Newt Gingrich’s fortunes may be on the slide, but at least some people at Fox News are giving him an opportunity to try and recoup them. 

Frank Luntz did a Fox News special yesterday that purported to be a “Florida Primary Preview” but was more like a Republican candidate jamboree. After bringing on the presidential candidates, Luntz trotted out Rep. Allen West who just so happens to be up for re-election in what Luntz suggested would be a tough campaign. I’ll assume that the show was recorded before West made his hideous comments the night before saying that President Obama and other Democrats should “get the hell out of the United States of America.” But West already had a history of unhinged attacks on Democrats. When one of Luntz’ audience members confronted West on it, Luntz jumped in to maneuver the conversation so as to make West look good.

Fr. Jonathan Morris' upward mobility shows that he's quite the mover. While he seems like your average parish priest, he is hardly that. In 2002 he was ordained as a priest in the wealthy and secretive Legionaries of Christ which was founded by the disgraced Fr. Marcel Maciel. By 2005, in addition to a cushy assignment as the rector of the Legionaries' seminary in Rome, Morris had joined Fox News. He subsequently left the Legion and ended up at Old St. Patrick's Cathedral and not in some poor church in the outer boroughs. So he's got a daytime job and he's doing all right. I joked, in an earlier post, about how his friendship with NY Archbishop Dolan shows that he has friends in high places. It seems that that he has another friend in another very high place - no, not "the big guy" in heaven, but the "big guy" at God's own network, Fox News. Could it be that Roger Ailes hearts Fr. Morris? Hmmm.....

You could be forgiven for having missed it.  For one thing it took place on the rarely seen Fox Business Channel.  For another, it was lost amid all the Fox “News” Phony War On Christmas hysteria late last year.  However, back in early December Bully Boy Eric Bolling went out on a very shaky limb and asked, “Is liberal Hollywood using class warfare to kind of brainwash our kids?” and “Where are we, Communist China?” when he intimated that The Muppets were Commie Pinkos, who created generations of Manchurian candidates, remarks he was eventually forced to walk back.  While walking it back he challenged Kermit and Miss Piggy to a Donald Trump moderated debate; a brave move since he knows he has no hope winning such a one-sided match against sock-puppets.  Still, The Muppets still took the high road and did not respond to Bolling’s troll bait.  However, at a recent press conference the question could not be avoided.  Both Miss Piggy and Kermit were asked about Bolling’s remarks and their answers demonstrated why they have been trusted by generations of parents to entertain their children: They spoke inconvenient truths without sugar-coating it.  The ball’s now in the Fox “News” court.  Watch:

Sarah Palin visited Justice with Judge Jeanine Saturday (1/28/12) where she simultaneously promoted Newt Gingrich’s candidacy and pretended she was not endorsing anyone. As she lectured about her reasons for wanting the primary to continue and what she thought of the candidates, she ridiculously claimed that Gingrich and Romney were “very close” in the polls in a match up with President Obama. “The math is the math,” she claimed – and then got that math very wrong.

If Atlanta’s Fox Five News reporter Chris Shaw thought that painting crackpot birther Orly Taitz as a legitimate lawsuit plaintiff would get him noticed at GOP News HQ, aka Fox News, he did a fine job on Friday (1/27/12). Shaw’s biased, unbalanced reporting about a hearing in one of Taitz' numerous lawsuits earned him a place on FoxNews.com’s “Featured Videos.” Check out all the subtle but unmistakable cues that Shaw used to impart credibility to the widely discredited Taitz and cast doubt on President Obama’s legitimacy. Sadly, some of the same tactics were later used by Bret Baier on Special Report.

Earlier, I asked whether Fox News would condemn Rep. Allen West for saying liberals, Democrats, President Obama and Nancy Pelosi should "get the hell out of the United States of America." Not surprisingly, we have an answer already and it's "No." Fox Nation - the website that boasts about its devotion to civility, tolerance and love for America - has posted about West's remarks in the most forgiving way possible without just coming out and saying, "no problem!" Editor Jesse Watters (he, of the O'Reilly ambush interviews) has posted a headline of the quote and described the comment by saying, "Rep. Allen West addresses the GOP and expresses his views on Obama, Reid and Pelosi."  Even more sickeningly, the Fox Nation readers found the comments "inspiring."

As Jon Stewart wisely said, "conservative victimization is the true genius of what Fox News has accomplished." Nowhere is this victimization more prominent than in Fox's pandering to the meme of Christians who are being victimized at the hands of the "politically correct" forces of secularism that are trying to purge God from America. The reality is that there are no Christian persecutions and that it's a certain kind of Christianity, aided and abetted by Fox "News," that seeks to impose itself everywhere, including during an airline's meal service which is, based on my experiences, not one of the more sublime aspects of flight. Passengers on Alaska Airlines have complained about the inclusion of Psalm cards with their mystery meat and the cards are being discontinued. And official Fox clergyman, Father Jonathan Morris, is just so upset.

Fox News Sunday surprised Rep. Paul Ryan today when, at the end of his interview, host Chris Wallace said, "We also want to note that it's your birthday, and your 42nd birthday." As he spoke, someone crept up behind Ryan with a large cake with a "$" on it. Ryan, of course, is Chairman of the House Budget Committee. "You've gotta be kidding me!" Ryan said. Sadly, they were not. Ryan was handed a knife and Wallace asked him to cut the cake, even though Ryan said he doesn't eat sweets.

Congressman Allen West (R-FL) spoke in West Palm Beach last night where he topped himself with unhinged hatred for his fellow Americans. This time, West said liberals should “get the hell out of the U.S.” Not surprisingly, this caused a bit of a stir among Democrats. So will those America-loving folks at Fox News condemn these comments? You know that if a Democrat ever said any such thing, especially one up for re-election, it would be a 24/7 topic for discussion on Fox. Or will Fox whitewash and defend the remarks the way it did with his offensive rant against Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz? UPDATED