You’d never know from watching his appearance on On The Record Friday night (4/27/12) that Allen West, the Tea Party Congressman from Florida, has come under a lot of criticism lately. Most recently, he proclaimed, “There’s about 78 to 81 members of the Democrat Party who are members of the Communist Party. It’s called the Congressional Progressive Caucus.” His inflammatory rhetoric is also why he’s been targeted for defeat by Democrats and facing a primary challenge in August. But the Republican Party is backing West and Fox News seems to be following suit.

Is there no subject that Fox News won’t turn to discredited birther Donald Trump as an expert? Fresh off his gig as an authority on Iran and the Keystone pipeline (not to mention his continuing “expertise” on President Obama and the 2012 election), Greta Van Susteren sought his insights into the killing of Osama bin Laden – as a thinly veiled excuse to attack Obama. But first, Van Susteren gave Rush Limbaugh’s hideous misogyny a pass and promoted him as a maven on the U.S. economy - i.e. other attacks on the Obama administration.

If you didn't see Jimmy Kimmel and President Obama's remarks at the White House Correspondents Dinner, we've got the video here. I thought both Obama and Kimmel were very funny. Kimmel got in some good digs at Fox News and Obama got in a great one at Donald Trump.

Fresh off his “let them eat rice and beans” solution for hunger in America, Sean Hannity now has an answer for graduates swimming in student-loan debt: Count your blessings. According to Hannity and his all-conservative panel, being in debt and then paying it off is a great thing. “You feel empowered… These are things that make you feel good at the end of the day!” Panelist Jedediah Bila insisted.

On the April 26, 2012 Your World, Michelle Malkin complained that Mitt Romney should not be calling President Obama a nice guy. Is there anything more ironic than the vicious, sneer-mongering sourpuss Malkin calling anyone else “not nice?”

On The O’Reilly Factor yesterday, Bill O’Reilly discussed the “competing dog atrocities” of Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. Predictably, Obama’s was ruled the worst. Why? Because Gutfeld said that since dogs love to stick their heads out the windows of cars, “they would love to ride on top of a car in a nice, safe little compartment.”

Rupert Murdoch testified earlier this week in the British inquiry into phone hacking by News Corp. He admitted there had been a cover up at his now-defunct tabloid, News of the World. But rather than take responsibility, he played dumb and blamed underlings for concealing the true nature of the misdoings from him. Jon Stewart took on Murdoch's dubious attempt to avoid blame. "My God, this scandal goes all the way to the bottom!"

The story of the Matthew Owens beating has been making news. Owens is an unemployed mechanic in Mobile, Alabama who was beaten by what was originally reported as a mob of 15-20 black people, following an incident with some allegedly problematic neighborhood children. Alabama.com reported that the MPD and Mayor Sam Jones didn’t want to call this a hate crime until they determined if the incident was tied to Owens’ troubled history. They also said they don’t want people stirring the race pot, because they don‘t want a Trayvon Martin type circus. Wanna guess who didn’t listen?

It is with deep sorrow that we share the news of the passing of Kim, PbD, a beloved original member of the NewsHounds community. Kim lost her protracted battle with cancer on April 8, 2012 at the age of 37. She is remembered fondly by all of us here but especially by the members of the Newshounds Off-Topic Forum, where her infectious enthusiasm for life, her impish sense of humor and her generous personality shone through every word she typed – and where she first encountered the man who would become her husband.

Today President Obama was in Fort Stewart, Georgia, speaking to a crowd of soldiers. He was announcing an executive order he'd just signed, to crack down on fraudulent "diploma mills" that market to veterans.  Fox Nation barely mentioned that fact; instead it zeroed in on some remarks the President made at the end of his speech about the importance of public investment in universities and research, and made these the subject of a post titled "Obama Goes on Collectivist Rant In Front of Troops." (In front of the troops? Horrors!)