Fox News trotted out discredited author Ronald Kessler in a transparent effort to turn the recent breaches of White House security into an epic fail for President Obama. And host Tucker Carlson helped.
On Friday, night, a man armed with a knife jumped the fence in front of the White House and made it through the front door before being tackled. Less than 24 hours later, another man was arrested for trying to illegally enter the White House. According to the New York Times, the Secret Service was deliberately restrained in its reaction to the fence jumper:
The officers did not fire at him, having apparently concluded that he was not armed and did not appear to be carrying anything that might contain explosives.
Agents on the roof also held their fire, apparently for the same reasons.
…The agents’ decision not to use lethal force contrasted sharply with actions taken by the United States Capitol Police a year ago when officers shot and killed a woman who had driven her car into a barrier at the White House and then led police officers on a chase toward the Capitol. The police came under sharp criticism for killing the woman, who had her 18-month-old daughter in the back seat.
And, of course, controversy over the overuse of force has been in the news lately, with President Obama speaking out on the side of restraint.
On this morning's Fox & Friends, host Carlson opened the segment by asking what these incidents say about “the agency, its competence and readiness?” I guess he couldn’t openly ask what the incidents say about President Obama. But it wasn’t long before that’s exactly where the guest went.
Carlson approvingly described Kessler as a man who “literally wrote the book” on the Secret Service. He forgot to mention that Kessler’s Secret Service reporting has been criticized as “dangerous” “National Enquirer-style gossip,” strongly refuted by the Secret Service and Mary Cheney. Media Matters has all that and more in a lengthy rundown of Kessler’s discredited record.
Nevertheless, Carlson accepted every word of Kessler’s analysis of the Secret Service and seems to have done not a bit of research of his own.
Kessler blamed the breaches on the agency’s “laxness, corner-cutting” policies. He also claimed – without any further questioning from Carlson – that there had been a cover up over what happened.
Then Kessler got to blaming Obama:
President Obama bought into this (the supposed cover up) and said he has confidence in the Secret Service - as he’s done with every other scandal that’s occurred.
I broke the fact that agents were hiring prostitutes in Colombia. He said everything’s fine. The same with the Salahis intruding at the State dinner. Again, I broke the fact that there was a third intruder. Again, President Obama said no problem.
This is President Obama’s own life who was at stake as well as his own family. And agents tell me that it’s a miracle that he has not been assassinated. And it really calls into question his judgment as commander in chief if he can’t see that his own life is at stake because of the Secret Service corner cutting.
Carlson further attacked Obama, albeit via a charade of adding balance. Carlson said Obama might not be deliberately enabling the Secret Service's ineptitude. “I mean, his political credibility was at stake in ObamaCare and they still couldn’t make the website work," Carlson said. "So it’s possible that they want to do their best but they’re just totally incompetent.”
Both, according to Kessler. He opined, “Incompetent, in denial, passive, willing to accept the Secret Service’s excuses and cover up.” He put forth his own disingenuous balance by saying that President Ronald Reagan’s decision to overrule the Secret Service nearly got him killed when he allowed an unscreened public too close. “That’s what’s gonna happen, I’m afraid, if the Secret Service does not reform," Kessler continued. Then he added, "And under Obama, it’s not gonna be changed whatsoever.”
If, God forbid, something should happen to President Obama, it’s likely that Fox will blame him for it.
Watch how they’ve already laid the groundwork for it below.
(H/T reader Richard W.)
We blame Ailes on hiring that untalented twit Tucky. A Fox “News” intern can do a better job as host.
We blame Ailes on hiring Hannocchio. Good looks only last a few years.
We blame Ailes on hiring Actor Glenn Beck. That was a complete failure.
We blame Ailes on hiring Lizzie. This little mousy broad is not the sharpest pencil in the drawer.
We blame Ailes on hiring the Tortoise. You can destroy Isis by sending this broad to the Middle East. One day with her and all of them would give up fighting.
We blame Ailes for hiring Hucky. Is that show still on the air?
We blame Ailes for not demanding that Sistah Harris dye her weave…oops…black hair blonde to please the predominantly older white male audience who prefer blondes.
We blame Ailes for starting Fox “News” Channel. Journalism died in 1996.
NOTE TO TUCKY
If Obama was around when daddy ran for mayor and lost, you would blame Obama. Thankfully, daddy lost. Residents didn’t want him anyway.