Thoughts on the Red Eye Outrage Opinion, Canadian, Troops, Fox, news, Red, Eye, editorial, vent Hello, I was not planning to post an article until a few of the other writers on crap culture did so, but due to a recent outrage that is rising in Canada over some comments on a FOX NEWS show, I felt that I should bring to your attention a clip that has shocked almost everyone who has seen it.
Here it is:
Now before I go bashing FOX and the fact they allowed this to air, I want to state some facts. This is supposedly a comedy show that takes place at three in the morning; it is not meant to be news and not meant to be taken seriously. One of the reasons that this clip is causing a lot of anger in Canada is that most Canadians first saw it after hearing the news that four Canadian soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol in Afghanistan. Now, apparently the clip aired before that tragedy happened so its not as though there were trying to rub there comments in our face. But despite that fact, it still doesn’t excuse what they said.
Canada has been nothing but a friend to the United States, in many ways we’re like it’s little brother. We respect it, we look up to it, and when we have to, we’ll even defend it. We let it pick on us from time to time, probably more than we should: we let it break it’s own rules and put Tarriffs on our softwood lumber, we let it ignore us in speeches, even when it names pretty much all other countries in thanking them for help. Hell, we put up with its pollution, even though climate change is effecting the article more drastically than anywhere else on the planet.
But you know what? We suck it in and smile. Why? Because we see good in them, we see potential. We look at the American dream and want to believe it is real; the election of a black President who was raised by a single mother just confirmed that ANYONE has a shot at achieving the promise that came with the signing of their constitution. In the Western world right now, America is the only developed nation that’s population is increasing because of natural birth and not just immigration. If there ever is a serious outside threat to our freedom and democracy, chances are America will lead the charge to stop it. And to America’s credit, out of all the nations that have become the clear dominate power in the world, America has fulfilled the role with the most restraint and civility.
You may disagree with me, but this is what I believe, so you should believe me when I say that there are many elements of America that I do not like. The acceptance of shows like Red Eye is one of them. As many of you may well know, Fox News is an extreme right-wing network that caters to those who wish to see the world in simple terms instead researching the complicated truth that is present in almost all situations. They have been constantly trying to get ratings by being shocking and loud and claiming that there version of America is the true version of the country. Right now the main target of Fox’s hate seems to be liberals, so having a commentator talk poorly about a successful country whose political history was dominated by a party whose ideology and name are both Liberal, should come as no surprise.
So why have so many Canadians raised their voices over this 3am atrocity? Well besides the obvious, which includes the poor timing of the piece coming out as our dead soldiers return to be buried, it’s the mean spirited manner in which it was done. It’s supposedly satire, which means that we are not supposed to be taking it seriously, but the lack of any jokes or meaningful observations makes it fail on that level. Of course if it wasn’t satire and we were supposed to be taking these people seriously, everyone would be considering them jokes.
Another reason that Canadians are angry at this is that it continually referenced outdated stereotypes, mainly the Mounties and the idea that we’d be easy to invade. Yes, Canada does have Mounties and we’re damn proud of them, they brought order to our Western territories without using guns, we’re a more stable and peaceful country because of them. We don’t constantly make jokes about American cowboys keeping order, so show the Mounties a little respect their long history has shown they’ve more than earned it. As for American’s joking that they should invade out little nation, it’s just insulting, I can’t think of ANY country in the world that has been as good to the American’s as we have.
Now, even more insulting is that the commentators (if you can call them that) honestly don’t seem to know how extensive a role we played in helping the United States bring and keep order in Afghanistan. When the United States went over to Iraq to fight a war over misleading reasons, we picked up some of America’s slack in Afghanistan bringing more of our young men and women out to help defend the country and stop it from falling into chaos before the new more democratic systems were put into place and became self-reliant.
But you know what? I honestly think that all those reasons alone would not garner such a large reaction (from Canadians) to these comments. I mean, this is a satirical no-budget program that aired on 3am on FOX. Yes, they were being bullies, and yes, their timing could not have been worse, and their lack of a legitimate apology did not help matters either. However, I think that Canadians see this sort of garbage as some of the worst things associated with America.
They’re rude, they’re arrogant, they give misleading facts, false reasons, and endorse a superiority complex. In other words, they are what is holding America back. With the election of Obama and the failure of the Neo-Conservatives’ policies, it looked like America was beginning to go into the right direction, again. They started putting restrictions on the speculation markets, made sure health care was more affordable stopped aggressively threatening other countries and started treating most countries with respect and fairness again. So Canadians were becoming hopeful that the USA was going to come closer to being the fair and just world power that it had always promised to be.
When we see tactless dribble like what was aired on Fox News, we are reminded of some of the nastier elements that are associated with Americans and some of the views which are holding them back from reaching their full potential. So now Canadians are being uncharacteristically loud in an attempt to correct this behaviour and make it once again unacceptable, so that the ideas that brought the disastrous Bush administration into power don’t once again spread.
I believe that it is safe to say that Canadians understand the vast majority of Americans do not think like these idiots, that they and respect Canada’s role in helping NATO, the UN and America in our efforts to make the world a safer and more democratic place. However, if we let misconceptions like these spread, it is not just doing a grave injustice to our history and work with the world, but it is also disrespecting the courageous men and women that are currently overseas, by their own choice, to try and make this world a better place.
So what should we demand as amends for this piece? Should we ask FOX to cancel the show? Should we demand the host of this program be fired? No, he did nothing illegal, he was editorialising and using his right to freedom of speech. Just like Canadians are using the same right, that our soldiers are dying to protect, to say that we’re offended and want an apology. I want a real apology from the host and I want the show to undo any misconceptions they may have caused by showing the role Canada has taken in dealing with troubled spots around the world. I think this request is more than fair.
Oh, and just for the record, the Toronto Star reported on the so-called apology:
Fox offered up an apology a few hours later saying comments on the show were “in no way an attempt to make light of troop efforts.”
“I realize that my words may have been misunderstood. It was not my intent to disrespect the brave men, women and families of the Canadian military, and for that I apologize. Red Eye is a satirical take on the news, in which all topics are addressed in a lighthearted, humorous and ridiculous manner,” Gutfeld’s statement read.
The full article can be seen here: http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/606908
Now, technically, you could say this is an apology, I want a real apology, and I think our armed forces, and their families deserve one as well.
I’m not alone on commenting my anger and disappointment about this clip. It has gotten responses from some high-up politicians, and I think people should see the way that Peter McKay respectfully deals with this.
I was pretty appalled when I first saw this. I hadn't even realized that the show was a satirical show, and though it was an actual news cast. There was nothing to tell a non viewer of the show they weren't being serious, and then imagine all the ignorant people who believed their dribble...
