As part of its role as the media mouthpiece for the religious rights, Fox News has now become the media defender of Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson who, in a GQ interview, made very disparaging and vile comments about gays and displayed an extraordinary ignorance of the realities of Jim Crow. So it's not surprising that Fox host, possible presidential candidate, professional Christian, and radical right wing homophobe Mike Huckabee would be leading the Fox cheerleading squad that is not only defending Robertson but claiming that it's really the gays who are bigoted. On Monday, Huckabee, once again, pimped his Facebook petition in support of Robertson and in so doing articulated the standard Fox argument that Robertson was just stating his faith and, according to the aw shucks Huckabee, saying the same things that lots of Jesus loving, Southern Christians say. 

Budget cuts have so reduced an Oregon county sheriff's department that armed vigilantes have formed to take up the slack. Think George Zimmerman on steroids. Not surprisingly, FoxNews.com has some glowing words.

Nothing says Christmas more than the Fox friends getting all warm and fuzzy about Christmas with Sarah Palin who, in case you didn't know, is valiantly trying to save Christmas from "angry atheists" who are trying to "abort Jesus." On Christmas Eve, the Fox Friends, in a warm and fuzzy ersatz Christmas cabin, once again, paid homage to Palin's new Christmas book in which she shares warm and fuzzy memories of past Palin Christmases. And just to make sure that all you ACLU type heathens know that she is Jesus' very own emissary in spreading the "true" meaning of Christmas, she shared some of her patented wisdom about what happens if you "boot" Jesus from - wait for it - civilization, you betcha!

On a special Fox & Friends Christmas show yesterday, Fox News found a new way to use the season to stick a thumb in the eye of those they disagree with – in the name of Jesus:  a special Christmas message from Duck Dynasty’s Willie and Korie Robertson. They’re the son and daughter-in-law of the beleaguered (and newly martyred on Fox) Phil Robertson.

For the Christian right, who see the increasing secularization of America as the demise of all that is good and holy, the Fox News enabled imaginary "war on Christmas" is a way to "take their country back." It is all about in-your-face Christianity and as such, is really, a form of bullying directed towards Jews, atheists, and others who, in the minds of the Fox/Christian right, do not show the proper respect to Christian tradition. But for Fox, it's just another way to scapegoat those who aren't "one of us" as well as a way to reinforce the notion of constant Christian battle with the forces of darkness. So what better way to celebrate Christmas Eve than to push this bogus war on this morning's Fox & Friends where second stringer Kelly Wright provided a historical basis for the war on Christmas as documented by bizarro world historian Mike Huckabee whose DVD teaches kids that Christmas is all about God and country. There is rich irony in the Fox title of the video which asks "does the war on Christmas teach kids intolerance." The answer is "you betcha

If ever you needed proof that Sarah Palin has been using the Duck Dynasty controversy for her own attention-getting purposes, consider her admission on Fox News last night that she doesn't know what Phil Robertson actually said that got him into so much trouble. This after spending a week publicly defending him.

Is Fox News running a contest for who can liken Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson to the greatest man? Last week, a guest likened him to Martin Luther King. Yesterday, Mike Huckabee suggested Robertson and President Obama are on the same gay-rights page. Tonight, Martha MacCallum suggested Robertson shares the same views on gays as Pope Francis. What’s next? Robertson is that white Santa Claus Megyn Kelly has been dreaming of?

In addition to invoking freedom of speech and religion, the defenders of Duck Dynasty Phil Robertson brush off his vile comments about homosexuality because he was only referencing his faith. As such, protests about Robertson's comparison of being gay to other nasty things, including bestiality, are seen as attacks on Christianity because, hey, God hates fags and you can't argue with God. As the mouthpiece for the Jesus loving, homo hating religious right, Fox talkers have jumped onboard the Phil Robertson was merely stating what Christianity teaches bandwagon. Of course, not all Christians believe what Robertson believes but you won't hear that on Fox News which dismisses those outside the fold of evangelical Christianity and Catholicism. This was apparent on Sean Hannity's show when Hannity brought in two priests to validate the view that poor Phil was just articulating what everybody knows; i.e., homosexuality is a sin. 

On Saturday’s Forbes on Fox, host David Asman “asked” if it’s “time to cast away these expensive tax-payer funded navigators once and for all?” Predictably, four of the six members of the “fair and balanced” panel thought so. However, panelist Rick Ungar gave as good as he got.

As part of  his annual Holy Ghost inspired crusade to save Christmas, Bill O'Reilly directs much of his Christmas venom towards atheists who, given the hysteria surrounding their holiday signs, must really present a threat to O'Reilly's supposedly staunch Catholic faith. (I mean, otherwise, why the hysteria?). O'Reilly also doesn't hesitate to name the names of those who are attacking the baby Jesus such as the  Freedom From Religion Foundation which, according to O'Reilly, is part of the plan to destroy all that is sacred. But Bill might actually be able to take credit for some Christmas victories. As with the murder of Dr. Tiller, we can't say if Bill is directly responsible; but we can say that Bill has created a climate of Christmas fear and loathing in which a Salvation Army bell ringer was allegedly punched for saying "happy holidays. He might also be able to take credit for attempted arson involving an atheist sign about Saturnalia!