SUNSET RUB DOWN Clinton, Murdoch (Photo: Getty Images)
The peculiar détente between Sen. Hillary Clinton and conservative media mega-mogul Rupert Murdoch is as strong as ever. Or so it seems according to a New York Times report detailing Clinton's answer to a presumably non-planted question about Murdoch at an Iowa campaign event this weekend.

Responding to a woman concerned about Murdoch and the dangers of media consolidation, Clinton assiduously dodged the opportunity to engage in a little crowd-pleasing Fox-bashing. While acknowledging concerns that media ownership "by a very small group of people ... really stifles free speech," Clinton made sure to qualify her comments: "I'm not saying anything against any company in particular. I just want to see more competition, especially in the same markets."

Murdoch himself recently claimed that he does not interfere in the editorial matters of his British Times and Sunday Times, which may explain why the former paper felt free to air the rumor that Clinton is having a lesbian affair with her mysterious aide Huma Abedin.

On the Republican side, Fred Thompson furthered the weekend's cognitive dissonance by blasting the Murdoch mouthpiece that he used repeatedly to help get his campaign off the ground. In a verbal sword fight with Fox News's Chris Wallace, Thompson blasted the network for their "constant mantra" against his campaign and their tendency to "skew things" when it came to reporting on his campaign.