As the mouthpiece for the right wing, Fox News never wastes an opportunity to create "controversy" based on right wing outrage. The latest bit of conservative consternation involves Sunday's installment of CBS's "The Amazing Race" which took place in Hanoi, Vietnam. One of the challenges featured a Vietnamese singing group who sang a Communist song while waving Communist flags. At another point in the competition, the racers took their clues at a box located at the B-52 Memorial which is the wreckage of an American bomber shot down over Hanoi. Tuesday, "The Five" expressed their outrage with what they perceived to be lack of patriotism and insensitivity on the part of CBS. Bob Beckel got particularly unhinged and told CBS execs to "shove it." Beckel (who did not serve) was back on today's "America Live" where he continued to complain.
Kelly dramatically recounted that the racers visited a "so-called B-52 memorial" which, for the Vietnamese who were being bombed by Americans is very real. In clipped terms she provided the history of the plane crash and how a plaque describes "the American empire being destroyed." (Some truth to that!) She discussed the mistreatment of POW's some of whom were survivors of the crash. She got all Broadway with her recounting of how the "amazing" (she emphasized the word) racers who were "trying to beat each other to the" (she's shouting and maniacally grinning) "crash site right next to that celebratory plaque for their next clue." As video from the show was played, the chyron read "Reality Show Highlights Communism, Critics Ask if CBS went too far." (Word Net Daily being one of the critics).
Bob Beckel said that he's still outraged but trying to hold back because the choice of race venue was "anti-American." He expressed the hope that CBS will apologize or "get out of the business of doing stuff like that." An incensed Kelly cited the "disrespect" and the "demeaning of the memory" of those who were shot down. She shouted that while Vietnamese celebrate this, it's not "normally Americans dancing around it looking for the next clue." Beckel asserted that "somebody" at CBS should have known about this. He promised to use his Fox platform to promote the outrage. Kelly criticized the show's producers for not doing their research, especially knowing "that there was a conflict." As she spoke, the chyron read "Twisted Television, CBS Show Accused of Insulting Vietnam Vets.
Kelly noted that "this wasn't a singular incident" and described an "instance where they made the contestants memorize the lyrics to a [air quotes] patriotic Vietnamese song and (OMG) a pro-communist song." She played the video which had the translation. She asked "what is the point of that, why?" Beckel said that the song had been used to rally the people against the US "and the idea that you would even listen to it, forget, even memorize it is, is you might as well memorize...and a big picture of Ho Chi Minh who was a mass murderer." He asked if CBS will go to the killing fields in Cambodia. Kelly added "swing by Dachau."
Kelly's and Beckel's jingoism was reminiscent of those who took us into a war, like Iraq, that was an unnecessary invasion of a sovereign nation that posed us no harm. Dachau and the Killing Fields were places where innocent people were murdered and certainly not in the same league as the appropriate defense of Hanoi by those whose country was being bombed. If the US shot down an Iranian bomber over American territory, I don't think that Megyn and Bob would have a problem with a memorial which wouldn't be considered "so-called." But that the "Viet Cong," would do the same thing is anathema to those who still can't deal with the reality that we lost the war and that a unified, Communist Vietnam is a trading partner and tourist destination.
And as far as "mass murderers" - how bout LBJ, Kissinger, Agent Orange, carpet bombings of villages, My Lai, and napalm. In researching the history of the Vietnam War did Megyn run across that? If she did, she won't mention it. Fox News - not even fair & balanced when it comes to old news. And it's one, two, three what are we fighting for...???
The Five video below and America Live video here.
America Live : FOXNEWSW : March 21, 2013 10:00am-12:00pm PDT : Free Streaming : Internet Archive
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The US, as Priscilla pointed out, is not exactly free of its own share of atrocities during the Vietnam War. (I could only imagine the reaction from the FoxNoise kkkrew if “The Amazing Race” ran a leg through the village of Tinh Khe and the Racers stopped by the Son My Memorial. I don’t think the FoxNoise kkkrew would be too happy being reminded of the My Lai Massacre.)
I was in Vietnam as a tourist in 2010. There were a bunch of right wingers on the trip. I heard repeatedly about how John McCain was tortured, but I never heard any of them question what we were doing there in the first place, or (god forbid) try to put themselves in the other person’s (in this case, the Vietnamese) shoes and think about bombs being dropped on them. But that’s how wingnuts are.