Well, we already knew that torture apologist Andrea Tantaros is a good fit at Fox News, since she is eager to transmit the right-wing talking point du jour -- no matter how scummy or stupid -- with gusto.
She did it again yesterday on The O'Reilly Factor, debating with Alan Colmes over the political fallout from the failed bombing of Flight 253 on Christmas Day. Tantaros trotted out every cheap rhetorical trick in the book -- suggesting that the right-wing attacks on Obama were a matter of "checking the baggage" of the administration and bringing up Van Jones, then comparing Obama to Tiger Woods -- in order to promote the right's favorite new talking point: Obama and the Democrats aren't serious about combating terrorism.
Fortunately, Colmes delivered a righteous smackdown of this kind of cheap smear:
Tantaros: But the point now is that we cannot discount this, we cannot use terms like 'manmade disaster' and go after -- it seems like this administration is more interested in going after Republicans, and going after the previous administration, than going after our real enemies. When you say, 'Don't blame Barack Obama' --
Colmes: That is an outrageous smear, an outrageous smear against an administration that's trying to do the right thing, that cares about this country. The implication that this administration or Democrats don't love America, don't want to protect America, don't want to protect the American people -- that's an outrageous smear against Democrats.
Tantaros: Alan, I don't blame just Barack Obama, like you said, Alan. I blame you, I blame Nancy Pelosi, and I blame the left and the liberals who are trying to weaken our country.
I really do wonder when the Fox talkers are finally going to bring up the issue of how the Bush administration responded in 2001 to a nearly identical attack. My guess is never.
