*(I highly doubt these Ron Paul revolutionaries pictured are taking issue with the concept of something foreign owned being illegitimate. They are most likely taking issue with the network’s potential as a propaganda tool by Saudi crown prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud; the No. 2 shareholder of Fox News.)
From a believability standpoint, internet celebrity Russell Brand’s latest controversial claim couldn’t be more chilling. Although Fox News hasn’t been caught behind mass executions and bombings (much to the disappointment of Pierce Morgan and Rosie O’Donnell), they, and other media outlets of the old guard variety, pose a threat arguably much closer to home than some landlocked extremist militia does half a world away.
( Seriously, they are scattered. Look at their progress so far trying to conquer huge swaths of the Fertile Crescent the US military hasn’t had any easier luck occupying. And these people want to establish a global caliphate?)
Whenever the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria attempts any P. R., their message is by and large rejected. It is not accepted very seriously by concerned Americans, whether they support intervention or overwhelmingly oppose it.
Nobody likes ISIS.
In fact, the group’s blitzkrieg of war-torn Mosul and ‘purge of the apostates’ there don’t even resonate well with Al-Qaeda leaders themselves. When ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi refused Ayman al-Zawahiri’s calls to return to Iraq from fighting the Syrian Civil War, Bin Laden’s successor reportedly cut ties completely in February.
So ISIS’s reach is limited. Fox News, on the other hand, was viewed by millions of people at primetime last Tuesday. It remains the most widely viewed cable news network in North America, and consistently brands itself ‘fair and balanced’ as the ‘most trusted name in news.’ This despite the fact the network blacklisted Ron Paul’s presidential campaigns, actively censors dissent with their views, and is part-owned by a Saudi royal who has admitted to having unfavorable headlines changed.
The spawn of Rupert Murdoch continues to come under increased scrutiny from both token left and right outlets in recent years. But when Fox News regurgitated White House talking points for the better part of the last decade, the masses were willing to believe these false promises of safety and security at the cost of thousands of lives lost in endless wars overseas, and many of our civil liberties at home.
Just as Ben Franklin warned would happen:
If we restrict liberty to attain security we will lose them both.
ISIS can’t hope to accomplish that much with 12th Century press releases.
UPDATE: As many as fifteen Somali-Americans are said to be fighting for the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham against both Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, and Anwar al-Awlaki’s in Iraq.
Also, notice the last name of Egypt’s recently ‘elected’ strong man and former Mubarak-era army chief, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. It spells ISIS backwards.
