Fox News spent much of the past two years openly promoting the Tea Party. They beseeched viewers to attend rallies, donated millions of dollars of valuable air time, propped up candidates, and even branded events as Fox News productions. Fox News anchors were dispatched to rallies where they served as Tea Party MCs. Tea Party Express founder, Sal Russo, said that “There would not have been a tea party without Fox.”

From its inception the Tea Party was a phony circus of right-wing propaganda that never warranted the attention it received from the press. It couldn’t muster support from the public at large that exceeded the mid-twenties. Yet Fox News provided wall-to-wall coverage on a daily basis.

Now Fox has published an article by their digital politics editor, Chris Stirewalt, arguing that the Occupy Wall Street movement ought not to be getting coverage from the media. Stirewalt warns against “the temptation to overhype Occupy events,” and offers his advice that…

“…the press should consider taking a deep breath when it comes to coverage of the current movement.”

How convenient. After two years of relentless promotion of an AstroTurf affair that the majority of Americans oppose, Fox thinks that a truly grassroots movement, whose goals are supported by an overwhelming majority, should be swept aside and denied coverage.

Stirewalt’s article was notable also for its brazen bias against the Occupy movement. He begins the piece by saying…

“The California-as-Greece meme picked up steam this week when Oakland turned into the poor man’s Athens.”

However, he provides no support whatsoever for his fabricated meme, nor any evidence of it picking up steam. He further characterizes Occupiers as a “nuisance” and resorts to juvenile pejoratives like “malodorous emanations” to describe the protesters.

Stirewalt belittled the participation of 100 veterans who came to support the Occupation saying that their presence “isn’t significant,” but that…

“It might be effective messaging for the protesters to put forward a military appearance to undercut the popular notion that they are a bunch of hippies.”

First of all, the “popular notion” Stirewalt refers to is one that he and his cohorts at Fox invented. But more importantly, his dismissal of the veterans is an unconscionable display of disrespect. What ever happened to thanking them for their service?

This is typical of the hypocrisy in play at Fox News. They only appreciate veterans when they can be exploited for political gain (or utilized as fodder in phony wars). And they only assent to covering news when it conforms to their predetermined bias. This graphically illustrates the dishonesty of a so-called “news” organization that renounces coverage of popular protests despite having been such zealots for another group of protesters whom they just happen to favor.