In a profile of Rupert Murdoch in its October issue, Vanity Fair describes an early-summer meeting between Murdoch, Fox News head Roger Ailes and Barack Obama. During the meeting, Obama "lit into" Ailes over the slanted coverage of him and Michelle. Ailes countered that the situation could have been avoided if Obama, who had already appeared on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, had made himself more available to the network. According the the magazine, they struck a "tentative truce." The results of that alleged truce have not been readily apparent, but maybe it has something to do with why Obama agreed to appear on The O'Reilly Factor tomorrow evening. Hillary Clinton braved the shark tank — they ended up having a pleasant discussion about Rev. Wright — so why not Obama? Maybe, just maybe, he'll say something before the show's conservative audience that will help him hold onto his 50-percent standing in the polls. One thing he definitely won't say, much to the confusion of O'Reilly, is "M-fer, pass the iced tea."

[via QT]

Update: So this might be a Photoshop job. But when CNN wonders on air if Obama is the antichrist, I don't put something like this past Fox News.

As promised, Nas accompanied members of Color of Change and MoveOn.org to the Fox headquarters in Times Square to deliver a petition against Fox and its treatment of Barack and Michelle Obama. Nas, who sold 187,000 copies of his untitled album last week, bumping Lil Wayne out of the top spot on the Billboard 200, said a few words to press during the protest yesterday. But if you really want to know how he feels about the network, listen to "Sly Fox."

Wherein you, the readers, talk amongst yourselves.

Members of ColorofChange and Moveon.org are showing up at Fox headquarters in NYC tomorrow to hand over a petition filled with 600,000 signatures. They'll be joined by Nas, whose recent album-naming activities might muddle their message, but that's beside the point. The petition is to protest what ColorofChange says is Fox's "attempt to prey on racism and intolerance and cast the Obamas as "outsiders": an on-screen graphic referred to Mrs. Obama as "Obama's baby mama," a pundit "confused" Obama with Osama and then joked they should both be assassinated, and an anchor called a loving fist bump between Barack and Michelle a "terrorist fist jab." In February, Bill O'Reilly talked about calling a "lynching party" to deal with Michelle."

What do you make of the protest and the petition? Will things like this cause Fox News to change its very popular formula? Should it?

Brave New Films, which stays up on Fox News and its many journalistic deficiencies, has put together a video of Fox attacking Michelle Obama. Says the group in a press release: "Not only are they smearing Michelle Obama with racist stereotypes, but then they offer a feeble apology that they believe gives them the right to slander her again. FOX's long history of racism is nothing new, but it has been particularly egregious when it comes to their coverage of the Obamas. Racism and fearmongering have no place in our country or its politics, despite what FOX would have you believe." They've also put together a handy petition to sign, although it's apparent that Fox Newsies don't care much about petitions.

Nas upcoming album, the one formerly known as Nigger, is nothing if not political. The latest leaked track is called "Sly Fox," and it's an indictment of "Faux News" and the rest of the media. Nas might smoke a lot of weed, John Gibson, but he doesn't forget. [Jossip]

I'm just waiting — and I will be, I suppose, until the day I die — for a major news network to refer to Cindy McCain as John McCain's baby mama.

John Gibson of Fox News Radio to a pro-Obama caller:

"You don't know what Barack Obama stands for. You just like him because he's — he's — he's like you and you want to see one of you up there, and you don't care what he stands for."

The caller may or may not like Obama just because he's black, but I think we all know at least one reason why John Gibson doesn't like him.

In lieu of any actual (or moderately close to actual) scandal to exploit, resident scandal mongers at Fox News are trying their hardest to subtly convince the FN-watching masses that there was something sinister afoot when Michelle Obama and Barack Obama touched fists before his speech last Tuesday. Friday, Fox anchor E.D. Hill said this in a story about the "fist bump:" "A fist bump? A pound? A terrorist fist jab? … We'll show you some interesting body communication and find out what it really says." Hill never explains her reference to the "terrorist fist jab" and leaves the phrase hanging, probably so that it would do its intended purpose.

The big fuss over Barack Obama visiting Fox News Sunday, two years after Chris Wallace extended an invitation, was all for naught. The interview (transcript here) revealed little, if anything, newsworthy. Must we keep revisiting the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayres storylines? What he’ll do about his commitment to a federally financed campaign — didn’t he already share his intention to work something out with John McCain?

Way to render your airtime – and publicity stunt – irrelevant.

Below, Chris Wallace’s post-interview reaction.

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It shouldn't make a difference, since we already know how Fox News distorts the news, but when people compile the network's flubs in a video like this it makes me especially angry. This is the channel people are watching to help inform them about the election!

While we're talking videos, have you seen Baracky? Obama's Rocky and Hillary is Apollo Creed.

Ann Coulter is either crazy or so obsessed with notoriety that she says crazy things to get press. Perhaps she's even a combination of both. Either way, I rarely pay attention to much of anything she says, but on Friday's Hannity & Colmes, which I find to be one of the most detestable programs on cable television, she speculated that Hillary Clinton would enjoy waterboarding someone (this was a compliment) and compared Barack Obama to Hitler (coming from her, I'm surprised this was not also a compliment) and his book to a "dimestore" version of Mein Kampf. At what point are networks responsible for the hateful and irresponsible drivel their invited pundits spew? Is this crossing a line or on par with what we would expect on Hannity & Colmes?

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When Chris Wallace, host of Fox News Sunday, thinks that other hosts on his network, in this case, the wonderful people on Fox & Friends, are doing too much "Obama-bashing," then they are really doing too much Obama-bashing. Watch as Wallace goes on-air to take his fellow Fox Newsies to task. Their wounded, infuriated faces are priceless, especially at the end.