Public Eye Fisks Drudge….
Public Eye takes Matt Drudge to task for cherry picking quotes from Andy Rooney when he was on Imus on MSNBC this morning….
The Drudge Report today is featuring some comments made by CBS’ Andy Rooney on the “Imus” program this morning and it’s getting some traction in the blogosphere. Here’s the one sentence that Drudge puts on his site:
“I have a problem with the term African American … The word negro is a perfectly good word. There is nothing wrong with that.”
That happens to be an incorrect quote, one that serves Drudge’s need for hype.
I guess the implication is that Rooney made some controversial or politically-incorrect comments about race. While it’s not beyond Rooney’s candor and style to do that, I think this exchange is far more benign than what Drudge would have you think. The discussion began as host Don Imus was referencing a frequent guest, Congressman Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN) and noted that Ford is African-American.
Crooks and Liars has the video….
I have no sympathy for Rooney. He said something very blasphemous a few months ago, and it got no coverage whatsoever. But had it been a conservative who had made such a statement, it would have been all over the papers, and we’d still be talking about it to this day.
Comment by Missy — November 4, 2005 @ 9:50 pm
What’s with all this if “it was a conservative” talking points we hear every time something like this happens on any issue or corruption charge to a liberal. It’s quite obvious now that it should be if “it was a liberal” beause the media is heavily conservative slanted and it appears to be liberals being beat up more than anything. It just goes to show, for example, when Senator Durbin made the Nazi comment it got coverage all over the media, but when Senator republican Santorum used the Nazis in a comment similarly condemned by jewish groups, the media covered it very little, so Missy you show very little credibility in your statement. If this had been a conservative it wouldn’t have even made the papers.
Comment by AnonymousHere — November 4, 2005 @ 10:15 pm
It’s a given that conservatives think the media is Liberal and liberals think the media is Conservative. And yes if it had been a Conservative it would have made the papers. Just look back to what Bill Bennett said a couple of months ago and how that blew up all over the place. However it died down rather quickly and wasn’t talked about for weeks.
As for Rooney, I don’t think he realizes how much of a third rail that topic is. Doesn’t matter how well intentioned and pure of heart his motives may have been. It shows he’s tone deaf on the subject.
Comment by Spud — November 5, 2005 @ 12:17 am
A) Rooney is still a bit of a Ted Turner.
B) Drudge, distorting the news? SHOCKER. Almost as much as Rooney saying something stupid!
Comment by Charles — November 5, 2005 @ 12:37 am
“AnonymousHere”, I’m thinking about statements made by Sen. Patty Murphy, who praised what Osama bin Laden did for the community over in Afghanistan; Sen. Mary Landrieu, who a few weeks ago, stated that the municipal employees in big cities didn’t actually do any work (I believe the municipal employees of large cities are typically minorities); Sen. Robt. Byrd, who has used the “N” word in a certain context twice, I believe, in fairly recent history. Charlie Rangel had something racist to say about the President a few weeks ago, and of course there are Rooney’s aforementioned statements. Virtually no coverage was given to any of these incidents.
Contrast this to the incessant reporting that occurs when people such as Pat Robertson, Bill Bennett or Rush Limbaugh make statements that either were inappropriate or were taken as so by their foes.
Comment by Missy — November 5, 2005 @ 12:45 am
Not entirely fair comparisons Missy for a couple of reasons. For one thing the sheer number of people who listen to Limbaugh, Bennett, or Robertson are much greater than those who heard the above group of liberals you mentioned. Therefore the starting point for the way this gets spread is much greater because the number of people to spread it is greater. Plus all these events were recorded for posterity, making it easier for the media to replay them because they had the even right there recorded.
Second, there was a big deal made about Byrd, Murphy, and Rangel in some quarters. I never heard Landrieu’s comment until you mentioned it (and I’m pretty “plugged in” to the news and politics so the fact that I never saw anything about it is telling). The point I’m making is that yes there was uproars about it. Just not the uproars you wanted.
Comment by Spud — November 5, 2005 @ 6:23 pm
Spud, I don’t understand why the size of the audience would make a difference. All statements should be fair game (unless off the record), regardless of the audience or its size. What about the conservative military guy last year who said something in his church, just to his congretation? Some reporter was in the audience and took the story out of context, and that was a mega story for a while!
As far as the Mary Landrieu quote, here’s a link to the video. She makes the comment at about two minutes into the interview:
http://thepoliticalteen.net/2005/09/11/landrieufns/
Comment by Missy — November 6, 2005 @ 1:20 am
Spud, I responded to your comments yesterday. They weren’t posted immediately, and so I pressed “Say It” again. Now I’m checking back the next day, and no comments appears. This has happened before also. Any ideas?
Comment by Missy — November 6, 2005 @ 10:44 am
No original posts on new news in the industry, no ratings, hell, now the comment section doesn’t work? The only thing this site has going for it is the comment section - you’d better get that fixed.
Comment by Staycee — November 6, 2005 @ 12:09 pm
Why is the fumbling old Rooney still around?
Say Good Night, Andy.
Comment by Cara — November 6, 2005 @ 5:51 pm