Giving up the ghost
Most of you readers will remember when FoxNews filed a lawsuit against Al Franken for his book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, as FoxNews thought that they had successfully trademarked the phrase "fair and balanced," and that people might confuse Al Franken's book with a product of FoxNews Corp (FNC).

FNC eventually lost the lawsuit, because a) the judge in the case never thought that any intelligent person would confuse a comedic book about lying right-wingers and written by a left-wing author with the product of a right-wing news organization, and b) trademarking a three-word phrase that's in common use really oughtn't count at all.

For a while, though the foxnews.com website followed up just about every article with a tagline that read "Click here for a fair and balanced report by (x person)." Perhaps this was a shot back at the judge, or Al Franken, or whoever. But it was there.

In the last two days, however, the pages now end with "Click here for a complete report by Fox News' (x person)."

The difference is fine, but it's there. I guess the Fox lawyers finally figured out that it wasn't worth continuing the charade, and that very few people who read news stories on foxnews.com actually want "fair and balanced" reporting. I mean, let's face it - they want politically-charged drivel, same as the rest of us.

No word yet on whether Donald Trump's application for "You're Fired!" has gone through.