700 Club's Strand repeats stale Oreo allegations
SUMMARY: The Christian Broadcasting Network's Paul Strand revived a dubious allegation advanced by conservatives -- that as a racial insult, Democrats threw Oreo cookies at then-candidate for Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele at a September 26, 2002, debate. Steele is now running for the U.S. Senate. But as Media Matters for America previously noted, this allegation is disputed by eyewitnesses to the debate. Steele himself has offered differing versions of what occurred during that debate.
On the February 10 edition of the Christian Broadcasting Network's (CBN) The 700 Club, Washington senior correspondent Paul Strand revived a dubious allegation advanced by conservatives -- that as a racial insult, Democrats threw Oreo cookies at then-candidate for Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele at a September 26, 2002, debate. Steele is now running for the U.S. Senate. But as Media Matters for America previously noted, this allegation remains unproven and is disputed by eyewitnesses to the debate at which the incident is alleged to have taken place. In initial news reports on the debate, eyewitnesses made no mention of Oreo cookies. In fact, the alleged story of the Oreo incident has evolved over time, originating well after the debate as a partisan talking point advanced by Steele's Republican allies and gradually gaining traction in the media. Moreover, in affirming the accounts of the alleged Oreo incident put forth by other conservatives, Steele himself has offered varying accounts of what occurred at the 2002 Maryland gubernatorial debate.
News accounts have referenced the alleged Oreo cookie incident as a racial slur of Steele, an African American conservative. In that context, Oreos represent, as the website of Washington, D.C., radio station WTOP noted, a "slur for being black on the outside and white on the inside." During a segment on four African American Republicans currently running for political office, Strand echoed reports of this alleged racial slur.
From the February 10 edition of the CBN's The 700 Club:
STRAND: Michael Steele is the only one of these four who's actually been hassled for being both African American and Republican. Some Maryland Democrats have thrown Oreo cookies at him, accusing him of being black on the outside but white on the inside. He says he's ignoring the noise to stay focused on his dream.
Steele himself has repeatedly referenced the alleged Oreo cookie incident in media interviews, affirming the allegations put forth by other conservatives. For instance, on the January 18 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, co-host Sean Hannity asked Steele to "tell the story of how you were attacked, and at different events, and who do you think was responsible? They were throwing Oreo cookies at you and the like." Steele replied, "Exactly," elaborating that "Oreo cookies went at our debate [sic] in 2002, with Governor [Robert L.] Ehrlich [Jr.], were tossed in our direction."
In fact, Steele has offered various accounts of what transpired at the 2002 Maryland gubernatorial debate. The Baltimore Sun reported November 13, 2005, that "Steele was quoted in two articles that appeared in the [September 27, 2002] newspaper talking about the pro-[Democrat Kathleen Kennedy] Townsend crowd [at the debate] and what he called race-baiting by her campaign, but he said nothing about cookies." Yet, according to a November 22, 2002, report by the Capital News Service, Steele later "said an Oreo cookie rolled to his feet during the debate [emphasis added]." The Associated Press reported on November 14, 2005, that according to Steele, "Oreo cookies were tossed in his general direction as he left the debate at Morgan State University [emphasis added]," including two that "rolled up" next to his shoe after "[t]hey fell on the floor." According to a November 15, 2005, article on WTOP's website, Steele claimed he had seen "one or two" Oreo cookies "at my feet" at the debate. But the same WTOP article quoted Steele saying that other accounts of the alleged incident -- such as The Washington Times' S.A. Miller's November 2, 2005, description of Democrats "pelting" Steele with cookies -- were exaggerated:
On Tuesday, Steele told WTOP that he was never hit with Oreos and said the incident has been exaggerated.
"I've never claimed that I was hit, no. The one or two that I saw at my feet were there. I just happened to look down and see them," Steele said.
During a November 16, 2005, appearance on Hannity & Colmes, Steele replied affirmatively when Hannity asserted that liberals had thrown Oreo cookies at him, although neither Steele nor Hannity specifically referenced the 2002 Maryland gubernatorial debate. Steele's January 18 description of Oreo cookies being "tossed in our direction" at the debate was similar to his November 16, 2005, account, but differed from descriptions he offered previously, which mentioned, alternately, no cookies at all, a single cookie rolling to his feet during the debate, multiple cookies tossed in his direction and rolling up next to his shoe as he left the debate, or "one or two" cookies appearing at his feet at the debate.
From the January 18 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:
HANNITY: Can you give us a status report on that and tell the story of how you were attacked, and at different events, and who do you think was responsible? They were throwing Oreo cookies at you and the like.
STEELE: Exactly. The long and short of it is the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, is still looking into this matter, with respect to the theft of my Social Security number from court documents and, ultimately, the theft of my credit report by two individuals from the Democratic Senatorial Committee that's headed up by Senator [Chuck] Schumer [D-NY].
So, they're still looking into that. Those employees were fired some 30 or 45 days after the fact was leaked out that this had occurred. But my experience in Maryland running statewide, you know, there was -- there are any number of folks, Democrats and others, who felt that --
HANNITY: Let me --
STEELE: -- "Well, this guy is a threat." And, you know, Oreo cookies went at our debate [sic] in 2002, with Governor Ehrlich, were tossed in our direction.
HANNITY: Let me ask you this.
STEELE: Those types of things are just ignorant.
HANNITY: It is ignorant, and it's sad that, in this day and age, that that happened. There is a reverse racism out there, Michael, and you've suffered under this.
STEELE: Yep. Yep.
HANNITY: And I've had friends of mine that have suffered there. Their only fault is they are conservative and they happen to be an African American. It's disgraceful.
You honestly ever expect Pat Robthemsome's pet "Christian" network to actually be honest, about ANYTHING?
I sure don't.
Robertson is the most corrupt prophet-for-profit I know of on the TV.
He's also so far to the right he's fell off the keyboard on his head.
Were cookies thrown or not? Whether it was during, right after, before, at his feet, in his general direction, on the floor near him. If MM had proof that this didn't happen, it would say "baseless allegations". " They use "stale allegations".
Steele says that the FBI is looking into the matter. Is this true? If not, MM would say so. If the FBI is looking into the matter are these allegations "stale or do they deserve further examination?
You don't seem too familiar with the story. I live in Baltimore and our local paper the Baltimore Sun have had several editorials devoted to the matter; including editorials by journalists who were present at the venue where this allegedly occurred. This was a very large public debate held at Morgan State University. The media was present in full force and a large audience was there. No neutral third part has come forward to say they even saw a cookie at the event. There has been no corroboration of the story.
Steele was race baiting in an effort to solidify support from conservatives. He's latest episode of pandering and race-baiting got him in trouble.
[link to blog.washingtonpost.com]
It is much easier to prove as you put it that something did indeed happen (if it really did). Do you have proof that it happened?
If the FBI finds that it actually happened, I will be inclined to believe them, but I have a hard time believing politicians who go on the 700 Club to make self-serving claims without credible evidence to back it up.
Dave5080 -
Your attempts at negative proof would carry more weight if your reading was more reliable.
Steele says that the FBI is looking into the matter. Is this true?
Steele said the FBI was checking out an accusation of identity theft. It had nothing to do with the cookie monster story.
How appropriate, considering how this slur keeps getting regurgitated.
Eventually, though, there will be a debate between Steele and his opponent, and the question will be asked point-blank. If Steele is honest, he'll say again: "The one or two that I saw at my feet were there. I just happened to look down and see them." And then, if Paul Strand is honest, he'll be a man and apologize for his mythmaking.
I think we are missing the point on this one. Wether or not a cookie was tossed or placed anywhere the people that used that type of intimidation are cowardly bigots. If someone through a confederate flag or placed a confederate flag by a black candidate we would be outraged. In this case we should be outraged equally. Either way it is inexcusable. I am black and I am liberal but when I was young others called me the same thing. It is bad enough dealing with bigots who are ignorant. But when people who have gone through many of the same experiences do the same thing I just can not forgive them. Wrong is wrong!
but it seems that the story either is entirely untrue or greatly exaggerated. So what does that say about the people who made the story up?
I can't think of many things lower than making up false accusations. So I have a HUGE problem if it is untrue. I just wanted to point out that if there is any truth in the story it is unacceptable for us on the left to act that way.
We're here arguing about whether any cookies were thrown and if so how many and when and where and were they regular or double-cream or....
But don't you get it? Outfits like the 700 Club don't care if it's true or not. They just don't care. They will simply repeat the story whenever and for as long as its ideologically useful. And then it will go dark for a time and them it will be lit up again at some point when it will again be useful.
It doesn't matter that there is no third party verification.
It doesn't matter that there is no contemporaneous reference.
It doesn't matter than Steele has given conflicting accounts.
All that matters is its usefulness. Truth be damned.
Actually, I from the DC area and originally saw the article the Washington Post. I checked around from old MM posts and the links to the area papers and it seems pretty unlikely from what was reported in the different papers that this happened, and if there were a one or two cookies it was probably a couple of rouge bone-heads. In retrospect, I think you right. Unless there is something new from this, the allegations are indeed "stale". ] Sincerely, Humble conservative who needed to do more research.
Sincerely, Humble conservative
Nice to meet an honorable man. :-)
One other thing I thought worth noting: the business about Oreo cookies being a "racial slur."
The term "Oreo cookie" dates back to the '60s and does indeed refer to someone who was "black on the outside and white on the inside." However, it was not and was never intended to be a racial insult, it was intended as a political insult against black leaders and politicians who, the accusers believed, had turned their backs on the needs of their own communities and constituents to be accepted by the dominant (white) political and economic powers of the time.
There is no reason I can think of to imagine its meaning has changed - so calling it a "racial slur" is a useful but deceptive distortion.
I agree that terms like this and Uncle Tom are inflammatory but they don't rise to the level of a racial slur in my opinion. Nevertheless, many of the posters here that I respect view these terms as racial slurs, so out of respect for them I've decided to stop using the terms. Furthermore, it's best to cut out the inflammatory words anyway since they tend to really derail the serious discussions.
Be assured I was not trying to defend use of the term, although I do think it should be recalled that it was originated by black radicals as an attack on black neoliberals and conservatives.
I was rather noting that the GOP was trying, assuming anything like the incident happened at all, to change it from an attack on Steele's politics into an attack on Steele's race, the better to both dismiss the actual criticism and declare "the liberals are the real racists!" yet again. And that is deceptive.
Larrye,
I have to respectfully disagree with you. Perhaps in the 60’s the term was only used as a political insult I can guarantee you that in the 80’s and beyond it took on a whole new meaning. As an child that grew up in an all white area I had never heard that term. As a teenager when going to other schools for various events I endured heckling from other black teenagers about the way I talked and or dressed. When I spent time at a historically black college I would not allow my classmates to make broad generalizations and once again endured the “oreo” label. The term is bigoted. It is no better than using any other racial, religious or gender epithet. To assume that anyone, because of their skin color, should walk, talk dress or have the same political opinions should be insulting to us all. Sorry for the rant but as someone who has been insulted in this way, if it happened (which seems iffy) we need to accept that it is evil. I am a proud liberal from one of the bluest of blue states. However, I will not allow people on my side to act as those I fight so hard against.
It's the zombie meme!!
It is killed over and over and yet it keeps coming for more! RUN FOR THE HILLS!
(the Capitol Hills? heheh...)
First, he did not even mention this happening until weeks after the event, then he claimed he saw cookies being passed around, then he changed it to seeing one or two roll near his feet, and finally, as he said to Hannity, they were tossed at him. Geez, man, find a made up story and stick with it! As I have said in the past, I lived between Baltimore and Washington at the time of the "event" and all of the newspapers from Washington and Baltimore were there, including the very conservative ones. Does anyone really think they would not have plastered stories and pics of this all over their pages? Are you telling me this would not have been National News within a day or 2? Do 5 minutes of research and it is plain to see what is really going on here. How self-loathing must Steele be to do this? He has allowed this fake story to grow and disgrace all African Americans in Maryland for his own political gain. Pathetic.