Fox guest Jonathan Hoenig attacked Juan Williams for arguing against ethnic profiling of Muslims. “You’re Getting Your Talking Points From CAIR!” Hoenig – a supposed business expert – accused.
Fox News’ Cashin’ In “business” show spent nearly half its program on the very non-financial matter of exploiting the Chattanooga shootings that killed five Marines as an excuse to “ask” whether it’s “time to profile” Muslims.
Host Eric Bolling kicked off the discussion. “It’s controversial, but is it time to profile?” he “asked” his panel. There wasn’t a single expert in national security expert among them.
Pundit Michelle Fields’ “credentials” seem to consist of hosting an online TV show with disgraced ex-military man and Fox News pundit Allen West. But she announced authoritatively, “We don’t have a problem with Buddhist extremists. …We have a problem with Muslim extremists. If they’re going to come here and threaten us, and they’re coming from an area that’s a hotbed for terrorism, of course we should scrutinize them, we should thoroughly examine them. …Why are we accepting immigrants from areas that we know are anti-American, that have problems with ISIS with Muslim extremism?”
Juan Williams replied, “I love it when people react just out of fear and anger. Oh gee, James Holmes - gee was he a Muslim terrorist? How about that guy Dylann Roof down in South Carolina, a Muslim terrorist? Oh, no. So this is like, you know what? Picking on people who are vulnerable because of their Muslim faith and background.”
Rather than introduce anything like statistics about people who commit mass killings, host Bolling tried to discredit Williams by saying, “Juan, you got in trouble for profiling, basically, someone on an airplane, no?”
”No,” Williams answered. “I said that I get nervous when I see people dressed in Muslim garb getting on an airplane.”
”Oh, and you’re calling us fear mongers,” Fields sneered. “That sounds a little hypocritical.” As if any of that matters in answering an important question such as profiling.
Regular Jonathan Hoenig is another one without any apparent credentials on the subject. He declared, “I’m an advocate of open immigration to this country, but not for enemies of this country, and I think it’s perfectly appropriate to profile and restrict some radical Muslims and certainly those from very worrisome parts of the world.” Let’s hope he bases his financial recommendations on something more substantial than he bases his national security prescriptions.
Democrat Jessica Tarlov agreed that “it seems like something was missed” regarding the Chattanooga shooter. “But that doesn’t mean, necessarily, that we should go out there and be profiling everyone whose parents are from another country,” she added. Tarlov advocated for “amping up our social media monitoring.”
Newly-minted “expert” Hoenig immediately attacked her. “All you need is a better pop up blocker,” he joked scornfully.
Regular Wayne Rogers said, “It has nothing to do with ISIS. He could’ve come from anywhere.”
“Could we have at least put him on a watch list?” Bolling pushed.
“Absolutely,” Fields agreed.
Williams argued, “Jordan and Kuwait aren’t radicalized countries.”
So Hoenig accused Williams of “getting your talking points from CAIR.” CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, is regularly demonized on Fox.
On Fox News, anybody with an anti-Muslim opinion is an expert.
Watch what passes for a business show on Fox – which proves again that the only real business of Fox News is political – above, from the July 18 Cashin’ In.
Crossposted at News Hounds.
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