Three cheers for Sister Simone Campbell, who appeared on The O’Reilly Factor tonight, and went toe to toe with Bill O’Reilly over helping the poor. O’Reilly tried to argue that because poverty has increased, that’s proof that social welfare programs haven’t worked. Sister Simone wasn’t buying it. She told O'Reilly in no uncertain terms that the problem is stagnant wages.

Sean Hannity must have developed a severe case of amnesia because he insisted to Democrat Lanny Davis two nights ago, “I don’t remember anybody on the right calling President Obama a murderer, a criminal, a tax cheat, a felon or a racist.” Later, Hannity decried the race card, saying, it “doesn’t really get lower than that, does it, Lanny?” Not only have people on the right done exactly that, many of those accusations and tactics have been used right on Hannity and elsewhere on Fox News. Sadly, Davis seemed more interested in sucking up to conservatives than he was in advocating for his own side.

There’s nothing like the Olympics to bring out the jingoism and racism in some people - like some people who post at the Fox Nation. Its readers have gotten quite exercised over a post about Leo Manzano, the Mexican-born silver medallist in the 1500 metres, who competed for the US but displayed both the Mexican and American flags during his post-race lap. The Nation's post was based on a disapproving commentary by Ruben Navarette on cnn.com. “Sooner or later,” Navarette lectured Manzano, “you have to choose which country you're going to represent. And you did. You made that choice, when you put on the jersey for Team USA. …This country took you in during your hour of need. Now in your moment of glory, which country deserves your respect -- the one that offered nothing to your parents and forced them to leave or the one that took you all in and gave you the opportunity to live out your dreams?” 

Part of Fox News' propaganda genius is its ability to frame its messages in terms of the noble us vs. the evil them. The narrative is further enhanced by smearing those deemed to be enemies of the Fox/right wing state of mind  (think "Ground Zero Mosque" and the "War on Christmas.")  In validating the position of the supporters of "religious liberty" vs. the alleged overreach of the Obama HHS,  Fox News had no problem trashing and mocking Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown student who provided testimony, to a Democratic congressional committee, regarding the importance and fairness of contraception coverage with no co-pays for Georgetown students. Fox's "The Five," a show that delights in personal attacks, attacked her. Greg Gutfeld, who gets indignant when conservative women are targeted, whined that she is "the poster child for whiny entitlement." Eric Bolling claimed she was a White House operative. Now that Fluke is campaigning for the president, "The Five" continued their attack by using the Fox patented Chick fil-A controversy to compare the evil "political opportunist" Fluke with the noble Chick fil-A worker who encountered a bully. As propaganda, sheer genius - As personal attack, vile. But then, it is "The Five."

Remember when Jerome Corsi was a somewhat regular guest and topic on Fox News? For a long time, the co-author of the Swiftboat book attacking John Kerry has gotten favorable treatment by the network - something he seems to have forgotten, because now he’s declaring war on the hand that used to feed him. In a recent Youtube rant, Corsi attacks Fox News for being “packed with leftist commentators,” an accusation he seems to base solely on the presence of host Bob Beckel (grudge much?).

In a lengthy interview on Fox News Sunday today, guest host John Roberts asked, “Should the Democrats be releasing an ad that accuses a presidential candidate… through inference, of being responsible for a woman’s death?”

It's official: Sarah Palin will not be one of the speakers at the upcoming Republican convention in Tampa. That's not really a big surprise. What is at least somewhat surprising is that she made the announcement on BFF Greta Van Susteren's blog. UPDATED: It doesn't look like she'll be doing any campaigning with the candidates, either.

While the US Conference of Catholic Bishops has become a very right wing entity that is in synch with the GOP on stopping gay marriage and rolling back reproductive rights, they, as well as liberal Catholics, are a bit concerned about the fiscal priorities of Mitt Romney's running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, whose views on abortion and gay marriage follow Catholic teachings but whose budget, they feel, has a severe impact on our most vulnerable. And that's why, as the "Church Lady" would say, it seems to be rather "special" that the day after Romney's announcement, Fox News is using its power of the right wing pulpit to put its "imprimatur" on Ryan's candidacy by using its personal Catholic priest and Roger Ailes' special friend, Fr. Jonathan Morris (unlike other clergy who occasionally appear on Fox, he has a weekly Sunday gig) to frame the Fox message that Paul Ryan is a very good and true Catholic whose critics have it all wrong. There are priests who have concerns about Ryan but you won't see them on Fox where Fr. Morris who is never adverse to bending over backwards (or forward - metaphorically speaking) in pushing GOP propaganda and, as such, knows best!

As more of the Fox News gusherama over Mitt Romney’s choice of Paul Ryan for vice president, “objective” host John Roberts and “objective” reporter Carl Cameron, helped promote the Romney campaign’s spin that Ryan would give the ticket an 11-point bounce in the polls. For closers, Cameron, compared Mitt Romney's gaffe in introducing Ryan as the "next president of the United States," and suggested it could be a sign "he's going to pull off the upset."

Fox News has been gushing all day about Mitt Romney going along with their choice of choosing Paul Ryan as a Vice Presidential candidate. As part of the enthusiasm, host Bret Baier asked Fox contributor Stephen Moore – who just happened to be in Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin – if Ryan would be a factor in the youth vote. You betcha! Why? Because he walks into meetings listening to Metallica and Led Zeppelin on his IPod! And he’s an avid bow hunter!