Did the WashTimes fabricate its "racist" ACORN attack? Yep
October 06, 2009 8:50 pm ET by Eric Boehlert
Because as the story reads right now, the Washington Times, in its headline and article, reports that ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis, during an address at the National Press Club on Tuesday, claimed ACORN critics are "racist."
Slight problem: The WashTimes fails to include any quotes, any evidence, any anything, to support the "racist" angle; a specific word the daily uses three different times. Instead, it appears that the WashTimes' Joseph Curl just invented the explosive charge of racism.
The piece is relatively brief, so I'll paste it in full below. [Emphasis added.] If I'm missing the section where Lewis claimed ACORN critics are "racist," please point it out. But if I'm right, and the WashTimes simply concocted the allegation, which of course has caught fire in the right-wing fever swamps, than the paper needs to clean this mess up immediately, complete with a correction.
Headline:
ACORN's Lewis suggests opponents are racist
Full article:
ACORN's Bertha Lewis charged Tuesday that accusations about the embattled community organizing group are racist, alleging that a coordinated political effort started by former Bush adviser Karl Rove sought to stop the group from registering minority voters.
"For many years, there've been folks who've disagreed with our ideology or methodology that [have] gone after us," Mrs. Lewis, ACORN's chief executive officer, said in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington.
"I mean we, [going back] to 2004, we now see through e-mails from Karl Rove from the previous administration that ACORN itself was targeted, targeted to go after us so that we would stop doing voter registration because it was said that we were moving too many minorities to vote, changing the power dynamics on the local election and that we needed to be stopped."
She also labeled as racist the infamous videos that show ACORN workers advising a man and young woman posing as pimp and prostitute how to circumvent the law. "These new filmmakers, [James] O'Keefe himself, told The Washington Post, 'They're registering too many minorities; they usually vote Democratic; somebody's got to stop them,'" Mrs. Lewis said.
But Mrs. Lewis did not mention that The Post was forced to issue a later correction on the story, saying the quote attributed to Mr. O'Keefe was inaccurate.
Media Matters: The Palin chronicles
The Friday Rush: A series of conflicts
Contrary to media hype, Sarah Palin is very unpopular
Wikipedia definition
New: Accusing someone of calling someone a "racist" is the worst accusation.
Typical conservative ploy: Take your biggest weakness and attack the opponent with it, e.g., inarticulate candidate = candidate you can have a beer with...
Can't stay on topic when facts get in the way
Don't let facts get in the way
"80% of docs " Make cr@p up. "Nearly 75 percent of doctors in the US support a public option for healthcare — either in combination with private options or on its own (i.e. single-payer healthcare). That’s according to a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine" http://mnpublius.com/2009/09/doctors-support-public-option
Remember Dubya's "made in America" labels on CHINESE boxes? "President Bush stands in front of boxes that are stamped Made in America as he addresses a group of local officials and small business owners at the JB Logistics shipping company in St. Louis, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2003. The boxes were actually 'Made in China' and the Bush PR team had covered over the China stamp with 'Made in U.S.A.'" http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0122-10.htm
Or are you more of an Amarillo, Midland, Modesto kind of guy.
LOL
...were any of the doctors there not real doctors?
If so, then you might be onto something.
According to OECD figures for 2007, the US spent $7,200 per person for health care while France spent $3,600 and covered everyone.
Why are you content to have the insurance companies, the pharmaceutical companies, the doctors etc. take so much of our money to cover less than all the people? Those other countries seem to be doing something right, I mean, they spend less, live longer, have similar disease outcomes and yet folks like you don't want any reform.
Why is that? Why don't you want businesses to save jobs by spending less on health care?
Or...they supported Obama, so their opinion doesn't matter?
And I'm sure you have evidence that all those doctors contributed to Obama's campaign and voted for him, right?
Point please?
So, if that's what Rove and others were/are doing then they're racist and, likewise, Lewis' remarks are in fact calling them racists.
Doing something to prevent minorities from voting is not necessarily racist. It may simply be that unethical sh*tbags--Rove--simply want to do that which enables them to hold on to power. Limiting minority voting may be simply a cold, political calculation.
It doesn't mean they're necessarily racists, although I'd guess there's a pretty fair likelihood they are.
I see your point but whether something is "racially motivated" or "racist" seems to be splitting hairs. There is more than enough clear and blatant media fodder for Media Matters to report on.
Democrats see race factor for Barak Obama foes
Carter and others claim racism
They are entitled to their opinion, but shouldn't they offer some proof, before making such devicive comments.
This being said (and true), then the rest of your post is pretty silly.
Your argument is a complete logic FAIL unless you can identify part of an actual quote where racism was "insinuated". Good luck with that.
Stop trying to speak for what the Dems do or do not like. You really have no clue.
It seems like you're just talking in circles now.
She never called anyone racist and the Washington Times reporter has attempted to smear her with a charge of racism.
It's not really that hard to understand.