The gruesome murder of American reporter James Foley was horrific enough, but now right-wing bloggers and conservative commentators seem determined to make it more grotesque still. With word from ABC News that the Obama White House was aware that ISIS was threatening to kill Foley and fellow journalist Steven Sotloff in retaliation for American air strikes against its fighters in Iraq, the Republican amen corner is blaming the president for what it deems a "preventable atrocity." Obama, they seem to suggest, should have freed the hostages by kowtowing to or negotiating with terrorists—just like Ronald Reagan. In her time of grief, James Foley's mother implored the kidnappers to "spare the lives of the remaining hostages" who are innocents with "no control over American government policy in Iraq, Syria or anywhere in the world." But the right-wing noise machine had a different message.