01/30/2013
Under the heading of "The Fox Plan", Mickey Kaus writes:
Pioneering âWe-donât-agree-with-youâ TV: Judging from FOXâs coverage of the Obama Las Vegas immigration speech, hereâs how the network will attempt the tricky task of fooling its conservative audience into supporting an amnestyâor at least into not noticing that FOX is supporting an amnesty:
1) Play up Hero Rubio;
2) Play up the battle between the Obama plan and the Rubio/Gang of 8 plan, even though there atually isnât a lot of difference between them (as both President Obama and Sen McCain have admitted);
3) Play up the issue of âcitizenship,â as opposed to the far more important issue of legalization (the ability to live and work here)âthereby avoiding too frequently acknowledging that the Rubio/Gang of 8 plan offers illegal immigrants immediate legalization, which is 95% of the amnesty ballgame;
4) Play up stagey demands (by Rubio and other Republicans) for border âenforcementâ before citizenshipâeven though thereâs a much greater chance of enforcement efforts breaking down, as they did after the â86 reform, if the anti-enforcement side already has what it most wants, namely legalization (which will inevitably lead to citizenship no matter what happens with enforcement);
5) Donât put dissenters on the air. (The FOX Studio B post-speech analysis featured a Democratic supporter of amnesty and a Republican who called the Rubio amnesty âgood legislationâ). âŚ.
P.S.: President Obama recently lamented
If a Republican member of Congress is not punished on Fox News or by Rush Limbaugh for working with a Democrat on a bill of common interest, then youâll see more of them doing it.â
With Fox now seemingly neutralized on the immigration issue, we may see if heâs right. âŚ
P.P.S.: NPRâs initial coverage of the Rubio Plan was way more conservative (and balanced) âŚ
(Links in original).
I remember that Kaus was skeptical of Foxâs bona fides during the previous amnesty push. He felt it was putting the interests of the Republican Party Establishment over those of its conservative viewers. This led Kaus recently to say itâs "Time for a new Fox."
Itâs possible that some viewers feel that way, too. According The Week, "The conservative news outlet is suffering its worst ratings in 12 years."