When Christiane Amanpour took over hosting duties on ABC News' This Week this past weekend, she explained to viewers that she wanted to explore global issues alongside news from the U.S. NewsBuster Brent Baker, however, heard something completely different. According to Baker, Amanpour, who was born in Iran, was celebrating her admitted ignorance of U.S. politics and bringing a “foreigner's perspective” to the program.

Here's what Amanpour told her audience this past Sunday:

AMANPOUR: Good morning. I am thrilled be here at the Newseum. After 20 years covering the world, the story in this country is turning into one of the most fascinating. The struggle over politics and policy and how they merge to meet people's needs. And having witnessed firsthand the global challenges and opportunities that America faces every day, I'm also eager to open a window on the world and cut through those complicated issues that we all confront.

And here's how Baker interpreted this statement [emphasis in original]:

In her debut Sunday morning as host of ABC's This Week with Christiane Amanpour, the long-time CNN international correspondent brought a foreigner's perspective to the program as she treated her lack of knowledge and familiarity with U.S. politics as an asset and the current New York City resident seemed to say that after more than two decades of covering the world she had decided to allow herself to deal with U.S. politics now that “the story in this country is turning into one of the most fascinating.” She asserted in an opening explanation: “I'm also eager to open a window on the world.”

I don't see the part where Amanpour admitted a lack of knowledge of U.S. politics, and Baker even goes on to attack her for crediting Nancy Pelosi with passing “so much legislation,” which would seem to undercut the notion that she revels in her ignorance of the American political landscape.

But, more importantly, Baker never gets around to explaining why a “foreigner's perspective” is so undesirable. The tautological answer, I'm guessing, is because it's not American -- that certainly seemed to be the takeaway message for the commenters to Baker's post, one of whom sniffed: “The last thing American audiences want is a foreigner with an accent trying to 'teach' us about the world and telling us that we're just not appreciating Obama and Pelosi enough -- as if we're too stupid.”

And this isn't the first time NewsBusters has peddled nativist garbage -- last year they attacked Andrew Sullivan for having the nerve to write about U.S. politics even though he was born in England. But, unfortunately, the sorry state of the right-wing media is such that they consider attacks on a person's nationality to be legitimate media criticism.