July 8th, 2005
Fox News and the London Bombing ‘experience’
Someone passed the following exchange on to me from Media Matters and it further confirms how messed up Murdoch’s Fox News agenda is. Better still it fuels Bush’s desire to keep reminding us all, all of the time, about the ‘war on terror’. Like we could ever forget as we’re constantly bashed over the head with it.
The following exchange between Fox News host Brian Kilmeade and Fox News business contributor and substitute host Stuart Varney occurred during breaking news coverage of the attacks on London subways and buses on the July 7 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends:
KILMEADE: And he [British Prime Minister Tony Blair] made the statement, clearly shaken, but clearly determined. This is his second address in the last hour. First to the people of London, and now at the G8 summit, where their topic Number 1 –believe it or not– was global warming, the second was African aid. And that was the first time since 9-11 when they should know, and they do know now, that terrorism should be Number 1. But it’s important for them all to be together. I think that works to our advantage, in the Western world’s advantage, for people to experience something like this together, just 500 miles from where the attacks have happened.
VARNEY: It puts the Number 1 issue right back on the front burner right at the point where all these world leaders are meeting. It takes global warming off the front burner. It takes African aid off the front burner. It sticks terrorism and the fight on the war on terror, right up front all over again.
KILMEADE: Yeah.
Yeah Brian, I’d say the people of London think it’s great to “experience” something like this.
July 9th, 2005 at 10:04 am
Like the people of London, Madrid, Paris, Europe in general, never “experienced” anything like this before…
Good point Feargal, although ‘amusing’ might not be quite the word I would have used!
July 9th, 2005 at 3:14 pm
Fuckwit. O’Larry is right we know what bombing is like we dont have to go through another day like thursday to understand that. Its not ok for anyone to think ‘great the brits are scared and devastated now they will be back with us on the killing people agenda’.
Quite the oposite - i wouldnt hurt a hair on anyones head after going though the worry of trying to get though to all my friends thursday morning to make sure they were ok and let people know i was ok. No its time to help heal the world - global warming, aid whatever, not bloodlust.
July 12th, 2005 at 11:21 am
I think you’re misreading the excerpt above. The commentators aren’t saying that it’s a good thing for Londoners to experience this kind of terrorist attack, they’re saying that it’s a good thing that all those world leaders were together and collectively received the news about the terrorist attack. In terms of the agenda that these commentators are pushing, it is a good thing, leaving aside for the moment the question of whether or not their agenda has merit.
July 12th, 2005 at 3:31 pm
The saddest thing about the London bombing/G8 link is how few people got the message that development is the key to bringing an end to terrorism. Fundamentalist groups go recruiting in the forgotten neighbourhoods, the areas that government policy doesn’t reach. It’s how the Muslim brotherhood grew in Egypt under Sadat, and it’s where Al-Qaeda do their recruiting now. Economic divides create resentment and bitterness.
Fighting terrorism and Aid/development are seen as two separate areas of policy, when in fact one relies on the other. If you begin to redress the balance between the rich and the poor, you remove the resentment that motivates people to join these movements.
In any case, and even in the absence of development, you can’t ‘fight’ terrorism. Terrorism is a tactic, and as such is ethereal and intangible. Similarly, Al-Qaeda is an ideology. Neither are a group or an army in the traditional sense.
Waging a war on terror is like trying to shoot a swarm of bees with a handgun. It just stirs up the anger. When your mother told you not to bother them so they wouldn’t sting you, she had the right idea. Only we in the west have been poking at the nest with a big stick since the start of the 20th century, and our leaders don’t want to stop.
But without a good ‘ol WAR ON TERROR, Fox news (and, obviously, Sky News - Fox Britannia) would have nothing to fill their big swooshing newsflashes. So on we go.
If only someone would wage a little media jihad on Fox.