Fighting with a pig is a waste of time

"Don't get into a fight with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig enjoys himself."

I admit I have mixed feelings about the fact that the Obama administration has decided to take on Fox News in an apparent attempt to delegitimize the right-wing channel.

You see, I saw "Outfoxed." I know that Fox under Roger Ailes is absolutely not presenting the news in a "fair and balanced" way. Just calling something "fair and balanced" doesn't make it so, and both's anchors and its commentators are singing the right-wing chorus at the top of their lungs.

And yes, Fox is the top-rated cable news channel, with an audience at least double that of CNN or MSNBC most of the time.

But the numbers are so small. Even the top rated shows claim between 3 and 4 million viewers, and that's only about 1 percent of the people in the country.

Think about that. The wackiest of the wackos, the 1 percent out there on the far right fringe, are watching Fox News. They're watching Glenn BeckGlenn Beck, who generally appears about this close to ripping off his clothes and baying at the moon, and Sean HannitySean Hannity, a nasty little piece of work who if he wasn't on TV would be sitting in a bar ranting about the "lib'ruls."

Oh, and Bill O'ReillyBill O'Reilly, who goes to great lengths to tell you about his working-class background but wouldn't recognize a working-class person if he saw him at a freeway exit with a "Will work for food" sign.

MSNBC isn't a whole lot better, although at least that network seems to draw a line between its news coverage and its whacked-out commentators like Keith OlbermannKeith Olbermann.

One problem we have right now is that everyone seems to do their own thing while expecting everyone else to play by the rules. If you asked me to find a major media outlet that really is fair and balanced, I suppose I might say USA Today, but only because its coverage is so shallow it doesn't have the time or space to slant it.

New YorkTimes? Liberal as it gets.

Wall Street Journal? Decent coverage, but an editorial page to the right of Rush LimbaughRush Limbaugh.

I think probably one reason the Obama people are taking on Fox News is that for eight years, Fox was the beautiful blonde-haired baby to the White House. Now Obama is beating Fox like a redheaded stepchild, to take the analogy a little too far.

I don't trust anyone to give me the news, at least not by themself. I read four or five different sources and try to sort through the spin to find the facts. It doesn't particularly bother me that Fox is taking it in the shorts right now, but I think it's sort of a waste of time.

Remember, they're both getting dirty.

The pig is enjoying itself.