Old video has been unearthed of South Korean star Psy, of “Gangnam Style” fame, performing some no-holds-barred protests against the American military eight and ten years ago. In 2004, Psy participated in a protest concert in Seoul where he joined others in singing a song (that he didn’t write) about killing U.S. soldiers. He has since apologized. But it turns out Psy is going to be one of many performers at a benefit tonight (to be aired later on TNT) where President Obama will be in attendance. And that’s all Fox needs to bring on a guest suggesting President Obama is palling around with a terrorist.
It’s funny how Fox spends so much time vetting any and every person President Obama has ever come in contact with. More time, it seems, than they spent on vetting the invasion of Iraq.
Does Psy “deserve such a privilege of playing for the president?” host Clayton Morris asked.
The sole guest for the segment was Debbie Lee, a Gold Star mother, who has an organization called America’s Mighty Warriors to honor her son. Her board members include such conservative notables as Rep. Duncan Hunter and Jon Voight.
Lee, or one of her associates, apparently posted a petition on the White House “We the People” site to demand that Psy be removed from the program. Never mind that the program is a benefit for Children's National Medical Center that is attended each year by the President and First Lady and other Washington VIP's. Never mind that the petition had fewer than 500 signatures when it was removed for violating terms. Neither of those points were brought up in response to Lee’s accusations:
I was disgusted… How do we allow that to happen? …This is someone that should be on a no-fly list or, you know, a terrorist-watch list for saying the things that he said.
… For me, this is just our president again, who doesn’t want to hear from Americans. He doesn’t support our troops. And it just disgusts me that this continues to happen… Our White House needs to listen to us and they need to remove him from that program.
To her credit, host Alisyn Camerota noted that Psy's protest performance was eight years ago, that he was expressing his “anti-war sentiment” and that he had not written the lyrics. She then read his apology and said, “It sounds like his position has evolved.” But she did not challenge any of Lee's over-the-top rhetoric. Kind of ironic, given the context, no?
Camerota also didn’t mention how strong anti-American sentiment was in South Korea at the time that Psy performed his protests. Nor that the fact that George W. Bush is no longer in the White House might have helped that evolution.
