On the morning after his second place finish in the New Hampshire primary, Barack Obama apparently feels he needs the solace of a hostile new network to salve his wounds. By appearing on the infantile Fox & Friends morning show, Obama has gilded Fox’s credibility as a news provider and simultaneously damaged the cause of all Democrats and progressives.

What a bitterly disappointing turn of events from a candidate who had previously snubbed the hacks at Fox News for nearly a year. What could have prompted him to make such a foolish and pointless decision? Surely it couldn’t have anything to do with his aide’s recent altercation with Bill O’Reilly. The last thing that Fox should get for their top personality behaving like a thug is a reward!

Was Obama intimidated by Chris Wallace calling Democrats “fools“ for not appearing on Fox? Has he forgotten what Fox spokespeople said when he pulled out of a Fox-sponsored debate in Nevada last year?

“Obama and his staff are in for a rude awakening if they think they can write off Fox News. If a candidate is serious about running for president, he or she is going to need a network like Fox to reach out to all those voters in the red and purple states.”

And…

“If true, perhaps Mr. [Robert] Gibbs [an Obama campaign manager] should reconsider that ill-advised strategy given his candidate is trailing by 20 points in the polls.”

Obama has proven all of them wrong, and he did it without any help from them – despite their self-important threats that they are indispensable. Nothing has changed since then. There has been no apology or even an acknowledgment of slack reporting. Fox spent the rest of the year smearing Obama and his Democratic colleagues. Here’s a reminder, Senator…

Just stay the HELL off of Fox News! Is that so damn hard? And read Starve The Beast for more reasons why.

Update: Hillary Clinton was on the same episode of Fox & Friends as Obama. While it is just as bad that Clinton appeared on Fox as Obama, Clinton has appeared on Fox in the past, so it is not exactly news that she did so today. Additionally, she has never articulated an intention to not appear on Fox as Obama and Edwards have. To the contrary, she has been rather chummy with Murdoch who is a contributor and fundraiser for her campaigns.