Underscoring the close (but strictly chaste and very heterosexual) relationship that the Fox News network has with Brent Bozell's right wing media watchdog group, "Newsbusters," Steve Doocy, on yesterday's Fox & Friends, promoted a Newsbusters video that, according to a Newsbusters headline, "will make liberals heads explode." (Doocy committed the most mortal of Newsbusters sins and didn't identify the political leaning of the website!) A portion of the Newsbusters clip was shown from the Piers Morgan interview with the Buddhist holy man. But the thing is that what wasn't shown was actually something with which liberals might agree. And what wasn't shown wasn't detailed except in the context of dissing Morgan and revising past history. Once again, Fox & Friends lives up to its reputation as "the morning happy-talk show that Ailes uses as one of his primary vehicles to inject his venom into the media bloodstream."

Yesterday, Doocy reported the Newsbusters headline and proclaimed that their story shows that the Dalai Lama "absolutely loves President Bush." That Doocy didn't know when the interview would be aired, shows that he didn't read the Newsbusters article very thoroughly as it states that it would take place on Wednesday. (Yesterday) In the video, Morgan asked the Dalai Lama to name those whom he most admires. The Dalai Lama first names Nelson Mandela and then cites, as an "individual," President Bush whom he "loves very much." After Morgan asked to which Bush he was referring, the Dalai Lama said "the younger one." That's where the video ends.

However, as seen in the Newsbusters video (and transcript), the Dalai Lama continues. After he clarified that he was talking about the last president, Morgan said "really." The Lama responded: "As a human being, not as a president of America. Some of his policies may not be very successful. But as a person, as a human being, very nice person. I love him." Morgan asked him to opine, as a man of peace, on Bush's willingness to wage war. The Dalai Lama replied: "After he sort of start the Iraq sort of crisis then my other occasion meeting with him, then I expressed to him, ‘I love you, but your policies concerned, I have some reservations’ I told him."

After the video, Kilmeade chuckled over the "nine follow-up questions." (In the section about Bush, there were only two). Gretch laughed at her own joke about how Morgan asked "which one" after he fainted and picked himself off the floor like he's incredulous that it could be either one."  (Morgan expressed no incredulity and didn't faint.) Kilmeade, in reading from the Newsbusters article, "paraphrased" Morgan's question about Bush's propensity towards invasions as "aren't you a man of peace, George Bush started wars." The actual quote is "But how did you feel that President Bush went to war so much and was responsible for so many deaths if you’re a man of peace?" Kilmeade had his beloved president's back - "Oh, yeah, he's walking around starting wars." (Yeah, Brain Brian he invaded Iraq and Afghanistan - neither of which had declared war on us.)

Then came the Obama zing - Doocy says "maybe he likes George Bush because he was never hustled out the back door of the George W Bush White House during this president's..." He didn't finish his sentence because Kilmeade talked over "China tried to intimidate this administration." Doocy noted that the interview would be airing in the evening.

Aren't they cute? The "morning venom" is so much easier to swallow with all the sugary happy talk. And once again, Fox & Friends doesn't tell the whole story. Context is everything but you won't get it on Fox & Friends. And word to the Dooce - Liberals' respect for the depth of the Dalai Lama's spirituality will keep their heads intact. Sorry to cut the buzz. And BTW, speaking of cranium's, Steve, "nature abhors a vacuum!"

Video available at Mediaite.