If you don't think that Fox Nation deliberately ratchets up hate and divisiveness, then check out its latest attack piece on Attorney General Holder - and the reader reaction that went with it.

The cycle of hate begins with a post from the discredited Holder hater, J. Christian Adams. None other than conservative Republican Angela Thernstrom, a former colleague of Adams, has blasted him for making phony accusations against Holder over a voting intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party.

Politico reported, “This doesn’t have to do with the Black Panthers; this has to do with (Adams and others') fantasies about how they could use this issue to topple the [Obama] administration,” said Thernstrom.

I've previously written about Fox's attempts to "ACORN-ize" Holder. In this instance, Adams dragged Holder's name into an article about Pennsylvania state Democrats supposedly taking bribes to oppose a voter ID law in the state legislature. "Where is Holder?" Adams asked accusingly in his headline. It was picked up verbatim by Fox Nation.

You have to click past the Fox Nation article to Adams' article on PJMedia and then click another link to find the original article, an in-depth report by the Philadelphia Inquirer. They reported what Adams and Fox Nation did not: a Republican District Attorney in Pennsylvania had called the case "almost unprosecutable." Although the DOJ declined to comment on why they did not pick up the case, the Inquirer suggested other reasons besides impropriety: "It's not clear if federal prosecutors shared (Governor) Kane's concerns (about entrapment and other issues of the case's integrity), were reluctant to adopt an investigation begun by others, or simply didn't want to be seen as taking sides in a dispute roiling a companion law enforcement agency."

Instead, Fox Nation quoted from Adams' sneering suggestion that Governor Kane's failure to prosecute was due to racial favoritism. Which is shaping up to be a regular theme with him. Notice the language that paints Kane as racially guilty until proven innocent:

Kane’s excuse for her inaction? Racism: some of the legislators caught on tape accepting bribes were black Democrats from Philadelphia. From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

In a statement to The Inquirer on Friday, Kane called the investigation poorly conceived, badly managed, and tainted by racism, saying it had targeted African Americans.

Those who favored the sting believe Kane killed a solid investigation, led by experienced prosecutor Frank G. Fina, that had ensnared several public officials and had the potential to capture more. They said they were outraged at Kane’s allegation that race had played a role in the case.

With that deliberate racial and political provocation, the readers erupted into racial and political hate:

I checked shortly before this post was published and the comments are still there. Also, we have posted disturbing comments from "Buck Ferry" previously. It's shocking, but not surprising, that he has not been banned from Fox Nation.

All this from a website that touts its civility and tolerance in its Statement of Purpose:

We believe we should enjoy the company and support of each other, delighting in the creativity, ingenuity, and work ethic of one and all, while observing the rules of civility and mutual respect and, most importantly, strengthening our diverse society by striving for unity.

The Fox Nation is committed to the core principles of tolerance, open debate, civil discourse, and fair and balanced coverage of the news.

So either Fox Nation has a warped idea of civility, mutual respect and unity (not to mention fair and balanced news coverage) - or they're liars. I report, you decide!

(H/T reader J.L.)

Photo credit: Aaron Bassett via photopin cc