It’s been amply established that Fox News Channel isn’t really a news organization at all, but a Republican agitprop outlet. But you’d think Roger Ailes would have at least have some standards. Apparently he doesn’t, because earlier this week one of his medical contributors may have gone into one of the most, if not the most, unhinged anti-Obama rants ever heard on that network. He thinks that Obama isn’t doing more to protect the country from Ebola because his ‘affinities’ are with Africa, not the United States.
On Tuesday, psychiatrist Keith Ablow, a member of Fox News’ “Medical A-Team,” stopped by John Gibson’s radio show on sister network Fox News Radio. In one of his columns, Ablow had suggested that he had an idea why Obama wasn’t willing to impose a ban on travel to countries where the Ebola epidemic is at its worst. Never mind that several experts have said that travel bans would not only impede relief efforts, but are completely unnecessary because airlines already have broad authority to keep travelers from boarding if they have contagious diseases that could spread to other passengers. But it wasn’t that simple for Ablow. He thinks Obama feels guilty over America supposedly “inflicting untold suffering” on the developing world with its economic policies, and wants to make amends by having this country suffer along with West Africa.
Gibson wanted Ablow to elaborate, and Ablow happily obliged. To his mind, Obama thinks of himself as a “citizen of the world,” and not of any particular country–“least of all this country.” He thinks that when the idea of a travel ban was first broached, Obama thought it was hardly fair to take such a step when we helped unleash “a plague of colonialism” upon the world. Ablow sees this as more proof that at bottom, Obama is anti-American–as if we didn’t already know from the fact he attended Jeremiah Wright’s church. “How do you protect a country you don’t like?” Ablow wondered.
It went downhill from there–and rapidly. Giving voice to what he said was Obama’s “psyche,” Ablow said that at heart, Obama thinks that those calling for a travel ban have some nerve, considering that this country has “destroyed so much in the world in terms of good things” and thus has no right to protect itself from something that is ravaging the developing world.
Gibson–who made no effort to shut Ablow down, and actually threw gasoline on the fire–then wondered what harm could possibly be done by imposing a travel ban, considering that at most it would keep only 150 people per day from coming to this country. Ablow’s response must be reproduced in full to be believed.
“The harm–not in my mind, but perhaps in the president’s–is that his affinities, his affiliations, are with them! Not us. That’s what people seem unwilling to accept. He’s their leader.”
This isn’t just a dog whistle, folks. This is a dog whistle being blown into a megaphone. We don’t have one of us in the White House–we have one of “them.” And if that wasn’t enough, Ablow claimed the only reason Obama is in office is because the country has had a serious case of Stockholm syndrome. After all, he thinks it’s the only way it made any sense for us to elect a president with a middle name of “Hussein” and a last name that sounds a lot like Osama. He figures that we as a nation must have thought that since Obama has names “similar to two of our archenemies,” if we put him in the White House the terrorists would leave us alone.
Not surprisingly, Ablow was sliced, diced, and julienned over the course of the week. He was not only slammed from the left, but also by one of his own Fox News colleagues, Greg Gutfeld. But when he appeared on Gibson’s show on Friday, Ablow actually doubled down. He claimed he was merely stating the obvious, based on statements Obama has made ever since his first presidential bid. He thinks that we have a president who wants to “talk America down.” To Ablow’s mind, Obama wants to create a new America he can embrace–he just “has it in” for the country that exists now, and its constitution.
Sounds to me that in doubling down, Ablow was stating the obvious as well–the only difference between him and the likes of Sean Hannity and Mike Huckabee is that he has the title of “doctor.” Saying that Obama is one of “them,” and then harping on how much his name sounds like those of “two of our archenemies”? That sounds like something you’d hear on a tea-infused message board. But then again, Fox News did much to create the tea party–so it must think it has to keep feeding the beast. And Fox News is stating the obvious as well not only by keeping Ablow on its payroll, but still having the full interviews on its Website–unedited. But just in case someone at Fox News has an attack of decency, Media Matters got clips of both interviews. Listen to clips from Monday’s interview here and Friday’s interview here.
If such hate-filled and borderline racist talk is what Fox News considers “fair and balanced,” then you really have to wonder–what are people like Alan Colmes and Bob Beckel still doing there? There has to be some point where you can’t stay employed at a network that tolerates a level of bilge that seems to be getting more and more extreme by the minute.
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Darrell Lucus, also known as Christian Dem in NC at Daily Kos, is a radical-lefty Jesus-lover who has been blogging for change for a decade. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook.
