It didn’t take Fox long to exploit the unspeakably awful execution of Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh by ISIS to advance Fox’s own political agenda.
Host Bret Baier opened tonight’s Special Report by showing a picture of al-Kasaesbeh as he was being burnt in a cage.
A somber Baier said:
Tonight we’re going to show you some of the images ISIS has put out from a long, slickly produced video. The images are brutal. They are graphic. They are upsetting. You may want to turn away. You may want to have the children leave the room right now. But the reason we’re showing you this is to bring you the reality of Islamic terrorism and to label it as such. We feel you need to see it so we will put up one of these images on your screen right now.
Baier continued by summarizing the video, saying al-Kasaesbeh was “seen in a cage and then is burned alive in real time, engulfed in flames until he dies. …A frontloader dumps the rubble from nearby buildings on top of his charred body.”
After the picture was down, Baier said, “It is something you cannot unsee: horrific and barbaric as well as calculating and skilled at high-tech propaganda.”
But even as Baier cloaked himself in concern for humanity and decency, he revealed he was even more concerned with sticking it to President Obama. Fox has been on a ridiculous and shameful crusade to smear President Obama for not saying Fox’s magical “Islamic terrorism” words (while mostly ignoring his actual anti-terrorism policies).
So even when covering an act of one of the worst atrocities imaginable, Fox does so from a framework of “What can this do for us?”
Watch it below if you like but be warned that the image is graphic and disturbing.
(H/T Mediaite)
The decision to do this was clearly network-wide, and the language Baier used about it was basically identical to what Hannity said. Ailes or somebody made a policy decision and sent orders down the line.
