Fair and Balanced?

The pledge of Fox News Channel is fair and balanced.
However, when one really watches Fox News Channel, it becomes quite obvious they are not fair and balanced, but more like fixed and biased... with a HUGE right-wing slant.
Republicans love this station as evidenced by Sarah Palin's kid-glove treatment in her interview with Sean Hannity last fall during the 2008 Presidential campaign. This was following her interviews (plural) with Katie Couric of CBS News, who was lambasted by the right wingers for being "unfair" to Palin while questioning her.
People who claim to watch and actually like Fox News have to agree that there was a stark difference in the way Hannity and Couric handled Palin however, the questions asked by Couric were in no way out of bounds or actually that difficult to answer.
Has anyone ever seen the way Bill O' Reilly goes after people considered to be left-wing (liberal) while interviewing them? It's actually hysterical to watch as the host of "The O' Reilly Factor" contorts his face and continually interrupts and actually yells at the person he is supposed to be interviewing.
What else would one expect from a person who made his name on a tabloid show (Current Affair) in the 1990's?
Who could forget the memorable debate between O' Reilly and the newest member of the U.S. Senate, Al Franken (Democrat-Minnesota) where O' Reilly roared out "Shut Up!" to Franken. Should Franken ever guest on the O' Reilly Factor, would Bill O. actually tell a U.S. Senator to shut up? That would be interesting to see.
Another core group that Fox caters to in their coverage of news as well as their talk shows are the Neo-conservatives.
You know them.
William Kristol, Charles Krauthammer, Glenn Beck, Hannity, O' Reilly, Ann Coulter, the big guy (Rush Limbaugh), Richard Perle, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, Karl Rove, Dennis Miller, Lars Larsen, Laura Ingraham, Dennis Prager, etc.
The point is this network was launched in 1996 by Ruppert Murdoch and Roger Ailes to promote the Neo-Con agenda.
Fox News loves Bush and Cheney, loathes Barack Obama (they are rooting for his administration and America to fail for crying out loud) and cannot stand America's middle-class.
Murdoch was a staunch supporter of former President Ronald Reagan and makes no bones about it as was Ailes. A lot of the current economic problems beleaguring this country today stemmed from the Reagan policies of the 1980's. They continued under George Bush, Sr. and to a lesser degree under Bill Clinton as well and then hit warp speed when Dubya took office in January 2001.
However, Fox News hit high tide (unfortunately) when September 11, 2001 came around.
That's when all the "patriotism" talk started to permeate the airwaves as Americans were told by FOX... if they don't support Bush and Cheney and their agenda, they are anti-American, traitors, etc.
Bullshit! FOX News is anti-American.
In fact, FOX News sucks!
This is a station that calls itself fair and balanced, yet hopes President Obama and America fails. Is that patriotic?
Their talk shows are hosted by nothing but corporate shills, fear mongers and hate mongers.
Fox News promoted the Bush-Cheney propaganda and all the lies involved leading up to the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. The people at Fox News were marching in lock step with the Administration as well as the Republican-controlled Congress at that time.
How and why people continually watch this news network is beyond comprehension. Unless one is ultra-rich or a hardcore Republican supporter or a neo-con, why would they tune into this crap?
It's a choice people make, just like smoking pot or drinking heavily is a choice. Not wise to do, but it is their choice.
There used to be standards for journalism at one time, but as evidenced by Murdoch's concoction called Fox News Channel, that no longer is the case.
FOX News... for brain dead people.
Now that has a ring to it.