Joel Award: Fred Barnes

It is time to give out the Joel Award. The award goes any celebrity, pundit, blogger or politician that purposely contradicts himself or herself.

The speed at which Fred Barnes contradicts himself on Fox News is amazing.

And then when you see, you know Obama has used — the most pathetic thing is to say, gee, well, we were involved in 1953 — 1953! This is an extremely young society. You think those demonstrators are thinking, well, we hope the U.S. stays out because they were involved in 1953? That's total nonsense.

Barnes then declares inside knowledge to the collective memories of the Iranian people.

POWERS: I think there is a history there.

BARNES: 1953?

POWERS: They do remember the United States meddling.

BARNES: No, they don't.

Barnes doesn't seem to have a problem remembering 1953 Iranian coup d’état engineered by the CIA on President Eisenhower's orders. The Democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq. The Prime Minister nationalize Iran's oil industry. The British wanted the oil and unsuccessful attempting to overthrow Mosaddeq. The British imposed an embargo.

The Shah and Mosaddeq had a fallout over the contol of the military. Mosaddeq resigned and protesters took to the streets. Three days later Mosaddeq would be back in office.

The West interfering with Iran's oil revenue and political process. Barnes is a fool if he believes Irans won't remember their own country's history.

Conservative columnist George Will explains how short sighted the neoconservative criticism President Obama is.

WILL: The president is being roundly criticized for insufficient, rhetorical support for what’s going on over there. It seems to me foolish criticism. The people on the streets know full well what the American attitude toward the regime is. And they don’t need that reinforced.

Silly Fred Barnes

This is incredible. Fred Barnes says Barack Obama is not strong on national security because he didn't follow the herd instinct and support giving President Bush the authorization to invade Iraq. In case Barnes didn't notice he and others were wrong about the threat Saddam Hussein posed to America's national security.

You know, I've thought for a long time that Obama's not in quite as strong a position on the war in Iraq as he really thinks he is. Remember, when he famously came out against the war, it was back in a time when the entire world believed that Saddam Hussein in Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, that he would probably be willing to use them himself at some time or pass them along to terrorists who would use them. And yet, Barack Obama was against going to the war at that point. I don't think that shows that he is very strong on national security, which he needs to be.

There are times I'm still amazed that conservative pundits can say things as stupid as that. Barnes is unserious about national security. He is just going on Fox News to hammer a Democratic candidate and pray that Rudy Giuliani gets in the White House. That way the Weekly Standard wet dream of maintaining the Iraq war will become reality.

Personally, I think Barnes judging someone else's national security skills is like having Paula Abdul judge a singing contest. Oh, wait...