“The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart sees hypocrisy in the outrage on the right over Benghazi, Libya. Over the past week, the attacks that claimed the lives of four U.S. personnel on Sept. 11, 2012, have received renewed attention in Washington thanks to an e-mail revealing that the White House played a greater role in steering post-attack talking points than it had previously acknowledged.
The outrage spilled across Fox News programming, as Stewart pointed out. Monica Crowley on Fox News: “Where is the outrage over those four dead Americans.” Steve Doocy on Fox News: “Where is the media outrage?” Greg Gutfeld on Fox News: “The mainstream media is giving President Obama a pass on Benghazi.”
Such expressions of outrage prompted Stewart to observe a double standard. “You’re asking people to get outraged about an intelligence failure that tragically led to some Americans losing their lives. One intelligence failure,” railed the host, showing on the screen a document titled “BIN LADEN DETERMINED TO STRIKE IN US.” Stewart continued, “And then, I mean, imagine the outrage if there had been a second intelligence failure right after that one that tragically led to even more Americans losing their lives.” That one being the bogus reports of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction that premised the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Then Stewart cycled through various Fox News clips that showcased various degrees of alleged apologism for those and related fiascoes. Unlike many other segments on “The Daily Show,” the purpose of this one wasn’t to satirize cable news or even Fox News per se, but rather to expose inconsistencies among conservatives over the past decade vis-a-vis terrorism. The most expedient way to do that? Fox News clips.
