The Fox News network provided almost non-stop validation for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops on their opposition to the HHS birth control mandate. This issue was front and center on both the Fox News "opinion" show Fox & Friends and official Fox "news" where Megyn Kelly also provided warm fellowship for the bishop's strident denunciation of the policy. Recently, however, the bishops have criticized the Paul Ryan budget as they feel that it hurts the poor. They have also spoken out against the Arizona and Alabama immigration laws because they feel that these laws infringe on the church's ability to work with immigrants. Apart from Foxpriest Fr. Jonathan Morris' reference to the immigration problem and a question from Fox News' Martha MacCallum's question to Rep. Paul Ryan, regarding the bishops' criticism of his budget, these issues aren't exactly front burner on Fox. Last week, Megyn Kelly hosted, once again, the homophobic, anti-Semitic, and blamer of victims of pedophile priests, Catholic League head Bill Donohue in order to discuss, once again, the bishop's position on religious liberty as it relates to the HHS mandate. Anything else was off the table. Wonder why. 

As the go to show for the Christian right, Fox & Friends never wastes an opportunity to showcase, as part of their patented persecuted Christian meme, how those who hate the baby Jesus are trying to tear his cross down at every opportunity. These lawsuits, based on First Amendment questions about a distinctly Christian symbol on public land, do not concern those who believe that the religiously diverse US is really a "Christian nation." The Christian warriors on Fox & Friends have provided coverage and support for the "Mojave Desert Cross" which was erected on government land but now, as a result of a court decision, will be turned over to a private veterans group in return for five acres of donated land. At one point in the coverage, Gretchen Carlson whined that evil atheists, Barack Obama, and the ACLU will soon be trying to get rid of crosses in veterans cemeteries. Kelly Shackleford, from the right wing Liberty Institute, has been the Fox & Friends point person for this issue. Yesterday, he appeared, once again, to talk about the recent court decision regarding the cross that is constantly carried on Fox & Friends.

You’d never know from watching his appearance on On The Record Friday night (4/27/12) that Allen West, the Tea Party Congressman from Florida, has come under a lot of criticism lately. Most recently, he proclaimed, “There’s about 78 to 81 members of the Democrat Party who are members of the Communist Party. It’s called the Congressional Progressive Caucus.” His inflammatory rhetoric is also why he’s been targeted for defeat by Democrats and facing a primary challenge in August. But the Republican Party is backing West and Fox News seems to be following suit.

Is there no subject that Fox News won’t turn to discredited birther Donald Trump as an expert? Fresh off his gig as an authority on Iran and the Keystone pipeline (not to mention his continuing “expertise” on President Obama and the 2012 election), Greta Van Susteren sought his insights into the killing of Osama bin Laden – as a thinly veiled excuse to attack Obama. But first, Van Susteren gave Rush Limbaugh’s hideous misogyny a pass and promoted him as a maven on the U.S. economy - i.e. other attacks on the Obama administration.

If you didn't see Jimmy Kimmel and President Obama's remarks at the White House Correspondents Dinner, we've got the video here. I thought both Obama and Kimmel were very funny. Kimmel got in some good digs at Fox News and Obama got in a great one at Donald Trump.

Fresh off his “let them eat rice and beans” solution for hunger in America, Sean Hannity now has an answer for graduates swimming in student-loan debt: Count your blessings. According to Hannity and his all-conservative panel, being in debt and then paying it off is a great thing. “You feel empowered… These are things that make you feel good at the end of the day!” Panelist Jedediah Bila insisted.

On the April 26, 2012 Your World, Michelle Malkin complained that Mitt Romney should not be calling President Obama a nice guy. Is there anything more ironic than the vicious, sneer-mongering sourpuss Malkin calling anyone else “not nice?”

On The O’Reilly Factor yesterday, Bill O’Reilly discussed the “competing dog atrocities” of Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. Predictably, Obama’s was ruled the worst. Why? Because Gutfeld said that since dogs love to stick their heads out the windows of cars, “they would love to ride on top of a car in a nice, safe little compartment.”

Rupert Murdoch testified earlier this week in the British inquiry into phone hacking by News Corp. He admitted there had been a cover up at his now-defunct tabloid, News of the World. But rather than take responsibility, he played dumb and blamed underlings for concealing the true nature of the misdoings from him. Jon Stewart took on Murdoch's dubious attempt to avoid blame. "My God, this scandal goes all the way to the bottom!"

The story of the Matthew Owens beating has been making news. Owens is an unemployed mechanic in Mobile, Alabama who was beaten by what was originally reported as a mob of 15-20 black people, following an incident with some allegedly problematic neighborhood children. Alabama.com reported that the MPD and Mayor Sam Jones didn’t want to call this a hate crime until they determined if the incident was tied to Owens’ troubled history. They also said they don’t want people stirring the race pot, because they don‘t want a Trayvon Martin type circus. Wanna guess who didn’t listen?