FOX News calls itself “Fair and Balanced,” and every now and again the media outlet overtly lives up to its slogan. In the Google News screenshot at right, see the link headline in purple: “Republicans Can Show Off Ideas at White House Summit, but Will They?”
I was so surprised that the language squarely puts the onus to show up on the Republican leadership that I clicked through and read on. The lede is even better than the headline:
Next week’s televised political showdown in Washington over health care reform will give a resurgent GOP perhaps its most prominent opportunity yet to counter Democrats’ repeated claim that it is the “party of no.”
Count me pleasantly surprised. The media giant famous for O’Reilly, Hannity, and Beck comes out with a sharp reflection of the optics at play in the current phase of health care reform talks.
Before it’s finished, the article ends up focusing more on Democratic agenda items and the hardscrabble strategy elements at play internally among divided Dem factions, rather than analyzing how and where the GOP might really advance its own ideas at the summit. Still, I’ll give FOX credit where credit is due for framing the discussion in a way that trumpets what has been clear for a long time: Republicans have to actually play ball if they want to be able to call fouls where they see ‘em.
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