The Left’s Obsession with Fox News

RICOCHET

For me, Twitter is less a social-media service than a six-year-long political argument with no sign of ending. In myriad (and meaningless) keyboard battles, I’ve tangled with progressives on economic policy, foreign affairs, elections, pop culture, social issues, education reform and countless other topics.

Obviously, I waste too much time on Twitter. But whatever the subject, my liberal enablers always drop the same line; one they believe will end the debate for good. About every other day since 2008, I’ve been on the receiving end of this withering coup de grâce, always delivered with a supercilious tone of finality.

“Maybe you should stop watching Fox News!” The more clever interlocutors misspell it “Faux News,” adding wonky jargon such as “dum winger” or “tea-tard.”

The fact is, I don’t watch Fox News. Okay, I DVR “Red Eye” (which isn’t really news) and watch the occasional yell-fest when a friend’s on the panel. But cable news in general doesn’t do much for me or most other people I know.

I recently visited two older relatives who watch Fox News non-stop and at high volume to cope with hearing issues. After 12 hours of dire headlines, testy commentators, and panicked “breaking news” alerts covering days-old developments, I wanted to lock myself in a soundproofed room with the Good Book and a fifth of Jack. It was exhausting.

Obviously Fox tops the rankings of TV news, but are most conservatives wedded to the channel? I appreciate it for providing an all-too-rare perspective on world events, but I’d rather be catching up on the game or watching sweaty chefs make a dessert out of cuttlefish, sidewalk chalk and Jolly Ranchers.

When I chat with liberals, I never assume they watch MSNBC because, well, who watches MSNBC? And every time I flip by CNN, they’re playing Anthony Bourdain reruns, most of which I’ve seen four times.

Since Ricochet is made up of highly literate conservatives and libertarians, I had to ask: What do you say when you’re accused of getting all your ideas from Faux News? Do you watch it all the time, a little or not at all? And why does Murdoch’s plucky little network take up so much space in the liberal imagination?