Although Martha MacCallum is officially a "news anchor," she doesn't appear to take the Fox "fair & balanced" "news" mission very seriously. But today's "America's Newsroom" discussion about the fate of health care was "fair and balanced" in that the two guests represented different perspectives. Martha didn't offer any partisan commentary. So it's all good, right? Not so fast. MacCallum began with video from a $6 million anti-health care reform ad from a "women's group." However, she failed to identify the "women's group" behind the ad that provided her with the basis of the discussion about what happens if health care reform is overturned. But this "women's group" just happens to be the rip-roaring radical right wing homophobic "Concerned Women for America." And that means that the premise for Martha's piece is based on a partisan ad from not just some generic women's group but a virulently partisan one. So much for "fair & balanced!

In keeping with a "Seinfeld" character's famous phrase that "it's not a lie if you believe it," Fox & Friends continues to pimp the lie that the student "rally," to protest the removal of Lee Greenwood's ode to red state patriotism, was organized by parents and students when, in reality, it was a press appearance by a GOP candidate for the US Senate. This morning, Fox & Friends doubled down on this myth in a segment during which they interviewed US Rep. Bob Turner who showed up at the school in order to get some free PR and show his - uh - patriotism by singing Greenwood's song with kids who were dragooned into it by Turner's aides. And in addition to advancing this myth, Turner got to promote his conspiracy theory by suggesting NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was behind some "rally" heckling. So it seems that Fox & Friends is once again (think "war on Christmas") creating an alternate reality which is seems to be the favorite destination spot for today's patriotic, Christian right for whom Fox provides a mouthpiece.

Tamara Holder was a textbook case for how liberals should behave on Fox, especially on Hannity. During a debate about Fast and Furious and the House Republicans who voted earlier to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, she demanded equal time, refused to be over-talked or insulted and, best of all, refused to allow her opponent to play the patriotism card against her. The fact that Holder’s opponent was Michelle Malkin made it all that much sweeter.

In an amusing story that has also been reported on the Fox News air, Fox Nation posts that MSNBC used deceptive video editing to mislead viewers about Mitt Romney’s remarks when he visited a Wawa recently. In fact, MSNBC apologized and showed the rest of Romney's remarks. Even though the complete MSNBC video showed Romney was not misrepresented in the first place. But Fox is in no position to throw stones at anyone else’s editing. A few examples after the jump: 

As I reported yesterday, Fox & Friends seems to have taken up the cause of the church of the perpetually outraged right wingers whose newest source of agita is the removal of Lee Greenwood's right wing hymn and national anthem, "God Bless the USA" (Also known as "Proud to be an American."), from a kindergarten graduation ceremony. Thanks to Fox and numerous right wing websites, the African American school principal, who made this decision, has been the subject of racist taunts that seem to echo the sentiments of Fox Nation *comments on this topic. Yesterday, Fox & Friends did a segment on what they described as an organized protest, by the school's students, during which they sang Greenwood's song. No mention was made of the fact that it was a press event that was organized by the GOP candidate for the US Senate, Bob Turner. This morning, Brian Kilmeade, in showing video of a heckler at the event, continued the mythology of a student led rally.

Sarah Palin is the acknowledged poster-child for what Romney should avoid in picking a Vice President. But she’ll say almost anything to attack President Obama so what’s not to like if you’re Sean Hannity?  Nothing, apparently. With a straight face, the Hannity show trotted out Palin to offer her insights into the legalities of President Obama's change in immigration policy. Predictably, Palin didn't let a little thing like a lack of a law degree or expertise in immigration hold her back. Maybe she can see the U.S. borders and the Constitution from her backyard.

Predictably, Fox News is agog with excitement and anticipation over the latest developments in their Eric Holder witch hunt the Fast and Furious scandal. There's the assertion of Executive Privilege by the White house and a potential contempt citation for Holder. I'll be following the news and posting developments as I can. Please help by adding your own.

Marco Rubio tried to walk a fine line yesterday of both attacking President Obama for having changed immigration policy to avoid deporting undocumented children and at the same time advocating the same goal. The result was an argument that amounted to, “I’d come here illegally, too, but that doesn’t mean anything should be legalized."

Bill O’Reilly kept it classy and substantive tonight as he discussed President Obama’s press conference that wound up tonight. O’Reilly’s major takeaway? It was “the most boring press conference I’ve ever seen.” Then O’Reilly went on a tear against Obama for not making sense and not being blunter about how things went between him and Putin.

Voter fraud is extremely rare but that's no reason for Fox News not to keep hyping it. Today, on Fox Nation, instead of the specter of dead voters, we have the specter of dead dogs as voters. Or, as Fox Nation put it in its blaring headline: Dead Dog Receives Voter Registration Forms. (H/T reader Chris)