Blankley criticized too little, then too much media scrutiny of Biden's Obama remark
SUMMARY: A Washington Times editorial criticized the media's coverage of recent remarks by Sen. Joe Biden, saying they were "the focus of the media's racial-insensitivity microscope." But less than two days earlier, Times editorial page editor Tony Blankley had asserted that Biden was "getting, more or less, a pass from the mainstream media" on his comments.
A February 2 Washington Times editorial on the coverage of Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s (D-DE) controversial remarks to The New York Observer asserted that Biden's remarks were "the focus of the media's racial-insensitivity microscope" when, instead, their focus should have been on Biden's criticism of Iraq proposals presented by Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), and former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC). In the Observer article, Biden called Obama "the first mainstream African-American, who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." The Times editorial criticized the media for what it described as "frivolous" coverage of Biden's remarks. However, as Media Matters for America noted, Times editorial page editor Tony Blankley appeared on the January 31 edition of MSNBC's Hardball -- less than two days prior to the publication of the editorial -- and said that the media were largely ignoring Biden's remarks. Specifically, he said that "[t]he media is not jumping down Biden's throat" and that "[i]f a conservative Republican had said this, I think the media would've jumped down his throat." Blankley also asserted that Biden was "getting, more or less, a pass from the mainstream media" on his comments.
By contrast, the Times editorial listed "mainstream news outlets" among those it considered culpable for focusing on the more racially charged portions of Biden's comments rather than on the substantive policy elements.
From the February 2 Washington Times editorial:
When the newly installed chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who has a long, serious record on the subject calls the top three Democratic presidential hopefuls on the carpet for their unrealistic Iraq proposals, that's a huge story. Huge. Not that the headlines this week show it. Sen. Joe Biden's clumsy, failed attempt at praise for Sen. Barack Obama is instead the focus of the media's racial-insensitivity microscope. This means we are missing yet another opportunity to push the nation's Iraq debate in a meaningful direction. How frivolous.
[...]
The culprits are not just the mainstream news outlets. It's also the conservative media, all too eager to pounce on a powerful Democrat as he extricates his foot from his mouth.
Hahaha. That's absolutely ridiculous. We were discussing him saying the exact opposite yesterday, remember? That guy just made my day. He's a flip-flopper...
When your mind goes the way of your name (BLANKely) it is so easy to forgot what you five minutes ago, let alone yesterday.
Media Mattewrs debunks it's own argument on the other thread when they acknowledge that Blankley made his statement very early in the news cycle before a lot of shows even ran. That correctly debunked Blankleys statement. By Media Matters saying "less than 2 days earlier" (which is an eternity in the news cycle) they are downplaying how much coverage can be given a story in "less than 2 days". A very weak argument by Media Matters comparing the editorial to Blankleys statement when the time difference is critical.
Two things:
1. Blankley made that idiotic "Biden got a pass! Wah!" statement before he obviously had ANY kind of chance to see what the media reaction even was, which MMFA pointed out in the original Blankley statement criticism -- he jumped the gun to attempt to prove that the media has a liberal bias, which in this case, it obviously did not.
2. Now Blankley is changing his tune, but only so he can claim liberalism from a different angle -- it's too sensitive about race! Not only does he criticize the media for covering it too much (which it hasn't, in my opinion), but he pretends that he never criticized it for not covering it enough in the first place.
Bottom line: Blankley will not admit his mistake on either side of the story, and is obviously desperate to continue the Liberal Media myth.
Tony was for tough coverage of the story before he was against it.
Blankley and other Conservatives crack me up when they complain about being unfairly held to the fire on racial issues.
OF COURSE THEY ARE:
It’s their own bad racial history that awards them with that deserved treatment. Just Google 2 words ... (Republican + Racial)...and then to be fair, Google ... ( Democratic + Racial). That’s all you need to see why the Republicants feet are held to the fire more.
Ken Mehlman, the Republican National Committee chairman and George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign manager, apologized recently for what he called “past” Republican Party practices of using racially divisive tactics to win elections.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-07-14-GOP-racial-politics_x.htm
Sam I Am
You'll find fewer entries for Democrats becasue the media downplays mos instances of racism by Democrats. It'll be fascinating to see if the media does daily stories on Biden like they did/do with Lott and Allen.There are racists in both parties; however, Democrats clearly receive preferential treatment. BTW, did you hear that the Chairman of the Democratic Hispanic Caucus resigned yestreday (?) after uttering slurs against an aide to Scream Dean. Oh..the aide was an African American, btw. And, that KKK wizard, Byrd, is considered to be a "statesman" by the MoveOn, MediaMatters, ANSWER, CPUSA crowd. Nuff said.
Baloney. The GOP ADMITTED their racist policies when they appologized for using their racist strategies. The racism by Lott was over the top, this remark by Biden wasnt even in the ballpark. Racially insensative? You bet overtly racist like Lotts no. He lost any vote of mine he might have gotten but your claim of preferential treatment by the press of dems is ludicrous. The Press gives the GOP the benifit of the doubt most of the time. During the 2000 election they portrayed Gore as a liar for exagerations but gave Bush a pass for outright lies. The press shows a bias alright but not to Dems.
By their racist strategies I meant their racist Southern Strategy
He says if no one is listening to me, then I won't listen to myself. So there.