Yea, though I walk though I walk through the valley of the shadow of FOX...

I am scared.

Last week I posted in my Face Book status that I was going to try a social experiment on myself. I decided that for one month I would change my news acquisition habits, and only watch FOX news, and visit online conservative websites, in an effort to see what "the other side" sees.

What was I thinking?

If you know me, then you know this is a big deal and a bigger change. I am unabashedly liberal and progressively minded. Not that I follow in lockstep with any party line, but I tend to lean toward liberal democrats. I like to gather my news from multiple sources, and lean toward MSNBC for editorial commentary. Keith, Rachel, Chris and Morning Joe are regularly seen on our TV screen.

A little background about me.

My liberal-progressive approach to politics is understandable once you know my background. I was raised on Manhattan's Upper East Side to hippie college professor parents in the 1960s. Private school, Ivy league, a series of jobs in non-profit and social work lead me to view the world-- Oh, wait! That was in a book I read.

I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY to low-income working class parents. My dad-- he died when I was 7--worked two or three jobs at a time in order to support my mother, my three sisters and me. My mother suffered from a congenital lung disease, and was never able to work. After my father died we lived on the little bit of Social Security widow benefits my mother received, and whatever help my older sisters could give as they worked and were married. I know so called "entitlement programs" like Social Security, welfare, and food stamps first hand. I have seen the corruption and inefficiencies that exist within the programs up close, but know we could not have lived without them.

I attended Catholic school the first 8 years of my life-- back when they didn't charge private school prices-- and New York City public high schools before spending a couple of years at a CUNY school for higher education.

I have worked as what used to be called a soda jerk(some who know me say I got that half right), an office boy, a shipping clerk, a traffic manager, an editor of comic books, and a freelance writer of super-hero comics. I have a wonderful wife and two daughters in college.

So why this?

Recently I found myself screaming at the television more and more as I listened to far-right politicians and pundits. I was mystified as I listened to people I know and respect supporting some of the most outrageous things imaginable in regards to liberals, the current administration, health care, terrorism, global warming, etc... I found myself asking over and over again, "How can they believe this crap?"

Inevitably, a little investigation brought me to the same conclusion-- everyone got all of their information from one source-- FOX NEWS.

I had a passing knowledge of FOX news, had occasionally turned on Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity-- hell, I have even listened to Rush Limbaugh-- just to see what they were saying. I never lasted too long. I found them infuriating.

But it dawned on me last week that if I really wanted to know what friends, family and other "just plain folks" (to use the term that Bill O'Reilly uses) were thinking, then I needed to do more than occasionally peek at FOX.

The Plan...

For the month of February I will only watch FOX NEWS, and visit news and editorial websites recommended by them. I will take notes as to what I learn, and really try --as best as a I can-- to not prejudge them. I will try to sample from ALL things offered by FOX, and not stick with just Beck, O'Reilly, and Hannity.

I will monitor how much time I watch, and will make a some observations.

I will--because my wife and some of my friends are concerned about my health-- monitor my blood pressure to see if it rises or falls during viewing.

Overall, I want to see what others see-- apparently half the country trusts FOX as the best source of news. More importantly, I want to see if it changes my opinion, my mindset, and who I am.

Who knows...maybe I will not like the person I become? Maybe I will like myself better? Maybe I will start seeing the neo-conservative light? Maybe I will realize I have been deluding myself all along?

Stay tuned if you like.