This is the first installment of a periodic series in which I post about events from the past.
One year ago today during a segment of Morning Joe, the hosts and their guests discussed the then-upcoming Republican National Convention and what candidate Mitt Romney could do to turn things around. At about the 2:35 mark of the clip below, the fireworks start when Chris Matthews takes RNC Chairman Reince Priebus to task for what he felt were the GOP's underhanded attacks against President Obama. Chris is like a pitbull because once he gets his teeth in an opponent's ass, he isn't going to let go easily. Because I rarely see Priebus get called on his BS when he's on news programs, it was nice to see him get challenged. Damn I love live TV!
Damn, Fox "News" is predictable! Just the other day at a family get together, me and some of my relatives were talking politics as we often do. I was telling them about one of Fox's favorite tricks in their worn out playbook: have black guests come on to spout "fear of a black planet" type rhetoric in order to give it some credibility. Almost on cue, GOP waterboy Sean Hannity has on Deneen Borelli and David Webb to whip up fear over President Obama's "ties" to the New Black Panthers. These two should be ashamed of themselves. But hey, as long as those Fox checks keep rollin' in, why worry about such minor things as honor and integrity.
Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks breaks down the silliness that is Fox "News" in the clip below:
On last night's edition of "Politics Nation with Al Sharpton", Al and his guest (radio host Joe Madison) debunked the lie started by Newt Gingrich that "more people have been put on food stamps by Barack Obama than any president in American history".
As you can see from the clip below, Sharpton announced that he's willing to meet with Gingrich to challenge him over Gingrich's food stamp lie. It remains to be seen if Newt will accept.
During Sunday’s women’s U.S. Open final match, Serena Williams had words for chair umpire Eva Asderaki after she had called a code violation on the tennis star. This caused Fox & Friends co-host Gretchen Carlson to weigh in with her "wisdom".
Since when has the term "hater" had any racial connotations? It never has, but I suspect Gretchen knew this all along. Whether they're calling President Obama's 50th birthday celebration a "hip-hop BBQ", accusing him of "chugging 40s" in Ireland, or Gretchen's take on the Serena Williams rant, many at Fox (including their website Fox Nation) have demonstrated a pattern of playing divisive tactics when it comes to race. Although it's shoddy journalism, it pays off for Fox because their typical follower buys into it without question.
Besides Gretchen's race-baiting, here are some other things that caught my attention during the clip:
1. When Gretchen claimed that a couple of years ago Serena "almost took the ball and put it down the throat of a line ref", she is flat out lying. This is what really happened. Threatening to do something isn't the same as almost doing something. Besides, who really believes Serena was going to take a tennis ball and actually shove it down that woman's throat?!
2. Brian Kilmeade was absolutely right when he shot down Gretchen's claim that Serena's outburst was an example of the "entitlement generation" in today's society. When you're getting schooled by Brian, you're in bad shape.
3. Considering that Gretchen lies and distorts regularly on national TV, she's in no position to call out Serena Williams for setting a bad example for kids.
There is a worthwhile debate that can come from Serena's recent tirade and that's whether or not a race/gender double standard exists when it comes to how we view athletes who go off during the heat of battle. For example, how often have the folks at Fox "News" talked about the on-court behavior of Andy Roddick? But hey, why should Fox launch a thoughtful discussion when they can toss racial red meat at the sheeple?
Although MSNBC host Martin Bashir's interview of conservative blogger/author Andrew Breitbart took place late last month, I still wanted to share it with you in case you missed it when it first aired like I did. The tough questions by Bashir had Breitbart ducking, dodging, and running for cover. Now this is how you interview someone who's a proven liar with highly questionable journalist ethics. Bashir's handling of Breitbart was the antithesis of his MSNBC colleague Dylan Ratigan, who just a day earlier lobbed softball after softball at the Tea Party darling.
As you probably know, it was announced on 4/6 that Glenn Beck would "transition off of his daily program" on Fox "News" later this year. In just over two years of hosting his program on Fox, this lying, race baiting, fearmongering fraud has set new lows in political discourse. For a recap, Media Matters has documentedthe 50 worst things Glenn Beck said on Fox right here. Although it was hard to keep up, Diversity Ink also did its best to chronicle the nonsense spewed by Beck.
I've read some of the conservative blogs and their take on Glenn parting ways with Fox. Not surprisingly, The Lollipop Guild (aka suckers) who view Glenn as a hero are swallowing his "Paul Revere" speech in regards to why he is discontinuing his TV program on Fox. Oh yeah, he's on to bigger and better things...please! I thought it didn't get any bigger than Fox?!
Earlier this year there were reports about Fox and Beck not being able to come to terms on a new contract. That's probably the main reason his TV program is going bye-bye. The fact that Beck's ratings have steadily eroded didn't help his cause. If you follow television history, it was easy to predict Beck wouldn't be able to sustain the astounding ratings he achieved in the first year of his Fox program. When saying outrageous things, peddling fear, and cooking up tinfoil hat conspiracy theories is your schtick, it's going to wear thin rather quickly with all but the most ardent followers (paging "The Lollipop Guild"). Also, the massive boycott by advertisers (thank you Color of Change) likely made it easy for Fox to decide Beck simply wasn't worth the headache. In addition to the ratings drop and the advertiser exodus, Fox president Roger Ailes couldn't have been happy that it was the Blaze (the conservative blog launched by Beck) which debunked James O'Keefe's fraudulent exposé of NPR.
In the clip below, Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks gives his analysis of the Glenn Beck/Fox "News" situation. Included in the clip is footage of Beck telling viewers about his plans. It's amazing the amount of B.S. that Beck can spew in just over 3 minutes! If I had been drinking a beverage, I might have done a spit take at the 6:45 mark of the clip.
Why do you think Glenn Beck's TV program is ending?
Although 2011 has already started, I still wanted to take a moment and recognize or call out the people and organizations who I think deserve either bouquets or tomatoes tossed at them for their words and actions in 2010 regarding race issues.
Diversity Ink's Heroes of 2010: The Young Turks
Led by host Cenk Uygur (above center), The Young Turks have set the bar high when it comes to tackling race-related stories. In their pointed and humorous commentary, they don't hold their tongues nor do they pull any punches. Along with calling out the usual suspects (you know who they are ), TYT has also shined an unflattering light on lesser known people/institutions such as Sen. Jake Knott (who used the term "raghead" in reference to President Obama and then gubernatorial candidate for S.C. Nikki Haley) and the Walthall County School District (which was guilty of segregating students). Because accusations of racism aren't always cut and dry, TYT will sometimes question whether or not an incident is an example of racism or not. I also love the fact that the show has on guests that don't share their beliefs (for example, the controversial and far right Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson).
Honorable mentions for Heroes of 2010:
MSNBC (with a special nod to Rachel Maddow for her segments on the Southern strategy)
Shirley Sherrod
Turner Classic Movies
Joe Madison
The Phoenix Suns
Below is a clip from "The Young Turks" in which Cenk Uygur gives his take on Rush Limbaugh's comments about the Shirley Sherrod incident:
Diversity Ink's Villain of 2010: Fox News Channel
The Fox News Channel (aka the video equivalent of the "Southern strategy") knows that fanning the flames of race plays right into the hands of their followers who hang on their every word. Their overhyping of the New Black Panther Party case and the hit job they did on Shirley Sherrod are just two examples of how Fox does its part in widening the racial divide. The efforts of Fox didn't go unnoticed in 2010. Along with people like Howard Dean, the hosts of The Young Turks, and Shepherd Smith (one of the few hosts on Fox with any integrity), a program on one of its sister channels also got into the act of calling out Fox News for its underhanded tactics.
Dishonorable mentions for Villains of 2010:
Rush Limbaugh
Rep. Steve King
Jesse Lee Peterson
Sharron Angle
Gov. Jan Brewer
Conservatives/Republicans who will bend over backwards to defend one of their own no matter how heinous the offense, but will pounce on a liberals/Democrats for the slightest misstep
The clip below, in which Monica Crowley fills in for Bill O'Reilly, is classic Fox:
Who are your heroes and villains when it comes to race matters for 2010?
This is one reason I love live TV! Last week during a segment on the Fox Business Channel, GOP strategist Jack Burkman needlessly brought race into a discussion about the viability of the USPS in today's world. Although liberal attorney Tamara Holder called Burkman out for his comments, the best part was when former Republican Senator of New York Al D'Amato let Burkman know how he felt about his remarks. It's great to see a Republican on one of the Fox channels call out one of their own for this type of nonsense. I wonder if D'Amato has made his last appearance on any of the Fox-affiliated channels. Well if that's the case, if you're gonna go out, go out in style!
As you probably know by now, Andrew Breitbart posted a video on his website BigGovernment.com on 7/19/10 "exposing" the racism tolerated by the NAACP. In a speech she gave at an NAACP dinner on March 27, 2010, it appeared that Shirley Sherrod (the then-USDA director of Rural Development in Georgia) was admitting to once taking the race of a white farmer (Roger Spooner) into consideration when ultimately deciding how to respond to his request for assistance. The fallout was quick for Ms. Sherrod after the truncated video made the rounds. Not only did the NAACP come down hard on Ms. Sherrod, but she was pressured to resign from her USDA position. I hope the bus tire tracks on Ms. Sherrod's backside aren't permanent.
To many familiar with the sleazy tactics of Breitbart (the infamous ACORN nonsense), it came as no surprise that the video he originally posted on his site didn't tell the whole story.
The video suggested that Sherrod was retelling an incident that took place while she worked for the USDA
FALSE: The incident Sherrod was recounting took place in 1986, when she worked for an advocacy firm in GA.
The video made it look as if Sherrod didn't help Mr. Spooner
FALSE: Not only did Sherrod help the Spooners save their farm, she became friends with the couple.
What’s actually a story of racial healing was distorted into something ugly by Breitbart. Because of his beef with the NAACP over their legitimate claims of elements of racism within the tea party movement, Breitbart deceptively tried to show that it’s the NAACP whose racist. Unfortunately, his tactics did damage to an innocent bystander in the process.
If you're interested in watching the full video, please visit the following link:
http://www.naacp.org/news/entry/video_sherrod/
On Wednesday, Tom Vilsack (the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture) held a press conference in which he manned up and took the blame for asking Ms. Sherrod to resign so quickly. Vilsack said he also apologized to Ms. Sherrod and offered her a new position in the department. Also, the NAACP has apologized to Ms. Sherrod for their initial reaction (see below).
In light of the Breitbart “exposé” falling down like a house of cards, the reactions have been fascinating. There's been a mix of back pedaling, blaming, and B.S. throughout the blogosphere, The White House and the MSM (which does include Fox "News"). To their credit, some conservative bloggers posted retractions in which they apologized for rushing to judgment. Predictably, these posts also included jabs directed at three of their favorite targets: The Obama administration, The NAACP, and the non-Fox "News" portion of the MSM. Of course, no matter what these three entities did, the right would have found a reason to bitch about it. In a shameful sidebar, Breitbart made the rounds of various media outlets in which he told his side of the story. Amazingly, he even had the nerve to suggest that the Spooners were "plants" who fabricated a story in an effort to save Ms. Sherrod. Note to Breitbart: when you're in a hole, stop digging!
The left has also had their say too by blaming the aforementioned entities as well as Fox "News". Note to the Obama administration: don’t jump every time the likes of Andrew Breitbart and Fox "News" say “boo!” All it does is give them the power to be more reckless and irresponsible than in the past. Having said that, I do understand President Obama's predicament. As the first black President of the United States, he is held to a different standard than his predecessors when it comes to matters involving race. Although diplomacy is one of Obama's best assets, I wish he would sometimes go into MISTER Tibbs mode and figuratively slap down the right-wing noise machine when they get out of order.
The Shirley Sherrod story shows once again that we still have a lot of distance to cover when it comes to race relations in America. I also hope that it has made crystal clear to everyone that Andrew Breitbart and his ilk won't let a little thing like integrity get in the way when it comes to taking down those who have the guts to stand up to them. When Breitbart and his enablers claim to have any evidence exposing wrongdoing/corruption by their opposition, remember the words of Chuck D. and company: “Don’t believe the hype!”
To show your support of Shirley Sherrod, please visit Color of Change and join them in calling on the White House to reinstate Shirley Sherrod and to stop caving in to right-wing smears.
One of my favorite blogs is Best Seat In the House. The blogger (Sandy Gholston) is one of the best when it comes to covering politics, race, the media, sports, etc. As of late, Sandy has been in a posting frenzy and I've been thoroughly enjoying it! He gave me the green light to use the post below. If you haven't already, I encourage you to visit Best Seat In the House. Even if you don't agree with Sandy, I think you'll find that he's fair and open to opposing viewpoints. The following, Fox News Uses Black Fringe Groups To Portray Blacks As Angry, Dangerous, Scary, was posted by Sandy on his blog on July 14, 2010:
Fox News has a history of portraying black people as angry, dangerous, hostile and racist in many of its broadcasts (news and commentary alike).
The most recent example of this has been this massively over-hyped and B.S. story about the New Black Panther Party and alleged voter intimidation. Fox News has been pushing this story hard to its largely white and conservative audience to push an image of scary black people threatening white people and being allowed to do so by a black president (Barack Obama) and a black attorney general (Eric Holder) in spite of the fact this happened during the George W. Bush Administration. Fox News also has a dubious history of using black people to attack black people. We have witnessed that over and over again with the likes of the pathetic Jesse Lee Peterson, Sean Hannity's boy (that's right, I said it that way).
Republicans have a history of this and used the tactic of the scary black man in the famous Willie Horton ad from the late 1980s used by George H.W. Bush against Michael Dukakis.
From Wikipedia:
Republicans picked up the Horton issue after Dukakis clinched the nomination. In June 1988, Republican candidate George H.W. Bush seized on the Horton case, bringing it up repeatedly in campaign speeches.[6] Bush's campaign manager, Lee Atwater, predicted that "by the time this election is over, Willie Horton will be a household name."[6][7] Media consultant Roger Ailes remarked "the only question is whether we depict Willie Horton with a knife in his hand or without it."[8]
It's an effort by the far right to show scary black hoods coming to get you and Democrats will not protect you, but Republicans will take care of these dangerous black thugs.
Fox News frequently has used fringe black groups to attack black people. One of its favorite examples of this is the use of the New Black Panther Party and, most frequently, Malik Zulu Shabazz.
Media Matters for America has showcased the effort by Fox News to use fringe black groups to negatively showcase black people (rarely do they do it with, say a Ku Klux Klansman, and think of how they bend over backward to defend racist tea party morons).
For weeks, Fox News has been hyping J. Christian Adam's discredited allegations that the Department of Justice has "a hostility in the voting section and in the civil rights division to bringing cases on behalf of white victims for the benefit of national racial minorities." Predictably, right-wing media quickly used the phony controversy to race-bait, attempting to connect the Obama administration to the New Black Panther Party -- a designated hate group. Fox News' Glenn Beck, for example, said on his radio show that the New Black Panther Party represented "the kinds of people that our president aligns himself with," and Fox News' David Asman accused Obama of "defending racists" by "letting the Black Panthers off." More recently, Megyn Kelly, the biggest Adams cheerleader of them all, devoted airtime interviewing New Black Panther President Malik Shabazz. This episode follows a pattern of Fox highlighting this radical fringe group over the years.
Again, this is no accident with Fox and its mostly white and conservative audience. This is a calculated effort to fear monger and make white people afraid of black people.
As most of you know, Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert wrote a scathing open letter (which I've linked to below) lambasting superstar LeBron James for deciding to play for the Miami Heat next season. On July 12, the Rev. Jesse Jackson criticized Gilbert for his comments. In addition to calling Gilbert's remarks "mean, arrogant, and presumptuous", Jackson also said the following:
"He speaks as an owner of LeBron and not the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers," the reverend said in a release from his Chicago-based civil rights group, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. "His feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He sees LeBron as a runaway slave. This is an owner employee relationship -- between business partners -- and LeBron honored his contract."
Jackson also called Gilbert's comments an attack on all NBA players and said the owner should face a "challenge" from the league and the players' association.
When I first heard Jesse's comments, I was like, "what the hell is he talking about?!" The "slave owner/runaway slave" analogy is not only an insult to those who suffered and died as a result of slavery, but it unnecessarily injected race into the discussion. As I've said on this blog and in everyday conversations, an issue involving people of different races does not make the issue racial.
Ask yourselves these questions:
1. Do you think Dan Gilbert would have made the same comments if LeBron James was white?
2. Do you believe Jesse Jackson would have used the "slave master/runaway slave" analogy if Dan Gilbert were black or if LeBron James was white?
My answers to those questions are yes and no, respectively.
Regardless of one's feelings about Jesse Jackson, I think it's hard to deny that he has done some positive things when it comes to race and politics. However, his comments on the LeBron/Dan Gilbert situation seem like a pathetic bid to stay relevant in a constantly evolving racial/social/political climate. He's definitely got people talking about him again. The question is, at what cost?
Just when I thought Glenn Beck couldn't get any lower, he manages to reach a whole new depth. On both his radio and TV programs on June 14, Beck aired an edited audio clip of President Obama in order to paint Obama as being racist against white executives.
In the clip below, Cenk Uygur (host of The Young Turks) breaks it down:
If you don't believe the remaining part of the quote read by Cenk was real, below is a link to the 1995 interview Obama did with Bill Thompson (host of the online series Eye On Books). The clip is almost 13 minutes so if you only want to hear the portion where Obama talks about responsibility on the part of blacks and whites, go to the 12:24 mark.
I've heard some conservatives accuse liberals of divisiveness and race baiting, yet these same conservatives are reluctant to call out anyone they feel is on their side such as Beck. If you believe Beck is on your side, stop snoring and start paying attention because he's playing you. His brazenness in airing the cropped clip shows that he feels his core audience is either too dumb to do any research or that they simply don't care. Although I think President Obama was wrong not to talk to BP CEO Tony Hayward sooner than he did, Beck's injection of race into this matter is a reach to say the least.
For all of you in the anti-Obama camp, put down your Haterade for just a moment and look at this objectively. Can you honestly say that Glenn Beck was playing it straight by saying President Obama didn't want to talk to Hayward because he's white? If so, I'd love to hear your argument(s). If you think Beck is the greatest thing since Sen. Joe McCarthy, but feel he's wrong in this case, there's no shame in saying so.
