Americans Are Fair and Balanced

I don’t have a TV so I only recently heard the story of the attack on a McCain supporter. Indeed just after I heard the story the “victim” had already confessed to the hoax. She was not attacked by anyone, certainly not by a "big, black man" who victimized her because of her politics.

Frankly I did not think an isolated act of violence in Pittsburgh or a hoax perpetrated by poor, sick young woman could have any impact on the election. Turns out the vice president of Fox News thought otherwise. In a blog entry John Moody, the guy who is in charge of the content of Fox News, posted a blog on the Fox website

"It had to happen.
Less than two weeks before we vote for a new president, a white woman says a black man attacked her, then scarred her face, and says there was a political motive for it."

What “had to happen”? Does Moody think it was obvious that a black man would attack a McCain supporter or does he think it is inevitable that a white female McCain supporter would accuse a Black man? Either way Moody seems to see racial relations as dangerously divisive.

"If Ms. Todd’s allegations are proven accurate, some voters may revisit their support for Senator Obama, not because they are racists (with due respect to Rep. John Murtha), but because they suddenly feel they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee."

Huh? Moody believes that if an African-American man in Pittsburgh committs a crime on a McCain supporter that some Americans would be forced to reevaluate Barak Obama?! I’m confused- is Moody suggesting that Obama was not really visiting his grandmother in Hawaii and instead was stalking ATM machines in western PA?

Oh my that’s just too silly. I guess Moody thinks that some voters will distrust Obama because he is the same race as the criminal? ! That makes as much sense as concluding that voters will question Palin because the crazy lying woman in Pennsylvania is a white woman like Palin. WHAKCO!!!!! And Mr. Moody, despite your protestations- -grouping people together because there are of one race is an essential element of racism.

Moody's assertions are scary because this man is the boss at Fox news. He views us--his audience or potential auidence- as fearful of the other and willing to cast aspersions based on race alone. Think how this must impact his decisions about content and style on Fox News. Can we trust this man to be fair and balanced?

He also wrote:
"If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting."

Yup- he is really saying that McCain’s campaign could be destroyed by one crazy chick. He is wrong- wrong, wrong, wrong.

Americans are too smart to reject Obama because some people of his race commit crimes and we are too smart to reject McCain because one of his volunteers is a seriously disturbed racist.

Moody's brief blog post explains the fear based journalism of Fox News that is contributing to disrespectful divisions in our country. CBS fired Dan Rather. Let’s see what Fox does with Moody.

I have more faith in my fellow citizens than Moody has. They deserve more wisdom from their news desks than Moody can provide. I hope lots of people have simply had too much too much of unfair and imbalanced behavior and will unite around a candidate who can inspire us.

Examples of Fox coverage.