Edwards Stands Up to Fox

When former Senator and current presidential candidate John Edwards announced that he would not participate in a Nevada Primary debate hosted by Fox News he demonstrated that he does indeed have the courage of his convictions and that he is willing to take a stand.

In recent memory the Democratic Party has been short on backbone as well as the ability to stand behind an issue. Mr. Edwards has, of late been doing his best to reverse that trend. Beginning with his apology for his vote to authorize the Iraq war and continuing this week with his refusal to legitimate the right wing soap-box that is Fox News.

Fox News is anything but 'fair and balanced' and to agree to let them host and moderate a Democratic primary debate is ludicrous and laughable at best. Thankfully Mr. Edwards has taken the crucial step of refusing to attend, perhaps now that he has opened the door to taking a principled stand against legitimizing a venomous and hateful propaganda machine.

Mr. Edwards has made the right decision, is it too much to ask that other democrats will follow his example. Unfortunately it may well be, if Mr. Edwards' apology for voting for the war in Iraq is any example.

The other Democratic candidates should heed the calls of their constituents and join Mr. Edwards in a boycott of the Fox News debate. Fox News has no business pretending to bring national news to the American public, it certainly shouldn't be allowed to stain and degrade any political debates among legitimate candidates, let alone a Democratic one.

Closer coverage of the potential debate can be found at DailyKos and MyDD.