They Distort, We Imbibe

These days Leftists are in a terminal state of being torqued off all the time. Lately, though, the Left's version of the blogosphere has been up in arms about Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton appearing on the Fox News Channel. Some Clinton critics say that her appearance on "The O'Reilly Factor" proved she was in cahoots with the GOP and that Fox News was nothing more than a Republican spin machine. Critics of Obama have boycotted Fox News to show that they don't feel it's a legitimate news network...and that it's a Republican spin machine.

I'm not going to be so harsh on Clinton or Obama for appearing on the "evil" Fox News Channel for one reason: it's smart politically. With the Democratic nomination process winding down, the eventual candidate will have to reach out to the people who haven't been paying attention to the Democratic race. And considering that Fox News is still a ratings giant among cable news channels, it's a good place for each one of them to make their pitch to the American public.

Also, a good number of people from the left watch Fox News because at least they try to look and sound balanced. Even some of the comments I've seen from self-professed liberals have shocked me because they've openly admitted Fox News is more fair and balanced than the other cable news networks. That goes completely against what the Leftists have said about Fox News Channel, and it speaks volumes as to how willing some of them are willing to believe their own internal noise machine without checking it out for themselves. For as much as the Left bashes Fox News for being biased, it comes off as more than a little hypocritical for them to showcase their bias in protest of what they feel (and I do mean "feel" instead of "know") is unfair treatment to their ideas.

Ah, but there's a snag that catches both Obama and Clinton, and they can thank John Edwards for it. Back in the early days of the campaign (like, say, a year or so ago), Democrats raised a stink about Fox News Channel wanting to host a Democratic debate. None of the major candidates said or did anything to officially refuse the offer. Then came John Edwards. Edwards was the first Democratic candidate of this election cycle to bash Fox News for not being balanced (to him), saying that if Fox News were to be allowed to host a debate, he wouldn't attend. Before you knew it, Obama and Clinton jumped on the "Say No to Fox News" bandwagon.

And now, Obama and Clinton have appeared on Fox News programs. I'm sure if they thought about it, they'd know they just admitted they were wrong back then.

Ouch! That one's gonna leave a mark!