Things keep going from bad to worse for Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. in the so-called “phone hacking scandal,” that has morphed into a bribery scandal at another Murdoch paper.  Today police in London arrested eight people— included five from the tabloid The Sun—on allegations of bribery of police officers and defense officials.  The Sun employees are being called “senior journalists” by The Guardian, which names a deputy editor, chief reporter, picture editor and chief foreign correspondent.  This comes on the heels of Ellen’s news earlier this week that “Britain’s Metropolitan Police have acknowledged that they failed to properly investigate and warn the victims of News Corp. phone hacking when it was originally discovered in 2006.”

Sean Hannity incited a group of clergymen to break the law and claimed he would go to jail, too, in order to protest women gaining the guaranteed access to reproductive health benefits President Obama wants for them. But Fox News contributor Father Jonathan Morris upped the ante as he declared fervently, “If I’m asked to do something that goes against my conscience, I’d better be willing to die for that. If I’m not willing to die for that, what am I standing up for?”

It's funny. During the flap over the HHS contraceptive mandate, Jesus' BFFs whined about First Amendment freedoms and the separation of church and state. Yet, when Air Forces patches, which say "Doing God's Work With Other People's Money," were changed after a military atheist group complained, Jesus' inner circle whined about these evil atheists who don't understand that it's just fine to say that our taxpayer supported Air Force can invoke the name of a Middle Eastern deity. Yesterday, alleged "straight" news anchor, Bill Hemmer, provided a warm and sympathetic milieu for uber Christian congressman Randy Forbes, head of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, to whine about this latest outrage against persecuted Christians at the hands of evil atheists. Forbes was last seen, on Fox, whining about how Vanderbilt Christians are being persecuted. As Jon Stewart said, "conservative victimization is the true genius of what Fox has accomplished.

Radio host Mark Levin, whom Sean Hannity slobbers over as "The Great One," visited the Hannity show last night to hatemonger discuss, among other things, the Obama administration’s recent plan for coverage of contraception in health insurance. In his eagerness to smear the measure, Levin announced that there isn’t a problem of access to contraception. What the undoubtedly well off Levin forgot to mention – and multimillionaire Hannity didn’t bring up either – is that there is a problem of cost.

Sean Hannity is ducking Ed Schultz’ challenge to prove that Osama Bin Laden would still be alive if President Obama “had his way.” Although Schultz captured Hannity saying on Fox News that he could prove that on tape, now that he has been challenged, Hannity has decided to play the victim in the hope that nobody will notice he hasn’t come up with any tape. Well, Sean, we noticed and we’re not falling for your victim routine.

If ever there was proof that President Obama will be attacked on Fox no matter what he says, it was this segment in which Sean Hannity and Liz Cheney whined that Obama spoke too highly of the United States’ place in the world. You may recall these are the same two who have been complaining for years about Obama “apologizing” for America and questioning his patriotism.

As the mouthpiece for the GOP and the United States Council of Catholic Bishops, the Fox News channel is doing all in its power to show that the HHS contraception mandate is proof of the Obama administration's "war on Catholics." In an effort to convince viewers that American Catholics don't support the mandate, they are using a polling data from Rasmussen which, traditionally skews Republican with loaded questions posed to elicit a response that coincides with whatever right wing meme they are promoting. In this case, the Fox meme is that this policy is a violation of religious freedom and that most Americans agree. Thing is that this doesn't really appear to be the case. Details, details.

The Fox News website has an article about how a California school teacher will be fired for calling a student a "Jew Boy." The comments are the usual denigration of liberals, teachers, teacher's unions and how if kids today had the crap beaten out of them, things would be so much better. There are also other comments about how if the teacher insulted a white Christian child, she wouldn't have been disciplined. But throughout the thread there are many anti-Semitic comments from several posters, one in particular. Not only were these comments considered acceptable; but some were even "liked." Here's a sample...

Bill O'Reilly is a wealthy, conservative, Catholic, "pro-life" guy whose absolute contempt for women is shown by his relentless crusade against Planned Parenthood - an organization that provides vital health care to low income American women. Now that O'Reilly was successful in creating a climate of hatred in which an abortion doctor was assassinated, O'Reilly is turning his wrath against Planned Parenthood and never wastes an opportunity to denigrate it. O'Reilly, whose estranged wife, most likely, never had to run the gauntlet of anti-choice zealots in order to access her gynecological care, shows his "pro-life" misogyny when he says stuff like "nobody's life is affected by Planned Parenthood." But then this is the dude who also said that government shouldn't have to pay for birth control because "many women are blasted out of their minds when they have sex."  Bill continued his war on Planned Parenthood last week in his "Talking Points" which were, essentially, the talking points of those who are waging a war against women.

News Hounds has spent years documenting the lowlights of Fox and Friends, the Fox “News” Happy Talk/Agit-Prop morning tee vee show.  This past Tuesday those Foxy Friends—Steve Doocy, Gretchen Carlson, and Brain Brian Kilmeade—set a new low so low that it will live in infamy for a very long time: an EXCLUSIVE interview with Ms. Brown.  Oh! Who is Ms. Brown, you ask?  Just the newest M&M, who made her world debut at the Super Bowl, is all, doncha know?  No.  That’s not a typo.  The Foxy Friends of Fox and Friends interviewed an animated piece of candy.  To be fair: It was one of the most fair and balanced segments they ever produced, as well as the most surreal.  On the downside: it was excruciatingly bad tee vee that was little more than a 3-minute commercial for candy.