After Fox News shrugged off accusations it has spread ISIS propaganda by promoting its latest execution video, a Republican guest accused Obama of promoting ISIS propaganda because he mentioned the Crusades in his National Prayer Breakfast remarks. And was not challenged.
As Media Matters reported, the right wing has been lashing out at Obama for his nondenominational remarks that made a point of noting that all faiths (not just Muslims) have had groups “hijack religion for their own murderous ends.” Obama also noted that Christians, too, have committed atrocities in the name of Christianity during the Crusades, the Inquisition and slavery.
Marc Thiessen was the first of two conservative guests on The Kelly File last night attacking Obama discussing this latest faux controversy.
Thiessen said, “It’s fascinating. …(Obama) said people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. Has he ever said ISIS has committed terrible deeds in the name of Mohammed? Or in the name of Islam?”
Actually, yes he has. Just this week, Obama said, “There is an element growing out of Muslim communities in certain parts of the world that have perverted the religion, have embraced a nihilistic, violent, almost medieval interpretation of Islam. And they are doing damage in a lot of countries around the world.” Obama spoke similarly to the United Nations in September.
But that wasn’t enough for Thiessen. “He won’t call it ‘Islamic radicalism.’ Which is a problem,” Thiessen said, without explaining why. Nor did host Megyn Kelly ask. Apparently, saying the magical words is a given in right-wing foreign policy.
Instead, Kelly piled on. “And then to bring slavery and Jim Crow into it as well. As though that is somehow morally the equivalent of what we’re watching today with ISIS.”
In fact, whites burned blacks alive during slavery. But Thiessen whitewashed that by saying that evangelical Christians fought slavery and Jim Crow.
Thiessen added, “The other thing, quite frankly is, we need to remember that for the president of the United States to invoke the Crusades and deeds that were done in the name of the Crusades – we have to remember that plays right into Islamist propaganda. …That is a propaganda goldmine for our enemies.”
Now, that’s rich, considering that Fox has been accused of actually empowering ISIS by publishing ISIS’ propaganda video of the execution of a Jordanian pilot by burning him to death. Without any apparent concern for the ramifications.
After Thiessen came Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council. That group has been named a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. According to the SPLC, Perkins purchased a mailing list from the KKK’s David Duke and has spoken to a white supremacist group. But Kelly suggested Perkins is in league with slavery-opposing Christians like Martin Luther King.
KELLY: You look at who brought attention to, for example, Jim Crow and racism in this country and Dr. Martin Luther King comes to mind and the president trying to sort of link back all of these atrocities in history to the Christians who he thinks were acting out of their faith in Christ.
Perkins replied, “What we have here is the president refusing to acknowledge that Islam and that ideology that’s behind it, that’s been radicalized is being used to kill Christians. …I think any human being that has any sense of sensibility and compassion that saw the video two days ago or has seen anything that has come out of Syria and Iraq at the hands of ISIS would be moved to compassion and say these folks are enlightened by darkness and they must be stopped.”
It seems to me that’s exactly what President Obama has said. Maybe some people just don’t want to listen.
Watch it below, from last night's The Kelly File.
“Oh, man, more evidence of right-wingers and particularly Fox people goose-stepping to some talking points memo being email blasted……”
Dear Jane: I’ve said this NUMEROUS TIMES before and I’ll keep saying it again and again until I’m blue in the face — it is also why I sometimes call Fox News Channel NNC — NAZI NEWS CHANNEL:
IF IT WALKS LIKE A NAZI, TALKS LIKE A NAZI, AND ACTS LIKE A NAZI…….well, we all know the rest.
In particular is the cry that Obama didn’t say “in the name of Mohammed,” which is strictly true, he didn’t mention Mohammed per se. He only excoriated ISIS.
Also I noted with amusement that in all the frantic defense of Christianity, it was mostly about the Crusades, with only the occasional passing nod to Jim Crow and slavery. No mention at all about people being horribly tortured and then burned alive at the stake during the Inquisition for the crime of believing the wrong flavor of Christianity only a few hundred years ago.