They Hypocritic Oath

If an apple a day keeps the doctor a way, someone I think the show Outnumbered on "Fox News" is going to be stocking up on bushels of apples.

A couple weeks ago, Dr. Keith Ablow, a medical spokesman on "Fox News" appeared during a segment of  the show Outnumbered with four female hosts who were discussing Michelle Obama's promoting of nutrition and healthy eating, and how it's not a good thing for the government to mandate that we all eat things like kale and cabbage.  Not that the government actually does that, of course, but...okay, you can probably see that this is not going to end well.  And it doesn't, but not for the reason you likely think.

At one point, the good doctor chimed in.  "And how well can she be eating?," he asked.  "She’s…she’s, she needs to drop a few."

The reaction was not wildly supportive, but it also didn't take him to task.  It was more that they were shocked he would say such a thing.  But being of "Fox News," they really couldn't come leaping to the First Lady's defense.  Not that most of them particularly wanted to, for all I could tell.  If you wanted to, after all, you really could.  No, honest, you could.

While the image on camera was video footage, we could hear an audible intake of breath from one of the hosts, and the sound of the others saying --

"Ohhhh.."

"You did not…."

"Really???"

"Oh, my goodness, are we on a 7-second delay?"

The doctor fellow came back to follow-up on his point, "Now wait a minute, that’s all kale and cabbage?  I don’t buy it."

Never mind, of course, that eating healthy food doesn't inherently mean that a person will lose weight.  If you eat too much of anything and don't get enough exercise, you won't lose weight.  But Dr. Ablow, as a doctor and medical spokesman or "expert," shouldn't be expected to know that.

 But never mind, that's not the point.  The point here is that the female hosts did show some surprise at his remarks, but no one chastised him for it.  As I noted, their surprise may just have been that he had said this out loud about the First Lady of the United States.  But after their collection of "Oh No You Din'ts", they let it pass and move on.

Which brings us to the larger point.

Last Thursday, dear Dr. Ablow returned to the program, and -- no, don't worry, it wasn't to apologize.  But instead, like a good Conservative today who's said something really stupid and rude, he doubled down.  But, no, not about Mrs. Obama, but -- as has been seen, that he has no filter in his head -- against the four female hosts surrounded him.  Remember, the program is called Outnumbered.

"Should each of us lose five pounds?", he asked.  "Probably."

Let's pause a moment so that you can take a guess on how that went down amongst the five, svelte TV personalities.  We'll give you a visual aid to help you on your decision.

To help further, Dr. Ablow is the clueless guy in the middle.

Among the immediate responses were --

"Oh hell no!" 

"I wish you were drinking because that might explain this crazy behavior!" 

"Maybe in future appearances you think about what you're going to say before you say it."

So...how close did you come?

I'm guessing that most of the men here who are married or have ever had a girlfriend and been asked the question, "Do these jeans make me look fat?", got the answer above correct.

I'm also guessing that most of the women here who have ever asked that question, "Do these jeans make me look fat?" -- or who have ever had a picture taken of themselves; or have ever dieted; or have ever gotten dressed up, had their hair done and gone out in public -- or gone to buy clothes, got the answer correct.

I'm also guessing that most men who aren't married or had a girlfriend, and women who have breathed got the answer correct about how five stylishly-groomed female hosts on live TV reacted.

Not that they reacted the same way when Dr. Ablow said the same thing about Michelle Obama, mind you.  Not that we'd ever expect that they would.  

The ultimate point here is not whether Michelle Obama should lose a couple of pounds.  Or whether the "Fox News" hosts should.  Or whether Dr. Ablow should have said what he did or not.  The point is -- oh, you know.

This is "Fox News," where "Fair and Balanced" is their hallmark.  And where goring others is so much more fun than when it's done to you is the reality.  Where hypocrisy reins, and sometimes it is so blatant in an obvious and objective way that you only can thank Dr. Ablow for being as petty as he is.  A few pounds, really??

The only thing I really wished had happened is that when Dr. Ablow asked whether each of the women there should lose five pounds, one of the hosts would have turned to the camera and said --

"Here at Fox, we report -- you decide."