You Go Fox !

I like Fox News a lot. Beginning back in 2001, I began to watch it almost exclusively, although I frequently check things out on CNN and MSNBC for comparison and to remind myself why I like Fox best. Why? Well, it is because Fox chooses their stories--i.e., what stories to emphasize--in the same way that I would. All news shows filter the news by doing this, not just Fox. I believe that their choices are more "fair and balanced" than the other stations overall. My favorite show is Brit Hume's report every evening. I think it is simply the BEST news show on TV.

Well, Fox News is finally getting some praise. This is possibly slightly more astonishing than the fact that President Bush's policies are being credited with some of the transformation going on in the Middle East (see here, for example)! New Sisyphus declares that the station, by providing the public with information about the Saddam-UN-Oil-for-food Scandal has played an important role (along with Bush) in leading to a transformation of sorts at the UN.

Actually, there's much much more in the post than good words about Fox and you should definitely read it all. Here is a sample:

What is responsible for the momentum of change sweeping through the United Nations at the moment?

The answer lies in four related but separate phenomena: Fox News and other conservative media, the rise of the Blogosphere, the Republican majority in the United States Congress and, most importantly, the President himself. Each has played a role which, together, has created a moment of pressure that is bending an unwilling United Nations to the American view of what is to be done.

Fox News and the Oil-For-Food Scandal

First, it is clear beyond doubt that had Fox News not pursued the United Nations Oil-For-Food Scandal, no one would have. It is simply a fact that the kind of international bureaucratic corruption the story implicates is of no interest whatsoever to the MSM, for reasons both political and cultural.

Political, because to target one’s political bedfellows is simply bad tactics. Much better, like in today’s Washington Post for what must be the 116th time, to take perfectly ordinary Congressional junkets attended by left-wing-scare-monster Tom DeLay and sneer and slime about it enough until there is the “appearance” of scandal. (The next step in the liberal playbook of course, is the serious and high-minded editorial that points out that while no actual corruption can be proved in this instance, it is the duty of all good public servants of the Republic, and especially [insert conservative’s name here], to resign since even the appearance of corruption weakens our democratic system and the public’s faith in our institutions of government.)

Cultural, because despite all evidence to the contrary, it is simply a matter of faith among liberals that the United Nations is an embryonic trans-national governing body that uses democratic norms to enforce the ever-increasing tangle of legal obligations that will usher in, if not world government, at least an international consensus of good behavior. It simply stuns and amazes us that people continue to believe this despite the record of abject failure of the U.N to act in Bosnia, Kosovo, Rwanda, Cambodia, Iraq and, now, Sudan. Fortunately for liberals, there are always a number of academics to explain why the latest genocide is really the United States’ fault, Rwanda being only the latest example.

It is just SO MUCH FUN to see major changes happening in the world for the good because of the BushChimpHitler (for the simple ability to face reality and act accordingly) and the Evil Fox News (for its willingness to report that reality and not be politically correct all the time) and to know that between them they are driving the Left absolutely bonkers to see their cherished beliefs go down the toilet!

I'm laughing out loud!