Wonderin' 'bout Juan

Juan Williams is a nationally recognized correspondent for the Washington Post (ah, oops, some unprofessional conduct there, per the WP action and apology.) But that's not what this about. Let's look at his most recent post at Faux News. Mr. Williams wrote:

"...if we're going to have an honest discussion among people who care about the problems inside the black community, we have to be dealing with honest brokers. Unfortunately, a lot of people in the so-called civil rights community are frauds, outright hucksters.
Two of the worst: civil rights activist and MSNBC host Al Sharpton and Georgetown University Professor Michael Eric Dyson....
But do they ever confront the real problems and threats in the minority community? No. High murder rates? How about that? What about high dropout rates? What about the breakdown of the family?"

OK, let's take a look at high murder rates, high dropout rates, and the "breakdown of the family." 1-2-3.
According to Politifact, "Using the number 8,500, that translated to 21.65 blacks murdered each day by other blacks. So the blogger came up with a mathematical formula: 21.65 times 513 days=11,106. That 8,500 figure seems high, though, especially if we look at more recent figures. The FBI reported for 2011 that 6,329 black people were murdered, for example.
The blog post makes it sound as if the black-on-black murder rate is particularly significant, but we found similar high percentages for whites."
O, dang, sounds pretty similar.
OK, let's move on to "high dropout rates" Juan mentioned.
According to the National Institute of Educational Sciences' "Fast Facts" the status dropout rates of 16- through 24-year-olds in the civilian, noninstitutionalized population, by race/ethnicity: for selected years, 1990-2010 declined from 13.2% in 1990 to 8.0% in 2010, a 60% decrease.
Lastly, Mr. Williams wrote:

Stable, healthy families are at the heart of strong societies. It is within the family environment that an individual’s physical, emotional and psychological development occurs. From our family we should learn unconditional love, understand right from wrong, and gain empathy, respect and self-regulation. These qualities enable us to engage positively at school, at work and in society. Yet tragically, half of all children born today will experience family breakdown by the age of 16; this breakdown is particularly acute in the most disadvantaged communities. Dysfunctional family life and chaotic relationships can ruin the lives of those involved and damage children, particularly in their earliest years. We know that family formation affects the outcomes of children and general wellbeing: evidence clearly demonstrates that two-parent families are the most stable.

But here again, the stereotype is inaccurate. Henry A. Rhodes, a career teacher in the New Haven public school since 1977 and Facilitator for Social Development and Curriculum in the Yale National Initiative developed a curriculum called "The African-American Family in Crisis." In it, Mr. Rhodes notes that "One point which is often overlooked is the fact that a majority of black families are headed by two parents....The importance of children in African societies can not be overstated. The extended family took great care in the prosocialization of their children in the ways of their elders. Children were shown the importance of the helping tradition in African society by the example set by the adults of the extended family."
Rather than denigrating illustrious, accomplished black men with smears to promote erroneous stereotypes, Mr. Williams should concentrate on lifting people up instead of putting them down.

When Censorship Comes to America...

I'm not buying the Keith Olbermann was suspended because he knew the terms of his contract and he knew the rules spin. Keith Olberman is a liberal but he's not stoopid. And it would be different if MSNBC didn't have a pattern of firing progressive voices in favor of go along to get alongs. Remember Phil Donahue?

Gabriel Sherman's piece in New York magazine (10/3/10) on the cable news wars includes a bit of history on MSNBC's firing of progressive host Phil Donahue in 2003; an internal memo at the time worried that the show would be "a home for the liberal anti-war agenda at the same time that our competitors are waving the flag at every opportunity." Sherman focuses on MSNBC personality Chris Matthews--who sometimes claims he was opposed to the Iraq War--and his desire to get Donahue fired:

Like LiA blogger Dragontide, I wonder if MSNBC was just looking for a reason to get rid of KO;

From the NY Times link:

"The suspension comes at a particularly tricky time for MSNBC. NBC Universal is in the midst of a change of ownership, with its potential new owner, Comcast, seeking final federal approval for the sale. It hopes to conclude the deal by the end of the year."
Maybe Comcast wants a completely different NBC. Seems to me that the proper thing to do would have been to ask Olbermann to not contribute to anymore campaigns and leave it at that. In any event, it's going to be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Then we have Rick Sanchez who was fired from CNN after giving a satellite radio interview in which he called Jon Stewart a “bigot” and suggested that Jews run CNN and the news media in general.

Keith Olbermann was suspended after POLITICO reported he made three campaign contributions to Democratic candidates. POLITICO recently hired former republican Congressman Joe Scarborough and they have a daily segment on Morning Joke, I mean Joe.

Starting on Oct. 1, Politico will run weekly opinion columns by Joe Scarborough, the MSNBC host and former United States representative, and Michael Kinsley, a columnist for The Atlantic.

I smell a rat too.

So let me get this straight; MSNBC suspends Keith Olbermann for donating money to dumbocratic candidates, and their rivals, Radio Rwanda, allows their on air personalities to run for republican office? I swear liberals are getting softer and softer by the day. You all have got to get hard core like the republiclowns. Do you think Radio Rwanda would fire one of their biggest earners over some s^&t like this? Hell News Corp gave over a million dollars to that racist- right out of central casting- Haley Barbour, and didn't even sweat it.

Still, like Aaron Goldstein, I smell a rat. You know the world is upside down when conservatives are ripping MSNBC for suspending Olbermann.

It ought to be against network policy to use the public airways to spread lies and misinformation but I digress. Did Keith Olberman actually violate NBC policy?

Check out the fine print of what NBC policy said, as of 2007, about political activities on the part of NBC employees:

"Anyone working for NBC News who takes part in civic or other outside activities may find that these activities jeopardize his or her standing as an impartial journalist because they may create the appearance of a conflict of interest. Such activities may include participation in or contributions to political campaigns or groups that espouse controversial positions. You should report any such potential conflicts in advance to, and obtain prior approval of, the President of NBC News or his designee."

Emphasis mine. This is a bit difficult to parse. But this does seem to say that those who are worried that their "standing as an impartial journalist" would be jeopardized by political activity should report it. Last time I checked, Keith Olbermann doesn't pretend to be an "impartial journalist."

So let me see if I have this right(pun intended), MSNBc employees have to ask permission from management to donate their own damn money to political candidates? What if management says no? I guess only anonymous corproations are allowed "freedom of speech".

The story behind is the story is Keith Olberman got Dan Rathered by GE. Scared of losing influence with the Republicans in Congress, GE Executives cravenly did what they do best: protect their bottom line. Suspending Olbermann had nothing to do with drawing "a distinction between the journalistic standards of their news division and the standards of Fox." GE's own record of political contributions makes that very clear.

The difference between Keith Olbermann and Juan Williams is that Olbermann is in trouble for putting his money where his mouth is. Williams was putting his mouth where his money is. h/t AllesKlaar

Psst Keith, Rick and Dan! I feel your pain. You should join forces and start your own Network.

I keep on asking: WHERE THE H.... IS THE PRO-DEMOCRATIC MEDIA? (specially radio). I can drive through Texas and listen to at least dozens of Spanish radio stations and I can't find 1 pro-democratic station (only 1 in Dallas).

As long as we don't have "Pro-democratic" (liberal) radio in every major city in the US. Republicans are going to keep on ruling this country.

President Obama needs to speak on this.

Redeye's Week in Review

Clarence Thomas, Anita Hill and Juan Williams together again. I first became aware of Juan Williams during his defense of Supreme Court Jurist Clarence Thomas during his confirmation hearing. That alone makes him persona non gratis in my book. However, as a victim of censorship myself, I don't believe NPR should have fired him for expressing his opinion and I agree it was a blow to free speech.

But losing his job for saying the sight of Muslims on a plane makes him a little nervous is wrong. It makes me wonder just how much any commentator, including myself, will have to go to water down his or her comments just to avoid offending some one's sensitivities.

What's that saying...everybody has the right to freedom of speech until they actually try and use it?

Voter Fraud is a Felony, Voter Suppression with the State Seal of Approval perfectly legal. *Big snark* Well at least now we know why ACORN was attacked. Republicans know the black/Latino voter turnout is the key, therefor it must be suppressed or not counted. Only in America...

In the 2000 presidential election, 1.9 million Americans cast ballots that no one counted. "Spoiled votes" is the technical term. The pile of ballots left to rot has a distinctly dark hue: About 1 million of them -- half of the rejected ballots -- were cast by African Americans although black voters make up only 12 percent of the electorate.

Why can't there be a write in movement against Bobby not so Bright republican?

His own media ad campaign is aimed squarely in a very different set of voters than the true blue Democrats our ads were talking to. Bragging that he's voted 80% of the time with Boehner and that he won't help the Democrats win the leadership of the next Congress may work well in the rich, white suburbs of Montgomery with McCain voters-- Bright's political strategy every day of his life-- but we think the Obama voters in Barbour, Lowndes, Butler and Bullock counties needed to be part of the conversation too-- and hear just what Bright is telling his target audience.

What's that you say? republican congressional nominee Mo Brooks has a history of Dirty Tricks? I'm shocked! Shocked I tell you! NOT. You can tell a lot about a candidate by the views of their supporters. Democratic congressional nominee Steve Raby wants to go to Washington to fight for jobs, Mo Brooks wants to go to Washington to fight a girl. I report, you decide.

I guess it depends on what the definition of "race baiting" IS

Sanders is a bigot and thief. He and his partner in crime Rose Sanders have stolen Selma and Alabama blind for years. That so called voting rights museum is nothing but a pass through account for his campaign workers and family. Maybe he will have a heart attack soon and die. Nah, that would be to good for him. He must go to prison first. Time will tell, and so will his buddies already under the gun. I predict he gets indicted by years end.

I'm just saying....

Fox News and Me, All Hate All the Time, UNfair and UNbalanced

If I ever doubted Fox News negative influence on our society I don't after today and the degree of the hate, lies and division in our country I don't after what happened to me today at a local Chevron Gas Station.

I frequent this particular Chevron station because they are one of the few full service gas stations. Meaning they pump your gas, check under your hood and wipe your windshield. Yeah you pay a little more, but when you're dressed to the nines heading to a function the last thing you want to do is pump gas. Today I decided to save a couple of pennies and pump my own gas, which meant I had to go inside to pay the attendant. Two women were inside watching television tuned to Fox News where the Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads were discussing, strike that, defending Juan William and bashing NPR for firing him because of his remarks about Muslims.

NPR has fired senior news analyst Juan Williams, who also appears as a commentator on Fox News, for comments about Muslims that Williams made in an appearance with Bill O’Reilly.

As Fox News reported it:

“I mean, look, Bill, I’m not a bigot. You know the kind of books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country,” Williams told host Bill O’Reilly during a discussion on the dilemma between fighting jihadists and fears about average Muslims.

“But when I get on a plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they’re identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous,” Williams said.

The woman who swiped my card said, and I quote, "I don't blame him, I wouldn't want to sit next to a rag head on an airplane either."

I looked up from signing my receipt and we silently stared at each other for some long, uncomfortable seconds. I couldn't decide if I should say something or not. If I did say something what could I say? How I wish I could have made them take every drop of gasoline out of my tank. We continued to stare at each other without blinking. I finally broke the stare, politely said "Thank you" and left vowing never to spend another penny at that Chevron station again. I don't care if it's the last gas station on earth and it's pouring down raining and I'm about to run out of gas. I've notified my off spring and other immediate family members they are not to patronize the station either. The fact the woman felt comfortable making that comment to my face then daring me to say something about it speaks volumes about the state of race relations in this city, county, state and country. I won't get into the Juan Williams controversy, but the usual suspects wasted no time chiming in;

At Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government site, the headline is “Screw Free Speech, NPR Fires Juan Williams for Muslim Remarks.” Williams’ fellow Fox News contributor, Sarah Palin, just tweeted to the effect that “NPR defends 1st Amendment Right, but will fire u if u exercise it. Juan Williams: u got taste of Left’s hypocrisy, they screwed up firing you.”

The Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads scare me. They are predicting people who think like Andrew Breitbart and Sarah Palin are going to control Congress after the midterm elections. Let the polling pollsters tell it, the majority of the American people think the country is headed in the wrong direction. If they are right (no pun) and this is true. I weep for my city, my county, my state and my country.

Meanwhile Juan Williams is laughing all the way to the bank..

Even though he was fired from NPR, Juan Williams won't have to worry about keeping a roof over his head. The Los Angeles Times reported that Fox News has signed Williams to a new, three-year, $2 million contract. He will have an expanded role on the network and will write a column for FoxNews.com.

Bill Reilly and Newt Gingrich are calling on congress to investigate NPR. Ain't that a dip?

NPR is facing a storm of criticism for its decision to fire Juan Williams after his comments about Muslims on Fox News, with several prominent conservatives calling for NPR's government funding to be cut and refusing to appear on the network anymore.

Speaking on Fox News, both Bill Reilly and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich called for Congress to investigate NPR and cut its government funding in the wake of Juan Williams' firing from the organization.

Faux News, we distort what you decide.
Lord help us.
Turn off Fox!
VOTE!