It’s almost hard to imagine, but yesterday Rep. Tim Walberg went on Fox News and called the network – and all media – liars, saying: “Fox News doesn’t tell the truth, certainly none of the others do. So we’ve got to do our own media.”
Why would Walberg bite the hand that feeds him? Two equally important reasons:
1. The primary motive of Fox News is to tear down – no matter what – President Barack Obama.
Sitting presidents bear the brunt of scandals (whether initiated by them or not), and the NSA revelations are no exception. Because of this, Fox News has turned into a 24/7 “citizens’ watchdog;” implying every sort of nefarious Big Brother activity by President Obama, including the explicit IRS targeting of conservative non-profits, a charge that turned out to be totally false. If you haven’t been paying attention, Fox News supported these same Patriot Act proposals when George W. Bush was president. Basically, the laws supported ad nauseum by Fox News that lead to unconstitutional government overreach are now the focal point of the NSA scandal that the network has jumped on.
2. Rep. Tim Walberg voted for the continuation of the Patriot Act and its “Big Brother” provisions – as did the majority of all United States lawmakers – and therefore is at least partially responsible for the unconstitutional and reprehensible actions of the NSA.
It’s amazing how having skin in the game can change one’s perspective – Fox News and Rep. Tim Walberg are no different. Fox News strives to make Barack Obama look bad. While at the same time, elected officials who granted the NSA blanket authority don’t want to be caught in the blame-game crossfire. So when Fox News hosts spook their viewers with Big Brother horror-stories about the NSA, people like Rep. Tim Walberg get nervous – and defensive. Somehow, Barack Obama – and not George Bush – is entirely to blame.
Unfortunately for lawmakers like Rep. Tim Walberg, they voted for the 2011 continuation of the Patriot Act signed by President Obama well after George W. Bush became persona non grata with the Republican party.
And if Obama is to blame, so is Walberg.