One thing that absolutely slays me about Fox News are the horrendously misinformed insults that the various pundits and news anchors throw at liberal-minded Americans. Worse, it comes at you twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. It really hurts your self-esteem. What really amazes me is that the network continues to call itself fair and balanced, despite the fact that no other news network carelessly hurls insults at Republicans and conservatives.
Oh, but the pundits would tell you that it's what the other outlets aren't saying that shows their bias (or, I suppose, how they are saying it). This is nonsense. For one thing, it is impossible to remove bias from any situation. Human beings aren't robots - we are thinking, feeling creatures. There is a huge difference between hinting at a view point, and coming right out with, "Liberals love America like O.J. [Simpson] loved Nicole" (Ann Coulter). Yes. She actually said that. On television.
On February 3rd, 2011, an "article" was posted to Fox Nation that both completely unnecessary and ridiculous. The following was posted under the title Liberals Hate Women and the Media Lets Them Get Away With It:
Just this week, notorious camera hog Sen. Chuck Schumer said perhaps the dumbest thing I have ever heard a politician say. In attempting to make a point about how the organs of power on Capitol Hill need to work together to prevent a government shutdown, Schumer reconfigured the three branches of government. "You know," he said, "we have three branches of government. We have a House. We have a Senate. We have a President." It should be noted that this isn't the model described in most civics textbooks, which list the three branches as legislative, executive and judiciary.
Now imagine if a Republican had said that. Better yet, a Republican woman.
I kid you not, that is the full article. There's a link at the bottom that asks you to click on it to read the full article, but it took me nowhere. First of all, this makes no sense. It takes an idiotic quote made by a Democrat and then twists it not into an accusation, but into an insinuation. The last two sentences really hammer that point home. Watch how easy this is to do.
The other day in Ms. Hamilton's second grade class, seven year old Jenny kissed fellow seven year old Douglas and gave him a terrible case of "The Cooties." Now imagine if Douglas had given Jenny cooties. Better yet, a twenty-four year old Douglas.
See? I didn't actually say anything about pedophilia, but I certainly implied it. What if I had titled the "article" Girls Love Boys and Cooties Let Them Get Away With It? Not only is this shitty journalism- it's manipulation. Or, at least, an attempt at it. A sad, transparent attempt.
Only on Fox News will you hear things like, "The Liberal assault machine" or "The radical Liberal agenda." If any of the pundits took a moment to look up the definition of "liberal," they'd immediately see how stupid that sounds. According to Merriam Webster, liberal means, "Marked by generosity; broad-minded; not bound by authoritarianism." Liberal movements are also responsible for women gaining the right to vote, civil rights, a minimum wage, child labor laws, housing loans for veterans, medicare, the Peace Corps, and Social Security.
So, sure Fox News. I suppose if I'm going to be assaulted by any radical machine, I'd definitely want it to be a liberal one. I'd literally be getting attacked with kindness. Or kittens.
"The horror!...The horror!"
