Now that George W. Bush is unavailable for liberals' daily two minutes of hate, they are scanning the horizon for a new target. There are perennial favorites such as Rush Limbaugh, Dick Cheney and Newt Gingrich, and Lord knows we see rants against those guys on a daily basis.
But ranking up there with these guys is Fox News, the lone cable channel with anything approaching a conservative slant (and I say "approaching" because they still manage to have plenty of liberal and centrist news readers and such on the air). Only Rush Limbaugh can send liberals' blood pressures skyrocketing like Fox News can, and I've always found it more than a little amusing. Here we are, in 2009, when virtually every news outlet seems to have some fawning coverage of Teh One, but apparently the success of Fox News is still more than they can handle.
Which is why this stupidity from Amanda Marcotte is so delicious. Amanda is the poster child of lonely, ugly girls everywhere who complain because guys don't ask them to the high school dance. See, it's not that they are ugly, mean-spirited and childish. That's not why the guys are avoiding them like the plague. It's because they "have a life," which, evidently, includes considering playing video games and watching mindless TV to be a sign of intellectual superiority. What, not watching the news on a daily basis or checking out your competition for stories? Why, that's what the smart liberal blogger does.
My favorite part of Amanda's pathetic attempt at humor (which is what she would say if one were to point out how truly sad this post makes her look), is this section:
Fox News isn’t really a news station, and it’s unfair to compare it to the others. This is painful to say, because it’s not like CNN and MSNBC are reading Edward R. Murrow levels any time soon (except perhaps Rachel Maddow). But they are still news stations. You watch them, and there will be some news, some analysis, and not too many bikinis. But Fox News isn’t about the news. The news is featured, often in weird and badly spun ways, but the point of Fox News is not the news. It’s a propaganda station that also tries to entertain you with a whole lot of cheesecake...
Granted, the toxic mix of a loud sound effects, constant screen movement, T&A, alarmist bullshit about nothing, and bigotry isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, entertainment-wise. But it’s enough for a lot of people. But it isn’t news, and comparing its ratings to news is unfair. Its ratings should be compared to those of reality dating shows, which trade in the same T&A, race-baiting and scare-mongering, but just more honestly.
Obviously, Amanda must never watch MSNBC or else she wouldn't be able to claim only Fox News shows an inordinate amount of interest in bikinis and breast implants. This isn't even going into the whole teabagging incident, but, I'm sure Amanda, who only reads "serious" books during non-election years, didn't even know about that, since liberals don't watch news programs. No, Keith Olbermann's rants must just slip under the radar.
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