"I Lied To You, But Now I'm Totally Telling the Truth"

Speaking in 2009 onboard a pricey Mediterranean cruise sponsored by a right-wing college, Fox Washington managing editor Bill Sammon described his attempts the previous year to link Obama to "socialism" as "mischievous speculation." Sammon, who is also a Fox News vice president, acknowledged that "privately" he had believed that the socialism allegation was "rather far-fetched."

"Last year, candidate Barack Obama stood on a sidewalk in Toledo, Ohio, and first let it slip to Joe the Plumber that he wanted to quote, 'spread the wealth around,' " said Sammon. "At that time, I have to admit, that I went on TV on Fox News and publicly engaged in what I guess was some rather mischievous speculation about whether Barack Obama really advocated socialism, a premise that privately I found rather far-fetched."

Yes I'm getting this from Media Matters, which also thoughtfully publishes the complete context from which the quote took place. Further excerpt:

"Now imagine my surprise when this year, I witness President Barack Obama standing in the cross hall of the White House and having taken over the American car industry, look into the camera, and announce to the nation essentially, that he would personally vouch for the warranty on your car's muffler. All of a sudden, the debate over whether America was heading for socialism seemed anything but far-fetched. In fact, when you consider the massive expenditures of your tax dollars on such programs as TARP, and stimulus, and in fairness, our pres -- our former president George W. Bush had his own stimulus package towards the end of his administration -- nobody remembers that -- and he also spent the first half of the TARP money."

So see! He IS a socialist! Just like I said before but didn't believe! But now I do! He's just like Bush! No, I mean, Bush isn't but Obama is! It's odd how no one remembers that Bush spent the first half of the TARP money, isn't it? If only some fair and balanced source could bring that up.

This would be a good reason to shrug off most of the obviously crazy Fox rhetoric (hiya birthers!) but the problem is I've argued with people who seem to believe whatever is being said on Fox, even if they were saying the opposite 4 months ago. "What do you mean? The economy didn't go bad until Obama was sworn in!" "Obama raised my taxes!" and so on. TV has tremendous hypnosis value. I don't get any news from it, myself. I don't even watch speeches nowadays. I haven't seen more than 30 seconds of a presidential speech since the inauguration. If you're interested in thinking for yourself, you should try it.