FoxNews.com: Intentional?

I need to confess to a guilty pleasure of mine.

Every night before bed I log onto FoxNews.com to check the headlines. More often than not the headlines are the same as on every other news website, but sometimes I get lucky and find pure gold. You see, despite how you feel about the network and their close political ties, Fox News maintains one of the most hilarious websites on the interweb.

The prime example of this, and the one that brings me the most joy, is the enormous image headline they maintain on their front page. No matter what crisis the country is currently, or how many people have died, FoxNews.com always manages to display the poorest taste imaginable. I honestly can’t tell if it’s intentional or not, which makes it all the more wonderful.

‘Sensationalist’ doesn’t even begin to describe the situation. I mean, for the duration of the election their front page featured fear-mongering quotes by Sarah Palin, and an unhealthy obsession with international pirates. Here are a few of my favorite examples:

So are they are in on the joke or not? You decide!

I found my candidate!

How did I miss this the first time around?

And this is the candidate I LIKE?

This is a very brief clip from a recent episode of Countdown (not to be confused by the awful comic book with that name.) I’m very pelased that Mrs. Clinton was able to rebound her campaign from the jaws of death, but the closer things get to the convention the more her… lesser qualities start to come out.

Here Mr. Olbermann is discussing a recent statement Hillary made to the public. The short conversation is wildly speculative to say the least, but it would seem that she is willing to do just about anything to make it to the White House.

Linky!

Aye, aye, aye! If anyone can turn what was basically a guaranteed presidency for the Democrats into failure, it’s this girl.

Three Ring Government

It’s only once every two years that Americans are genuinely concerned about what other people think. Watching the election results roll in is always fun for me, and despite how you feel about the candidates and the issues, there’s no denying how exciting it is when the balance of American power is shifted one way or another. I can only hope that this will be the beginning of great change and unity, as opposed to being in a situation where legislation becomes a pissing match between the Executive and Legislative branches of the government. Remember that your vote counts*!

Election Day could not come soon enough for my Grandmother, who remains as passionate as ever in this, her 26th presidential election. Most families don’t have to deal with their Grandparents posting campaign advertisements on their front yard, but I think I’m better off for seeing that passion. She has always been vocal about forcing her political opinions onto her offspring, and those results have been mixed. One one end of the spectrum is my Brother, who takes great joy in arguing loudly with mycGrandmother about the President, the war, and pretty much anything she could have an opinion about. The verdict is still out on whether he does this because he likes the discussion, or simply because he’s an asshole.

My Sister, who will vote for the first time in ’08, will probably end up voting based on the issues, rather than the candidates or their political parties. My Mother, who has had to deal with our Grandmother the longest, simply lost interest in politics altogether.

Personally, I find my own beliefs to be somewhere between my sister and my Grandmother: I’m very passionate about certain issues, but I choose to keep quiet about my opinions. Shutting my mouth keep me safe during family gatherings, and more importantly, during those times when Aaron and I listen to talk radio.

It’s important to me that people vote, though it’s not necessarily important to me that anyone talk to me about who they voted for.

*Unless it’s the Presidential Election where the Electoral College can basically do whatever they want.

Liberal Bias and Sesame Street

It’s not uncommon for me to spend a morning watching children’s programming. In fact, given how early I’ve been waking up lately, it’s become the norm.

The past few weeks Aaron has been waking up earlier and earlier, which means (of course) that he falls asleep earlier and earlier. This creates a dilemma for a night owl such as myself, since on an average night I pass out anywhere between midnight and three in the morning. In an effort to save my marriage I am trying not only to change a sleep schedule I’ve had established for years, but also my TV viewing habits as well.

Barring notable exceptions such as 9/11 or a Rocky and Bullwinkle marathon, there have been few occasions worth getting out of bed and watching television for. Morning news is usually generic fluff pieces poorly disguised as information, and everything else on the dial is a joke.

I have fallen out of love with the various syndicated shows that litter morning TV schedules. If you see one episode of ‘People’s Court’ you’ve seen them all, and I can’t bring myself to watch trash like ‘Cheaters’ or ‘Eye for an Eye.’

With nowhere else to turn, I reluctantly turned towards children’s programming to keep me engaged during the early morning hours. It had been quite a while since I’ve watched Nick Jr., and for good reason. Aside from the obvious age difference, I feel like their programming panders to the audience, rather than make any attempt to educate. Mind you this isn’t any different than adult programming, but there should be some responsibility to teach America’s children more than the Spanish word for ‘backpack.’

Fortunately, there was one venue I know I could rely on. Sesame Street basically rebuilt children’s programming from the ground up decades ago, so if anyone would stand a pillar of quality education it would be them.

What I actually saw bothered me quite a bit.

For those unfamiliar with the delicate format of a Sesame Street episode, each features a specific theme, be it ‘dogs’ or ‘school’ or ‘cookies.’ This theme is explored throughout the hour-long program, educating the viewer about the topic through various sketches, cartoons and songs. Today, I learned, the theme was ‘Agendas of the Left Wing.’

The first segment I watched seemed harmless enough. Elmo was walking around Central Park and talking to people about families. A video montage followed, showing various types of family, and establishing early on in the viewer’s developmental cycle that unconventional family models were just as ‘normal’ ones. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, stepparents, cousins: virtually every type of family model was shown, including those featuring two moms and two dads.

‘Eh?’ I thought to myself, ‘Did Sesame Street just feature multiple sets of gay families in a video montage?’ I thought I must have been mistaken.

As a homosexual I have no problem with this, but as a amateur media watchdog, I do take concern with the statement this makes. Considering that Sesame Street receives a substantial amount of its’ operating budget from federal funding, does doing such a thing create some kind of paradox?

Being a member of the highly sought after 18-34 white male demographic, I suspect that my personal boycott of Sesame Street may force the show into cancellation, but they deserve it. Snuffaluffagus, you’ve violated my trust for the last time!

At least when I watch The View I know what to expect from Rosie O’ Donnell.

*Despite his weak interviews, I’d still rather have Elmo host the evening news than Katie Couric.