As we speak the "fair & balanced" Fox News website's big, fat lede is titled "Questionable Relations, Obama's Pick to Join NLRB Comes From Union Rife With Mob Ties and Corruption." The article, written by Fox's Doug McKelway, is a total "guilt by association" screed about how President Obama's newest National Labor Relations Board Member, Richard Griffin, was former general counsel to a union whose members have a "rap sheet" that "reads like something out of Goodfellas." McKelway, using "public documents obtained by Fox News," provides a  litany of "egregious" accusations and activities perpetrated by, as described by McKelway, the truly evil heavy equipment labor union "IUOE." Without any evidence of Griffin's connection to anything illegal, he suggests that Griffin is dirty but Americans "will never know." But the irony is that Mr. McKelway seems to be a little tainted himself. Let's dish.

As Fox News claims that it is "fair & balanced," it's appropriate that McKelway works for Fox given that he once complained about liberal bias (a favorite Fox phrase) at one of the stations where he worked.  As Fox's claim to be "fair & balanced" is contradicted by their bias, I guess it's only fitting that they would have hired McKelway who seems to have share this propensity towards right wing bias. In 2010, ABC News7 canned McElway for "insubordination and misconduct." It seems that Doug, in reporting on a Washington protest by environmental groups, during the BP oil spill, cited the amount of cash that President Obama received from BP - a fact that wasn't really relevant to the "far left" (favorite O'Reillyism) demonstration. His report also interjected a bit of subjective bias about how the Democrats wouldn't be voting for "Cap & Trade" before the mid-terms because "the last thing they want to do is propose a huge escalation in your electric bill, your utility bill, before then." (That's so Fox - framing an unfounded right wing meme as fact!)  Oh, and Doug has some anger management issues. He once threatened to punch a blogger, Mike Rogers, in the face.

So McKelway is not exactly a journalistic role model but then he does work for Fox News so it's all good...

Fox News muckraking? Or slinging muck?