Hear that?

It’s faint, we know, but you can almost hear it. That hideous guffaw. That self-satisfied chortle. 

That is Lachlan Murdoch’s delighted cackling, carried on the wind across the Pacific, all the way from his Australian mansion. 

Not because the Fox Corporation heir and CEO is actively rooting for Russia, necessarily, although his network is certainly not rooting against it. No, Murdoch’s, (and by extension Fox’s), interests are served whether or not Russia’s fresh invasion of Ukraine yields any new territory for the Fatherland. Murdoch’s, and Fox’s, interest in this case is chaos, chaos for which it can blame the Left, blame the traditional media, and, most ardently, blame the Biden Administration. 

And look how fast they’ve pounced on the newest juicy morsel. 

Less than 24 hours after Putin ordered troops into sovereign Ukraine under dubious pretext, Fox News eagerly leapt through the propaganda door he’d opened for them, hardly able to contain their glee. 

“Biden’s Weakness Delivers Chaos to US and World” screamed one Fox headline this morning (2/22/22).

“GOP House leaders say Biden’s policies enabled Russia’s invasion of Ukraine” insists another. 

Nevermind that as recently as last Friday, Fox News’s own superstar Tucker Carlson was insisting (ridiculously) that Russia’s not having invaded Ukraine was somehow evidence the traditional media and the Biden Administration were in cahoots, covertly colluding to trick Americans into seeing an invasion where there wasn’t one. 

Yet here we are, with Fox News vigorously blaming Biden for an invasion that just this morning, on conservative talk radio, former President Trump described as “Genius” and “Very savvy.”

Yes, to Fox’s commentators, as always, it’s all about Biden. 

“It seems like yesterday that the world was peaceful, our enemies cautious, our borders secure, prices stable, crime under control and stock markets booming,” writes Fox News contributor Liz Peek, who evidently lived underneath a rock the size of Montana during the Trump years. (Migrant crossings at the Mexico border reached a 2 decade high under Trump, hate crimes surged nearly 20%, the Middle East was decidedly less peaceful than under previous administrations, and, according to Forbes, the stock market is actually performing better under Biden than under Trump.) “Chaos abroad, chaos at home – all because we have a weak president,” she writes, evidently sure that her audience’s collective memory doesn’t extend beyond whatever was on-screen for Fox this morning.  

“Appeasement” is what House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy blames Biden for, as former President Trump praises the very moves McCarthy pretends to condemn. “Putin is now saying, ‘It’s independent,’” said Trump on the previously mentioned radio program. “A large section of Ukraine. I said, ‘How smart is that?’ And he’s going to go in and be a peacekeeper. That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re going to keep peace, all right. No, but think of it. Here’s a guy who’s very savvy.”