The “All-Star Panel” during FNC’s Special Report always can be counted on to contribute outstanding opinions and Wednesday was no different as they slammed a New York Times editorial blaming not radical Islam but Republicans for Orlando that National Review’s Jonah Goldberg dubbed perhaps “the single dumbest editorial in the history of The New York Times.”

Before turning to Goldberg, host Bret Baier read extensively from the far-left paper’s lead editorial, which declared that “[h]ate crimes don’t happen in a vacuum” but instead “where bigotry is allowed to fester, where minorities are vilified and where people are scapegoated for political gain” by those on the right.

“Tragically, this is the state of American politics, driven too often by Republican politicians, who see prejudice as something to exploit, not extinguish,” it added.

Goldberg immediately chimed in and seemed at a lost for words before admitting that “this might be the single dumbest editorial in the history of The New York Times” where one could “hit it from any angle and get some reward.”

The astute columnist and purveyor of the G-File continued by further exposing this head-scratching rationale:

First of all, the guy was a registered Democrat, right? He swore allegiance to ISIS and somehow, it’s the Republican opposition to gay marriage that is somehow associated with this? You know, I know for a fact that a lot of the founders of the Nazi Party were gays. Should we revisit the issue of Nazism based on the fact they were homosexuals? It's ludicrous[.]

Making a point about how both President Obama and the liberal media don’t want to talk about Islam, Goldberg concluded that they instantly want to deflect from radical Islam and “want to move the conversation back to comfortable topics like gay rights and gun control and it is just a giant con.”

Baier seem quite astounded at The Times when he noted their omission of radical Islam from the piece plus only one nod to the term “terrorist at the very bottom.”

Daily Caller founder and Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Tucker Carlson rounded out the topic a few moments later when he linked that The Times did with how CNN’s Anderson Cooper conducted himself on Tuesday with Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi:

[T]his kind of the Anderson Cooper position, which if you have a problem with gay marriage, you inspired this attack. No, this is not, again, this is not an American form of homophobia. This is a Middle Eastern form. So why is it America's fault? What you're see something very recognizable if you have talked to liberals or listened to the President, this is America's fault. No, actually it's not.

The transcript of the discussion from FNC’s Special Report with Bret Baier on June 15 can be found below.