This is a first. Fox News actually broadcast the unvarnished truth last night, and it’s not a pretty picture for Our Fearless Leader. I’ve never had much use for Geraldo Rivera, but he is absolutely compelling here, and Shepard Smith does a good job showing Sean Hannity’s obfuscations for what they are. Just watch the clip.
A possible ulterior motive for Fox
I wonder if there may be an ulterior motive here… what do you think? With Judge Rehnquist’s death, and W.’s popularity low, there may be a desire from the hard right to make sure he keeps pandering to them. They may be concerned that with so much of W.’s “political capital” squandered so early in his second term that he may start courting the political center by such acts as nominating judges who are merely conservative – as opposed to judges who are big-C Conservatives. By big-C Conservative, I mean activist movement Conservatives who toe the idealogical line, as opposed to those who merely favor a more literal and traditional view of the law. The former would eagerly overturn established law on the basis of ideology, the latter would be hesitant to do so in cases where the law is clear and well established by court precedent. We know what kind of judges Murdoch and friends would want.
Re: A possible ulterior motive for Fox
I didn’t choose my words wisely. I didn’t mean to imply it’s all that calculated, and no one at Fox would have known for sure when Rehnquist would kick the bucket. I do think that the Right wants to make sure that W. does not take their support for granted.