'Fox & Friends' Says 'Downtown Abbey' Threatens the Left Because it Celebrates Rich People: VIDEO

The popularity of Downton Abbey in America is a threat to progressives because it celebrates rich people, according to FOX & Friends:

“Rich people, powerful people, in America today, are reviled,” Varney said. “They’re dismissed as fat cats who don’t pay their fair share.” The general consensus is that “rich people are evil.”

Then comes along Downton Abbey… making rich people seem nice. The characters in the show are kind and generous. “They create jobs, for heaven’s sake. They’re classy, they’ve got style.”

“It poses a threat to the left, doesn’t it?” he asked. Because the left says we must hate rich people.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Dennis Kucinich Joins FOX News

Former Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) has joined the FOX News Channel, according to the Hollywood Reporter:

Kucinich, a former U.S. representative from Ohio who once tried to impeach President George W. Bush,  has inked a multiyear deal with Fox News, where he will begin as a contributor, debuting Thursday night on the top-rated The O’Reilly Factor hosted by Bill O’Reilly. After that, Kucinich is expected to appear on various shows across Fox News and Fox Business Network.

“Through 16 years in Congress and two presidential campaigns, Fox News always provided me with an opportunity to share my perspective with its enormous viewership,” Kucinich said.

This should be interesting.

Jon Stewart Takes in the FOX News Reaction to Al Gore's Sale of Current TV to Al Jazeera: VIDEO

It's the first legitimate FOX News boner of 2013.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Gingrich Wants GOP To Understand 'Human Side' Of Gay Rights: VIDEO

Say what you will about failed presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, but the former Republican House Speaker is poised, either by design or by circumstance, to become one of his party's loudest voices on marriage equality. And that's a good thing.

A few weeks ago Gingrich said he's come to see the "reality" of our changing culture, and last night Gingrich told Fox News' Greta Van Susteren that he hopes the GOP will come to understand the "human side" of same-sex love.

An excerpt, via JMG:

I think this is a very complicated human problem and Republicans need to take a deep breath and understand we need to deal with the human side of this equation — and understand that we want to defend marriage in its classic form between a man and a woman. I don’t accept that there’s an alternative. The government can declare that a Ford truck is Air Force One. That doesn’t mean it can fly. It’s not that I want to change my belief. I think that in fact it’s a big mistake to be confused about this issue.

But I think it’s also a legal reality that now people are being allowed to create legal status over here.

Watch video of Gingrich's latest remarks AFTER THE JUMP. The pertinent comments begin at about the 8 minute mark.

Log Cabin Head Tries To Explain Hagel Opposition On Fox News: VIDEO

Another day, another story about Defense Secretary nominee Chuck Hagel. Today's tale, or the first one of today, there will probably be more, is about interim Log Cabin Republican leader Gregory T. Angelo discussing the group's opposition with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly.

So, why does the gay GOP group oppose Hagel? "Because we're Republican," says Angelo, as if there's an unspoken rule all Republicans must agree on all things at all times.

O'Reilly also asked Angelo whether a potential cabinet official who opposes homosexuality for religious reasons should be disqualified, to which Angelo responded, "We don't have a litmus test." He also talked up his group's new advertisement in The Hill.

Meanwhile, JK Trotter at The Atlantic Wire wrote a story called "Chuck Hagel's Evolution on Gay Rights Is Tearing the Log Cabin Republicans Apart," and it goes a little something like this: "Of the many reactions to Defense Secretary nominee Chuck Hagel's comments about an ambassador nominee being 'aggressively gay'... by far the most vexing, and internally divisive, stem from the Log Cabin Republicans." If there's one lesson to be learned from this whole Hagel thing it is that opportunism is alive and well in America.

Watch O'Reilly and Angelo talk Hagel and homosexuality AFTER THE JUMP.

News: Gay Judge, Challenger, Subway Pusher, Fox's 'Embarrassment'

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has signed a bill putting new limits on abortion clinics, including a law requiring that providers ask patients whether they've been coerced into having an abortion.

At least four people are dead after a plane slid off the runway in Moscow. "Emergency officials said in a televised news conference that four people were killed and another four severely injured when the plane rolled off the runway into a snowy field and disintegrated. The plane's cockpit area was sheared off from the fuselage and a large chunk gashed out near the tail."

California Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Judge Kim Colwell to the Alameda County Superior Court, making her the first lesbian to sit on that court.

Matthew McConaughey And Camila Alves welcomed their third child together.

A look ahead at Prince William and Kate Middleton's 2013.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson and fiance Justin Mikita go for a stroll on the beach in St. Barts.

Some Pakistanis are upset over a series of paintings that depicts Islamic clerics in homoerotic situations. "Officials at the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan, shut down the Journal of Contemporary Art, which published the paintings by artist Muhammad Ali in a summer edition. School officials also removed all issues of the journal from campus bookstores and dissolved the journal's editorial board after the images sparked threats of violence from Islamic extremists..."

Fox News writer thinks that media supporting marriage equality in 2012 was an "embarrassing moment." "Newsies looked like an aging cast of "Glee," with almost every major news organization showing its support for gay marriage. CNN’s Anderson Cooper came out; ABC weather guy Sam Champion even married his boyfriend. But coverage isn’t just about rights, it’s about wrongs – "journalistic" attacks on Chick-fil-A, a shooting against a conservative organization that opposes gay marriage and more."

This rare amateur video of the Challenger explosion was New Scientist's most viewed of the year.

Brad Brenner at Huffington Post has a detailed look at how many gay men are using apps and online resources for their sexual and romantic needs, and how they're using them. A snippet: "More than three out of four men in our survey indicated that they struggle to find guys to connect with. Likewise, over six in 10 men said they fear getting shot down when introducing themselves, and the same number struggle with figuring out how to break the ice to initiate a conversation. Mobile app technology is easing those long-held anxieties, with 78 percent of men saying that apps allowed them to start a conversation with a guy that they otherwise wouldn't have."

The new season of Arrested Development will debut in its entirety on May 4.

Kanye West wore a crystal-studded mask during a concert in Atlantic City last night, because, you know, why not?

Despite growing criticism, New York's Journal News will publish more names and addresses of gun owners.

Police have nabbed the woman accused of pushing a man onto the subway track and to his death.

Sexy sweaters.