All Posts Tagged With: "smear politics"

Fox News has been on a roll lately in its blatant contempt for Barack Obama. Their anchors have worked extra hard through this campaign to try to tie Obama to the Muslim faith and, by extrapolation, “Islamo-fascist terrorists.” This past week, though, has been a “stellar” week for Fox News smears.

First, there was E.D. Hill’s overtly suggestive question about the fist bump between Barack and Michelle Obama (during last Tuesday night’s nomination victory speech): “A fist bump? A pound? A terrorist fist jab? The gesture everyone seems to interpret differently. We’ll show you some interesting body communication and find out what it really says.” The outcry was great enough to force the network to cancel her show.

Smarting from the rebuke over the terrorist implication, the network reverted back to a golden oldie smear tactic — racial slurs. Yesterday afternoon, during a segment with right-wing hate-monger Michelle Malkin and anchor Megyn Kelly discussing Michelle Obama, the network’s producers displayed the following graphic:

(Salon.com has a video clip of the entire segment.)

“Obama’s baby mama“? Seriously? Is the network so desperate to smear Obama that they aren’t even trying to hide their bigotry anymore?

It’s clearly a racial slur and disparaging description. They have co-opted a stereotype tied to African-American unwed mothers and fathers of illegitimate children to describe Michelle Obama. It’s insulting to Michelle and Barack Obama both and utterly mischaracterizes their relationship and the legitimacy of their children. It’s beneath contempt. And it’s a new low in smear politics — even for Fox News who generally sets the (very low) standard for partisan and smear “journalism.”

Fox News, have you no shame? Obviously not.