It took less than 90 seconds of airtime, but Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tom Ricks did real damage to Fox News yesterday when he stated clearly and unequivocally that the channel operates "as a wing of the Republican Party," and that Fox had spent weeks politicizing and hyping the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya.

By quickly ushering the national security expert off the air and then having a staffer castigate him for being "rude," Fox proved it's not interested in having an open debate. (Isn't it "rude" to cut an interview short because you don't like what the invited guest is saying?) The episode, and Fox's nervous, angry reaction, illustrated how crucial it is for the channel to try to maintain the facade that it's somehow a newsgathering organization.