Fox News is beating up on Lisa Murkowski, and she's not even a Democrat.

An incumbent Republican senator from Alaska who last week lost her party's nomination to the Tea Party-backed candidate, Joe Miller, Murkowski announced that she plans to battle on to November as a write-in candidate.

But if you've been watching Fox News this week you know Murkowski's definitely not being portrayed as a plucky politician battling to the end. Instead, she's being vilified as a washed-up “sore loser.” Why the put-downs? Because Fox News is backing Miller, so any obstacle to his path must be destroyed. And if Murkowski won't step aside (and worse, if she might siphon votes from Miller), then Fox News' team is more than willing to smear her from now until November.

It's weird. At this point, Fox News' unabashed slash-and-burn strategy, even against a sitting Republican senator, barely shocks us. Why? Because the cable channel has so thoroughly transformed itself into a purely political entity (aka The Opposition Party). And if it has to collectively trash the opponents of its handpicked candidate, even if those opponents reside within the GOP, Fox News is more than willing to do so. In terms of modern day American journalism, we've never seen anything like this from a “news” outlet during the campaign season.

How bizarre is Fox News' behavior? So bizarre that apparently Rupert Murdoch's team can't even get a Republican senator to appear on the air.

From Neil Cavuto's Fox Business program yesterday:

By the way, we did call Joe Miller's opponent to the Alaska senate race Democrat's Scott McAdams as well as Senator Lisa Murkowski. We've not heard back from either candidate. But we did have Senator Murkowski back - awhile back so hopefully - you know, hope springs eternal. It's a love fest here.

I mean, I understand that in the Delaware race, Fox News is basically sponsoring Christine O'Donnell's candidacy. And I realize the chances of her Democratic opponent, Chris Coons, ever accepting in invitation to appear on Fox News are slim and none, and slim's out of town. (Why subject himself to those kinds of attacks?) But for the folks at Fox to not even be able to get a call back from a Republican senator?

These are strange days, indeed.