itself. 1373 architects and engineers–independent professionals not paid by the government for the bogus NIST report–have signed on as not believing the official story because it defies physics. Before you spout off about "steel warping and not needing to melt" or "the nearby towers caused Building 7 to come down"–get the facts. ALL SUPPORTS could have had to fail simultaneously for the building to have collapsed in the manner in which it did and FIRE NEVER DOES THAT–the building would have collapsed in a random way, not at free fall. Same with the idea that a portion of building 7 was damaged by a chunk of another building. No way could that cause simultaneous collapse of all columns. NIST admitted fire didn't cause the collapse. Do you realize that? It was controlled demolition!
I don't see this news item worse in any shape or form from the other conspiracy theories that emanate from Fox. Why is this news? Is the world just awakening to what goes on at fox?
So, a Fox News segment "lacked any common sense and amounted to moral repugnance"?
Par for the course...
Well, in today's world all you have to do is throw something out into the media and it suddenly becomes true. Everything is equally valid. There are no untruths. Obama was born in Kenya. Human beings did not evolve. The universe is 5,000 years old. Iraq had WMDs even after two experts said they didn't. Say anything and a lot of people will believe it. Because it was said on TV it must be true.
I have a hard time believing there is a limit to how far FOX News will stoop when it comes to keeping their gut thinking wacko base hyped up on conspiracy theories. I guess even the conservatives know that some things are too far around the bend. (At least for now. Give them more time and I'm sure they will braver)
Who cares what they say? FOX News is ridiculous anyway and these two "analysts" are laughable.
I'll believe whatever Keith Olberman and Rachael Madcow say is the truth.
Its about time there was some pushback on these America-hating conspiracy theorists. Their so-called "evidence" is all bullcrap and they engage in vicious slander.
Their enittled to their opinion. There really are facts supporting both sides of the arguement over the fire being sooo hott that the buidling collapsed, and the other argument from scientist and specialized metal experts who say the building was made of a certain metal to withstand the temperatures from Jetfuel and it would take more heat by the way of an explosion to bringg the building down which people have reported to hear in the area on 9/11
They have learned how to gain exposure and wealth from their associate and female Faux contributor; say idiotic things, create controversy and your name will be everywhere.
Faaux news at its best. Where else would a guy who used to have a show where he physically fought the guest would end up?
Fire can't melt steel, can it? So maybe there is more to this story than the paid-off media would like us to believe. It's not unpatriotic to ask questions, it's unpatriotic to believe whatever you're told.
America has become the land of nutcases.
Gerald King (aka Geraldo Rivera) has always been a little nuts. He's been banned by Fox before.
Napolitano seems to be jumping off the deep end lately. Even O'Reilly took him to task for believing this Somali wannabe terrorist in Oregon should be acquitted, accusing the government of entrapment.
Typical anger baiting non-news involving media sleaze-ebrities. What caught my eye was the dreadful grammar in the article. For example:
"...may have collapsed for reasons beside the widely held belief that fire from the two World Trade Center towers nearby was the ultimate cause."
Fox News is no better than the worst entertainment tabloids found on supermarket checkout stands. What next, UFOs?
Wake up folks
Random fires don't cause "Symetrical" collapses
go to u-tube and watch old videos of the WTC being built, look at the insane amount of concrete and steel used in the interior of the construction...Then to officlal 'story' becomes just that...A Fairy Tale
So now Fox News is getting into conspiracy theories. (Okay, more into conspiracy theories.) I wonder how long until they start talking about how UFOs landed at Roswell.
Two intellectual giants
Its just Fox being Fox. Why would anyone expect anything else?
Fox news is a joke and so are the mindless republickers who host those pathetic shows. Fox news should give it up, the national enquirer needs no more competition.
This is such a poor news report. If you're going to state that building 7 came down using explosives atleast say why you think it did so.
There's no reason givern at all in this news report.
Maybe it was the same guys who looted Al Capone's tomb–ask Geraldo! The guy is a panderer to all kinds of media publicity. As for Faux News . . .
It's the Fox News Formula:
1. Facts don't matter, so long as it has a snappy headline.
2. Everything is a giant government conspiracy.
3. It's always Obama and the liberal establishment at the base of the evil.
4. Shout it with enough passion so that people believe you must be right.
5. Any criticism is proof of the liberal media bias against truth.
6. If proven wrong, don't apologize, just move on to the next hot story.
All the fox faces - including Palin - follow the same formula.
Even the Nazi propaganda! mill machine is ashamed by one of its own!! whose next the oncoming blind history professor!!. Hey Prof beck when will the blindness kick in? I'm still waiting and counting!!
It is plain to see where Geraldo is headed. I recall him drawing pictures in the sand to point out the location and movement of our troops to the enemy in Iraq. He like obama ii the enemy. I have no knowledge of judge Napolitono, but his twisted logic should disqualify him for the bench. But, that is the type Democrats attempt to stack the bench with.
Newbuster and Media Matter, leftwing media – 'nuff said.
Finally people are wising up to the fall of this building and the attack dogs want to silence it!!
I believe it was the Discovery channel along with Newsweek, that had an excellent 2 hr show debunking the conspiracies behind 9-11. Bottom line, terrorsits hijacked planes and flew them into buildings. That's it.
It's funny how these two opinion people are saying how THEY don't believe. Do they have engineering degrees? Do they have experience in structural architecture? What are they basing these beliefs on?? How are they qualified to make such assessments? Like much of the fox entertainment's staff/hosts they are NOT qualified to make the assessments they come to 99% of the time.
Yet another loony conspiracy theory... Which reminds me.. did you hear that Marilyn Monroe (a secret CIA agent) was behind the plot to put birth announcements in Hawaii newspapers when Obama was born so he could become president 47 years later even though he was born in Kenya (and a closet muslim).
Why doesn't Charlie Sheen and all his glue
sniffing celebrity conspiracy comrades
just pack their roach clips and pipes and
get the hell out of America if they distrust
the government so much.
Please, slime balls, don't stay here and
take all the abuse from the government
the rest of us are willing to take.
Just act like a tree and L E A V E !!!!!!!!!!
It sells news, to claim conspiracy. There will always be those who want to believe in such unproven theories.
Of course, it has occurred to no one, or at least I have yet to hear anyone voice the possibility......that those structures may have been flawed, to start with. How many times a month, do we hear about, somewhere in the world, buildings that just collapse.......only to find bad construction as the cause?
What is Geraldo expecting the investigation to turn up? Al Capone's vault?
Has it ever occurred to anyone that the same group of Muslim terrorists who orchestrated 9/11 also planted detonation devices outside the towers to assure that they exploded upon impact by the two planes? Even if the towers DID collapse because of causes other than fire, why does everyone jump to the conclusion that it was an "inside job" involving the government? Why would it NOT be the same group of terrorists responsible for the other two plane hijackings and crashes that day?
I concur with the conspirator theory people. As a psychic, I saw the collapse of the World Trade Center about 15 months prior to its occurrence and do know that part of what came through was "George Bush is directly involved." At the time, I did not realize that the destruction was anything other than planned, and I asked a person who was with me when I got the vision of the future why anyone would be taking down the World Trade Center in as much as it had only been built in the mid 60's. Because the event was planned and executed, I saw no danger, but also noted that in "the months and years to follow, thousands if not millions would die" and I assumed that it was perhaps because of a release of a virus or bacteria. History confirms the acts and we know the deaths to be the result of a war waged that resulted from the actions of George Walker Bush in the destruction of the World Trade Center. The truth will come out, but the perpetrators may only have their legacies soiled, rather than receiving the just punishment expected. That is a real shame. A trial of George Walker Bush for Crimes Against Humanity would at least help to restore America's standing in the world and would show the world that we are willing and able to take action when an affront against humankind has been committed.
I don't get it, what problem do both of these groups have with that? This might be the first time I'm siding with FOX News. Even if they're wrong and World Trade Center 7 came down from fires from the other two towers, that doesn't mean they're in the wrong for investigating it. I'm more confused as to why these two groups would be offended by this. That seems much fishier than anything FOX did in this case.
The real answer is locked in Al Capone's vault.
Everything FOX spouts is a "conspiracy theory"..........and all the RWs believe it.
Breath-takingly unsubstantiated, brain-dead comments by Faux News commentators. That's breaking news in the tradition of "water runs downhill" and "dog bites man".
People usually don't want to acknowledge the 800 LBS gorilla in the room, but that doesn't necessarily means that all citizens believe in their government, specially when there is no credibility in any thing or every thing the government says or does. After the oil spill in NOLA, and democrats wanted to get to the bottom of the many crimes committed by big oil, but republicans, as always, afraid to find out the truth, refused to give subpoena powers to investigators, because they already knew that those crimes had been committed, ergo, they denied subpoena powers. Which brings me to pre 9/11 accounts that corroborated, beyond any doubt, that Bush and cronies not only knew the attackers' plans, but refused to stop it. Bush was caught red handed saying that: You covered your a**, now leave me alone. And what happened when Bush had to give in to the viticms' survivors desire for an investigation and he couldn't fight it no more? He allow, over his dead body, for the investigation to star and how could he impacted so the truth couldn't be found out? No subpoena power. There is a saying that states: "You can foll some of the people, some of the time, but not all the people, all the time. He could preach to his war criminals, but many know that he had more to do with 9/11 than he admits. It's beyond belief to believe the boy who cried wolf and yet people are afraid of allowing the 800 LBS gorilla in the room and the frail democracy of ours cease to exist. And that is part why, now, war crimes are not crimes any longer and torture, extra judicial killing of prisoners have become our new justice system. O tempora! O Mores!
Do these same folks blast MSNBC or Keith Olberman for saying Bush did it? I seriously doubt it. Media Matters is a Soros controlled organization and the only media that has ever mattered to it is FOX, the rest are just fine and supported by them.
I absolutely love it.
Who really takes Geraldo seriously anyway. People that dont vote. Folks who love Springer and WWE.
Who knows! It probably came down just like the government said it did. The video does look a bit strange, and the collapse was similar to standard implosions, but strange things happen. Maybe that's just how a building that's left to burn down and collapse looks. Haven't seen many to compare it with.
This is how you demonize those who do not parrot the government group-think. Despite the fact that a very large number of experts and specialists also have their concerns, even asking the question will get you branded as morally repugnant. So much for a free, open society.
Building owner Larry Silverstein said he decided to "pull" WTC7. What else could that mean except demolition?
As for the comment re: "common sense" and "simple human decency of elected officials" - what a tard.
World Trade Center Building 7 is without question, "very problematic!" If you ask most Americans, they are not even aware that a third building collapsed on September 11. If a "minor" fire in that type of building can cause a collapse on the magnitude of a demolition impulsion, then every person in this country should be extremely concerned for their safety and those who claim to be educated and trained in engineering should be deemed without merit. It also means that we have government oversight agencies designed to insure human safety and engineering technologies/principles being compromised. Geraldo Rivera and Judge Andrew Napolitano are correct in raising the spector concerning World Trade Center Building 7 and the events of September 11.
You americans make me laugh so hard, it's true power leads to ignorance.