Biden鈥檚 trip, Fox News flips
President Biden made a praiseworthy trip to an active war zone last week.
Even staunch conservatives like writer George Will were impressed by Biden鈥檚 harrowing trek into the heart of Ukraine.
鈥淭his is a great moment for all Americans to be proud 鈥� This was a terrible day for Vladimir Putin,鈥� said Will on NewsNation.
Will was adhering to that Cold War principle about politics ending at the water鈥檚 edge.
It鈥檚 an unwritten rule that鈥檚 only broken when folks like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) get an opportunity to speak as if they somehow know about what they鈥檙e speaking.
It was proof that praise for Biden鈥檚 efforts wasn鈥檛 unanimous.
Greene took the time to mark Biden鈥檚 trip with some mumbo jumbo about secession.
鈥淲e need a national divorce. We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government,鈥� said Greene.
Folks around the world are focused on an American president and his precarious meeting with the leader of Ukraine. But Greene ignores that. Instead, she daydreams about a ridiculous Civil War.
She鈥檚 not the worst example of putting politics ahead of America鈥檚 international interests.
Tucker Carlson, Fox News鈥� angriest show host, made sure he鈥檇 counterbalance any of the accolades Biden would get for his trip to Ukraine.
As it happened, haunting air raid sirens were sounded shortly after the president touched down in Kyiv.
A 鈥渟taged鈥� air raid siren?
Would they do that?
According to Carlson, that鈥檚 precisely what happened.
鈥淪o here we have Potemkin air raid sirens, just the touch required in this, the most tightly scripted, most completely dishonest war in history, the fakest war,鈥� Carlson crowed.
While we鈥檙e on the subject of 鈥渇ake,鈥� let鈥檚 take a closer look at Mr. Carlson.
There鈥檚 an ongoing lawsuit in which the folks from Dominion Voting Systems are accusing Fox News of defaming their company by falsely claiming their voting machines were rigged against Donald Trump during the 2020 presidential election.
Dominion is asking for $1.6 billion in damages. Fox News is claiming they were merely exercising their free speech rights.
Unfortunately, there鈥檚 a trove of texts and emails that have been released indicating that Fox News was fully aware of how bogus Trump鈥檚 election lie was, but they went along with it on the air anyway.
According to several media outlets, there was fear at Fox News that other networks were gaining on them in the ratings 鈥� so they had to keep pumping out more of Trump鈥檚 big lie.
鈥淪idney Powell (Trump鈥檚 post-election attorney) is lying by the way. I caught her. It鈥檚 insane,鈥� Carlson wrote to fellow Fox host Laura Ingraham.
Ingraham replied: 鈥淪idney is a complete nut. No one will work with her. Ditto with Rudy (Giuliani).鈥�
Yet, night after night following the 2020 presidential election, Fox News hosts clung fast to the fiction that there had been widespread voting irregularities 鈥� with Dominion Voting Systems at the center of them.
There was even one correspondence that was uncovered that indicated Carlson wanted to have a Fox News reporter fired because she fact-checked a tweet made by Trump about Dominion.
鈥淭here is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised,鈥� tweeted Jacqui Heinrich.
Carlson was said to have sent out a group text to Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham.
鈥淧lease get her fired. Seriously 鈥� It needs to stop immediately,鈥� Carlson wrote.
The batch of texts and emails that were uncovered revealed that Fox News, if anything, has a lot of nerve, saying one thing, but truly believing something completely different.
Ironically, after Biden touched down in Ukraine last week, Carlson may have let slip how he tries to perform journalistic sleight-of-hand to get the results he wants.
After he openly questioned Biden鈥檚 trip to Ukraine, and the reason the United States is helping fight the Russians, he said, 鈥淭his is a real issue. This is not one of the FAKE issues, you, know, that we get mad about.鈥�
We hear you, Tucker.
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 50-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.