New York Times reporter Helene Cooper, touring the West with the president, claimed that the dust-up between Arizona’s Republican Gov. Jan Brewer and President Obama on an airport tarmac in Phoenix could help him among Hispanics: “ In Airport Run-In, Democrats See Help for Obama Among Hispanics .” A flattering photo from Las Vegas of Obama and some star-struck preteens was just part of the spin in her Friday story: Democrats see the chance that President Obama’s heated exchange with Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona on the airport tarmac in Phoenix could help him with the Hispanic voters he came West to court this week. The run-in, captured in a photograph of the governor wagging a finger at the president as they discussed her book, “Scorpions for Breakfast,” lit up Hispanic radio stations and blogs all over the state. While it is difficult to judge whether the moment will have any lasting impact, Hispanic leaders said that what is being dubbed by some as the “dustup in the desert” could play in the president’s favor given the unfavorable view many Hispanics have of the governor for her advocacy of tough immigration measures. “For that incident alone,” Robert Meza, a Democratic state senator from Phoenix, said Thursday, “85 percent more Latin people will gravitate toward the president.” Republicans saw the incident in another light. Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican, told the show “Imus in the Morning” on Fox Business Network that Ms. Brewer had “very legitimate” concerns about the state’s border and that her tarmac exchange with Mr. Obama was another display of the president’s “prickly personality.” Appearing on Fox News on Thursday, Ms. Brewer said Mr. Obama had walked off while she was still talking. “You know me, when I talk, I am animated and I talk with my hands,” she said, explaining her finger-wagging. “I suppose that the picture was probably shot when I was moving my hands around.” After noting that Arizona is “a state Mr. Obama is hoping to put in play this election year,” Cooper let an anonymous administration official (granted anonymity for no valid reason) say it was a good day for Obama. Publicly, the White House treated the confrontation with Ms. Brewer with a scripted, and bland, retelling. “Political theater,” the White House spokesman, Jay Carney, told reporters aboard Air Force One to Denver. But privately, one administration official, when asked on Thursday about the Wednesday confrontation, offered: “Let’s just say I don’t think yesterday was a bad day.” The Washington Times provided a less promotional outlook for Obama in the aftermath of the tarmac tiff: President Obama chose an unusual way to begin the campaign year in Arizona, where he hopes to reverse Democrats’ losing streak — by getting into a highly public confrontation with the state’s Republican governor. Mr. Obama’s encounter with Gov. Jan Brewer at the airport in Mesa, where she was photographed wagging her right index finger at the president, captured their tense relationship over immigration, border security and federal gun-running.
Posts Tagged race issues
Liberal Radio Hosts Decry Jan Brewer’s ‘Blatant Racism’ Toward Obama, Imagine Violence Against Her
With a little more outrage than the liberal news media, the liberal talk-radio hosts lunged at Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer for merely being pictured accusingly pointing a finger at President Obama. The same people who hated reading too much into a picture of Obama not having his hand over his heart know everything about this scenario. Al Sharpton declared “This is only one case in point of a lot of disrespectful ugly behavior, some of it motivated by just blatant racism in regard to this President and those that support him.” Brian Maloney at Radio Equalizer found Stephanie Miller accusing Brewer of “playing the fragile white woman scared of black man card” and cited the movie “The Help.” She also imagined how LBJ would have violently shoved Brewer’s finger where the sun doesn’t shine: (Audio below)
New MSNBC Anchor Likens Brewer-Obama Face Off to 1957 Integration Confrontation in Little Rock
The unhinged hysteria being displayed by the liberal media over a picture of President Obama and Arizona's Republican governor Jan Brewer supposedly in a heated exchange has become laughable. On Thursday's The Last Word , newly promoted MSNBC anchor Melissa Harris-Perry told host Lawrence O'Donnell that this photo reminded her of “the still photograph that was captured in 1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas, of the young woman Hazel screaming at a young Elizabeth Eckford on her way trying to get into Little Rock High School, Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas” (video follows with transcript and commentary): O’Donnell began the segment by showing a video clip of President Obama’s interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer wherein he said of the incident with Brewer, “This was really not a big deal.” But that’s not how Harris-Perry saw it: MELISSA HARRIS-PERRY: The fact is, when I see that still, I cannot help but to be reminded of the still photograph that was captured in 1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas, of the young woman Hazel screaming at a young Elizabeth Eckford on her way trying to get into Little Rock High School, Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. And the reason I bring up that image is because what we’ve come to know about Hazel in the years later is that as a young woman, Hazel, the young woman who was screaming at Elizabeth Eckford, was not herself sort of particularly, you know, full of racial animus or anything like that. But she was, she was caught up in this moment of racial anxiety, of making this point against these people who were coming in and trying to force their way into the school, and she sort of enjoyed the show or being able to yell at Elizabeth Eckford in this moment. But that image captured all of the ugliness, all of the nastiness of the larger political milieu, and I feel that this picture does as well. This picture does as well? For those that aren't familiar, here's the 1957 picture in question: This is a classic moment in the Civil Rights era when after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling by the Supreme Court, Central High was integrated. Elizabeth Eckford, fifteen, was part of a group of nine black students trying to enter the school surrounded by an angry mob that included Hazel Massery who was also a teenager. And Harris-Perry had the nerve to compare this iconic moment to a 67-year-old governor and a 50-year-old president having a disagreement that the latter has now publicly stated “was really not a big deal?” Nevermind that footage of the Brewer-Obama meeting showed that it was actually far more cordial than the press are depicting, or that the racial tensions today can not in anyway be compared to what was happening in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. On top of this, it's astonishingly disgusting to claim that any disagreement between Brewer and Obama is at all related to the color his skin. But that's the knee-jerk reaction liberal media members have to anything involving this president who they promised in 2008 was going to end racism and unite our nation like never before. I would say that Harris-Perry should be ashamed of herself for making this statement, but her hiring by MSNBC makes it unlikely she possesses anything akin to shame. She clearly is going to fit in nicely at this abomination of a so-called “news” network. (H/T NB reader Jane Perzyk) Associate Editor’s note: As you are likely aware, since the financial collapse of 2008, charities and non-profit organizations have seen a sharp reduction in donations. Although the environment has improved, contributions are still nowhere near where they were prior to the recession. Unfortunately, the Media Research Center has not been immune. With this in mind, your support has become more important than ever. With a critical election approaching, the liberal media needs to be monitored 24/7. As we have been predicting for months, the press are willing to do anything to get their beloved politicians elected and/or reelected. As such, we need your help to fight this fight. Any contribution, even $10, is greatly appreciated. Please consider a tax-deductible gift to the Media Research Center to help us battle the liberal media. Thank you.
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New MSNBC Anchor Likens Brewer-Obama Face Off to 1957 Integration Confrontation in Little Rock
Biased WashPost Headline: ‘Justices Throw Out Texas Electoral Maps Favoring Minorities’
In an unsigned per curiam opinion issued today, the U.S. Supreme Court tossed out a federal judge's revision of Texas's congressional redistricting map, finding that the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas had “substituted its own concept of 'the collective public good' for the Texas Legislature’s determination of which policies serve 'the interests of the citizens of Texas.'” The court “appears to have unnecessarily ignored the State’s plans in drawing certain individual districts,” the Court added. No justice dissented and Associate Justice Clarence Thomas issued a concurrence. Yet in teasing Supreme Court correspondent Robert Barnes's story on the Washington Post's website, editors colored the decision in a way that portrayed the move as the justices having “throw[n] out… electoral maps favoring minorities.” [see screencap below page break] The headline for Barnes's story itself — Supreme Court sides with Texas on redistricting plan — was neutrally-worded and Barnes article was fair and substantive. But for casual visitors to the Post website, the biased front-page headline could communicate to readers that the Court set out to harm the interests of minority voters, rather than acting unanimously to arrest an instance of judicial activism.
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Biased WashPost Headline: ‘Justices Throw Out Texas Electoral Maps Favoring Minorities’
Biased WashPost Headline: ‘Justices Throw Out Texas Electoral Maps Favoring Minorities’
In an unsigned per curiam opinion issued today, the U.S. Supreme Court tossed out a federal judge's revision of Texas's congressional redistricting map, finding that the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas had “substituted its own concept of 'the collective public good' for the Texas Legislature’s determination of which policies serve 'the interests of the citizens of Texas.'” The court “appears to have unnecessarily ignored the State’s plans in drawing certain individual districts,” the Court added. No justice dissented and Associate Justice Clarence Thomas issued a concurrence. Yet in teasing Supreme Court correspondent Robert Barnes's story on the Washington Post's website, editors colored the decision in a way that portrayed the move as the justices having “throw[n] out… electoral maps favoring minorities.” [see screencap below page break] The headline for Barnes's story itself — Supreme Court sides with Texas on redistricting plan — was neutrally-worded and Barnes article was fair and substantive. But for casual visitors to the Post website, the biased front-page headline could communicate to readers that the Court set out to harm the interests of minority voters, rather than acting unanimously to arrest an instance of judicial activism.
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Biased WashPost Headline: ‘Justices Throw Out Texas Electoral Maps Favoring Minorities’
CNN’s Cafferty Suggests Gingrich Is ‘Clueless’ About African-Americans
Borrowing from a liberal Daily Beast column, CNN's Jack Cafferty set about asking if Newt Gingrich was ignorant and “clueless” about the African-American community, on Tuesday's The Situation Room. Cafferty dropped the bomb right at the start as he matter-of-factly stated that “Newt Gingrich is clueless when it comes to African-Americans” before backing away and attributing the argument to the Daily Beast's Peter Beinart. Beinart has also been the editor of the liberal New Republic magazine, so Cafferty was not doing his credibility any favors by quoting someone who very well might have a liberal agenda in attacking the Republican candidate. While scolding Gingrich's conduct at Monday's GOP debate in South Carolina, Cafferty made sure to emphasize that Gingrich was a “native Georgian” speaking on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to a “mostly-white crowd.” Race-baiting, anyone? And during the segment, the smears grew progressively more blatant. The CNN commentator quoted Beinart that the GOP is a “cultural and intellectual bubble” and adding that such words are “not very encouraging for the Republican Party when it comes to trying to get blacks to vote for them” – as if Beinart's liberal opinion is a credible key voice in the matter. [Video below.]
CBS Fights With Gingrich, Accuses Him of Starting Class War
CBS's Early Show repeatedly hit GOP candidate Newt Gingrich on Friday over his comments on African-Americans and food stamps. The network played the quote for African-American Congressman Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and engaged Gingrich over the context, even accusing him of trying to start a class war. “You've accused President Obama of trying to start a class war,” co-host Nancy Cordes told Gingrich in an interview at the bottom of the 7 a.m. hour. “Aren't you doing the same thing?” she pressed him. [Video below the break.] The accusation came after CBS correspondent Jan Crawford described his newly-negative campaign as “using a flamethrower and scorching this field. ” “But after he was hit with some negative ads he is not only answering back, guys he is just using a flamethrower and scorching this field,” Crawford strongly asserted. The network's sentiments echo the larger media narrative of highlighting “controversial” Republican quotes on social issues and implying an underlying racist agenda, rather than focusing on the candidates' economic plans and foreign policy agendas. The clip CBS played recorded Gingrich stating the following: “Now there's no neighborhood I know of in America where if you went around and asked people would you rather your children have foodstamps or paychecks, you wouldn't end up with a majority saying they'd rather have a paycheck. And so I'm prepared, if the NAACP invites me, I'll go to their convention and talk about why the African-American community should demand paychecks, and not be satisfied with food stamps.” Gingrich was arguing that the NAACP has a history of supporting food stamps for minorities, but Early Show co-host Nancy Cordes interpreted him as implying the African-American community is “satisfied” with food stamps. Congressman Scott lampooned that narrative as “preposterous.” And when Gingrich defended his comments, CBS immediately shifted the narrative to imply that he wanted class warfare. The “critique” of Gingrich, they noted – as in, their liberal critique – was that “you've seemed to single out African-Americans and poor Americans, saying that poor children don't have a work ethic, or that they should work as janitors.” [Video below. Click here for audio.]
Liberal ‘Young Turks’ Co-host: Santorum Didn’t Slam Black People in Speech
While various liberal media outlets have been busy trying to smear former senator Rick Santorum as a racist for supposedly saying, “I don't want to make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money,” at a campaign event, other intellectually honest liberals have rendered a different verdict. One of them, Mediaite writer Tommy Christopher, noted today how “Young Turks” co-host Jayar Jackson thinks the Santorum is unfairly being criticized for what, in context, seems to have been a candidate tripping over a verbal tic (emphases mine): On Monday, we reported on Rick Santorum‘s supposed use of the words “black people” during a campaign event in Iowa Sunday, and I was apparently the only person in the non-conservative world who thought he hadn’t said it. I faced a fair amount of pushback on the issue, which was, thankfully, mostly polite. I discussed the issue on Twitter with Salon‘s Joan Walsh, who asked, in good faith, if anyone else agreed with me. Few did. Since then, I’ve been joined on this lonely island by The Plumline‘s Greg Sargent, and now, The Young Turks‘ Jayar Jackson, who explained, last night, that he didn’t think Santorum said “black people,” but more importantly, that the issue is somewhat moot. Host Cenk Uygur, for his part, still wasn’t buying it. “I remember…when this first came out, it seemed like it was a bit of a stumble,” Jayar said, adding, “I feel like you didn’t hear the full word.” “You’re crazy, man, you’re crazy!” Cenk exclaimed. “You just saw the tape!” On Monday, we reported on Rick Santorum‘s supposed use of the words “black people” during a campaign event in Iowa Sunday, and I was apparently the only person in the non-conservative world who thought he hadn’t said it. I faced a fair amount of pushback on the issue, which was, thankfully, mostly polite. I discussed the issue on Twitter with Salon‘s Joan Walsh, who asked, in good faith, if anyone else agreed with me. Few did. Since then, I’ve been joined on this lonely island by The Plumline‘s Greg Sargent, and now, The Young Turks‘ Jayar Jackson, who explained, last night, that he didn’t think Santorum said “black people,” but more importantly, that the issue is somewhat moot. Host Cenk Uygur, for his part, still wasn’t buying it. “I remember…when this first came out, it seemed like it was a bit of a stumble,” Jayar said, adding, “I feel like you didn’t hear the full word.” “You’re crazy, man, you’re crazy!” Cenk exclaimed. “You just saw the tape!” Now, hopefully, this is the last time I have to get inside Rick Santorum’s head, but it seems clear to me that he did stumble, that he got ahead of himself and started to say “make lives better,” but in mid-word, tried to correct it to “make people’s lives better,” and it came out as “make mmbligh people’s lives better.” Here’s the TYT clip, which loops Santorum’s remarks together a few times. I’m hearing a long “I” sound, and no hard “K” sound: It doesn’t really matter how many, or few, people agree with me, I’m either right or I’m wrong. I mention Jayar and Greg Sargent simply as a way to dispel, for anyone who doesn’t know me, the notion that I have any interest in defending Rick Santorum for any reason other than the merits. By the same token, I don’t think Joan Walsh, or Keith Olbermann, or CBS News and NPR, are acting in bad faith when they report Santorum’s remark as “black people,” because yeah, that’s what it sounds like. Additionally, Santorum really didn’t help matters by waiting three days to explain himself. I contacted his campaign multiple times over that period with a link to the video, and it is fair to ask why, the first few times he was asked about it, he hadn’t seen the clip yet. Most people, upon being asked about a racist comment they might have made, would immediately check the video. This demonstrates, at best, a disturbing apathy on Santorum’s part, that he didn’t care enough to take 30 seconds to watch the video I sent him four times (and was also forwarded to him by a conservative colleague). Furthermore, I sympathize with liberals who think his days-late explanation sounds like bullshit, exactly because it so closely matches the explanation in the column I sent him four times. That doesn’t change the fact that he didn’t say “black people,” and the fact that he didn’t say “black people” (as Jayar alludes), doesn’t mean that Santorum isn’t a hateful bigot. It matters because it’s the truth.
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Liberal ‘Young Turks’ Co-host: Santorum Didn’t Slam Black People in Speech
MSNBC’s Klan Smear Of Romney So Slimy, Even Sharpton Shuns It
Q. How do you know when MSNBC has sunk to unimaginable depths of Dem-partisan hackery? A. When even Al Sharpton renounces it.
NBC Cheers College Course on Rapper Jay-Z By Left-Wing Professor Michael Eric Dyson
On Friday's NBC Today, MSNBC anchor Craig Melvin gushed over a new class at Georgetown University taught by liberal professor Michael Eric Dyson: “Race, class, gender, culture, all things that would be covered in most sociology classes and they're covered in Michael Eric Dyson's as well, but the issues are examined in a way that uniquely appeals to college students.” Melvin touted how, “Jay-Z's street rhymes that became stage anthems are being taught at one of America's top schools.” He promoted the course as serious education: “In the Georgetown University syllabus, it's called, 'The Sociology of Hip-Hop: The Odyssey of Jay-Z.' For about 140 students twice a week it's 90 minutes of head bouncing and dissecting….Dyson uses Jay-Z's 2010 memoir 'Decoded' to break down lyrics, but maintains a traditional classroom, using articles, guest speakers, essays and exams.” Melvin did briefly acknowledge criticism of the class: “Learning at Georgetown is not cheap. Tuition costs are among the highest in the country. Some students say their parents wonder whether the class is worth it….Critics have also knocked the class, in part because of Jay-Z's occasional celebration of misogyny, like in this video from 2000 for 'Big Pimping.'” However, Melvin left viewers with a positive impression of the course: “Not surprising, the class is wildly popular….Old school themes being taught in a new school way….For some, it's working.” A sound bite was included of Dyson proclaiming: “I want students to understand, look, learning doesn't have to be boring. I'm trying to make the life of the mind sexy.” After the report, Melvin fawned over Dyson's celebrity status: “Jay-Z is currently touring the country and at his concert in D.C., he actually gave a shout-out to Dr. Dyson, which, as you might imagine, gave him a lot more street cred with his students, made him a lot more popular with those students.” At no time in the segment did Melvin identify Dyson as liberal or controversial. On Sunday's Meet the Press , Dyson attacked “the right wing” for exploiting “racist elements” of “paranoia and fear of what it might mean to see Obama have a second term.” Here is a full transcript of Melvin's December 2 report: 8:37AM ET SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Jay-Z has conquered the music and business worlds and now the Brooklyn-born rapper is leaving his mark on the classroom. NBC's Craig Melvin is here to explain. Craig, good morning, good to see you. CRAIG MELVIN: Good to see you as well. This is your alma mater here, this is where you went to law school. Jay-Z has inspired a new course at Georgetown University. Race, class, gender, culture, all things that would be covered in most sociology classes and they're covered in Michael Eric Dyson's as well, but the issues are examined in a way that uniquely appeals to college students. This record-setting rapper and hip-hop icon has become a business tycoon and best-selling author. And now, Jay-Z's street rhymes that became stage anthems are being taught at one of America's top schools. [ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Hip Hop 101; College Course on Rapper Jay-Z] MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: “I'm from the murder capital, where we murder for capital.” MELVIN: In the Georgetown University syllabus, it's called, “The Sociology of Hip-Hop: The Odyssey of Jay-Z.” For about 140 students twice a week it's 90 minutes of head bouncing and dissecting. UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: You have someone who kind of perpetuates the same impediments that were like imposed upon him. MELVIN: Dr. Michael Eric Dyson has taught a course on hip-hop for the last 15 years. Jay-Z gives him a fresh angle. DYSON: This is a way for our kids to explore a lot of the big ideas in sociology. “God forgive me for my brash delivery but I remember vividly what these streets did to me.” And as a result of remembering what these streets did to me – to him – he's trying to make a connection with and a link to those people who are similarly suffering. MELVIN: Dyson uses Jay-Z's 2010 memoir “Decoded” to break down lyrics, but maintains a traditional classroom, using articles, guest speakers, essays and exams. DYSON: And we'll have your tests back for you as well, alright. MELVIN: Not surprising, the class is wildly popular. CHELSEA: Being somebody who grew up in a very similar circumstances, I'm allowed to kind of explore my own conditions. MELVIN: Learning at Georgetown is not cheap. Tuition costs are among the highest in the country. Some students say their parents wonder whether the class is worth it. NEHEMIAH: I would imagine the same as most parents, “We're paying so much for this. We want you to take classes that'll get you a great job. Why are wasting time on this?” MELVIN: It's not just skeptical parents. Critics have also knocked the class, in part because of Jay-Z's occasional celebration of misogyny, like in this video from 2000 for “Big Pimping.” DYSON: Within hip-hop we're pointing out the misogyny to ridicule it, to criticize it, to ask where it comes from. MELVIN: Old school themes being taught in a new school way. DYSON: Well, I want students to understand, look, learning doesn't have to be boring. I'm trying to make the life of the mind sexy.