There was this mini dust-up where it was reported that Clay Aiken made some 'colorful' statements about American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert. Aiken was quoted as saying blood poured from his ears as he heard Lambert sing the Johnny Cash hit "Ring of Fire."

Mind you, this would have been much ado about nothing for me if it hadn't been for old faithful, FoxNews, placing something in the story which is newsworthy but telling. There were two reports FoxNews did on their website on the story. The first dealt with the initial report of the incident and the second was the obligatory apology made by Aikens. In both reports FoxNews mentioned about his tie to American Idol, but the last statement of the article mentioned he recently reported he was gay.

Maybe I'm being overly sensitive, but I couldn't see at first why his being gay needed to be mentioned. When I saw the second article, with it mentioned again, there was a picture of him and Lambert side by side, and in that moment the flash of recognition came to my brain. While I'm not an expert on American Idol, I do know that Lambert is rumored to be gay; much like Aiken was before he came out. So, to me at least, the mentioning twice about Aiken being gay was a statement that a gay man talking smack to another gay man.

I'm sure there's a lot more being read into this but the imagery of an eyeliner, necklace wearing, black nail polish Lambert next to the premature waxen Liberace like face of Aiken conjures up those connections. Considering FoxNews did this twice within a few days leans at least a thin thread of possibility of the wording being done to suggest some gay celebrity slap-fest. Honestly, I'm not sure why the gay issue would be mentioned. From a very basic standpoint I guess it gives information for people who may want to know about the fame of Aiken, but I can't see where, for example, if Aiken were married to a woman that it would be brought up in the article he was married.

Being gay is noteworthy, being married isn't.

Many people, especially those on the liberal end of the spectrum, for years have accused FoxNews of having a conservative slant. Being that this was on FoxNews, it's easy to divine some ulterior motive in the article, which is great for speculation but probably not the case. The fact that it could be read into the story believably is what continues to be frightening with the network.