I have no idea who thought it was smart to let Laura Ingraham be the guest host on The O'Reilly Factor last night, but I think Fox News might want to rethink that. I've seen huge gaffes before, but this gaffe was just awful. There is nothing wrong with having an opinion. There is nothing wrong with expressing it. There is something wrong with expressing it directly after a tragedy and leading people to believe that your opinion is a fact.
Anders Behring Breivik, the man suspected of the shooting in Norway has, according to the police, links to right-wing extremism. You wouldn't know that if you tuned into The O'Reilly Factor last night. Laura Ingraham let her opinion be known to her viewers that the attacks were the works of Muslim terrorists. I can see why she had the opinion because an islamic terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attacks. However, as of this moment, the Norwegian police do not believe that the attacks were carried out by Muslim terrorists or even had anything to do with Islamic terrorism. Once again, a conservative media jumps to conclusions on an issue to demonize a group that they have disdain for. It's hilarious that her comments were a lead-in to a segment about the controversial community center near Ground Zero in New York. Think back to January when conservatives claimed that liberals politicized the shooting of Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Remember how they got all upset, even though a right-wing website published an article with a screenshot of a fake Facebook page that would lead you to believe that President Obama inspired Jared Loughner. That Jared Loughner was a "far-left lunatic."
She's not alone. Michelle Malkin thought it was a bright idea to politicize the tragedy before the facts got out. To Michelle Malkin's credit, she kinda-sorta walked it back while defending her bigotry as "connecting the dots." Glenn Beck's website The Blaze covered it and the comments on the article pretty much tell you who they believe was responsible for the attacks. The website Jihad Watch also ran an article about it and the sentiment there was the same as it was on Beck's site. These people should've at least learned from those morons at Right Network about waiting until all of the FACTS were out. Then again, sense when did facts mean anything to conservatives? Laura Ingraham and Fox News owe apologies to not only the Muslim world, but to the Norwegians for their horrible lapse of judgement. I'm willing to bet an apology won't come. If anything, Ingraham will play the victim and spin the events that followed the Arizona shooting to her gain. As of this moment, the Norwegian gunman has no known connections to Islamic terrorist groups. His motives are unknown, but don't believe that. Laura Ingraham knows better than you, me, and the Norwegian police. Great job Laura Ingraham. Great job Fox News. Now we get to hear your dumbass viewers claim that the gunman was a muslim. I mean why wouldn't they? They don't watch REAL news now, do they? 80+ people dead and you thought it was a bright idea to mislead your easily misled viewers. I offer my condolences to the people of Norway. I sympathize with them and believe that they will emerge from this even stronger than before. I also apologize to any person in Norway or of Norwegian descent for the gigantic morons we have in the United States.