Fox News, Far Right Use New Black Panther Party Case To Smear President Obama, AG Holder

Far-right people could really care less about Philadelphia or any kind of voter intimidation or voting irregularities (we learned that in the election of 2000 when George W. Bush defeated then Vice President Al Gore in a disputed presidential race).

Those right wingers who made excuses when voters in Florida and elsewhere were disenfranchised in 2000 (and arguably in 2004 as well), and excused voters in the Sunshine State of being too dumb to understand the ballots, now are crying foul because two members of the New Black Panther Party have been accused of voter intimidation. This is so horrible for our friends on the far right, but those who were turned away unfairly, had their votes discounted and were otherwise intimidated in 2000 don't seem to count (once again).

By the way, as Field Negro points out, the non-New Black Panthers in the above photo don't appear to be too frightened or intimidated.

When black politicians, including civil rights legend Rep. John Lewis, were spit on and had the N-word used against them, many conservatives accused them of lying and grandstanding and suggesting they should have entered the Capitol Building from some other entrance. Rep. Lewis and others, including Rep. Emanuel Cleaver who was spit on and Rep. Barney Frank who had homophobic slurs used against him, were attacked by the conservative media - men and women who rushed to the defense of tea party people who were accused.

Apparently some far-right conservatives believe that Rep. Lewis and others should have come in the back way ... like black people had to board the bus from the back prior to the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Andrew Breitbart, who is about as nutty as it gets on the far right, had this to say about people who were victimized by racial slurs and spit from bigots, had this to say:

BREITBART: The very act of the Black Congressional Caucus, walking through the tea party people while holding all those videos was an act of provocation. They need this desperately and one last thing. The language that Nancy Pelosi is using about the civil rights movement, comparing the unpopular health care bill to the civil rights movement ties into this… They’re all on the talking points, basically telling black people that the white people are trying to take your health care from you. This is a racial, racist, racially divisive strategy that they’re playing that’s very dangerous in the United States.

In other words, he is blaming the victims.



It's amazing how Fox News and the rest of the far right are so concerned about these two members of the New Black Panthers supposedly intimidating voters but had little problem with Tea Party protests spitting on black people and calling them the N-word.

I've listened to all these right wingers on Fox News today crying about voter intimidation. I imagine many of them were quiet excuse makers in 2000 and excuse makers when Rep. Lewis, Rep. Frank, Rep. Cleaver and others were verbally assaulted and spit on.

Now, of course, Fox News and the far right are playing this story up. The idea is they want to portray President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder as black men who are racist against white people to the point they will let off these black thugs from the New Black Panther Party. Did I mention the New Black Panther Party people are black too?

This is the Fox News theme and you better believe they will continue to hammer it home.

Black Tea Party Activist Is Living Foul With Ridiculous Attack On Rep. John Lewis, A Civil Rights Hero

Kevin Jackson, one of a few black people who attend and are sort of designated to defend the Tea Party activists against charges of racism, had some interesting words to say about Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon. Rep. Lewis, a man who fought so that people like Jackson could have the right to go on a far-right television network and smear him, has rock solid credibility on any number of levels. Jackson, however, used his appearance on Bill O'Reilly's right-wing program as a platform to launch an attack on Rep. Lewis using out-of-context comments as his weapon of choice.

Below is a transcript from Jackson's segment on The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News, Wednesday, March 31:

O'REILLY: "Personal Story" segment tonight, the far left is making a big deal out of the Tea Party movement being almost all white, implying it's a racist situation. Joining us now from St. Louis, Kevin Jackson, Tea Party member and the author of the book "The Big Black Lie." So, Mr. Jackson, how long have you been associated with the Tea Party and why did you get involved?

JACKSON: I emceed the first Tea Party in St. Louis on April 15, the Tax Day Tea Party of last year, and for a lot of the reasons that other Tea Party people got involved – tired of runaway government and, you know, seems like the government’s gone wild. So I decided I’d get involved and have appeared at approximately 80 since then headlining most of them and just found these people to be the salt of the earth.

O'REILLY: Now, are you a conservative man?

JACKSON: I am indeed conservative.

O'REILLY: Okay, so your conservative principles of smaller government, less government intrusion led you to the Tea Party.

JACKSON: Absolutely.

O'REILLY: Why don't we see more Africans-Americans at the rallies?

JACKSON: Well, there are more, but, you know, black people in general do not go, we're not really politically charged. I think Obama was able to bring a little bit more of that out. But we're not rally types to begin with.

O'REILLY: Well, we see the 20,000 show up for Farrakhan in Chicago.

JACKSON: Well, with Farrakhan, it's probably a different dynamic. But I think, as a rule, we're not really the type to go out and rally for things such as this, even though in many cases we believe a lot of the same principles. I mean, when you look at things like the Department of Energy who’s got 16,000 employees, was supposed to be set up in 1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil, half a trillion dollars later we’re no less dependent on foreign oil. I mean, people want to see where their money is being spent. And that's blacks as well.

O'REILLY: Okay, now obviously you know the controversy. There have been a number of commentators that have called the Tea Party people racists, branded them, you know, a white power organization or whatever you want to call it. So you hear that and you say what?

JACKSON: I say it's completely bogus. There’s been zero racial incidents at a Tea Party with me. And as I said, I’ve been to dozens. I’ll be speaking with a Tea Party express at a few here coming up, and I’ll be headlining a couple of Tea Parties in Houston. And I can tell you, I'm looking forward to going. And I look at it as the left is just trying to demonize a movement that, quite frankly, I consider the re-emancipation of America. I call it "Emancipation II." This time everybody gets freed.

O'REILLY: Now, do they pay you to go to these rallies? Do you get paid by the Tea Party?

JACKSON: More recently, I'm getting paid because I obviously I’ve sort of cut my teeth on them. But at the beginning, the majority of the Tea Party rallies, I was not getting paid.

O'REILLY: All right. Now, so they hire a bunch of speakers. We know Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck and, you know, big names like that have come in, and so a cynic might say hey, they bought Mr. Jackson. I'm not saying that because I think you’re a sincere man. I wouldn't put you on the air. But you know the charges that are being thrown around here. The Tea Party, for whatever reason, has angered, angered the far left in this country more than anything that I’ve recently seen except for Fox News Channel. I think we’re probably the only ones that anger them more. And so there’s a lot of stuff flying around.

JACKSON: Well, the reason for the anger is like I said, you’ve got the Congressional Black Caucus who’s now the new hit man for the Democrat Party who says that the Tea Party is racist. Yet, I would defy you to find any of them that have ever been to a Tea Party. You’ve got John Lewis who says-

O'REILLY: No, but they say that they got assaulted verbally when they came into the Capitol for the health care vote. That really lit the fuse on this latest thing.

JACKSON: Well, it's interesting to me that the symbology of what happened where you’ve got this very wealthy white lady leading a group of black, you know, men up to the thing with her gavel in her hand. It would have been more symbolic had she had a whip. And as far as John Lewis's credibility is concerned, this is a man that said about McCain on October 11 of 2008, that McCain was the equivalent of a racist Democrat Governor George Wallace who would keep blacks out of school. So I find a lot of the comments and things very disingenuous and very one-sided with respect to what they’re trying to accomplish by demonizing the Tea Party movement. But, in the same sense, they’re scaring black people off of something that none of them have ever been to. These guys have not been to Tea Parties, yet they’re willing to say Tea Parties are racist. Well, how about you come to one?

O'REILLY: All right, Mr. Jackson, we appreciate it very much. Thank you.

I will take a few of these points in order (since I don't want to waste too much time talking about Kevin Jackson). He says that there have been zero instances of racial incidents at Tea Party gatherings. Just because he has not been involved in any does not mean it has not happened or that the racism does not exist. It also does not mean that all people who attend the Tea Party events are racist (contrary to what right wingers like O'Reilly would like you to believe that liberals are charging).

Now, the attack on Rep. Lewis is reprehensible.

First, lets reexamine the context of what Rep. Lewis actually said.

“What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse,” Lewis said in a statement.

“George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights.

Rep. Lewis was not implying that Sen. John McCain or former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin were segregationists or a racists (contrary to what Jackson would like people to believe with his out-of-context summary). Rep. Lewis was talking about the climate of hostility he felt was being revved up at McCain-Palin campaign rallies where a lot of hateful and sometimes borderline violent rhetoric was being used to attack and demonize then presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Jackson purposely took Rep. Lewis's comments out of context to try and win favor with the Fox News conservative audience.

Notice that Bill O'Reilly allowed Jackson to get away with it, completely unchallenged.

It was disgraceful and reprehensible.

My fellow blogger, Field Negro, had it right when he labeled Kevin Jackson as "House Negro of the Day" for his words and actions:

(KEVIN JACKSON) NOT BECAUSE YOU ARE THE NEGRO OF THE MOMENT WITH THE TEA PARTY FOLKS. BUT BECAUSE YOU HAD THE NERVE TO DISRESPECT JOHN LEWIS ON NATIONAL TELEVISON. A MAN WHO MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR YOUR BLACK ASS TO GET PAID WHILE YOU PIMP YOUR WINGNUT FRIENDS.

Too bad Jackson will never understand.

Negro Please … O’Reilly Finds “Black” Tea Bagger To Defend Tea Parties

Fox News right winger Bill O'Reilly found his black tea bagger who took great pleasure in attacking civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis. This far-right nut then went on the attack against Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in a ham-handed attempt to portray her as some kind of racist. It was stupid and illustrates a few things: ignorance is color blind, there is always some Jesse Lee Peterson-like black man who will say whatever is necessary to earn most favored Negro status and Bill O'Reilly once again showed that he remains a biased right winger.

Once again, leave it to "fair and balanced" Fox News to come to the defense of the tea parties through a one-sided Bill O'Reilly interview.

Media Matters for America:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201003310050

One Of The Many Reasons Sean Hannity Is Pathetic

Fox News right-wing personality Sean Hannity once again goes on the attack against black people. For one of the rare times, however, he has been called out by someone (albeit it somewhat gently). CNN's Howard Kurtz, host of Reliable Sources, carefully called out Hannity for openly doubted that Rep. John Lewis and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver had been called "nigger" by Tea Party protesters.

This video is from Media Matters for America:

Rep. Lewis, Rep. Cleaver Attacked By People For Being Called 'Nigger' And Being Spit On

It never ceases to amaze me the lengths that some conservative black people will go to protect racism at Tea Party rallies while attacking black leaders for being called "nigger" or being spit on by protesters.

That thought brings me to comments I read from conservative blogger Andre Harper, who proudly talks about himself as a black man who was at Tea Party rallies. Hey, that is fine by me. If he wants to hang with those individuals then that is no doubt his choice. If he chooses to ignore the racist language at many of these rallies, if he chooses to ignore that these Tea Party people were silent (nonexistent) prior to the election of Barack Obama as the first black president of the United States of America, then that is his choice. Again, where were these Tea Party people worried about big government, government spending, the loss of freedoms and all of this other stuff when George W. Bush was president? They were silent. But, we elect the first black president and all of a sudden these good and patriotic Americans are soooooooooo worried about freedom, government spending, deficits, the size of government, etc. It's all a bunch of bullsh!t. To each their own.

But, it still saddens me when racism apologists/excuse makers you see people make comments like the following (from Harper's blog):

Democrat puppets like representatives [Emanuel] Cleaver and John Lewis are nothing but frauds. They instinctively play the race card because that is how they have achieved their lot in life. No one should be surprised that they can't prove these accusations. They never can. With all these videos surfacing, the large police presence and all the witnesses, I find it hard to believe that no one can identify or find any evidence of their claims. It's disgraceful and completely unfounded for John Lewis to compare this peaceful protest to his experience on the Pettis Bridge. The situations and conditions are completely different. The truth is these cowards are always going to play the race card because they are weak-minded, cowardly individuals that exploit race by instinct.

The words are nothing short of disgraceful and ridiculous. Oh, and it's the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Rep. John Lewis is a man who fought and bled for civil rights to allow men like Harper and myself to be able to blog with the kinds of freedoms black people of prior generations could not have imagined when they were young. Sadly, Harper uses his platform as a blogger to refer to John Lewis (and Emanuel Cleaver, who had a Tea Party person spit on him) as "Democrat puppets."

Once again, we see the lengths that people will go to apologize for or make excuses for racism at Tea Party (that includes Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele).

Check out the full version of Harper's irrational and racism-apologizing-for blog: http://andreharper.blogspot.com/2010/03/extreme-lie-conservatism-vs-liberalism.html

Nigger, Faggot Among Words Used By Tea Party People To Describe Democrats

Eugene "Bull" Connor would have been proud of some of the language being used by Tea Party protesters fighting against health care reform.

Tea Party protesters, using racist and homophobic language to attack men like Rep. John Lewis (pictured) and Rep. Barney Frank (among others), went on an attack that was regretfully reminiscent of the Jim Crow era in the United States of America (a chapter many in this country thought was long gone). Rep. Lewis was called a "nigger" by members of the crowd while Rep. Frank was called a "faggot" by Tea Party protesters. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver was spat on by a protester. Sadly, this was 2010 and not 1910. This was not 1957 when the Little Rock Nine were attacked as they did their part to desegregate Little Rock Central High School (where they were viciously confronted by racist protesters). This was 2010 with a distinguished civil rights leader like Rep. Lewis treated in a way that was a chilling and painful reminder of the hatred of the Jim Crow era.

Here is an excerpt from a Huffington Post story:

A staffer for Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told reporters that Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) had been spat on by a protestor. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a hero of the civil rights movement, was called a 'ni--er.' And Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was called a "faggot," as protestors shouted at him with deliberately lisp-y screams. Frank, approached in the halls after the president's speech, shrugged off the incident.

But Clyburn was downright incredulous, saying he had not witnessed such treatment since he was leading civil rights protests in South Carolina in the 1960s.

"It was absolutely shocking to me," Clyburn said, in response to a question from the Huffington Post. "Last Monday, this past Monday, I stayed home to meet on the campus of Claflin University where fifty years ago as of last Monday... I led the first demonstrations in South Carolina, the sit ins... And quite frankly I heard some things today I have not heard since that day. I heard people saying things that I have not heard since March 15, 1960 when I was marching to try and get off the back of the bus."

This is sadly indicative of the hatred coming from some on the far right who have simply come unhinged since the election of President Obama, the first black man to be elected president of the United States of America.

Rep. Lewis had this to say about the racial slurs he was subjected to after leaving a health care reform meeting on Capitol Hill.

Civil rights icon and veteran Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, said anti-health care bill protesters Saturday repeatedly yelled the "N" word at him as he left a heath care meeting and walked to the Capitol.

"I haven't seen heard anything like this in more than 40 years, maybe 45." Lewis said. "Since the march from Selma to Montgomery really."

"Yeah, but it's okay," Lewis added. "I've faced this before. So, it reminded me of the 60's. There's a lot of downright hate and anger and people are just being downright mean."

Rep. Lewis truly is a civil rights icon who has fought for justice before and will continue the fight. I doubt it was accidental that these Tea Party people went after him knowing what he represents as far as civil rights. That is what makes it all the more disturbing.

It's a shame more conservatives (some have been forced to) are not stepping forward to condemn these kinds of racist attacks.

UPDATE: For those of you who wonder why I am always so critical of RNC Chairman Michael Steele, this is a good example. Appearing on Meet the Press, Steele referred to protesters who made racist and homophobic statements as: "a handful of people who just got stupid." That is disgracefully inadequate on the part of Michael Steele, but I doubt it is the first time he has been thought of as inadequate.

Crazy Like A Foxx … Virginia Foxx Again Makes A Foolish And Insulting Statement

Leave it to Norh Carolina Republican Congresswoman Virginia Foxx to make yet another foolish and insulting statement in what almost is becoming old hat for her. In a debate about a project that mostly was unrelated, Foxx used the opportunity (and the platform it provided) to attack Democrats and prop up Republicans using the Civil Rights Movement as her weapon of choice. Foxx claimed, “Just as we were the people who passed the civil rights bills back in the ’60s without very much help from our colleagues across the aisle. They love to engage in revisionist history.” But, as she yielded her time, Congressman Dennis Cardoza, a Democrat from California, rose and issued a strong response against Rep. Foxx.

CARDOZA: Today, what I’m hearing on the floor really takes the cake. The gentlelady from North Carolina, in her statement just now, indicated that the Republican GOP had passed the Civil Rights Act legislation with almost no help from the Democrats. I can’t believe my ears. It was the Kennedy and Johnson administration where we passed that Great Society legislation. It was over the objections of people like Jesse Helms from the gentlewoman’s state that we passed that civil rights legislation. John Lewis…

FOXX: Would, would the gentleman yield?

CARDOZA: No, I will not yield. John Lewis, a member of this House, was beaten on the Edmund Pettus bridge to get that civil rights legislation passed. Tell John Lewis that he wasn’t part of getting that legislation passed.

Helms was a United States senator from 1973 through 2003. While he was not around in the 1960s, Helms was clearly no friends to blacks or to those who fought, bled and died during the Civil Rights Movement.

Foxx rises later and says that Helms was not elected until 1972 and “was not in the Congress when the Civil Rights legislation was passed in the 60s.”

She is technically correct, but her victory is a weak one. It’s kind of like being proud of outrebounding your opponent, in basketball, by five when you lost the game by 25 points.

Helms blasted the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (source: Wikipedia):

Helms opposed many progressive policies regarding race, such as busing, the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.^{[257][258][259]} Helms called the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ‘the single most dangerous piece of legislation ever introduced in the Congress’,^[12] and sponsored legislation to either extend it to the entire country or scrap it altogether.^[173] Helms reminded voters that he tried, with a 16-day filibuster, to stop the Senate from approving a federal holiday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr,^[21] although he had fewer reservations about establishing a North Carolina state holiday for King.^[260] He has been accused of being a segregationist by liberals and political scholars including USA Today’s DeWayne Wickham who wrote that Helms ’subtly carried the torch of white supremacy‘ from Ben Tillman.^{[261][262][263][264]}

In 1996 the Department of Justice admonished Helms’s 1990 campaign for mailing 125,000 postcards to households in predominantly African-American precincts warning them (incorrectly) that they could go to jail if they had not updated their addresses on the electoral register since moving.^[265] Helms opposed ‘every piece of civil rights and affirmative action legislation’ and blocked ‘Black judges from being considered for the federal bench’.^[260] In 1982, he voted against the extension of the Voting Rights Act.^[260] Helms opposed busing, supported the ‘racist apartheid regime of South Africa’, and ‘for years blocked attempts by President Bill Clinton to appoint a Black judge on the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’.^[260] Only when Helms’s own judicial choices were threatened with blocking did attorney Roger Gregory of Richmond, Virginia get confirmed.^[260] Helms tried to block the nomination of Carol Moseley Braun, the first African-American female senator, as ambassador to New Zealand.^[260]

Her defense of Jesse Helms is more pathetic than the original point that put her in the hole in the first place.