CNN hosts Republican creator of racially charged ad to falsely suggest link between 9-11 and Iraq
SUMMARY: CNN hosted Republican advertising consultant Alex Castellanos -- creator of racially charged advertisements for former Sen. Jesse Helms -- who echoed the myth invoked by the Bush administration that there was a link between the September 11 attacks, perpetrated by Al Qaeda, and Saddam Hussein's Iraq. In fact, the 9-11 Commission report stated: "We have no credible evidence that Iraq and al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States."
During coverage of returns from the Indiana and North Carolina Democratic primaries on May 6, CNN hosted Republican advertising consultant Alex Castellanos -- creator of the racially charged "Hands" advertisement -- who echoed the myth invoked by the Bush administration that there was a link between the September 11 attacks, perpetrated by Al Qaeda, and Saddam Hussein's Iraq. During Castellanos' appearance, Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, referring to the war in Iraq, asked of a potential Barack Obama presidency: "Will he take us to war on a lie and see all of our troops die on a lie? And not ask for forgiveness?" Castellanos then interjected: "The planes crashing into a building. ... Planes crashed into a building. It was not a lie." In fact, the 9-11 Commission report stated: "We have no credible evidence that Iraq and al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States" and that "contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda ... do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship."
As Media Matters has noted, Castellanos' "Hands" advertisement, which ran on behalf of former Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) during his 1990 re-election campaign against Harvey Gantt, the first black mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, featured a pair of white hands crumpling a job-rejection letter while a narrator said:
You needed that job. You were the best qualified. But they had to give it to a minority, because of a racial quota. Is that really fair? Harvey Gantt says it is. Gantt supports Ted Kennedy's racial quota law that makes the color of your skin more important than your qualifications. You'll vote on this issue next Tuesday. For racial quotas: Harvey Gantt. Against racial quotas: Jesse Helms.
Castellanos produced another racially charged ad that Helms' campaign ran in the weeks before the election. According to a November 2, 1990, New York Times report, the ad claimed that "Mr. Gantt obtained a television license in 1985 under a program to assist minority businessmen and that he and his partners soon sold it." Gantt denied that race had anything to do with his obtaining the license, a claim reportedly backed up by an FCC official. The Washington Post reported on November 4, 1990: "In fact, the racial preference program played no part in the FCC's final decision [to award Gantt's group the license], according to William Johnson, deputy administrator of the mass media division. Johnson said all qualified competitors to the Gantt group dropped out, and minority participation is a factor only in competitive decisions.
From the 8 p.m. ET hour of CNN's May 6 Democratic presidential primary coverage:
CASTELLANOS: He was a much broader-reaching candidate when this process started. And now, I think it's fair to ask: Would the people that you see in Barack Obama's life be the same people you see in his administration? You know, would you see Bill Ayers? Would there be people like Reverend Wright? The answer may be no, by the way.
BRAZILE: Oh, Alex, now, you know, that is so small.
CASTELLANOS: But he has raised -- no.
BRAZILE: That is so small, Alex.
CASTELLANOS: No, no, no. But I'm saying -- no, I'm saying that --
BRAZILE: That is so small.
CASTELLANOS: Whether -- the answer may be no. But the question is certainly out there for a lot of voters.
CAMPELL BROWN (anchor): I think in fairness --
BRAZILE: Will he take us to war on a lie and see all of our troops die on a lie? And not ask for forgiveness? Come on.
CASTELLANOS: The planes crashing into a building. The planes crashing into a building.
BRAZILE: Come on, Alex, don't do that.
CASTELLANOS: Planes crashed into a building. It was not a lie.
BRAZILE: No, you all want to make it superficial conversation, not a real substantive conversation. Let's make it about substance and not do all of this.
BROWN: OK, guys.
CASTELLANOS: Do you think --
BROWN: Hey, you know what, Donna, let me --
BRAZILE: That's beneath you, Alex. You know better.
Donna Brazile rocks. She knows how to deal with these scum bags.
Why is this white racist devil given airtime?
Castellanos is a good rep for the remaining Bushie apologists. Arguing the BS leading to the Iraq invasion with the uncontested truthiness that, yes, planes did fly into buildings.If Brazile had said everything that happened in the past decade was a lie, Castellano would have a very good argument on his hands there.Unfortunately for him, if I may steal a term from Solon, as sacred as the strawman is to his type, a lot of humans are catching on.
I'm wondering what the corporate media is going to do in the coming months, as only the truly insane are clinging to the talking points.How many pundits are going to be able to keep up their blind allegiance to complete bullsh*t without having a breakdown?Will Fox have a panel made up of Dick Morris,Ollie North, this Castellano guy, Copious Dissent, AnotherAmerican, and Melanie Morgan?
Richard Clarke said it best - look at who wins due to our occupation of Iraq: Iran, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, all stronger due to massive oil profits.
Thanks Bush/Cheney - once an oilman, always an oilman looking out for other oilmen who profit on the graves of the innocent.
It makes you wonder how some of these people sleep at night.
Makes me proud to be an American... <heavy sarcasm>
I'm proud to be an American, and (based on your past posts) I believe you are too.
However, I'm ashamed that these fluckers are Americans.
Yeah, you don't see them that much later on in the day.I don't know if it's the charged up feeling after Rush tells them what to think that dies out after a few hours of exposure to reality without any instructions.It may be the unemployed, early start on the boozing that sends them off to bed. Or maybe they're just generally old and sleepy, like Fred Thompson and Geezer McCain.
Look for some action tomorrow about noon-ish EST.
Where did all the right wing nut job posters disappear to?
They're probably busy voting for Hillary in Democratic primaries. ;>)
Where do they FIND these idiots?
Have you been outside lately? Oh, sorry...that sounds so terribly elitist of me... ;>)
Nah, I'm too busy hiding in my basement posting on liberal blogs!
;)
Have any of these people apologized or expressed regrets since we discovered that it was all bullsh*t? A few have, but the worst offenders refuse to even acknowledge that we were lied to.... or even that invading Iraq was a mistake. This is the biggest scandal of our time, and the Mainstream Press is ignoring it.
Thanks for the tipoff about CASTELLANOS.
He's a walking example of style triumphing over reality. He appears to be reasonable, low-key, likeable and rational.
He deliberately cultivates that persona. Did you catch his throwaway line about how he "could be wrong" about Obama?
Obviously, his work for the paranoid racist from NC tears his mask off.
NERZ,
"Oh, and I'm sure the "Secret Muslim" whisper campaign will accelerate. The pliable Evangelicals will eat that up."
This would be a funny presumption if not for the fact that it is a true and too scary a thought.
The christian right-wing are almost all collectively a perfect example of why religion needs to be left out of the schools! And another fact to rid us of the NCLB!
So what's the point here...CNN shouldn't host guests that Media Matters disagrees with?
That Jesse Helms ad (and I agree it was disgusting) was created nearly 20 years ago!!! To not note that timeframe anywhere in this article is patently dishonest--and anyway, what does it have to do with Castellano linking 9/11 with Iraq? Also, why does CNN bear responsibility for what he says when Donna Brazille clearly set the record straight?
This article is patently absurd.
Did you actually read the article. It says very clearly the ad was during the 1990 re-election campaign.
As for CNN's responsibility, yeah, if you give a moron a platform, you do bear some responsibility for what the moron says.
My mistake--I did not see that part. However, the decades-old ad still has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with what he said on the air. Bringing it up is called "poisoning the well"--it's akin to saying, during a policy debate on the war in Iraq "I will preface my remarks by noting that 20 years ago my opponent created a racist ad for a racist southern Senator. Please keep that in mind throughout this debate. Now here is my argument for why Iraq and 9/11 were not linked"
No worries; between typos and assorted other screw-ups, I'd be crazy not to forgive mistakes.
On your other point, it can be argued (I would not, but it could) that the "poisoning" is placing him in context. I think holding up his asinine statement is enough. I will say, however, that given his history, it is fair to ask why a "news" organization would ask him to appear in the first place. you concede that much?
Wow, go Donna Brazile! You really gave that guy a stern talking-to! I'm sure the next time he's on the air, where he gets to speak to hundreds of thousands if not millions of people, he'll take your words to heart and stick to the ISSUES and SUBSTANTIVE CONVERSATION!
"Come on now, you know you're my friend and I respect you, so let's be nice and not do all of this."
-Donna Brazile, 5/6/08
"Barack Hussein Obama is a sleeper terrorist that is going to destroy America from within."
-Random right-wing scumbag, 5/7/08
Brazile demonstrated the kind of toothless, gutless response that is typical of American "progressives."
She should have said something on the order of, "You know damn well that Saddam Hussein and Iraq did not have a damn thing to do with 9/11 -- and your attempt to once again mislead the public exposes you as the lying piece of fecal material everyone here already knows you to be!
"CNN should be ashamed for even giving you a microphone for your lies and innuendos."