Ed Rendell's Convenient Spin: Bashes Fox News Now After Praising 'Very Balanced' Network in 2008

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, D, can't seem to make up his mind on whether Fox News is "fair and balanced," or an ideologically-stilted - possibly malicious - political operation.

Rendell appeared on Ed Schultz's program Monday night to announce - presumably with a straight face - the removal by a New York Magazine cover story of the "thin veneer of impartiality that Fox may have."

But just a few years ago, when Rendell was campaigning hard for Hillary Clinton, he had effusive praise for Fox, which he called "the most objective of all the cable networks."

Here's video of his appearance last night on the "Ed Show":

Contrast that with his views in 2008:

Politico transcribed some of Rendell's Fox praise thusly:

The outspoken Rendell, who couldn't immediately be reached, has indeed had praise for Fox in the past - most notably in the primary season of 2008, when he was an active Hillary Clinton surrogate.

"I think during this entire primary coverage, starting in Iowa and up to the present -- FOX has done the fairest job, and remained the most objective of all the cable networks," he said in March that year, in an appearance chronicled on this blog. "You hate both of our candidates. No, I’m only kidding. But you actually have done a very balanced job of reporting the news, and some of the other stations are just caught up with Senator Obama, who is a great guy, but Senator Obama can do no wrong, and Senator Clinton can do no right.”

Fox, for its part, hit back at Rendell Tuesday with claims that he had even pursued employment with Fox before signing as an MSNBC contributor. "Governor Rendell didn’t seem to have an issue with our ‘credibility’ or ‘impartiality’ when he was trying to shake us down for more money before signing with MSNBC,” said Fox exec Bill Shine.