Everything old is new again!!! When Bill “White Privilege” O’Reilly hosted Glenn Beck On Fox [to say] President Is Neglecting Dallas Ebola Danger Because Of City’s Unfavorable View Of Obama, it all came rushing back to me in a tsunami of nostalgia. There was a time when Glenn Beck hosted the Cavalcade of Crazy™ on Fox “News” every single day and it was my job to write it up for NewsHounds.
[TO BE FAIR: Glenn Beck says something crazy every day on his own closed-circuit vanity project & rube-fleecing machine. While I miss his unique brand of crazy, because he never failed to make me laugh, I simply won’t pay extra for his crazy.]
That’s why these days my Go-To-Guy for crazy is — IRONY ALERT!!! — Fox “News” psychiatrist Dr. Keith Ablow. How crazy is he? Ablow is so crazy he actually wrote a book with Glenn Beck, The 7: Seven Wonders That Will Change Your Life. In my parlance Ablow Job is when Dr. Keith proves he is as unhinged as Glenn Beck ever was. Don’t take my word for it; others have noticed the cray cray. The post Fox Psychiatrist Ablow Says Obama Won’t Impose Ebola Travel Ban Because He ‘Has It In For’ U.S. (And Cares More About Africa) notes:
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Fox News psychiatrist Keith Ablow has outdone himself with his crazy talk. This time he purported to psychoanalyze President Obama’s Ebola stance and our country’s “Stockholm Syndrome” that led us to elect a president “who has names very similar to two of our archenemies.”
It’s bad enough when Fox pundit Bill O’Reilly blows the racial dog whistle of accusing President Obama of not protecting Americans because he is more partial to Africa. But when Ablow – a member of Fox’s “Medical A-Team” – does it, the dog whistle gets a patina of medical validity, no matter how off-the-wall or undeserved. In fact, Ablow’s rant was so nutty, I doubt O’Reilly would tolerate even a minute of it.
I’m no psychiatrist, but I think Ablow is off his rocker . . . and a racist besides. I’m not the only one. In Fox News doctor unloads on Obama in unhinged racial rant about Ebola we get Ablow Job on why President Obama won’t stop air traffic from Africa:
“His affinity, his affiliations are with them! Not us! That’s what people seem unwilling to accept. He’s their leader. We don’t have a president.”
“We don’t have a president?” Gibson asked.
“We don’t have a president who has the American people as his primary interest, who believes the country has Manifest Destiny and has been a force for good,” Ablow insisted.
Ain’t that crazy? When one considers Ablow’s regular Fox & Friends segment is called Normal or Nuts, one wonders whether he’s ever asked that of himself.
If you thought it was all crazy Ebola scare-mongering on Fox “News” this past week, you’d almost be right. However, as last week closed, Fox “News” thought it had a new winning meme with which to flog President Obama. Fox News Runs Wild With Claims About White House Ties To Prostitution Scandal was test-driven around the crazy track. Sadly for the salacious network it turned out to be a 1-day story without legs, to mix metaphors. Even Fox News’ Sexual Appetite Demands A Rehash Of The Lewinsky Scandal failed to take the checkered flag week and faded faster than these crazy analogies.
Which is why Fox “News” was forced to ramp up the Ebola hysteria to OH MY GOD WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!!! as the week went on.
With the hysteria higher than Tucker Carlson’s voice, Elisabeth Hasselbeck [will be] taking ‘a couple of weeks’ off of work following undisclosed surgical procedure. Which means for the third week in a row she couldn’t ask the craziest Ebola question. Last week I suggested they take Hasselbeck off the Ebola Desk so she could “stick to interviewing persecuted Christians. But then, you’d be left with Doocy or Kilmeade.” I was wrong. They’ve gone with a series of interchangeable women to pick up the slack.
She will be off the Curvy Couch for several weeks. A Fox flack told The Wrap:
“Elisabeth has asked for all to respect her wishes for privacy in regards to further details at this time.”
That usually means “women’s problems” or a nose job, but Friday Fox Follies refuses to speculate further. Hasselbeck won’t be forced to display her ineptitude until she gets back. I hope she returns soon, healthy and ready to make me laugh once again.
Credit Where Credit’s Due Department: Fox’s Shepard Smith Blasts Media For “Hysterical,” “Irresponsible” Ebola Coverage. He went on to shout, “These Are The Facts — We Do Not Have An Outbreak Of Ebola In The United States. Nowhere!” If only he had taken his own network to task for its scare-mongering. The Fox “News” Randle McMurphy, often the only inmate who’s not certifiable; enough that Media Matters noted the Seven Times Shep Smith Was Fox News’ Voice Of Reason.
There is no voice of reason when it comes to LGBT issues at Fox. After last week’s Friday Fox Follies was put to bed, those Foxy Friends on Fox and Friends — along with other personalities up the schedule — were misrepresenting suggestions of the Lincoln Nebraska School District as a mandatory edict. Segment after segment falsely derided Lincoln Nebraska teachers for being forced to use gender-neutral language. Making it sound as crazy as possible, Foxites falsely claimed teachers could no longer say “boys and girls,” but must call their charges “purple penguins” instead.
The Fox “News” lies were so egregious that Lincoln Public School Superintendent Steve Joel held a presser to set the record straight. Unfortunately, articles like Lincoln superintendent defends gender sensitivity training and School District Responds To Fox News’ Misinformation About Transgender Student Recommendations had absolutely no effect.
While Joel vows Lincoln schools will continue being all-inclusive, Fox “News” proved it will remain exclusionary. A segment on the 10th only proved a lack of fairness and balance by hosting a parent fighting “extreme political correctness.” They ran 33 seconds of Steve Joel’s denial, but Steve Doocy and parent Rachel Terry weren’t buying it.
Speaking of O’Reilly, it wouldn’t be Friday Fox Follies without at least a brief mention of Loofah Lad. The Falafel King dropped in on The Daily Show to defend White Privilege.
TO BE FAIR: He didn’t actually defend it. O’Reilly said it didn’t exist, which is pretty much the same thing. It’s not the first time:
LESS THAN TWO MONTHS AGO:
Megyn Kelly Schools Bill O’Reilly On ‘White Privilege’.LESS THAN TWO DAYS AGO:
Jon Stewart Schools Bill O’Reilly On ‘White Privilege’ During A Shouting Match.
While it’s more proof, if any were needed, that everything old IS new again, it’s even more proof that you can’t fix crazy.
Headly Westerfield is a professional writer who is often called crazy for his obsession with Fox “News,” which he also covers at the Not Now Silly Newsroom and The Johnny Dollar Depreciation Society, where he Fox snarks in realish time.
