Make sure you have your irony meds handy.
In possibly the most craven example of concern trolling and journalistic assault I’ve ever seen, guest host Dagen McDowell led a discussion of whether Katie Couric is a bad, irresponsible mom for making the decision to go to Iraq to report on that news stuff that’s happening over there.
One guest for this discussion was Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America, which is (Surprise! Surprise!) a conservative Republican/Christian organization “with a rich 28-year history of helping our members across the country bring Biblical principles into all levels of public policy” while insuring, among other things, “that neither the United Nations nor any other international organization should have authority over the United States in any area.” So she’s obviously an authority on journalism. The other guest was Susan Estrich, a law professor. I assume FOX didn’t invite any experts on journalism because that discussion would be over too fast.
Among other clever insights, Crouse had this to say:
It’s a clear act of desperation. I find it very sad.
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Here [Couric] is, going off to iraq, paying absolutely no attention to the fact that her children have already lost one parent, and here she is putting herself in harm’s way. We’ve already had more than 100 journalists die in Iraq, and I think it’s very sad to see Katie having her priorities so determined by her ambition rather than for her children’s welfare. I think it’s a warped perspective.
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This is a clear publicity stunt.
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This is totally uncalled for.
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She is saying “my ratings are more important than my children.”
Won’t anyone PLEASE think of the children?!? The idea that Crouse is only speaking out to protect Couric’s kids and remind Couric (since she’s “paying absolutely no attention”) that her husband died in 1998 and that her death would make her kids parentless is so unbelievably insulting and repulsive that it makes me gag. Are the musings of this conservative whackjob into the inner thoughts and motivations of Katie Couric really news? What qualifies Crouse to talk about this other than the fact that she is a conservative Christian republican?