One might be tempted to give Fox Business something of a pass due to their miniscule ratings and recent on-air shakeups, but this segment from the David Asman-hosted America's Nightly Scoreboard about the New Black Panther Party and the U.S. Civil Rights Comission was really something to behold. The segment began with Asman getting just about every detail wrong.
As we've explained, the Department of Justice dropped charges against three of the four defendants partly because no voters claiming to be intimidated ever stepped forward. Asman claims DOJ's decision was “inexplicable,” but it's rather easily explained and was explained by the Assistant Attorney General. Fox's on-air personalities seem to think that the video they run in an endless loop of the man with a nightstick (who had an injunction enforced against him) is all the evidence they need, and based on the video Asman calls it “blatant attempt” at voter intimidation. But the problem is that the law hasn't previously been enforced in that way. Asman takes this already debunked line of attack a step further by stating that the Obama administration “made a bogus deal” to dismiss the charges. No doubt, if the decision had been made to proceed despite actual evidence, Asman would be equally outraged.
Can you imagine this coverage being any worse? No? Asman added Andrew Breitbart to the mix.
For a second Breitbart sounded semi-reasonable, explaining to Asman that he didn't think the DOJ decisions meant that President Obama is racist, but Asman countered with the airtight argument that Obama was “defending racists” and that was “virtually the same” as being an actual racist (Breitbart quickly agreed). Using this logic every time a prosecutor chooses not to prosecute because the evidence doesn't support it, they're helping a criminal get away and are acting basically as accessories to the crime. This is no longer about the law, its clearly about satisfying a cable TV host.
Breitbart didn't disappoint, as he returned to the convoluted nonsense arguments he's now infamous for. According to Breitbart, the real blame lies with... multiculturalism. According to Breitbart, “separating the races” into “chicano studies” and “black studies” on college campuses attacks “the very basis” of what America is. This also is some kind of insult to the slogan “e pluribus unum.” How? Well, he didn't really say, but he clearly thinks minority studies classes on college campuses play some major role in voting rights enforcement. Somehow.
Breitbart continued, arguing that dismissing this case was evidence of “rage maintenance.” According to Breitbart, “rage maintenance” is the goal of President Obama, the Democratic Party and the DOJ - “coddling” minority communities in order to keep them onboard.
Needless to say, none of this either makes sense or is connected to the facts of what actually happened. Also, in what respect is this even tangentially related to actual business content? Of course, Fox News isn't news either.