On Outnumbered today, the Curvy Couch Crew debated the phony “question” of “President Obama giving strategy advice to ISIS?” Either none of the four regular co-hosts bothered to read the New York Times article that prompted their discussion or they seriously misunderstood it. Or deliberately misinterpreted it as part of Fox’s never-ending effort to whip up ever more mistrust of President Obama. Even worse, the hosts cared more about attacking Obama than liking his “advice” to ISIS not to kill American hostages.
The New York Times article the discussion was based upon said this about Obama’s deliberations over dealing with ISIS:
Mr. Obama had what guests on Wednesday afternoon described as a bereft look as he discussed the murders of Mr. Foley and Mr. Sotloff, particularly because two other Americans are still being held. Days later, ISIS would report beheading a British hostage with another video posted online Saturday.
But the president said he had already been headed toward a military response before the men’s deaths. He added that ISIS had made a major strategic error by killing them because the anger it generated resulted in the American public’s quickly backing military action.
If he had been “an adviser to ISIS,” Mr. Obama added, he would not have killed the hostages but released them and pinned notes on their chests saying, “Stay out of here; this is none of your business.” Such a move, he speculated, might have undercut support for military intervention.
It takes a special brand of “news host” to seize on this as an excuse to suggest that President Obama is giving advise to ISIS. But, not surprisingly, each woman was up to it. Even though there wasn’t a national security credential in sight on the set.
Putin-loving Kimberly Guilfoyle got the discussion rolling with a clip of war-loving partisan John Bolton, a potential 2016 Republican candidate. Apparently, he suffered from the same misinterpretation of Obama’s remarks: “What could the president have been thinking? Does he have any more advice for ISIS about what they should do to undercut support for the military intervention that he has ordered as the president?” Bolton said, apparently on On The Record. Bolton had completely distorted Obama's remarks but, obviously, Fox didn't care.
Nor did Guilfoyle. She complained after the clip that Obama’s remarks were “so off base.”
Fox Business host Kennedy (with a resumé in music and talk radio) put aside her psychologist’s hat and donned her national security/military strategy hat. Rhetorically addressing Obama, she sneered: “Is that all you do is strategize on behalf of yourself and other people? Because it seems inappropriate to be strategizing on behalf of your enemy. And, by the way, for whom does it undercut military support? Would the American people see a bunch of journalists and aid workers wandering out of the desert – you know, like Paddington Bear, with a note pinned to their chest, saying, ‘Oh, those ISIS guys, they’re so sweet, I’m fond of them now. Let’s not bomb them.’”
Which confirms that Kennedy knows just as much about fighting terrorism as she does about psychology.
The “one lucky guy,” criminal lawyer Arthur Aidala, was the only voice of reason. He pointed out that what President Obama really meant was that Americans would not be so gung ho for military action had ISIS let the hostages go. “We’d be concentrating on Ray Rice… Obviously, he wasn’t serious,” Aidala said.
But Guilfoyle, a Fox News toadie if ever there was one, signaled a disagreement by saying, “I don’t know.”
Sandra Smith, another Fox Business host, sneered that Obama had said he didn’t have a strategy to deal with ISIS but “He’s detailing a strategy for ISIS to combat (the U.S.).”
“Thank you, Sandra,” Guilfoyle chimed in, with a big smile. “Welcome back to Outnumbered.” She giggled.
Harris Faulkner theorized that Obama likes “headwind” and deliberately sabotaged what “looks like winning” (in talking tough to Syria) by giving “ISIS some good advice.”
Not one of them seemed to care about how Obama’s “advice” would have avoided the horrendous murders of two Americans.
Yearning for the day when Fox becomes a major topic obsessively covered by what media America has left.