Dems and the Big, Bad, Fox News
By Chuck Hyde, Editor of StandBesideHer.com
Fox News had a arrangement with the Nevada Democratic party to hold a debate in August among hopefuls for the Democratic presidential nomination. The Nevada Democratic party led by nominee wannabee John Edwards and the ultra leftist Moveon.org has backed out of the agreement because FNC is too conservative and picks on Democrats. While I, like all other Republicans in the US, would like to see John Edwards win the nomination, this is not a column about why John Edwards is not qualified to be President of the US. Instead I want to talk about this fallacy that FNC has a strong anti-Democrat agenda and finally why these developments in Nevada should scare every thinking Democrat in the country.
First the notion that FNC is working to destroy the Democratic Party. While this is a nice sentiment and I would send them money if I thought it would help, there is not a conspiracy at FNC against the Democratic Party. Admittedly FNC leans right. The majority of their commentators are right leaning. Not all of them are though. FNC has on air staff that are moderate, some are even (gasp) liberal. Has John Edwards ever seen Alan Colmes, he can make Al Franken blush. Colmes is an equal member of his show with Sean Hannity and has his own Fox News Radio show.
I’ve watched a lot of news programs. I have had a news addiction since my mid teens and my mid teens are getting farther away everyday. One thing FNC does that none of the other cable or broadcast networks do is offer both sides of an issue. While the commentators might be right leaning, when they have a discussion with guests they almost always have someone from both sides of the issue to offer a “Fair and Balanced” analysis of the issue. I challenge any of the FNC critics to find another network that comes close. I have watched MSNBC and they don’t even pretend. CNN is on in the break room at my real life job and they typically have panel members that are on the show merely to support the liberal position of the commentator.
What FNC does not do that the other networks do is they do not act as cheerleaders for the Democratic Party. Therein lies the problem. The broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC), the Associated Press, CNN, MSNBC, the NY Times, the LA Times, among others have always been part of the PR arm of the DNC. FNC holds Democrats accountable and they do not like it. My guess is that CNN or MSNBC did not run features on Mr. Edward’s comment about Jesus being upset about the selfish pursuits of American’s while himself living in a 6 million dollar, 28,000 square foot mansion. I also would bet that neither CNN nor MSNBC ran a story about the staff member for Mr. Edwards who was muscling some poor employee at their local Wal-Mart’s for a hard to get video game on the same day Mr. Edwards was making a speech before a union group about the evils of Wal-Mart. The other networks gave little to no mention of the anti-Catholic, profanity laced tirades that members of Mr. Edward’s campaign staff posted on their web sites and his subsequent support of them. The other networks always looked the other way on stories like this one. This scrutiny confuses Democrats like Mr. Edwards, they thought that the news media’s only reason to exist was to bash President Bush.
Finally, why the main stream Democrats should not celebrate this ‘victory’ over FNC for too long. This drive to cancel the debate was led by ultra-left leaning web sites, chief among them Moveon.org. This is not a good thing for the Democratic party. This is a group that is far outside of the mainstream of America and it is not helpful to appear that they are in the drivers seat. Members of Moveon.org have bragged in the past that they own the Democratic Party. I think it is apparent that they at least own Mr. Edwards and the Nevada Democratic Party. While I, as a strong supporter of the Republican Party, welcome this association. I would think that having Moveon.org appear to ‘own’ the Democratic Party would make most mainstream Democrats very uncomfortable. That’s what’s on my mind.
About The Author: Chuck Hyde is editor of StandBesideHer.com. He is also a husband and father of two teenage boys and a younger daughter. His family lives in the northern Midwestern rural United States, where they enjoy camping, fishing, and other outdoor activities together. Chuck is a Registered Nurse in an inner city emergency room and has had a lifelong addiction to politics.
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