John Gibson has to rein in Euro-bashing, diverts venom to Paris
Reported by Chrish - February 23, 2005
.....Hilton. In John Gibson's "My Word" segment yesterday 2/22, he acknowledged that even his wife told him he was in danger of being regarded as a one-trick pony if he didn't find another target of his righteous indignation. With his perfect president in Europe it would be unseemly to continue to bash the very people Bush is trying to "mend fences" with.
Earlier in the show John had former Secretary of State Alexander Haig as a guest.
"The real objective" according to Haig, "was to tell the Europeans we want to work with them, we're not mad at them..."
John Gibson took issue with this, saying Secy Haig, you just said the president went there to tell them we're not mad at them..heh heh, that's not the situation: they're mad at us. They were mad at us about the Iraq war, and they're still mad at us, even though these leaders managed to swallow their pride and stand next to George Bush and shake his hand.
Haig replied, "No, they're not mad at us. European nations do what their interests say they have to do. They don't play frivolous games and don't have temper tantrums like sometimes we do." Later he said we were a "little ham-handed" at the beginning of this administration - what Haig calls extreme neo-conism - and cited little "knacks" (SP? never heard the term before)(must have been on Paper Chase) that our administration made against them, referring to the disdainful "old Europe" comments. He said "we ought to be above this pettiness...we're a leader and we ought to act like a leader."
Gibson replied ...but it's the French...they're the ones who seem to have the inferiority complex and constantly 'knacking' at us.
Haig disagreed, saying the president has changed his approach and he (Haig) is glad of it...we have to be above that pettiness...we've got to lead and we've got to be sure that the rule of law and democratic practices are a reflection of our America, and when it is we are going to get more converts than with words and threats.
After that perfectly classy rebuke, one would think Gibson would tone down his anti-European rant for at least one show. He made out like he was going to try, but after a minute of talking about Paris Hilton's stolen cellphone data, he groaned he couldn't do it and lashed out at Europe again. This time it was for its poll numbers which show the majority don't think the USA and/or the president are responsible for "spreading democracy" throughout the world. (The majority of Americans feel the same, according to poll numbers posted during the show.) Who's going to do it if not us? he laments. He says he sounds like a broken record - you know all that stuff, he says - they're dopes, and no-one is even denying it anymore. Back to PH - more stupidity. He wraps it up with "She's famous for being dumb. The Euros for being even dumber."
Comment: Good grief, he just insulted a whole continent! Even the "new" Europeans were lumped in there. Shouldn't Rove call off the attack dogs while the boss is on the dumb continent? This is being seen by millions of dumb Europeans and will probably not enhance their opinions of the bully in the pulpit.
This must be tough for Fox (aaww), being painted into a corner like this. Of course this Euro-bashing should never have been part of a "fair and balanced" "news" organization in the first place. I have to say that it speaks to the intellect of their viewers that this unprofessional nonsense wasn't stopped long ago. They have pumped up the hate for so long that now they can't stop, even as it hurts their cause.
