Confirmed: I'm a Shep Smith Fan

Fox News Channel's Shep Smith, who hosts The Fox Report, first gained my respect for his coverage of Hurricane Katrina when he witnessed, first-hand, the failure of the government's response on every level (local, state, federal) and called them all on it. Didn't play politics or file a "this person said this" and "this person said that" kind of report.

I cheered when he tried to hold Joe the Plumber accountable for an odious statement made during the presidential campaign.

I became even more enamored of the anchorman after reading this new Esquire piece, where he was provided the beginning of several sentences and asked to complete them.

For example, when given the words, "I didn't decide," Smith told Esquire:

"I didn't decide Joe the Plumber was going to go out on a tour for John McCain. They decided it. And once they made that decision, then it is my belief as a journalist that he deserves, now, more scrutiny. And one of my senior writers came over to where I sit and said, 'Joe the Plumber just agreed with a guy that a vote for Barack Obama is a vote for the death of Israel.' Okay, he needs to be asked why believes this. Well, he came on and he said it was up to our viewers to find out why it was that he would say such a thing. When a man representing the GOP says what he said and doesn't know why he said it, or, if he does, won't let us know, and then tells our audience to go troll the Internet for reasons he might think that, I don't think it's the job of a journalist to further that line of thinking."

My favorite answer? The one he offered following the words, "The way." "The way we elect a president is -- it's like nothing in the world, it's spectacular," Smith said. "But I hate the hate. I can't take it."

Sure, his news show may be, at times, dizzyingly jam-packed with flying graphics, a pounding bass and a recitation of news at such a fast clip that you might've thought that Smith just downed a case of Red Bull. But at least you get the feeling that he's trying to be fair and politely calling people out when it's necessary.