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Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Media Romney, race baiting and the mainstream media

Posted by Leslie Newell Peacock on Tue, Aug 28, 2012 at 9:31 AM

Paul Waldman of MSNBC has written an excellent analysis of why the mainstream press lets Mitt Romney off the hook when he makes remarks about his birth certificate (as opposed, in the minds of the wacko right, to President Obama's), his understanding of America (he said Obama didn't) and advertises the utter falsehood that “Under Obama’s plan, you wouldn’t have to work and wouldn’t have to train for a job. They just send you your welfare check." Romney's words are thinly-veiled nods to the ultra right wing, whose biggest problem with Obama is the color of his skin. Waldman writes:

The only way to get Romney to stop would be for the media to call him out clearly enough that the costs of the strategy started to outweigh the benefits. But that's not likely to happen, because most of the media doesn't know how to talk about this. They all know what Romney is doing, but they also know that even the suggestion that Romney is race-baiting will be met by conservatives with faux-outrage and accusations that the "liberal media" has it in for the Republican candidate. There's just enough vagueness in what Romney says to afford him deniability. So long as Republicans stay unified in denying that any thought of appealing to racist impulses ever crossed their minds, they'll have the conventions of "objective" journalism on their side.

Pass it along, into the mainstream.

Tags: Mitt Romney, racism, President Obama

        
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More by Leslie Newell Peacock

Time story on health care overcharges: must read

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Defenders of the Buffalo River are up in arms over a permit that the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality has issued to C&H Hog Farm, under construction on a tributary of Big Creek, which feeds into the Buffalo.
- by Leslie Newell Peacock
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Arkansas Blog

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Media Romney, race baiting and the mainstream media

Posted by Leslie Newell Peacock on Tue, Aug 28, 2012 at 9:31 AM

Speaking of...

Ernie Dumas this week compares the fulminations about Benghazi, which Republicans are attempting to make an impeachment-worthy scandal of minute differences in post-attack talking points, with the cooked-up Whitewater investigations. /more/

Since it's customary to blame President Obama for any and everything unpleasant — see U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton (Club for Growth, D.C.) and the Boston bombings — should he also get some credit for positives? /more/

U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton of the Club for Growth was right proud the other day of his rush to make political hay of the Boston bombing by lumping it with some other incidents that he said represented failure of counter-terrorism efforts of the Obama administration. /more/

CNN reports: A letter to President Obama that was intercepted at an off-site facility has tested positive for ricin, the FBI says. /more/

Another desultory morning from the jet-lagged Arkansas Blog: Nonetheless: * MARCH MADNESS: The Arkansas House and Senate played a basketball game for charity last night. /more/

Comments (27)

More by Leslie Newell Peacock

Steven Brill was interviewed on NPR this morning about his extensive Time magazine cover story on what our real focus on American health care should be: The $750 billion in excessive charges by pharmaceutical companies and hospitals.

Defenders of the Buffalo River are up in arms over a permit that the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality has issued to C&H Hog Farm, under construction on a tributary of Big Creek, which feeds into the Buffalo.

Event Calendar

Re: Conservationists call for Buffalo protection on river, hog farm tour

Re: The guns and Bass Pro Shops open line

Re: A case for the new Public Corruption Task Force?

Martha Shoffner, facing federal prosecution in a kickback case, has resigned as Arkansas State treasurer.

I hinted earlier that evidence was mounting that the securities salesman who provided confidential information to the FBI was Steele Stephens, the broker who began enjoying a huge share of Treasurer Martha Shoffner's bond business in 2010.

The University of Arkansas president recommends that campuses remain gun-free. Bass Pro Shops is under construction in Otter Creek.

Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen, injured in a bicycle accident last week near his home, sent me an update this morning from his iPad.

Officers with North Little Rock police responded to a call about a shooting at Verizon Arena this morning around 11 a.m. and found two people shot.

Public for the first time, the woman who married Damien Echols discusses their relationship

For the vegetarian banh mi sandwich.

Our news partner Channel 4 has a news story that deserves repetition in full. More national headlines for the small people of Arkansas should follow directly.

Perhaps U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin might want to reconsider his earlier decision not to include Republican Rep. Loy Mauch on the list of Republican candidates he'd asked not to use his campaign contributions, having read some of what they'd written.