...born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad

Babbling Babs hearts chinless despot: Had you tuned into unwatchable hen-fest, The View, yesterday, you could have looked on—aghast—as Barbara Walters gushed effusively and egregiously about the wonders of Syria.

That’s right, Syria. The land helmed by a feckless, yet iron-fisted, ophthalmologist. The land that, until quite recently, was building a nuclear facility in order to help Iran, Dr. Evil to its Mini-Me (as Mark Steyn described the symbiotic relationship) level that uppity Jewish entity next door. Barbara, who has no compunction about sitting down with—and helping spruce up the image of—dictators, couldn’t get over the sights, sounds, and spectacle of it all, and told the gals that she’s never felt safer than she did during her whirlwind visit.

Here’s Newsbusters on the gush:

Surprise! Barbara Walters visits an anti-American dictator and returns with very nice remarks about him. Returning from the week long break on "The View" July 7, Barbara Walters described how she spent America’s birthday, and the celebration of a document denouncing tyranny, with an anti-American tyrant.

While most Americans celebrated Independence Day with fireworks and barbeques, Barbara Walters spent the occasion dining with Syrian leader Bashir al-Assad, whom Walters described as "intelligent" and "charming" who wants "very much to have good relations with us." Perhaps realizing her own gushiness about Assad Walters pre-empted accusations and denied she is "brainwashed."

The veteran journalist began by noting Syria remains on the State Departments terrorism list because "they are against the war in Iraq." While she did note Syria’s support for Hamas and Hezbollah, she described them simply as "two groups that we consider unfriendly in Israel." She did not note the many suicide bombings targeting innocent civilians those groups support.

Barbara Walters boasted of a "total freedom of religion" in the despotic state. The non-partisan international watchdog Freedom House, however finds that although it allows a certain degree of religious freedom, certainly more than many Islamic states, it’s far from "total freedom of religion."

"Although the Constitution requires that the president be a Muslim, there is no state religion in Syria, and freedom of worship is generally respected. However, all nonworship meetings of religious groups require permits, and religious fundraising is closely scrutinized. The Alawite minority dominates the officer corps of the military and security forces. The government tightly monitors mosques and controls appointment of Muslim clergy."

Walters added, Syria is "considered a dictatorship." Just "considered?" Freedom House also rated Syria as "not free" with a "downward trend arrow due to the authorities’ suppression of opposition activities." While conceding she is "not saying this is...a perfect place," Walters advocated more dialogue with the totalitarian regime.

Although Walters claimed she went on this trip on her own, without the direction of ABC, it is not unprecedented for ABC News to demonstrate sympathy for Bashir al-Assad. "Good Morning America’s" Diane Sawyer pressed Assad on his favorite movies...

Channelling Bashy: “Well, Diane, I tend to go in for those spectacles (oho, I made a punny!) like War of the Worlds, where Great Satan gets a taste of its own medicine. (Did anyone ever tell you you have beautiful eyes—although I can see from where I’m sitting that they’re a tad myopic.) Also, I like that Buzz Lightyear, especially when he says 'To infinity—and beyond.' I’m thinking of using it as my slogan in the next 'election'.”

Posted by: scaramouche at 09:37 | link | comments

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