FOX News is not so much a news organization, but a network that uses news as a programming tool.  Emphasis on tool!---

I have been a news junkie most of my life and watch and listen in hopes of learning what is going on and who is doing what to whom.  Growing up in the days of Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Chet Huntley and the others of that era, I felt that what I was getting was the scoop on the days events.  There was a dignity to news back then with the New York Times, The Grey Lady, as the holy grail of print media and all these news organs were for the most part trusted sources of information.

Cable News was created by Ted Turner with CNN.  It worked and others followed the model.  FOX News was the creation of Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdock.  Ailes is the guy who created Rush Limbaugh when he found him at KFBK in Sacramento.  Ailes also was an insider during the Nixon Administration and cut his teeth on dirty politics, not that Nixon invented the practice.  If you want to see dirty politics you have to go back to the 1700's.

Now anybody who has a computer can have a blog and profess to provide the latest inside scoop on anything they like.  I'm a perfect example of this.

Back to FOX News....They are the leader in ratings for cable news networks and it is easy to see why.  They are more entertaining than their competetors.  MSNBC has really only two shows that are worth watching.  Keith Olberman and Rachael Maddow.  Their shows are informative and entertaining.  Their slant is from the left and that's great.  FOX News is slanted from the right and depending on who's on, there is no limit to how far right they can be.  When you have Hannity and Beck making shit up and throwing it out there on a nightly basis it becomes really nutty.  However O'Reilly is just plain obnoxious and I can take any of these shows only for a few minutes.  I flip back and forth between O'Really and Olberman and when O'Reilly is on my wife yells at the TV and I have to change it before cooking utensils start to fly.

All this said, lets be clear.  FOX hates Obama, Democrats, Liberals and anybody who is from a left perspective.  That's great as long as you know this going in.  If you are like some who think that FOX is giving you the truth then you suffer from intellectual malnutrition.  Take these networks for what they are.  The worst thing the Obama Administration can do is to even mention any of these networks at all.  There was a great cartoon illustrating how futile and stupid taking on FOX can be.  It showed a cartoon character of Obama in a mud pit wrestling with a pig labled as FOX News.  The pig was grinning and somebody standing on the edge of the pit was yelling at the Obama character to stop, saying; "You're only getting yourself dirty and the pig loves it".

That is what the Obama Administration is doing and the net effect is to give FOX more publicity and higher ratings.  When you are in office you should learn from the news media what is being said about you but never get into a pissing contest with a skunk.  You will loose and the smell is tough to get rid of.  Rush, Hannity, Beck, O'Reilly and the countless dickheads on Talk Radio who emulate these dickheads are loving every minute of it.  My only hope is that people who listen and watch these train wrecks will take a deep breath and realize where the truth lies and where the lies really are.  Then there are those who feel validated in what they hear from these snake oil sales men and feel good living in the swill that is FOX News and their kind.