I was criticized for calling out Fox as a contributor to the myth that Obama is Muslim. As the cartoon above shows, I’m not the only one who sees it. It’s easy to prove. If history has shown us nothing, it has at least shown us the danger of invoking God–in any form–for our peceived righteous political views.
The earliest, and not the only, occasion I remember hearing of was on Fox & Friends during the presidential primary campaign. Host Steve Doocy and Fox anchor Brian Kilmeade say it all.
Transcript:
DOOCY: Why didn’t anybody ever mention that that man spent the first decade of his life, raised by his Muslim father as a Muslim and was educated in a madrassa?
We should also point out that Barack Obama’s father is the one who gave him the middle name of Hussein. And the thing about the madrassa, and you know, let’s just be honest about this, in the last number of years, madrassas have been, we’ve learned a lot about them, financed by Saudis, they teach this Wahhabism which pretty much hates us. The big question is was that on the curriculum back then? Probably not, but it was a madrassa and the big question is whether or not any of these revelations about the fact that he was a Muslim right now I understand he does go to the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, although not a regular parishioner but raised as a Muslim, went to a madrassa.
DOOCY: Is it ancient history or do you think madrassa matters. [phone ringing] Josh joins us from Colorado. Good morning to you Josh.
CALLER: What’s up?
DOOCY: What do you think?
CALLER: I think that ultimately this will probably be one of the main reasons is he not elected.
DOOCY: Just the fact that his father was a Muslim, he was raised as a Muslim for awhile, and went to a madrassa school in Jakarta?
CALLER: Right. I mean, you think that would possibly give him better insight on the enemy, maybe he doesn’t consider terrorists the enemy.
KILMEADE: Well, we’ll see about that. Yeah, Josh says that.
CALLER: Hi, good morning. Yes, I think it does matter. The fact that he omitted it must mean that he feels that somebody is going to have an opinion. And President Bush certainly comes under scrutiny, so why shouldn’t he?
KILMEADE: Well, he didn’t admit it. I mean that’s the issue. I was over in Indonesia for five years, or roughly five years, went to a madrassa and there is some reports that Wahhabism was the curriculum there, which is a problem because they start with “We hate America” and work their way back from there.
DOOCY: Well, the way it was framed in one of his biographies, he said, “I was sent first,” this is in Indonesia,” to a catholic school and then to a predominantly Muslim school. He doesn’t say, “I went to a madrassa, where they taught Wahhabism.” He simply says, “I went to a predominantly Muslim school.”
CARLSON: Alright, Jim from Alabama, what do you think?
DOOCY: Jim?
CALLER: Yeah.
CARLSON: What do you think?
CALLER: I think a Muslim would be fine in the presidency, better than Hillary. At least you know what the Muslims are up to.
[Laughter]
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Of course the President actually spent from ages 4-8 (not a decade) with his father and did not attend a madrassa. When this was pointed out to be a complete lie, John Moody, a senior vice president at Fox News, said its commentators had erred by citing the report. “The hosts violated one of our general rules, which is know what you are talking about,” Mr. Moody said.
It is not a left-wing conspiracy that thinks Fox is biased toward right-wing policies. All you have to do is watch the news and commentators. Fox has had to apologize so many times for the false things its hosts say, that if this “genereal rule” were a policy there would be some very quiet air waves around Fox.