Is Fox even trying anymore?

"Fair and Balanced" has always been said with a smirk by the likes of Fox News personalities Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly after lengthy, pro-Christian, anti-diversity, pro-Republican diatribes. However, whenever contested, its anchors fiercely defend its network's neutrality.

In recent weeks it appears that Fox just isn't trying anymore. Perhaps they've run out of good news on which to report about their preferred party (Mark Foley, Scooter Libby and the Iraq catastrophe certainly do not help). A series of bizarre recent incidents hint that those at Fox are now hitting a new low on which to convert any lingering doubters who have the misfortune of relying upon cable news.

First, the Ann Coulter debacle. Coulter, bless her Adam's Apple, is never one for subtlety and her homophobic attack against Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards does not necessarily come as a surprise. What was surprising was the event at which the Fox News Channel regular chose to dig into Edwards' sexuality (he is married and has children, by the way), the Conservative Political Action Committee. While most CPAC attendees justifiably demonstrated initial shock at the blunt remarks, they then applauded and gave her a warm response. This event was televised on CSPAN. While many media outlets on which Coulter regularly appeared have dropped her, Fox News has not made any such moves. Instead, they appointed her the Vice President to President Rush Limbaugh on their "fake" news show (is this a joke?), The 1/2 Hour News Hour.

And boyyyy is that show bad. Hideously bad. Not only is there the same annoying laugh track that plagues almost every Fox sitcom (thank you, Arrested Development, for going another route), but the acting is awful, the punchlines are dull and its anchors hit new lows to dig at Democrats. Yes, my friends, the show relies on racism. Comparing Barack Obama's mixed ethnicity to Tiger Woods and making fun of Obama's middle name (Hussein), it is hard to fathom how this show received the green light. Then again, this is FOX.

This could very well be forgivable on a Daily Show-inspired program, but when Fox Chairman Roger Ailes blatantly compares Obama to Osama bin Laden at a black-tie dinner while consistently railing liberals and Democrats, it is fairly easy to see why the network acts as it does. Democrats pulled out of a Fox-sponsored Presidential debate shortly thereafter. When this story broke, it grabbed headlines on every major news network -- except Fox. Perhaps a bit too red-faced to acknowledge their boss' racist remarks, they quietly put the spin machine into motion and waited for their savior, Bill O'Reilly, to explain Ailes' remarks. And so he did just that, blaming MoveOn.org contributor George Soros and likening the MoveOn PAC to Dr. Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi minister of information.

I think Keith Olbermann perfectly summed up Fox News Channel by noting that the network used to be good at cleverly claiming to be "Fair and Balanced" while reporting one-sided news. Hell, it used to be fun when once in a while Hannity and Colmes sometimes agreed. Now their stance shows no effort at all to be a legitimate news organization. How depressing.