PBS's Mark Shields on Friday, in an attempt to mock Fox News, actually made a bit of a fool of himself.
After noting on Inside Washington that ObamaCare had passed Congress, been signed into law by the President, and affirmed by the Supreme Court, Shields ridiculed Fox News as being "a fourth branch of government...that hasn't approved it" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
MARK SHIELDS: Just out of respect for Dr. Krauthammer, conservatives genuflect before the rule of law. The last time I checked, ObamaCare had passed the Congress, had been signed by the President, had been affirmed by the Supreme Court. Is there a fourth branch of government that I didn’t, apparently it’s Fox News that hasn’t approved it.
Shields's first obvious mistake was that the press is often called the "fourth estate" for being responsible to act as a check on government.
Of course, in recent years some have referred to the news media as the fourth branch because rather than acting as a check, today's press behave like they're part of the government.
In Shields's case - like so many of his colleagues - he appears to work for Democrats.
The other thing he overlooked is despite what has occurred with ObamaCare, a new CNN poll released Monday found 54 percent of Americans are still opposed to the law. 43 percent support it.
The opposition was up from 51 percent shortly after Obama was reelected last year.
As such, no matter how much Shields might object, Fox News is actually representing the public's interest by continuing to pushback on this piece of legislation.
Maybe Shields and his colleagues rather than acting like the fourth branch of government assisting the Party in power should be more interested in what Americans think.
Or is that asking too much of a so-called journalist?
