If the sincerest form of flattery is imitation, Fox “News” must be pleased as punch that MSNBC has taken the round table idea of The Five—still the worst show on Fox “News,” if not all of tee vee—and perfected it in two different 2-hour shows on weekend mornings, “Up With Chris Hayes” and “Melissa Harris-Perry” at 8am and 10am respectively.  These shows are examples of what The Five could be if only Fox “News” didn’t start with the assumption that it is broadcasting to the lowest common denominator. 

On Friday night's "Factor," Bill O'Reilly lambasted media coverage of the Trayvon Martin case on those networks that he deems anathema. He discussed the issue with Mike Huckabee and in his "Talking Points." He warned that librul media coverage, which brings up the racial elements of the story (sssh, no possible race issues here, move along), could lead to violence on the part of those who want a conviction of the shooter, George Zimmerman. (O'Reilly thinks that African Americans are incapable of self-control?). O'Reilly's accusations against the librul media bring to mind the saying about pots meeting kettles given that he's accusing them of the type of journalistic irresponsibility and possible malfeasance that he made into an art form in his crusade against abortion provider Dr. George Tiller. It's ironic that O'Reilly warns about how national television coverage could, potentially, result in violence when, in the case of Dr. Tiller, the violence took the form of the murder of Dr. Tiller. But O'Reilly did win a "Courage Award" for his efforts so it's all good.  

During a Fox & Friends segment with Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) yesterday, it’s hard to believe a single viewer missed the message that Ryan’s budget was a reason they should vote Republican.  Steve Doocy all but waved a GOP campaign banner as he called Democrats the party of “big government” and added, “If you want a party that’s making some hard choices, vote Republican.”

It's been almost three years since Sean Hannity promised to undergo waterboarding for charity. Or to put it another way, it's 2 years, 11 months and 10 days.

Last night, Sean Hannity devoted an entire segment to a quiz show where all the questions were, “Who said…” followed by a verbal gaffe. All the answers were multiple choice: George W. Bush, Sarah Palin or Barack Obama. Guess what the answer was each time? 

Leave it to Fox News to use even the Mega Millions lottery to bash President Obama. Fox Nation dug up a 2000 clip of then State Senator Barack Obama criticizing lotteries as a “regressive tax” that targets poor people to spend money they may not be able to afford. On Hannity last night, Sean Hannity called that another example of “class warfare” from President Obama. Guest James Taranto, from the Wall Street Journal, took it a step further. He waved off any concern by explaining that poor people play the lottery because they’re stupid and suggested they deserve to lose.

Like Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly is concerned about not rushing to judgment in the Trayvon Martin case. Also like Hannity, what O’Reilly really means is that blacks and liberals should not rush to judgment against shooter George Zimmerman who seems to have racially profiled the unarmed Martin before shooting him. Because when it came to Dr. George Tiller, an abortion provider, O’Reilly convicted him when the only crime committed was that of not comporting with O’Reilly’s version of morality.

On Monday night (3/26/12), Bill O’Reilly hosted Caroline Fredrickson, president of the American Constitution Society, supposedly to debate him on his position that the individual mandate in "ObamaCare" is unconstitutional. But after giving himself a nice stretch of time to offer up his views without any distractions from his guest, he refused to grant Fredrickson – the real constitutional expert - anything close to the same opportunity. In fact, she barely had a chance to speak at all without being interrupted. At one point, O’Reilly threatened to “abort the segment right now” if she didn’t answer his question the way he wanted her to answer it - as she tried to challenge one of his previous statements. It was O’Reilly boorishness at its worst.

In order for any message to be effective, in should be repeated. As a meme is reinforced, it becomes a narrative. Such was the case with the recent trio of Fox News programs devoted to promulgating the anti-HHS, "religious liberty" crusade of Fox friend, NY Cardinal Timothy Dolan who is also head of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops which wants a religious exemption from the birth control mandate not just for Catholic institutions but all employers whose Taliban views religious beliefs do not approve of birth control. Bill O'Reilly set the agenda with his Dolan interview on Wednesday night during which Dolan claimed that the HHS mandate is "an attack on the Church."  Yesterday, Steve Doocy continued the Fox/Dolan agitprop about how the Obama administration is "at war with the Catholic Church." The meme was further reinforced on "America's Newsroom" during a discussion on the same topic.

As a reflection of the GOP right wing, Fox News is, for the most part, very "Caucasian." And like their fellow melanin challenged fellow political travelers, Fox News is not fond of African-Americans who assert themselves. As such, Fox sometimes finds it necessary to scold and smear these "uppity" folks such as the Rev's Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson Jr. And who better to provide some right wing badass screed cred and flava than *"Dr" Alveda King, the radical right wing niece of slain Civil Rights hero Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She can always be counted on to articulate right wing talking points, smear liberal blacks, and provide a shout out to her peeps in the anti-abortion movement. Such was the case on yesterday's alleged "news" program "America's Newsroom," during which Ms. King accused the above mentioned black leaders of "playing the race card" over the Trayvon Martin case. And as anticipated, she worked in a "pro-life" message with a truly bizarre comment about how Trayvon's shooting was a "late abortion". But there's some irony in her accusing others of using the "race card" as that seems to be a trump card in the Fox News deck!