In case the winter weather isn't getting you down, check out this link to put you in a real funk: Fox News had the top 11 rated cable "news" shows in January.Of course, this is cable TV and the numbers, while impressive, are rather minuscule when you consider the non-cable universe.
For example, "The Oh Really Factor" starring Bill O'Reilly is No. 1 with a bullet. It attracted 2.973 million viewers in January.
By contrast, NPR's "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered" easily inform more than 10 million listeners each on a daily basis. Even Colin Powell is opposed to de-funding NPR and PBS for the sake of reducing our deficit. Clearly, more Americans value NPR over the entire Fox News lineup.
The Fox News crew is filled with opinion-mongers who do their best to avoid facts, misinform viewers and reduce all the world's troubles into a simple credo: "Whatever it is, it's Obama's fault. And, if not Obama, then Pelosi and the Democrats."
For further proof of their total bias, check out this link on Media Matters, the premier Fox News watchdog website.
Still, you have to wonder about the ignorant viewers who eat up every morsel of garbage offered up by O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and the rest.
The problem with our uncivil discourse over the past 15 years, is that Fox News intentionally inflames, and misinforms, viewers for the sake of ratings. The teabaggers and other conservatives love Fox News because it tells them what they want to hear. The rabid Fox News watcher pays no attention to other media unless it is described to them by Fox News.
No wonder we can't have civility these days. The Fox News megaphone drowns out other voices.
Not to despair, though, it's Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil saw no shadow, meaning an early spring.
I know some older people who watch Fox news (especially O'Reilly) for the entertainment value. They aren't 'conservatives' (whatever that means) but they attracted to the strong opinions and histrionics.
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