Are some members of the media using the race card too much?
In Sunday’s New York Times, columnist Maureen Dowd suggested that racism played a role in Rep. Joe Wilson’s “You Lie” outburst during President Barack Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress last week.
In her column, Dowd said:
Surrounded by middle-aged white guys — a sepia snapshot of the days when such pols ran Washington like their own men’s club — Joe Wilson yelled “You lie!” at a president who didn’t. But, fair or not, what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy!
She pointed out that Wilson belongs to the Sons of Confederate Veterans, led a 2000 campaign to keep the Confederate flag waving above South Carolina’s state Capitol and denounced as a “smear” the true claim of a black woman that she was the daughter of Strom Thurmond, the ’48 segregationist candidate for president.
She continued:
Wilson’s shocking disrespect for the office of the president — no Democrat ever shouted “liar” at W. when he was hawking a fake case for war in Iraq — convinced me: Some people just can’t believe a black man is president and will never accept it.
Dowd is not alone among the media in making this accusation. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann have made similar presumptions about Obama critics.
Now, they are not saying all Obama critics are racists, but that some of this criticism is race based.
However, much of the criticism of the president is toward his policies and not his race. Obama’s stance on health care reform, climate control and his stimulus-based economic policies have drawn heavy criticism from the right.
Had Hillary Clinton gotten the Democratic nomination and elected president, she most likely would have proposed similar legislation, and possibly gotten similar criticism. Had Wilson called Clinton a liar in a address to Congress, would Dowd accuse him of being a sexist?
There is no doubt that some people in the country do have an issue with a black man being president. These people would feel the same had Colin Powell run and been elected. But are some members of the media using the race card too much? And if they are, does it weaken their own argument?
(2 votes, average: 1 out of 5)
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Mr. Wong:
Define “Too Much.”
I strongly believe you know that the President’s loss of approval has little to do with his heritage.
If we had a President Barry O’Brien (Democrat-South Boston) pushing the same statist policies as we’re seeing from this administration, his support would be falling similarly.
( btw, using Maureen Dowd, Keith Olbermann & “Thrill Up My Leg” Matthews as your base-line is no way to reason if you want to be taken seriously as a journalist )
It’s because of people like Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews and Maureen Dowd that I don’t take the term ‘racism’ seriously anymore….
They’ve dumbed that word down so much that it’s virtually meaningless. These folks have simply become a joke.
When there is so much blatant racism going on, I think we need to focus on the issue even more. The media likes to hype the obvious things, but how about doing some in-depth reporting on the reason WHY all those people are so angry?
Why are they so Angry? If you take a good look at the signs they make and the news they listen to, you will see their fear of others who do match their idea of what American should be (white people) is stoked by the outright lies of the right wing media fear mongers like Rush, Bill and Glen. This is very scary and serious stuff we are seeing developing. Someone needs to muzzle Rush, Glen & Bill or at the least insist they start being truthful about the facts. Free speech is one thing, but promoting anarchy through their constant lies is getting out of hand.
Then If you LISTEN to the tea-party protesters, you will discover they believe those lies. And, even more so because it is perpetuated by some in Congress.The hatred they have in their eyes for President Obama seems outright racist and makes them look unhinged…kind of like they are delusional borderline personalities who cannot discern the facts from the lies.
IMHO..they ( Rush, Glen & Bill…Joe Wilson, et al) are the REAL threat we are facing in our country. I would not be surprised to see them encouraging their Zombie Followers to start gunning progressives/people of color down in the street.
YES. Also, I think many citizens are using the race card too much when things don’t go their way…and then the media picks up on it to get the ratings. Kind of a circle.
IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RACE! Wilson thinks the prez lied! And, he shouted it out in public - has nothing to do with ‘respecting’ that office either! It has to do with passion and the belief of taking the American citizen for another walk down the rose covered path! I’m so sick and tired of anytime a black person is involved in ANYTHING they turn it into a racist situation. GET OFF THAT WAGON - THAT ARGUEMENT DOESN’T HOLD WATER ANYMORE AND ONLY DEFEATS YOUR CREDIBILITY!! Find another lame reason to excuse bad behavior and actions! Bottom line - Wilson thinks obama lied, and I’ll bet my bottom dollar he did!!! Wait and see - apoligize again? NO WAY!!!
Rather or not it was a race issue or all politics..only he knows. Maybe he just really, really cares about the american people and was just so angy he had to speak.. OR.. hes just a big ol racist in a suit isntead of a white sheet.
Actually, this article may provide some insight into whether Obama or Wilson lied:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2009/sep/10/illegal-immigrants-and-health-care-part-2/
Sen Harry Reid publicly called Pres. Bush a liar and an idiot… and never apologized.
For 8 years Dems verbally assaulted a sitting President and it was celebrated as a glorious part of the American political process… that in a free society we can speak against the head of state without fear of prosecution.
Two words spoken publicly, however inappropriate during a bi-cameral address and its aftermath shows the hypocrisy of the left in this country.
The libtards are the real racists. Only they are the ones assigning labels for everyone and pointing fingers at those who happen to disagree with someone who is not white. But then when we have blacks that make hateful, anti-white, anti-Jew remarks such as Obama’s “uncle” pastor Rev. Wright, or the Black Panther member Van Jones, it’s OK. And then people like myself who disagree with Obama’s affiliations with communists and racist extremists suddenly are “racist” per the media. You know what, I can’t stand those in the media that perpetuate this, and to be honest, racial relations will deteriorate further should this continue.
Canary, you say “I would not be surprised to see them encouraging their Zombie Followers to start gunning progressives/people of color down in the street.” Really? Have you ever actually listened to any of the people you mention? Do you have any examples of what they’ve said that would make you determine that the next thing they’d suggest would be to gun down people of color (or progressives) in the street? Wow.