FOX News: Fair and Un-Biased My Ass

The Nevada Democratic Party is pulling out of a schedules debate that was to be co-hosted by Fox News in Reno on August 14th. The sudden pull out from the debate stems from a comment that Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes (he appears to be a larger version of Albert Hitchcock) made earlier this week. Ailes believed that it would be apposite to crack a joke comparing Barrack Obama to Osama Bin Laden by stating:

"And it is true that Barack Obama is on the move. I don't know if it's true that President Bush called (Pakistani President Pervez) Musharraf and said, 'Why can't we catch this guy?' "

Ailes’ comment capped off a tension that had been brewing for weeks, as John Edwards stated that he would not be participating in the debate due to Fox’s conservative ties. Fox News blames the cancellation on MoveOn, a “radical” left wing organization that has been calling for the debate to be cancelled with a staggering 265,000 signatories to a petition sent to the state Democratic Party.

Democrats believe that they should not have to defend themselves against such bigotry and I concur. I am not so ignorant to the world not to believe that every single American news outlet does not have a bias. But when it comes to moderating a debate, it is not the job of the so called “moderator” to throw a curveball; the politicians will throw each other enough curveballs.

Whether we like it or not, our news media will continue to put their own spin on politics. But when a news network decides to get directly involved in politics, they have stepped over the already stretched line. Plus the so called “joke” was rather insensitive. So begs the idea of whether you like Obama or not, he is a U.S. Senator, not the leader of a major terrorist organization that has claimed the lives of thousands.

The commentary by Ailes was absolutely uncalled for and his network is going to suffer the consequences in August with a lack of ratings and suffer even more as the general election approaches. If you thought that Fox News was not exactly reputable before the joke, it is fair to assume that the organization’s reputation is now debunked in the eyes of many more than before (it rhymes!).