If You Didn't Watch Fox, You Missed Bush's Best Speech in Years

I was watching Special Report on Fox last night when they cut away to Midland, TX to broadcast President Bush's speech at the welcome home rally. It was easily Bush's best speech in a long time. As I reported here he was funny and feisty, gave a good accounting of his administration, and offered no apologies to his critics. If that Bush had been around more in the last couple of years his numbers wouldn't have been so bad.

Fox stayed with it for a long time, but when they finally cut away I switched to a couple of other networks to catch the end of the speech. Nobody else was covering it:

Former Vice President Dick Cheney and other Bush administration officials sometimes let it be known that they stuck with Fox News for their informational needs. And on Tuesday, Fox News returned the favor, even as the rest of Washington remained gripped by Obama fever.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Fox News was the only major national TV outlet that carried a live telecast of former President Bush's homecoming speech to cheering supporters in Midland, Texas.

"Sometimes what I did wasn't popular," a smiling Bush told the crowd. "But that's OK. I always did what I thought was right."

The rest of the networks, however, did not see the Bush address as news fit to broadcast. At 6:40 p.m. EST, MSNBC was in the middle of "Hardball," with host Chris Matthews and guests batting around the meaning of Obama's swearing-in. CNN was carrying live ongoing coverage of the final moments of the inaugural parade, with the Obamas beaming from the White House reviewing stand.

The broadcast networks likewise did not cover the Bush speech. At least in Los Angeles, both KCBS-Channel 2 and KNBC-Channel 4 had returned to regular syndicated programming ("Judge Judy" and "Deal or No Deal"). KABC-Channel 7 was airing local news.

Once again the other networks maintained the low standards to which we've become accustomed. After the sendoff they gave to Bill Clinton in 2000, this is inexcusable.


If you would like to express your thanks to President Bush for his eight years of service, click on the photo below. Responses will be collected and presented to President Bush on 9/11/11.