by digby
I’ve been aghast at the panic stricken bellowing coming from mainstream US media in the wake of Paris and needless to say, Fox News has been worse than most. But once in awhile someone surprises you. Here’s Fox’s Shep Smith:
In the face of terror, will we panic or be calm and deliberative in approach?” Smith asked in a 90-second monologue. “Confronted with those who want to change our way of life, will we abandon our freedoms and the rights granted to us by the creator, or will we welcome huddled masses, yearning to breathe free? Will we take extreme measures to fundamentally alter who and what we are?”
“Our shining city on a hill is vulnerable,” he continued. “We’ve always known that. If we change it to accommodate the savages, have they won? And what then would be left to protect? We profess to stand as an example for all the world. Our unique experiment in freedom, tolerance, openness, and equality, is our gift to societies and peoples everywhere. Come, join us. Enjoy a chance at the American dream.”
He concluded, “Today we mourn but we cannot allow ourselves to become like those who want to destroy us. We cannot resort to tactics of the barbarians. We must fight for what we believe in and who we are. Guard our freedoms faithfully for the generations to follow. And we must not let the rhetoric of potential and political extremists among us lead us to self-destruction. When there’s panic, we show resolve. When there’s calm for extremism, we resist. We are America. We must lead.”
I keep hearing others demand that President Obama “lead” without saying what they mean by that. In fact, they mean escalating the war and exacting revenge. Smith’s understanding of leadership in a time of crisis is the correct one. The last thing we need is for our president to panic or to use the crisis as an opportunity to expand America’s global military empire. We did that already. It didn’t turn out well.
To get a flavor of the responses to his comments, I think this one captures it pretty well:
