What the hell is wrong with Fox?

OK, this is supposed to be talk like O'Reilly Day, but I don't watch that Long Island racist blowhard. But I do wonder what the hell is wrong with Fox.

Yesterday, CNN's Tucker Carlson jokingly gave out Fox's Washington Bureau's number as his home number during a segment on telemarketers. Now, call me crazy, but that was a funny joke and not uncommon.

How does Fox respond?

By publishing Carlson's unlisted home number. Carlson has four children under 10. So his third grader had the pleasure of picking up the phone and listening to the wingnuts who listen to Fox. You have to be deranged to curse at a child, yet the Fox audience did so with glee.

Now, I don't care for the man's politics, but that doesn't make him evil. If Ann Coulter, as repellent as her politics is, has the right to sleep with partners of her choice, Tucker Carlson clearly has the right to a private life. More importantly, his kids have the right to live in peace without daddy's job scaring the shit out of them. I can't imagine anyone calling some guy on TV at home to torment him. But the fact that he has a family is no secret. And it was no secret to the people at Fox.

Look, we all know CNN has embarassed the Dear Leader's network with frequent Franken appearances. But that's part of the fun of journalism. You get the joy of tweaking the opposition. CNN has its own troubles Fox can exploit.

But it takes a special kind of evil to nationally publish someone's unlisted home number, knowing he has a wife and four small children at home. When Atrios posted this yesterday, I mentioned that someone could reverse directory that number and find his home in the Virginia burbs. It boggles the mind that someone thought this was appropriate when all they had to do was publish his CNN office number. Every news office has people's home numbers out of friendship or a need to communicate. These people all socialize and know each other. Common courtesy would dictate one doesn' t give out private numbers.

James Carville called Fox pond scum for doing this, I would call them assholes, but it's the same thing. It was horribly irresponsible and reckless. God, I hope everyone at Fox is faithful to their spouses and not having any office affairs. I hope they live sin-free lives. Because this won't go unanswered.

posted by Steve @ 4:55:00 PM