At least we have the allegedly right-wing Fox News to counter the Obamunist hype blaring from the rest of the mainstream media. How's this for fair and balanced:

"There is really only one de facto president, and we finally have accepted that — that it's Obama," said FOX News contributor Fred Barnes, executive editor of the Weekly Standard.

Norman Ornstein of the AEI explains why Obama hasn't followed the normal protocol of waiting until his term starts:

"Normally presidents-elect try to avoid getting into policy, stepping on the toes of the president who's there. That's how Obama started," he said. "It's changed, and I think the main reason for the change is the market tanking" in mid-November.

As I remember, the market went into a nosedive on news that the media had managed to get a socialist community organizer elected president. But Fox News has a different recollection:

Markets tumbled when Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he planned to leave half of a $700 billion federal bailout package to the Obama administration, spelling months of financial insecurity as some $350 billion sat in limbo.

Everything is okay now, though…

He later relented on that promise, and markets soared when Obama announced the appointment of an experienced team of economic advisers … whose presence ensured continuity and reassured markets.

"In this particular time of financial crisis, it's a good thing that Obama is calming the markets and the public, showing that he's amply preparing to take over," said Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics.

The Dow Jones fell 680 points yesterday; it has plunged 1,476 points since Obama was elected. But at least The One has calmed Fox News, if not the markets or the public.

On a tip from mega. Cross-posted at Moonbattery.