MUSINGS ON A FRIDAY AFTERNOON: FOX NEWS: FAIR AND BALANCED?

I happened to watch Special Report with Brit Hume last night and was really surprised with the behavior of Brit Hume and his panel of political experts. Keep in mind, this was a panel discussion, and their job is to generate interest in the show. But to me, the whole session amounted to a hit piece on Fred Thompson and a love fest for Fox News favorite candidate Rudy Giuliani. While I am a supporter of Fred Thompson, and want that clear up front, I see this as an issue of fairness. Frankly, I have been disturbed with Fox News for quite some time because of their obvious pandering to the more liberal groups in an effort to win viewers. It seems to me Fox News has lost their way and instead of being a beacon of light for conservatives, it has now become just another CNN wannabe. It's time for Fox News to decide whether it wants to continue to be the Conservative voice or just another cable station with a declining viewing audience.

The following transcript was provided to me by Joan Litton a/k/a Shelbysbest

Brit Hume: Let's look at the latest poll on the republican side of the political, presidential equation here. You see here our Fox Dynamic Poll out today -- Rudy Giuliani remains in the lead with roughly the same kind of lead he has had for some time.

Fred Thompson now since June has sort of surged into second place and remains there. We've been getting a further sample of Senator Thompson and his uh, and his uh, and his wares. How's this going?

Jeff Birnbaum: Well, I think that Thompson ran into a bit of a problem in his speech the other day before the Veterans of Foreign Wars up in Kansas City. He didn't seem to know his own applause lines. Even though he's a practiced actor, he didn't seem to have rehearsed very much for his speech. He isn't much of a player in a lot of the serious, substantive debates that are going on. I recently wrote a story about each of the candidate's views, for example, of the big credit crunch that's been shaking the markets around the world and Thompson wouldn't even play either because he didn't have a proposal or because he didn't want to speak out because he's not an official candidate. Uh, none the less,

Brit Hume: In other words, he had no articulated position?

Jeff Birnbaum: Nothing to say and has been shooting at people like Rudy Giulian1 over his anti, uh his gun control position which Thompson complained was too much anti-gun. I think that's in general a problem of the whole republican race, where they've been attacking each other in a way that may pull whoever ultimately wins down, when it gets to the general election.

Charles Krauthammer: You know this could be a first. The Thompson campaign is going negative before it even begins. (Laughing from panel.) I don't know if it's ever happened, but it's historic. Look, he's a good guy; he's a nice guy but he was in the senate for a while, and I don't think he's left many traces. He's an actor who is popular, accomplished in other ways, and uh, has had a boomlet. I think the boomlet was.... is ....

Brit Hume: Peaked?

Charles Krauthammer: May have been spent. Umh, but what's really interesting here is -- I think the Giuliani effect. This is a guy who defies gravity. Everybody expected six months ago, that yes, he was high in the numbers, because people associated him with 9/11, but when republicans discover how socially liberal he is, his numbers will plummet, and they haven't. People, I think are aware of his positions on abortion, etc., and I think the answer is, that republicans are growing up, and they understand that a president is not going to revolutionize... He's not going to have a revolution on social affairs. Uh, Reagan did not on abortion. It's not going to happen and what's important is the war on terror. Democrats are not reliable. Giuliani's a guy who in a democratic year, which is going to be '08 can win. After all, he's a guy who won re-election twice in Sodom and Gomorrah.

Fred Barnes: Yeah, and now you've touched on the important issue I think. Here's what helps him uh with social conservatives and so on, who obviously don't agree with him on abortion, others don't agree with him on guns, because he's a gun controller, and that is... he gets credit for cleaning up New York tangibly. Now, people visit New York; they know Times Square is different -- they know crime is way down. They know New York is very different; it's not just 9/11. It's, it's uh, it's image, which I think is a largely accurate one of the mayor who changed Sodom and Gomorrah and turned it into a city that it's safe to visit. Uh, that's important.