Fox News Reaction to the London Attacks

I sympathize with Declan - I am also uncomfortable commenting on a tragedy in the immediate aftermath. As the wise blogger points out, rather than argument and debate,

what is needed in these cases (after direct action to minimize the damage, of course) are wise statements of principles and resolve.

Well I'm not qualified to make such statements, so I instead opt for quiet observation and contemplation.

News organizations don't have the luxury of thoughtful, respectful silence, however. Too bad, because when forced to report, an outfit like Fox News can't help but expose their unique brand of ugly, even as bodies are still being pulled from the wreckage.

Courtesy of Media Matters for America, here are some horribly insensitive snippets of commentary from Fox News hosts and reporters, reacting to the London bombings:

Fox News host Brian Kilmeade stated that the attack near the G8 summit "works to ... the Western world's advantage, for people to experience something like this together." From Fox News' July 7 breaking news coverage between 8 and 9 a.m. ET:

KILMEADE: And he [British Prime Minister Tony Blair] made the statement, clearly shaken, but clearly determined. This is his second address in the last hour. First to the people of London, and now at the G8 summit, where their topic Number 1 --believe it or not-- was global warming, the second was African aid. And that was the first time since 9-11 when they should know, and they do know now, that terrorism should be Number 1. But it's important for them all to be together. I think that works to our advantage, in the Western world's advantage, for people to experience something like this together, just 500 miles from where the attacks have happened.

Kilmeade, a good corporate soldier, gets in a shot against global warming, and also betrays his and his peers' views on the importance of African aid. Furthermore, he can barely contain his glee that the topic of terrorism was about to take top priority at the G8 summit. 50+ dead? 700+ injured? Small price to pay to put terrorism back in the spotlight, right Brian?

Fox News contributing correspondent Simon Marks distinguished between Arabs and "regular" Londoners, in reporting on the scope of the attacks, as the weblog Daily Kos noted. From Fox News' July 7 breaking news coverage between 9 and 10 a.m. ET:

MARKS: It [Edgeware Road] is an area that has a very large Arab population. Surrounding that station, a large number of Middle Eastern restaurants. So, it's a further indication, if in fact these attacks were carried out by Al Qaeda-affiliated cells, that these people are, if necessary, prepared to spill Arab blood in addition to the blood of regular -- of non-Arab people living in London.

Was this just an innocent slip of the tongue? Slip of the tongue, maybe, but not likely an innocent one. Marks, like most Westerners, probably couldn't tell apart Sikh from Persian from Arab from East Indian. But to him, none of the above are "regular" Londoners, just like no such people would be considered "regular" Americans.

Fox News Washington managing editor Brit Hume said that his "first thought," when he "heard there had been this attack" and saw the low futures market was "Hmmm, time to buy." From Fox News' July 7 breaking news coverage between 1 and 2 p.m. ET:

HUME: You know, the market was down. It was down yesterday, and you know, you may have had some bargain-hunting going on. I mean, my first thought when I heard -- just on a personal basis, when I heard there had been this attack and I saw the futures this morning, which were really in the tank, I thought, "Hmmm, time to buy." Others may have thought that as well. But you never know about the markets. But obviously, if the markets had behaved badly, that would obviously add to people's sense of alarm about it. But there has been a lot of reassurance coming, particularly in the way that -- partly in the way the Brits handled all this, but also in the way that officials here handled it. There seems to be no great fear that something like that is going to happen here, although there's no indication that we here had any advance warning.

Yep, business as usual. Mind you I've saved the worst for last:

Fox News host John Gibson stated one day before the attacks that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) "missed a golden opportunity" when it awarded the 2012 Olympic Games to London because if France had been selected to host the games, terrorists would "blow up Paris, and who cares?" Following the London attacks, Gibson reiterated that the IOC should have selected Paris instead of London because the British should "let somebody else be worried about guys with backpack bombs for a while."

From the July 6 broadcast of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly, guest-hosted by Gibson:

GIBSON: By the way, just wanted to tell you people, we missed -- the International Olympic Committee missed a golden opportunity today. If they had picked France, if they had picked France instead of London, to hold the Olympics, it would have been the one time we could look forward to where we didn't worry about terrorism. They'd blow up Paris, and who cares?

From the "My Word" segment of the July 7 edition of Fox News' The Big Story With John Gibson:

GIBSON: The bombings in London: This is why I thought the Brits should let the French have the Olympics -- let somebody else be worried about guys with backpack bombs for a while.

If this isn't proof that Gibson is a vile, disgusting maggot, then I don't know what is. Keep in mind that Gibson is the same fiend who complained feverishly in MacLean's¹ about what he perceives as chronic anti-Americanism in Canada, and one week later we find him campaigning for the slaughter of innocent French civilians. What a despicable monster. Why is he given such a high-profile pulpit? Who does he speak for?

Fox News: Fair and Balanced.


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¹Princess Monkey, guest blogging on Voice in the Wilderness, also references Gibson's harangue in this smart post about the 'manufactured crisis' of Canadian anti-Americanism.