FOX "News" Makes Far Right Mainstream

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There's a point I've been trying to make for a long time, with limited success. FOX "News," in combination with right-wing think tanks, right-wing talk radio and even the Bush Administration, has succeeded in changing Americans' perception of the political spectrum.

For a very long time, politics has been seen as a spectrum, from "far-left" to "far-right" and several degrees in between. Most people believe that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. So, if you are an extremist that wants to get more of the public on your side, what can you do?

Why, drag the middle--or the perceived middle--in your direction of course! Since its inception, FOX "News" has used extremist conservatives as their central figures, as on-air talent and as guests. Personalities like Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, John Gibson, William Kristol, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and others have all been used prominently as regulars or as frequent guests. These people are political extremists, far-right partisans. Yet, with their frequency of appearance, their ubiquity breeds familiarity. They start to seem mainstream.

As a consequence, and due to FOX's use of non-extremist, even moderate counterpoints, the perceived "center" has moved sharply to the right. If Sean Hannity is thought to be merely right-leaning, and Alan Colmes (a moderate) left-leaning, where are the extremes? Finding someone so far right of Hannity to use as an example of "right-wing extremist" would be a tough chore. Which might be why FOX's Bill O'Reilly has said in the past that there is almost no such thing as right wing extremism any more. He's far from correct, but it is what the "new FOX reality" has made apparent.

Casting left-wingers as extremist, using this new paradigm, is quite easy. If anyone left of Alan Colmes is an extremist, you've now cast mainstream liberals as extremists. Anyone on the left is now a "left-wing loony." It's really quite ingenious, and it isn't just FOX "News" doing this. As I alluded to in the first paragraph, there really is a "vast right-wing conspiracy" at work here.

Fortunately, thanks largely to George W. Bush and his administration, this new reality is showing fault lines, and is hopefully beginning to crumble. Ann Coulter is now saying that Hillary Clinton is more conservative than John McCain? We've gone from "creating new realities" to total surrealism over at FOX, haven't we?

And now, the editorial that inspired my rant. . .

[Excerpt]

Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter "true conservatives" per FOX host

As further evidence that FOX News' agenda includes moving the country's perception of the political middle to the right, this morning 2/1/08 on FOX and Friends there were repeated references to the extreme right as "conservatives." If Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter are indicative of straight-up conservatism, as stated by host Gretchen Carlson, and find John McCain to be too liberal, then of course moderate Democrats become the left and liberals become farleft loons. . .

Read more at: NewsHounds