I don't normally link to criticism of Fox News because, like, what's the point?

But of course the liberal blogs i read highlight their stuff all the time. And these two things hit me like a one two punch. That first one just made me sad. Here are these Somalian (legal) immigrants, and it's a nice little thing that their local YMCA is teaching them to swim but with the doors closed so the boys don't see them in their bathing suits, and Fox turns it into a Sharia Law panic. And then when i was softened up by that, i got hit with the latest War on Christmas nonsense, which in this instance is one of those "it's not even true but who cares if it was?" situations where you're left flummoxed trying to state a position. In both cases, it's just poisonous. Local people doing harmless and even positive things and being misrepresented and attacked on a national stage.

And as Atrios points out, it's not just that you get attacked on national television but you get inundated with phone calls, emails, tweets, etc., from angry people that have been mislead and tricked into being disgruntled and angry about everything.