Juan Williams again baselessly attacked Michelle Obama, claiming "her instinct is to start with this 'blame America' ... stuff"
SUMMARY: On The O'Reilly Factor, Juan Williams again baselessly attacked first lady Michelle Obama, claiming that "her instinct is to start with this 'blame America' ... stuff." Williams asserted that Michelle Obama's "instinct" is to "blame America" or be "the victim," and said she has "this Stokely Carmichael-in-a-designer-dress thing going." Williams also said that she could be a "liabilit[y]" or an "albatross" for President Barack Obama. Williams previously claimed Michelle Obama sometimes uses "this kind of militant anger."
During the January 26 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, NPR news analyst and Fox News political contributor Juan Williams again baselessly attacked first lady Michelle Obama, claiming that "her instinct is to start with this 'blame America' ... stuff." Williams asserted that "[i]f you think about liabilities for President [Barack] Obama that are close to him -- [Vice President] Joe Biden's up there -- but Michelle Obama's right there." Williams continued: "[S]he's got this Stokely Carmichael-in-a-designer-dress thing going. If she starts talking, as [Townhall Magazine contributor and Weekly Standard contributing blogger] Mary Katharine [Ham] suggested, her instinct is to start with this 'blame America,' you know, 'I'm the victim.' If that stuff starts to come out, people will go bananas, and she'll go from being the new Jackie O to being something of an albatross."
Williams provided no evidence for the claims that Michelle Obama's "instinct" is to "blame America" or be "the victim," nor did he provide examples of her having "this Stokely Carmichael-in-a-designer-dress thing going." Additionally, Williams did not provide any evidence that she could be a "liabilit[y]" or an "albatross" for Obama. Ham also smeared Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying of Michelle Obama: "[S]he's got to not drop sound bites like she did during the campaign that were not helpful to her husband, because, frankly, if you want to be an unpleasant, heavy-handed first lady, you're going to -- well, you'll end up like Hillary Clinton."
As Media Matters for America documented, Williams previously claimed that Michelle Obama sometimes uses "this kind of militant anger." During the August 25, 2008, edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom, referring to Michelle Obama's then-upcoming speech at the Democratic National Convention, Williams claimed: "Well, she's got to be herself, but I do not think she can go for it all out in terms of this kind of militant anger that she sometimes uses, you know. She can be, it seems, rather cynical or dismissive of people," adding, "I don't think she wants to get anywhere near the race issue, anywhere near the militance issue." Williams gave no examples of what he claimed to be "this kind of militant anger" that Michelle Obama "sometimes uses."
From the January 26 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:
BILL O'REILLY (host): All right, Juan, Michelle Obama. I don't know much about Mrs. Obama, but she now has the power of the first lady's pulpit, which is considerable. How do you think she's going to use this power, Juan?
WILLIAMS: Well, you know, I mean, what they say is that she's going to make an effort with military families, she's going to try to do more with kids, especially her own kids. They make the point she's not going to be involved with policy as an adviser to her husband, but actually going to try to keep control of the family with her mother, President Obama's mother-in-law, who's living at the White House. And then, finally, don't forget, she's got to be a role model. We've never had a black woman in this position before, and she's a mom, she's a wife, and she's going to be a role model to millions of people, not just African-Americans.
O'REILLY: OK, but, usually, Mary Katharine, usually, first ladies take on a cause. Laura Bush was illiteracy, and I'm not sure what Mrs. Obama's cause is going to be, do you know?
HAM: Well, she's talked about taking on the juggling of family and work, which probably entails some sort of family leave discussions, national discussions on that. She has a policy director who's fairly to the left on those issues, although she is going to start with military families, which I think is the best political move --
O'REILLY: That's good.
HAM: -- when you're talking about supporting families. But, you know, she's got to walk a fine line. Everybody's saying, you know, she's not a talking -- you know, she's not just a nice first lady who's just going to be quiet. On the other hand, she's got to not drop sound bites like she did during the campaign --
O'REILLY: Right.
HAM: -- that were not helpful to her husband, because, frankly, if you want to be an unpleasant --
O'REILLY: All right. Well, I'd like to note --
HAM: -- heavy-handed first lady, you're going to --
O'REILLY: Yeah. Sure, anything that she says will be used against her.
HAM: -- well, you'll end up like Hillary Clinton. So -- yeah.
O'REILLY: Absolutely. Anything she says.
WILLIAMS: Yeah. And let me just -- let me just tell you this: If you think about liabilities for President Obama that are close to him -- Joe Biden's up there -- but Michelle Obama's right there. Michelle Obama, you know --
O'REILLY: But it's not her fault in the sense that --
WILLIAMS: -- she's got this Stokely Carmichael-in-a-designer-dress thing going. If she starts talking, as Mary Katharine suggested, her instinct is to start with this "blame America," you know, "I'm the victim." If that stuff starts to come out --
O'REILLY: Yeah, it'll be death.
WILLIAMS: -- people will go bananas --
O'REILLY: Right.
WILLIAMS: -- and she'll go from being the new Jackie O to being something of an albatross.
O'REILLY: She's not going to do that. She's not going to do that.
WILLIAMS: I hope not.
O'REILLY: Finally, I'm going to give you both 20 seconds --
HAM: She's been smarter about it lately.















I think Juan Williams is embarrassed by having shown his emotions over Obama's election and inauguration as our first black President...sometimes choking back tears. Now, considering the critical opinion piece he wrote last week and this appearance with O'Reilly it appears to me he is trying to disprove that he's suffering from Obamamania (as Sean Hannity has termed it). BTW, Is Juan Williams' main gig with NPR or with FOX?
BTW, Is Juan Williams' main gig with NPR or with FOX?
Is there much of a difference these days?
I thought npr was liberal with tiltings to a moderate stance but now it appears to have definitive right-wing tendencies in its forefront...Neil Conan a week or two before the election virtually slashed a caller complaining about deaththreats against then Sen.Obama from mccain supporters by ranting that Obama supporters had issued threats toward mccain at Obama rallies.Bill Cristol called then Sen.Obama,Sen.Oklahoma and Neil Conan didn't correct him!juan williams is a trusted servant called upon to do the bidding of his overlords.
Juan is like a Terminator Pundit. Because he's black and has the demeanor of a reasonable man, he can infiltrate the ranks of journalists and pose as a "moderate".
Underneath his skin, however, resides a Troglodyte Battle Chassis, made of indestructible GOP Talking Points Alloy. He uses his disguise to get in close... then.... BAM! He unloads the latest GOP Propaganda point blank.
This image of Michelle Obama as Malcolm X in a dress is pure unadulterated Troglodyte Talk Radio Bullsh*t.
Absolutely right, nerzog. The Republicans have been recruiting their little elves for some time, certainly when it was obvious that Obama would be "the man". Every word, every tilt of the head, every dropped nuance will be used to discredit the new President and, what better way than to attack his wife? Even before the actual swearing-in, the Super-Right has been hacking away (notice the pun?) at the Obama foundation. Michelle is no milktoast and that worries them. The grand plan is to get, as you say, blacks who have the demeanor of reasonable men to infiltrate the ranks of journalists and pose as "moderates".
"Troglodyte Talk Radio Bulls**t", indeed!
Michelle Obama and Joe Biden, liabilities or albatrosses?
Thank God we're not considering whether Cindy McCain and Sarah Palin will be liabilities for President McCain.
Excellent point. I don't have much against Cindy McCain, but if I had to choose between Michelle Obama and Simple Sarah to babysit my kids, I'd pick Michelle in a heartbeat.
If I were hiring someone to run a company, I'd pick Michelle in a heartbeat.
...but if I had to choose between Michelle Obama and Simple Sarah to babysit my kids, I'd pick Michelle in a heartbeat.
I wouldn't let a polar bear or Beluga whale to be around Sarah Palin, either. ;>)
Heck, Palin can't even take care of Alaska as evidenced by two recent issues brought to light - one being the heating oil controversy (and of course O'Reilly is claiming the town is faking the issue) and the pedophile priests (if you aren't aware of that one, the christian churches have been using Alaskan wilderness towns as a dumping ground for all their pedophiles. Now the victims are suing the state to the chagrin of Palin).
It's pretty sad when Bill O'Reilly is the LEAST OFFENSIVE of three people in a conversation.
I know...I noticed the same thing but was reluctant to give Billo any props. Even Billo disagreed with Juan Williams. How freakin' scary is that...being to the right of Bill O'Reilly?
O'REILLY: She's not going to do that. She's not going to do that.
O'REILLY: She's not going to do that. She's not going to do that. No she's going to be a goood negro, o'liely is condescending don't fall this drivel, the whole premise is BS. Have you ever been insulted but couldn't figure out exactly how but you knew you knew you were called a name? This is Fauxs way of covering their covert racism under the guise of civility. The whole premise of the discussion is BS, Michelle tends to blame America first, she tends to act like Stokely Carmichael!?!?? Give me a break! Who should and how should she act like?? Who is setting the standard, O'liely and Williams,come on!!!
Say, val, I, TOO, was surprised at Billy's "defense" of Michelle Obama. I have never seen him so, so..."nice?".
BOR wasn't going to allow anyone to call M. Obama "Stokely Carmichael," if only that it's inflammatory and he's afraid he'll get blamed for it.
BTW, if you Google Juan Williams, you'll find that he's totally obsessed with Stokely Carmichael! What's the deal there-- not enough girlfriends in the early 70s?
I think Williams is only sending a positive message to African Americans; He didn't sit around waiting for somebody to make him an offer for his soul and integrity, he put a for sale sign on it and sealed the deal with Fox.
Next report from Juan Williams for Fox News:
Michelle Obama gets up every morning and sings ......
Don't blame it on the sunshine
Don't blame it on the moonlight
Don't blame it on the good times
Blame it on the boogie, er America...;-)
It seems like only yesterday when she said "I hate America and everything it stands for !", or words to that effect.
As opposed to Grampy McCain, whose quote was, I believe " I thought I loved America thiiiis much, until I was a POW, after which I loved America thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiss much + infinity!"
Col., was that before or after he said "I never talk about being a POW, but since you bring it up..."?
I love that Michael Jackson song.
I just can't, I just can't, I just can't control my feet when it's on....:-0)
I don't even recognize it. Must be after my time.
The comment you I think you are referring to(really being proud of her country)was taken out of context , twisted to mean something she hadn't said. I don't think that was her mistake no more than Barack's "lipstick on a pig" was about Sarah Palin. These were manufactured outrages used in an attempt to paint the Obama's as being in the "blame America " crowd, Against small-town values and not like the rest of us, their elitist we were told . It didn't work obviously, dispite the best efforts of the scoundrels, now their telling us how Michelle should act????
I think you're right. Though her choice of words was probably unfortunate, most of us who aren't Troglodytes knew exactly what she meant.
To the Black and White thinkers who populate the Right Wing Fringe, it is IMPOSSIBLE to imagine being disappointed in America or its leaders. For them, it's not "My Country, Right or Wrong", because they don't accept the premise that their country can be wrong about anything.
I agree
"To the Black and White thinkers who populate the Right Wing Fringe, it is IMPOSSIBLE to imagine being disappointed in America or its leaders." - nerzog
I'm going to have to disagree here just a bit. If you had said "being disappointed in Republican America or its Republican leaders", then you might have something. But I bet they're not happy about Obama, and I bet they are quite disappointed that he was elected by America.
Recall that there's a "real America"...and then there's us.
Michelle made one poor (in my opinion) comment
Yeah, a comment that was taken completely out of context. There was nothing "poor" about her comment, only the slanted analysis of it by the rightie talking liars.
Her reply of being proud to be an american in her adult life was misconstrued by the so-called liberal media elites,I recall in her adult life being proud of this nation for the first time isn't so detrimental when cindy mccain said a private jet is the only way to get around arizona.mccains mom made anti-mormon statements and was told to zip it but where was faux news and its ilk then? Imean while at princeton when michelles roommates mom made the horrifying discovery that michelle wasn't white she tried to get daughter moved to another dorm room!The roommate didn't go along with it and now that idiot mother can see where michelle is residing now,ha,ha.
I'm getting pretty sick and tired of any woman expressing anything but an oh so polite opinion being called a miltant. It is disgusting.
That's enough outta you, Missy!
Ah, shad up ya classless manly man bigot troll...;-) now we can add sexist to your list of accomplishments! You must be auditioning for a spot to fill in for Williams, eh?
That's pretty militant of you to say so, JJ... ;>)
Your mama...........!!!! Oh, that's sexist too, huh? But hey, what's a little trash talk among friends?
I love angry women...from a safe distance. ;>)
Careful there, Texas borders Louisiana.....I can see you from my front porch. If I had a front porch, that is :-0)
And I can see my neighbor's wife sunbathing if I climb on my roof with a pair of binoculars. ;>)
Hey Irony I didn't know that was you up on the roof...
Hey stop staring at my wife you dirty old moonbat!!!
I can't believe anyone is still repeating this mantra that Michelle Obama hates/blames America. She made a statement during the campaign that was taken out of context & misinterpreted. Enough already!
Hey stop staring at my wife you dirty old moonbat!!!
Irony, he's referring to me, not his other wife...! ;-0 Look at her all ya want.
Clark Gable to Claudette Colbert in "It Happened One Night": 'I can handle you, baby; you're just another dame to me..."
Trash talk anong friends is much better than rash talk among friends.
Depends on who was the source of the rash... ;>)
hey hey, only republican women are allowed to speak, if your not aryanne coulter or michelle malkin your voice is angry and your scaring white people. so michelle hillary, teresa heinz, tipper gore, sit down shut up and let the man handle it.
aryanne coulter
Ha! very clever. I like it.
isn't it absurd!?!?!
lol o that happy negro coming back again. and people wonder why blacks dont joing the republican party. its because conservative whites and consevative blacks think they can just utter any sort of stupidity and think its ok. Juan williams and micheal steele are only used when they can provide racial cover for conservatives. Hey look a black person said it so you cant get mad at us. O Juan maybe one day they may actually care about your opinion id like to see you try to run for office and get the backing of those same fools who put you on their show twice a week. Anyway i wonder if you would say the same thing of your sisters and mothers or wife if you were to be elected to a public office. Is Mrs. Williams walking around with the spirit of stokley charmicheal under her dress?
I think for Juan to baselessly claim that Michelle Obama blames America, and his "militant" about something that isn't there is very out of line, like she's starting protests and riots and bombings.
Sorry it should be and "this being 'militant' about something"
It's also revealing that Williams even uses the term "Blame America". Where have we heard that talking point before and from whom?
In case anyone missed it, the Right Wing Bush apologists tossed it into the conversation like flak every time someone had the audacity to question any of Bush's foreign policy decisions. It was used primarily to derail the conversation and put Democrats on the defensive.
Accusing someone of "Blaming America First" is just as intellectually disingenuous and lazy as accusing someone of racism every time they criticize Obama. I think the fact that he's using it reveals Juan's true bias... he's a Right Wing Republican Toadie.
I posted earlier and for some reason it was removed. Stokely Carmichael was an integral part of the civil rights struggle as was Martin Luther the "King". Their were countless others who took to the streets in demonstrations,boycotts, registering people to vote; were they part of this blame America first crowd Williams talks about, why is he using Repugnican language anyway? Didn't the above mentioned "blame America first crowd" have everything to do with paving the road for Michelle and Barack Obama. O'liely plays the good cop here, "oh no she won't act like the rest of them."This is some more of Fauxs covert racism masquerading as "civil" discussion. To MMFA why did you delete my earlier post?????
I'am sorry MMFA I confused your two stories about this, assuming since they were on the same issue they were the same story...My Bad!!(sheepish smile)
The sad thing is Juan was a great chronicler of the Civil Rights Movement. Now you think the folks at Fox have a seperate washrooms and water fountains for him.
Baseless?
This is the Michelle Obama who wasn't proud of her country until her husband was nominated for president, right?
It would be very difficult for me to properly express my disappointment in Juan Williams comments. Michelle Obama will not need to emulate, immitate or embrace anyone else's agenda. She is ten times more educated and hundred times smarter than the people who talk about her. First Lady Michelle will set her own tone and agenda peculiar to Herself.
You know, at one time I had some respect for Juan Williams, but he seems to have sold out
completely to the right-wing extremists who dominate Fox "News." Seems like he's a convenient Lawn Jockey/Uncle Tom for Massa Bill..."anything you says, Bossman O'Reilly,
sho' nuff."
It's pathetic, really.
Juan Williams is an Uncle Tom's, Uncle Tom. It is rare to observe someone suck up in public the way he does. I don't know what happens to guys like Juan. What turns them into dishonest sniveling wimps while advancing arguments intended to confuse, mislead, ill-inform, and other means of deceitful behavior. Maybe he laughs to himself, because he is bringing in over 100K a year and knows damn well he isn't good enough to make that type of money. He failed at being a real journalist and is not paid good money to be an anti-American propagandist. Who decided that it was OK to treat the American people like the enemy? Who says that it is a good idea to keep the people ignorant so that those in power can take advantage of them? I don't recall signing up for this crap, and I'm willing to bet that most readers didn't sign up for a fascist America either. It's bad enough that there are five supreme court justices that are dishonest corporate sell outs, let alone our journalists, phony scientists, phony military advisors, phony foreign affairs advisors, phony attorney generals, phony representatives, phony economists, phony health care, phony privatized Social Security, phony preachers, and phony Americans will to sell the nation's history, struggles, and sacrifices for a few dollars more. It is in a word, disgusting.
Stokely Carmichael in a designer dress married to Karl Marx in a sweatsuit, in other words, black preferences/white discrimination coupled to global socialism, both committed to taxing away money from those who work for it, without recompensation, and unfairly handing that money to those who didn’t work for it, or don’t work at all. Yeah, that’ll create a whole lot of innovative economic incentive, alright. Amusing that so many in Salon truly believe that using taxation and regulation to penalize people on the basis of racial and income differences is the “opposite” of the Nazi agenda.
oops, Media Matters, not Salon...you liberals are all so much alike.
Everyday MMFA posts articles in which Williams, Coulter, Hannity, Limbaugh, Malkin, O'Reilly, or you can just feel free to fill in the blank with your favorite neo-con schmendrick, use the exact same rhetoric and talking points to lambast liberals. So it makes sense for you to claim that we liberlas are all alike, because cons are known for their plethora of differing ideas and views.
I am damn certain that November 4th 2008 was the first time I was proud of America in eight years. There has been little or nothing to be proud of ever since the Supreme Court handed the presidency to George Bush, not because it was the honest thing to do, and not because it was the just thing to do; in fact, it wasn't even the legal thing to do, because in the Supremes decision they stated that their decision would not serve as a precedent in any similar case in the future; it was the dishonest, fraudulent, anti-American, corrupt, and immoral thing to do. When the republican and business leaders learned that they could get away with stealing a fundamental right of a democratic republic and the people do nothing; it emboldened them to commit other crimes.
The magic behind the republican fascist secrecy machine is not genius; it is the news media. Karl Rove was not a political genius; he was an anti-social creep who the news media protected. Libby was not a loyal and trusted public servant, he was a treasonous worm who played along with a low-life game that would result in exposing a covert C.I.A. agent, whose mission was to track the international movement of WMD, in the role of a businessperson working for a intelligence community front company, that suddenly became useless, because it was exposed to by the "guys who meant no real harm, they were only trying to shut the mouth of a troublesome critic who told the truth and was right in his assessment of the the faked purchase of yellow cake from Niger.
An interesting news story told of a strange crime in which Nigerian government offices were broken into on a New Year's Day when no one was at work, and many were still recovering from the previous evening's festivities. Oddly, the only thing stolen from the offices was paper with the official government letterhead. A completely worthless commodity. As fate, luck, or destiny would have it formal looking government letterhead documents from Nigeria surfaced that claimed to authorize the sale of yellow cake to Iraq. The forgers who signed the document were so inept that the signatures on the documents were not those of the responsible officials in the Nigerian government at the time of the faked deal.
The executive branch pardons Libby not because of sympathy for the loyal doggy, or mercy because of his heinous, and unusually cruel sentence, but to keep his mouth shut. For some odd reason, I do not believe that the president's right to pardon extended to people who might act as a government witness against the president. It certainly was not the intent of those who made pardons of federal prisoners possible. They did not see it as a blueprint for presidential obstruction of justice to protect himself from prosecution for treasonous behavior. It does not matter what Cheney, Bush, Libby, and Novak's intent was, it could have been holy for all I care, the facts are clear that they committed criminal acts for revenge and to deceive the American people.
Juan Williams is right at home with these anti-American creeps. If his soul wasn't already an empty burned-out shell his weakness and dishonesty would shame him. Yet this souless creep has the gall to bad mouth Michelle. There is no low that republicans and right wing pundits will not go to consolidate power over the American people and the nation's economy. Not one more republican should be elected until the Republican Party realizes that being elected is not a license to steal and principles do matter because there are rules. This country was not intended to be a free for all for white collar criminals at the expense of the majority of the American people.