This morning Fox and Friends devoted an entire segment to the claim that today — the third Monday of January, and the date of President Obama's second inauguration — is the most depressing day of the year. "They figured it out about five years ago," co-host Steve Doocy says, "It has to do with drab weather, holiday bills, and resolutions that we have not met." The segment was pretty much the opposite of subtle: Fox News, and especially Fox and Friends, are vociferous critics of the Obama administration, and they very much did not pass on a chance to discuss "Blue Monday" on the same day a Democratic president gets sworn into office.

Many were quick to blame Fox's convenient timing, but the thing is, "Blue Monday" isn't real. Despite widespread coverage, The Guardian reports that the entire notion of a "most depressing day of the year" is pseudoscientific nonsense. It's based on a bogus paper that was commissioned for an airline's marketing campaign. Indeed, the paper's original author has urged others to ignore what he wrote:

"I'm pleased about the impact it if it means people are talking about depression and how they feel but I'm also encouraging people to refute the whole notion of there being a most depressing day and to use the day as a springboard for the things that really matter in your life," he said.

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J.K. Trotter