For those of you who think Fox News is just a mouthpiece for the Right here’s a nice little hatchet job on Patricia Heaton because of her work on the part of the pro-life work against the Missouri Amendment 2 issue. What starts out as a decent piece of unbiased reporting quickly descends into a near polemic against the pro-life cause and fawning over Michael J. Fox because of his history as a successful actor and the success of his charity. What exactly those two issues have to do with his standing as a knowledgeable spokesman for the cause of stem cell research is beyond me, but that’s what we’re left with. Contrast this:
Heaton has been a relatively unknown political ideologist to most of her fans. My guess is they will be surprised to learn about her as she attacks Fox and repudiates his claims.
Six months ago I reported that Heaton — who then was campaigning to join ABC’s talk show “The View” as a correspondent — was honorary chairwoman of the group Feminists for Life. Jane Roberts, wife of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, is a consultant. Their slogan is “Refuse to Choose.”
Heaton has absolutely made a choice. The question now is whether her stance in Missouri will affect her standing in Hollywood.
With this:
But it’s what Fox has done with his illness that is most impressive. Since 2001, according to federal records, his Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research has raised an astonishing $80 million for research. Unlike most celebrity charities, the Fox Foundation has a Web site that even links to its most recent federal tax filing, and the filing is current.
This is an amazing achievement, considering how young the foundation is. Fox has turned his illness into something incredibly positive; the group even runs in the black, meaning its income is greater than its expenses. Last year the group finished with $7 million in the bank after giving away $17 million.
If you want to get into some real interesting reading on Parkinson’s, check out www.michaeljfox.org. Impressive!
And you tell me which side of things you think the reporter is on. I am forced to lean towards calling this irresponsible reporting. Perhaps this is Fox News’ way of maintaining they are “fair and balanced” but a hatchet job like this is hardly worthy of any news outlet.
