The racist right wing talkers have too much power over …. Obama?

Oh … how much longer must we put up with these, you know, racists? How much longer will they exert their influence over, not just crazy right wingers, but … be still my heart … the President. Here’s a quick recap of the lefty wizzards of smart (hat tip Rush Limbaugh) last night on cable. The premise: the President is not to blame for firing Shirley Sherrod … it’s Fox News, righty blogs, righty talkers, yada yada, etc. etc. who forced his ever gentle, always accommodating hand that wields the power.

For your viewing pleasure, I think. A lineup of Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews, Cynthia Tucker (Atlanta Journal), someone named Errol Lewis (NY Daily News), and Wayne Henderson. Nothing like throwing around charges that someone is racist without … ummm … proof?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1KY9axWiVo

Got that? The right snookered the President and the media. Matthews is right … it is crap. Here’s the exit question, as AP would say at Hot Air. Who would have though Andy Breitbart and Fox News had this much power over the President?

Posted in ,

Jim Vicevich

Jim is a veteran broadcaster and conservative/libertarian blogger with more than 25 years experience in TV and radio. Jim's was the long-term host of The Jim Vicevich Show on WTIC 1080 in Hartford from 2004 through 2019. Prior to radio, Jim worked as a business and financial reporter for NBC30 - the NBC owned TV station in Hartford - and as business editor at WFSB-TV in Hartford for 14 years while earning six Emmy nominations and three Telly Awards.

37 Comments

  1. Dimsdale on July 22, 2010 at 1:57 pm

    Someone call Breitbart and Fox and have them get those stupid, America destroying bills tossed out!  Oh wait, if Fox and others had that power, they would have done it already, wouldn't they?

     

    This is all about the "Big Lie" mentality of the lefties, who have control of most of the media (and want more) and know that they can simply repeat a lie or insinuation enough times to make the uninformed believe it is true.

     

    You can cut the desperation with a knife!



    • chris-os on July 23, 2010 at 3:32 am

      The "big lie mentality of the lefties"???

      Breitbart is on record as saying the truthfulness of a story isn't important, only it's usefulness. 'nuff said.



    • Dimsdale on July 23, 2010 at 7:54 pm

      Breitbart is on his own.  He sure was right about ACORN.  Could I please have a link to the "truthfullness vs. usefulness" quote?

       

      I am talking about the general "repeat a lie over and over so it sounds like the truth" mentality of the Democrats.  You know, "it could be worse", "the most transparent, honest and ethical Congress ever", "the stimulus created jobs", "Bush did it", "we won't tax anyone making over $250K", did I say "Bush did it?", "there's nothing wrong with Fannie and Freddie", "the Tea party is full of racists", "Fox did it", "Bush had the worst economy since the Great Depression", etc., etc.

       

      And the sin of omission also counts as part of the Big Lie, and is mostly a media problem.  Refusing to cover the New Black Panther story or the story by the whistleblower, not covering ANYTHING to do with Øbama's past or qualifications etc.  See JournOlist story.  Whether you like Rush or not, the almost daily montages of virtually identical statements by numerous MSM reporter/talking heads is both priceless and telling: the MSM gets its orders from talking points issued by the WH or the DNC.  It has been shown over and over again.  They are too stupid to at least change the wording, so they all sound like parrots, or Democrat sock puppets.  Maybe Fox does it too, but you would be hard pressed to show it.  Not so with the liberal media.



  2. JollyRoger on July 22, 2010 at 2:08 pm

    At least it's not Bush's fault this time!  Our spread the wealth around team has finally realized that they've also got to spread the blame around…  They know they can't go into a tenth year of blaming W, so blaming the Fox Noise Machine was the next least ridiculous scapegoat.



  3. weregettinghosed on July 22, 2010 at 7:49 pm

    Somebody get the knee pads ready. I am sick of having to constantly get down on my knees and beg their forgiveness for seeming like a racist – Oh wait – I don't give a hoot anymore and will not do it – in fact, never asked forgiveness. But wait – the dems have pounded this into so many Americans they begin to think they are racist when they are not – the time is now to wake up and smell the —– and say NO MORE!

    Somewhere, somehow I know they believe it is all Bush's fault – afterall who else is to blame?

     



  4. winnie888 on July 22, 2010 at 11:22 pm

    Wade Henderson ought to look at Obama and the democrats.  Up until conservatives and Tea Party members started getting irritated and offended by the accusations of racism, the ONLY people I heard talking about Obama and race were the Democrats…It started with the lefty news organizations who were practically orgasmic over the fact that a black president was elected–not that the best candidate had been elected…It was always about his color first and his qualifications second (even though they never really touched on what those qualifications were).  But now that Obama has proven not to be the savior the dems thought he would be (most likely because he had no qualifications for the job), and criticism of his policies is getting louder and louder and louder, those accusations of racism are never, ever going to dissipate from the left.

     



  5. chris-os on July 23, 2010 at 2:22 am

    Get back to the story here-it is truly amazing.

    1. Fox jumped on a clip of a speech-embellished it  distorted it and relished it.

    2. It was reported as "news" not commentary.

    3. When the administration acted on their cries of "the woman must be fired" (both Hannity and O'Reilly said that)…they criticized them (this self proclaimed NEWS organization) for not thoroughly investigating the story.

     

    Ya just can't make this stuff up!



    • Dimsdale on July 23, 2010 at 3:08 am

      Actually, according to the time line, you did make most of this up.  Say what you will about Hannity and O'Reilly (although BOR only devoted about 30 seconds to it), but you have to ask yourself some questions:

       

      Why didn't the White House thoroughly investigate the story?  Or the NAACP?  Why did Sherrod get no less than THREE phone calls from the WH (her words) demanding that she resign?

       

      Why did the Øbama administration choose to act on this particular Hannity rant?

       

      This is strike two for Øbama on racial bridge burning.  Three if you count the Black Panther cover up.



    • chris-os on July 23, 2010 at 3:29 am

      I think that you are smart enough to know the truth, Dims.

      The prez is a black man-he is in a unique situation-he feels he has to walk a tight-rope so he is not viewed as an "angry black man".

      Faux, the right-wing bark factory relishes this power that they have over him, enjoy the game of backing him into the corner.

      Wish I could slap him upside the head for continuing to fall into Faux's trap-hope it IS a teachable moment for the administration.



    • djt on July 23, 2010 at 3:30 am

      the naacp and the white house look especially bad in this incident. How much should the naacp have had to investigate what sherrod said, wasn't she speaking at one of their events?

      The white house rush to judgement makes them look incredibly thin skinned, and believing, and even worse, acting, on a foxnews report without digging deeper just makes no sense. Obama takes a big hit here, but I don't exactly see how his firing of a black woman that he shortsightedly saw as a racist makes for racial bridge burning.

      Nevertheless, Obama acted foolishly, his handling of this makes him look like an over sensitive rookie.



    • Dimsdale on July 23, 2010 at 8:06 pm

      "Angry black man?"  He was supposed to be the big healer of the racial divide!  For a guy "waking a tightrope, he manages to do it with his foot in his mouth often enough.  He is purportedly smarter than that.  His only responsibility to race issues is to be race neutral, something he is epically failing at.  As Morgan Freeman said not too long ago "if you want to stop racism, stop talking about it."  He needs to get out of the reflexive "they are racists!" community organizer response to everything.  I agree with djt: Øbama needed more seasoning (political experience) before running for president.  He admitted as much himself back before he considered running (or was persuaded to run).

       

      The NAACP, the Black Congressional Caucus, the New Black Panthers etc., all have to realize that "the man" is a part black man.  Bigots are the ones with the power, and they have the power now.  Some habits die hard.

       

      The "Faux" is cute, even though it is pronounced "foh", and it decreases the strength of your argument.  What did you call the media when they relentlessly attacked Bush?



  6. Law-AbidingCitizen on July 23, 2010 at 4:37 am

    WOW! Talk about a regime that is all over the map!

    This is what was warned about during the McCain obama campaign: obama would be an "on-the-job-training" president. So, it is no wonder that his regime is inconsistent. The nation is captained by a clueless, arrogant, glib individual and as such, the nation is rudderless.

    Obama doesn't get it, he is always appearing on television, still campaigning, and pushing his lefty agenda. He continually shoots from the lip and appears to waffle more than any politician that I can remember and, I can remember some real finger-wetting, raise that moist finger in the air, and gauge what the political winds type pols. He is a rookie! This is the difference between a tactical president and a strategic one.

    No one can micromanage this nation and due it any good. It is only a matter of time before obama implodes. I expect one day to see a clip of him melting-down on television and be ready for the rubber room. The sooner, the better for the nation.

    Let's hope that we on the right can muster enough strength to throw the bums out in November and clean (the White) house in the next presidential election.

    This guy (obama) has to be voted out of office; we can only hope that he doesn't do lasting damage that can't be undone.



  7. chris-os on July 24, 2010 at 2:27 am

    OK Dimsdale -RE:New Black Panther story you obsess about:
    http://mediamatters.org/research/201007230045?utm



    • Dimsdale on July 24, 2010 at 6:07 am

      I thought you meant a real news organization, not a wing of the DNC.  Shabazz said that, by the way, but not at the polling place.  He did say "prepare to be ruled by the black man" though.  Splitting hairs.

      <!–Session data–>



  8. chris-os on July 24, 2010 at 2:50 am

    Secondly, thought everyone knew about Breitbart and the Acorn hoax. O'keefe was sponsored by Breitbart-the clip of him dressed like a pimp and the woman as a prostitute were fake. O'keefe actually wore a dress shirt when visiting acorn offices and he told the workers that he was trying to protect her for the most part (his story varied) and help her out of prostitution and try to find a way for her to get housing.

    The outlandish outfits were then clipped into videos and selective clippings of responses to his plea for adequate housing for the girl were then edited.

    Contrary to O'Keefe's <a title="blocked: :http://mediamatters.org/research/200911200044&quot; href="http://mediamatters.org/research/200911200044&quot; rel="nofollow">assertion that the Los Angeles ACORN worker "was the only ACORN employee in our nationwide investigation who would not assist us obtain a house for our illegal activities," ACORN employees in<a title="blocked: :http://mediamatters.org/research/200910210021&quot; href="http://mediamatters.org/research/200910210021&quot; rel="nofollow">Philadelphia and the <a title="blocked: :http://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story/ACORN-San-Diego-National-City-Mexico/9aZ4WLX8a0yjx5KyUM2wSg.cspx&quot; href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http%3A%2F%2 Fwww.sandiego6.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Fstory%2FACORN-San-Diego-National-City-Mexico%2F9aZ4WLX8a0yjx5KyUM2wSg.cspx" rel="nofollow">San Diego area contacted the police following their encounters with O'Keefe and Giles, an action that indicates that they had no intention of helping O'Keefe and Giles conduct any illegal activities. At two other ACORN offices — in New York and Washington, D.C., — Giles and O'Keefe <a title="blocked: :http://mediamatters.org/research/200912080007&quot; href="http://mediamatters.org/research/200912080007&quot; rel="nofollow">did not make clear that they were planning to engage in child prostitution.

    Additionally, in the <a title="blocked: :http://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http://biggovernment.com/2009/09/15/acorn-prostitution-scandal-california-here-we-come/&quot; href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http%3A%2F%2Fbiggovernment.com%2F2009%2F09%2F15%2Facorn-prostitution-scandal-california-here-we-come%2F&quot; rel="nofollow">video of Giles and O'Keefe's visit to the San Bernardino ACORN office, an ACORN employee<a title="blocked: :http://mediamatters.org/research/200909160023&quot; href="http://mediamatters.org/research/200909160023&quot; rel="nofollow">gives them advice on how to run a brothel and <a title="blocked: :http://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http://www.acorn.org/fileadmin/Press_Releases/090915-San_Bernardino_Police_Report_Alleged_Homicide.pdf&quot; href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http%3A%2F%2 Fwww.acorn.org%2Ffileadmin%2FPress_Releases%2F090915-San_Bernardino_Police_Report_Alleged_Homicide.pdf" rel="nofollow">falsely informs them that she murdered her ex-husband. In a<a title="blocked: :http://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=12439&tx_ttnews%5btt_news%5d=22583&tx_ttnews%5bbackPid%5d=12387&cHash=f1e6ffcdd4&quot; href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http%3A%2F%2 Fwww.acorn.org%2Findex.php%3Fid%3D12439%26tx_ttnews%255btt_news%255d%3D22583%26tx_ttnews%255bbackPid%255d%3D12387%26cHash%3Df1e6ffcdd4" rel="nofollow">statement subsequently released by ACORN, the employee stated of the conservative activists who filmed her: "They were not believable. … They were clearly playing with me. I decided to shock them as much as they were shocking me." Indeed, even Fox News' Sean Hannity later <a title="blocked: :http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201001270035&quot; href="http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201001270035&quot; rel="nofollow">acknowledged that O'Keefe and Giles were the "least convincing pimp" and "prostitute" in "the entire world." (from Media Matters)

    Acorn was investigated and cleared of any and all wrongdoing by authorities, too late-their funding was pulled.

    Another example of the administration kowtowing to the demands of the right.

    1 thing you and I agree about-I wish Obama was more like Bush. Remember the "I am the decider" and I have a mandate"-wish Obama would ignore the demands and distortions of the right-instead he seems to pander to them..

     



    • Dimsdale on July 24, 2010 at 6:11 am

      Okay, they are clean and perfect.  Only the conservative do bad.  (staying under the size limit)



    • HamHocks on July 26, 2010 at 9:46 pm

      I think this shouldn't be brushed off so easily. ACORN was absolutely hammered by Vicevich, Fox News, and virtually every other conservative media for these videos. They also cited the lack of mainstream news coverage for the story as evidence of a media bias. Once all of the investigations were done, and ACORN was cleared of any wrongdoing across the board, the story was suddenly unimportant. The same thing happened with the voter fraud claims that went on for months but curiously produced zero cases of voter fraud. Jim got months of airtime ripping these guys and, in my opinion, misinforming a lot of people in the process.

       



    • Dimsdale on July 27, 2010 at 7:44 am

      Maybe there should be a 30 day waiting period for news stories!  I agree on voter "fraud" too: both sides like to pull that skeleton out of the closet when they are losing.  Positive, national voter ID, electronically cleared, and updated, verified voter lists would probably put that to rest quickly.



  9. Steve McGough on July 24, 2010 at 3:01 am

    ALL of these comments are getting too long.



  10. chris-os on July 24, 2010 at 3:19 am

    Sure are, sorry, but keep being asked to defend everything I say-maybe llimit to # of words? I will comply.

    And BTW, faux is not pronounced "foh" it is pronounced "fow" rhymes w/ bow.



    • Dimsdale on July 24, 2010 at 6:09 am

      But surely not "fox".  "foh" is like the Simpsonian "d'oh", pronounced "dough".  You make my point.



    • rickyrock on July 26, 2010 at 12:05 pm

      Great job Chris,I too was told to read the t & c ….tough to defend yourself when you have the word limits.

      Tougher yet for the Repugnants to defend their distortions.



    • Dimsdale on July 27, 2010 at 6:57 am

      Really?  I don't feel particularly challenged.

       

      Descending to ad hominem attacks just cheapens your argument.  Or shows you don't have one.



  11. Dimsdale on July 24, 2010 at 7:12 pm

    Before canonizing Sherrod, we should not the following statement from her speech:

    “You know, I haven’t seen such a mean-spirited people as I’ve seen lately over this issue of health care. Some of the racism we thought was buried. Didn’t it surface? Now, we endured eight years of the Bush’s and we didn’t do the stuff these Republicans are doing because you have a black President.”

    from the transcript (http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/shirleys…)

    I, for one, would like to know exactly what she “endured” for eight years under Bush. Where is the racism in the “mean spiritedness” in the health care debate? What “stuff” are “these Republicans doing”?

    Also note that her complaining went from “three calls demanding her resignation from the White House” to “Fox News is out to get me”. How did that transition happen? Could a job/promotion have been dependent on switching her dismay from the president to Fox?

    Food for thought.

    <!–Session data–>



    • winnie888 on July 24, 2010 at 10:01 pm

      Veddy, veddy interesting thought, Dims….She must have been at RVO chat on Thursday morning last week when she realized that FN was out to get her. hee hee hee  🙂



    • chris-os on July 25, 2010 at 2:48 am

      Food for thought: Sherrod lived in times of segregation, went to segregated schools. Father murdered by a Klanner (who was never punished).

      After this she, in her adult life, realizes that she harbors prejudices against whites and overcomes them. Amazing. Would you be able to, Dimsdale? Honestly, I don't know if I could.

      Watched clips of Fixed News with Hannity and O'Reilly demanding her immediate termination after Fixed gleefully played selectively clipped video over and over. (Why vet anything that fits into your despicable little agenda-who cares whose lives you ruin?)

      But you trash her because she said Fixed was "out to get her". And is proud of America having a black president. And, of course, she is a leeeeffftttyyy!! Yep, she is evil.



    • Dimsdale on July 25, 2010 at 2:09 pm

      In reality, it has been demonstrated "over and over" that Fox did not run any stories about Sherrod prior to her firing.

       

      Also for the record, the man the White House feared the most, Glenn Beck, was smarter than anyone because he has the sense (or paranoia) to actually listen to the whole speech first, then actually set out to DEFEND Sherrod.  Can the president, USDA or the NAACP (who had access to the entire speech) say that?

       

      Now who has the "despicable little agenda"?

       



    • Dimsdale on July 25, 2010 at 2:11 pm

      Let me answer that: it was whoever is using this sad incident to smear Fox News.  It is obviously a part of someone's talking points, since every Democrat, including Sherrod, insists on repeating the lie.  Oh wait, this qualifies as a Big Lie now.



    • djt on July 26, 2010 at 3:05 am

      dims, reading some of your comments makes it look like foxnews did nothing wrong. I think its safe to say were it not for fox, the breitbart video would have stayed in the brietbart/drudge/free republic/hotair information cocoon, and this whole sad incident would have never happened.Yes the white house and the naacp were also to blame, I know, but fox (who does break some actual stories no one else does) certainly got it out in the open, where it didn't belong.

      and of sherrod…put politics aside, put yourself in her place, what are your thoughts of foxnews? her condemnation of them is hardly surprising given the kind of week she had.



    • Dimsdale on July 26, 2010 at 6:53 am

      Let me be clear then: EVERYBODY (with the exception of Beck, ironically), crapped the bed on this one.

       

      To avoid repitition: see my response to chris below.



  12. chris-os on July 26, 2010 at 2:15 am

    "Let me answer that: it was whoever is using this sad incident to smear Fox News"

    very sad, smearing such an upstanding "news" organization.

    Here is the timeline of the masterful coordination of Breitbart and Fox, Mr. Dimsdale -1/3 down in the article
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alvin-mcewen/timeli
     



    • Dimsdale on July 26, 2010 at 7:13 am

      Thank you, Mr. chris.  A few choice comments:

       

      1) you disparage Fox, but accept Huffington Post and MediaMatters as valid news sources. 'nuff said.

       

       

      2) Can you tell me where on that time line of the actual firing of Sherrod occurred?  It is unclear.  All they post is an untimed "Fox News amplifies Breitbart's deceptively edited video" at the beginning.  Why is that?   Lots of blog references, but no defined timeline on the alleged Fox "attack".

       

       

      3) The NYTimes, which I think we can all agree is more reputable than either of your sources above (and the possible equivalent of Fox News?  😉 ) states "Fox News began its pursuit of Ms. Sherrod in prime time on Monday night on three successive opinion shows that reached at least three million people. Leading off, Mr. O’Reilly asked on his top-rated program, “Is there racism in the Department of Agriculture?” He discussed the tape, plugged Mr. Breitbart’s Web site and demanded that Ms. Sherrod resign immediately."  (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/us/politics/22sherrod.html?_r=1&nbsp; ; thirteenth paragraph)

       

       

      4) The time line is indeed important, because if the overly sensitive White House gave the excerted, out of context tape validity by firing Sherrod (actually USDA and Vilsack, with Øbama's public blessing), than anybody after (key word here) that point would be reasonably justified in believing that it was true.  True enough for Sherrod to be fired anyway.  Similarly, the NAACP's condemnation of her, and when, is equally important.  If the WH did not fire her, and NAACP didn't condemn her, then any report would certainly require more scrutiny.  Beck, to his credit, was the only one that took the time to find the rest of the story before commenting.

       

      5)  See my above response to djt.  If they did bad, then they must apologize.  Chris Wallace has reviewed the tapes (see Fox News Sunday yesterday) and did not find evidence of Fox's reporting the story until later Monday evening.



    • HamHocks on July 26, 2010 at 10:00 pm

      To be totally fair about this, Beck briefly ran with the story on his radio show that day. He didn't call for her resignation, true, but he also didn't wait for the context either. I'm utterly astounded that he didn't run with the story on his Fox show but, to his credit, he didn't. The fact that I find myself having to commend Glenn Beck on actually showing some responsibility is a sad state of affairs.



    • Dimsdale on July 27, 2010 at 6:56 am

      Good point, Ham.  I stand corrected, even if partly.  I don't listen to the radio show very often (conflicts with Jim!).  You gotta give credit where credit is due though, he did the right thing the next day.



    • Dimsdale on July 26, 2010 at 8:30 am

      To wit: "But for all the chatter — some of it from Sherrod herself — that she was done in by Fox News, the network didn't touch the story until her forced resignation was made public Monday evening, with the exception of brief comments by O'Reilly. After a news meeting Monday afternoon, an e-mail directive was sent to the news staff in which Fox Senior Vice President Michael Clemente said: "Let's take our time and get the facts straight on this story. Can we get confirmation and comments from Sherrod before going on-air. Let's make sure we do this right.""

       

      Howard Kurtz, Media Notes, Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/22/AR2010072201265.html)



  13. rickyrock on July 26, 2010 at 11:00 am

    I believe you could make the point that Obama  et. al. ………..messed up and over reacted …so what????White House apologized ……..end of "story."

    I 'm tired of hearing all the garbage spewing from these right wing air bags…………constantly lying to the public…over and over again …that's the frightening thing..as someone here said" repetition helps to make tenuous gossamer threaded theories fact" when they're not.

    1.Sarah Palin ……..is now a news analyst !!! ……..with her staccato ,frozen cadenced one liner junk..

    2.Newt Gingrich …time has come and gone ………now he's meeting with his family regarding a run for the White House ?? Good luck.

    3.From the hideous Republican convention where Guliani said Under George Bush there was no domestic terrorist attacks (9/11).Palin with her Alaskan pipe line ( which was never built) …lies and more lies …..I'm just sick of these guys .I predict the Hannity's Limbaugh's Beck's and all their little wannabes will fade away as the economy gets better ( stock market up 50%) since 2009…

    Thank you all

     



    • Dimsdale on July 26, 2010 at 3:43 pm

      But what about the left wing air bags?  Yes, it would be the end of the story if Øbama et al. stopped blaming someone, anyone but themselves for what is happening.  Fox, Bush, Hannity, anyone but the actual people supposedly in charge.  Does Palin and Newt really have you that worried?  Do you seriously think they have a chance?  I won't bother to address you out of context statements in #3 (unless you really need me to, and I would love to!).  Don't wanna have a really long retort, per the TOU.

       

      It is time for Øbama to man up.



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