One of the most visible problems with current American politics, as I see it, is the association of very complex issues with stances pertaining to political affiliations. The emphasis is being taken away from the issues themselves, and onto political alliances. No more is this evident than countless forum debates, where political affiliations take precedence over the viewpoints in question. This is fueled by certain ultra-partisan individuals on both sides that use words indicating political affiliation such as “liberal” as insults.
Most responsible for this is FOX News, and it’s commentators – the likes of Bill O’Reilly and Ann Coulter. Their overt disdain of the political left is voiced on a daily basis. Behind them are 60 million viewers, including a few nutcases. FOX’ commentators regularly claim that they are politically neutral – revealing the truth – while the rest of the media world has a liberal bias.
That is complete bull, of course. FOX News is ultra-conservative, while the rest of the media is relatively politically ambiguous. They, and their lackeys, don’t get it. Criticism of government in power doesn’t mean anti-Republican. To the same effect, FOX News thinks John Stewart is a liberal puppet due to his criticisms of the Bush government. In truth, John Stewart, while left in his personal views, will make fun of anyone in power – Democrat or Republican. FOX News cannot get over this political ambiguity, instead resorting to making their own comedic answer to John Stewart that exclusively makes fun of the political left.
In this line, FOX News was recently caught editing a Wikipedia entry on Al Franken – an ultra-liberal. What business does anyone from this agency have in editing Wikipedia? Adding to the self-proclaimed media divide, by adding words such as “liberal” on front of the name of a national radio network. They also removed a negative remark about FOX News made by Franken. Yep, FOX News approves of the truth… as long as it’s their version.