On Saturday's (5/26/12) America's News HQ, Jason Riley of the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board teamed up with host Kelly Wright in a deliberate effort to malign the NAACP's endorsement of same sex marriage as a political stunt on behalf of President Obama. But Riley took it a step further by claiming it was part of "a pattern" of instances where the organization worked against the interests of everyday black Americans. One of those instances was Riley's dubious claim that the NAACP support minimum wage laws that “disproportionately harm black workers.”

Ok, Folks, it’s time for yet another chapter of “Freedom of Religion” hypocrisy from Fox News. This instance comes from Mike Huckabee, as a guest on Fox & Friends Weekend yesterday, where he made an appearance to talk about (what else?) The HHS Mandate. More specifically, he was talking about the EWTN lawsuit or the lawsuits by 43 Catholic agencies against the Obama administration over its mandate that health insurance cover contraception. Some say it's a ploy to help Republicans. But nobody mentioned that in this segment.

According to the head honchos at Fox News, Bret Baier's evening show is the flagship for Fox's alleged "Fair & Balanced" news programming - as opposed to the clearly conservative partisanship shown on the "opinion" shows such as Fox & Friends, Hannity, and O'Reilly. Last Monday, however, Baier provided a report on the Catholic lawsuits against the HHS mandate that would seem to contradict the fairness and balance that are touted on the logo for the Fox News channel. But given that Fox "News," seems to have become the media mouthpiece of the US Conference of Catholic bishops, headed by Fox fave Cardinal Timothy Dolan whose antipathy toward the president dovetails nicely with that of the GOP, it's not surprising that the blatant bias that is such a part of Fox "opinion" programming would spill over into Fox "news" which is supposed to be "fair & balanced." Go figure!

Last night's Hannity show was an hourlong special with Frank Luntz described by Fox as "Taking America's Pulse on 2012." What they meant was "taking America's pulse on Mitt Romney" - at least as far as the presidential election goes. Because the show kicked off with Luntz' group rating two pitches for why voters should elect Romney (one pitch from Luntz and one from Sean Hannity). The pitch for re-electing President Obama? There wasn't any.

Bill Hemmer, a "devout Catholic" (one of many in the Vatican's America's Newsroom), attended Catholic high school long after I did back in the good (?) old days when Catholic students were taught that Jesus and the Pope wanted you to save your body until marriage - at which point sex was only for reproductive purposes. One assumes that the message hadn't changed all that much in Bill's happy, high school days; but one also assumes that Hemmer's cohort were equally, if not more, insouciant about the message than we were. But based on Bill's line of questioning and seeming validation of Concerned Woman for America, Penny Nance's positions (Heterosexually married and "missionary" only) it would appear that Fox News' "bantam boy toy" is still drinking the Kool-Aid which is only fitting as he's still single (so guys and gals, there's still hope) and, as such, is morally obligated to abstain. But it seems like he just doesn't understand those who don't. Oh, well....

Be thankful that you are not Bill O'Reilly's 13 year old daughter. Bill's latest column, about the travails of a dad (obviously Bill) who is attempting to deal with a 13 year old girl, is an occasionally amusing; but, as with anything else connected to O'Reilly, is more than vaguely discomforting. His latest missive details his frustration with a daughter who enjoys all the things that normal 13 year old girls do - like Glee and Harry Potter. So rather than letting the poor kid enjoy being a teen, he has established rules of conduct which include the requirement that the girl learn history so that, I guess, she can participate in highly stimulating intellectual discussions with her father. But what strikes me as troubling is the rule that that "no door in the house is closed unless there is a dressing situation" in order to "discourage Internet chicanery and encourage lively conversation." The girl, who is smart enough to recognize that her dad has no social skills, is annoyed. And that's understandable because other than "dressing situations," she's not allowed any privacy. Ick?

The Hannity show’s weekly Media Victim Mash with Brent Bozell reached new lows of credibility Thursday night (5/24/12) as guest host Tucker Carlson whined that discredited author Ed Klein’s new book attacking President Obama is being ignored by the “mainstream” media – all the while Carlson and Bozell ignored the serious problems with Klein’s integrity. Yet, still, Carlson had no problem with “joking” that MSNBC’s Chris Matthews is a “Stalinist.”

Hooray, it's Friday afternoon! And as you pop open that beer can, allow your humble servant to regale you with a selection of what the Fox Nation has been posting in the last few days.

I'm confused. I thought that Bill Hemmer anchors a'"fair & balanced" Fox "news" show. But his coverage of what Fox superstar Cardinal Timothy Dolan and his GOP apostles consider an "attack on religious freedom" doesn't seem to live up to the famous Fox logo. Wednesday, Hemmer interviewed GOP Senator Tom Coburn about the awesomeness of the lawsuits being filed, by a minority of Catholic entities, against the Obama administration. Hemmer quoted Dolan. Yesterday, former George W Bush HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said the same thing albeit with more animosity directed towards the president. Hemmer quoted Dolan as saying that Obama is "strangling" the Catholic Church. Hemmer looked as reverential as a young altar boy as the all important Dolan/Fox cannon on "religious liberty" was discussed. And today, Hemmer did more cheerleading for Dolan during another biased discussion, with another right wing male, about how the evil, librul media is ignoring what, for Fox and Cardinal Dolan, is the biggest thing to hit the Church since Martin Luther nailed that paper on the Cathedral door! While nobody is expecting the Spanish Inquisition, we do have Fox News!

On The Record has been focusing on the Wisconsin recall election of Governor Scott Walker coming up on June 5^th. Last night, in an hour-long look at the contest, Fox News’ Griff Jenkins visited a factory where Walker spoke and asked the owner and employees how they feel about Walker and the recall. Predictably, they overwhelmingly supported Walker and rejected the recall. What Jenkins did not tell the “We report, you decide” network viewers? That the results skewed far away from the likely results of the recall election.