BLUNDER OF THE DAY – AT 9:22 A.M. ET:  Historians a few hundred years from now will probably look back and wonder how the residents of the left became so obsessed with an institution known as Fox News. 

You just get the feeling that some liberals jump up in the middle of the night, having been scared by nightmares that include Roger Ailes as the Devil and Bill O'Reilly as the Devil's Disciple.  Sarah Palin will appear next, as Jezebel.   You betcha. 

In a column today, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich recalls how the Clinton administration reacted to the Democratic loss of Congress in 1994.  Reich writes:

In December 1994, Bill Clinton proposed a so-called middle-class bill of rights including more tax credits for families with children, expanded retirement accounts, and tax-deductible college tuition. Clinton had lost his battle for healthcare reform. Even worse, by that time the Dems had lost the House and Senate. Washington was riding a huge anti-incumbent wave. Right-wing populists were the ascendancy, with Newt Gingrich and Fox News leading the charge. Bill Clinton thought it desperately important to assure Americans he was on their side.

Well, well, well, well, well.  This is what happens when obsession distorts memory.  Will someone gently inform Mr. Reich that Fox News didn't come into existence until October, 1996, some two years after, he assures us, it was leading the charge against Bill Clinton. 

By the way, Fox News is also responsible for the swine flu, low student performance in inner cities, and bad commuter service.  Pass it on.

One of the basic rules of journalism:  Don't do anything from memory.  Look it up. 

January 26, 2010