Clarence Page: 'Right-Wing Wouldn't Have' Rev. Wright Story 'If it Wasn't for the Mainstream Media'
If there was a contest each week for the dumbest comment made by a member of the media, this would likely be last week's prohibitive favorite.
On the syndicated Chris Matthews Show this weekend, during a discussion about Barack Obama's America-hating Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the Chicago Tribune's Clarence Page actually said with a straight face, "Right-wing wouldn't have that story if it wasn't for the mainstream media" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Well Kathleen, obviously it got blown out of the water, the Obama people clearly love it coming out this week, right? They loved it.
KATHLEEN PARKER, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: Absolutely.
MATTHEWS: And everybody jumped on it. But there are people on the Obama side afraid that in the end, you can play the ethnic card, that foreign card, are they afraid that it will work against him?
PARKER: Sweetie, I don't think a Mormon is going to play the foreign card. That's dangerous stuff.
MATTHEWS: That’s a homegrown religion.
PARKER: The [unintelligible] are not going to go into the black church. This is not Mitt Romney’s approach to things. And of course, he's, he has no control over…
MATTHEWS: What about the Sean Hannity piece? Hannity was right on that, we just saw him this week, Thursday night saying go for it, go out and use this stuff.
PARKER: Well, yeah, Sean Hannity wants him to. A lot of Republicans do and a lot of the sort of further right people feel like, look, we never vetted Obama sufficiently. Talking about us, the media. And to some extent they're not wrong about that. They do feel that we kind of pulled back on Reverend Wright. It was sort of like President Obama will not, then candidate Obama said, “Yes, I was, you know, I was in his church for 20 years but I'm not responsible for what he says and I can't say that characterizes me.”
CLARENCE PAGE, CHICAGO TRIBUNE: ABC reported Reverend Wright, by the way. We ought to remember that. Mainstream media, right-wing wouldn't have that story if it wasn't for the mainstream media.
Really?
According to LexisNexis, the first mention of "Jeremiah Wright" by ABC was on Good Morning America on March 13, 2008, just five days before Obama gave his race speech in Philadelphia.
Prior to this point, despite what Page said, the media had largely boycotted the junior senator from Illinois' affiliation with the Trinity Church and its America-hating reverend.
It was only until conservative media members pushed this issue far enough that the Obama-loving press were forced to cover the story, and the candidate himself had to respond to it.
Way out in front of everyone on this subject was Fox News's Sean Hannity who interviewed Wright on March 1, 2007, one day after breaking the story about Obama's ties to Trinity:
As such, Hannity was more than a year ahead of virtually all of the mainstream media on this subject, leading other conservative talk show hosts as well as bloggers to follow suit.
For Page to now claim the MSM were responsible for bringing the right-wing this story is preposterous, and will likely give Hannity quite a chuckle on Monday.
More importantly, Obama-lovers in the press that clearly didn't want to discuss Wright in 2008 don't want to now.
As such, their play is going to be similar to Page's claiming that this was all addressed in the previous election cycle and therefore old news.
They will also depict any media outlet or Super PAC raising this issue as racist.
Anything they can do to get Obama reelected.
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Comments
The media's Wright version wrong as usual
Submitted by metaphorsbwithu on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 1:17pm.
The media were dragged kicking and screaming to the story when the "America's chickens" clip surfaced.
The coverage centered on the narrative that the critricism of Wright was based on a "few seconds" of sound bite taken out of context that Obama didn't hear anyway.
Watching the news shows after that demonstrated a determination of everyone in the liberal media to just move on ... that there was no story there and that Obama had explained his innocent association to his critics.
The liberal pundits literally rolled their eyes when the subject was even brought up and basically complained that they should just move on.
It was only when more clips surfaced and Wright continued his inflammatory rhetoric that Obama had to "throw him under the bus" and separate himself from the church (without, he emphasized, disavowing what it stood for).
No wonder so many people are so misinformed when the so-called experts work overtime to either ignore the facts or revise them.
And it goes without saying that the story of Obama's affiliation with Trinity United, the black liberation theology background, and the radial background of people like Obama's mentor, Jeremiah Wright, and associates like Fr. Pfleger were well know ... and particularly due to the exposure from Mr. Hannity a year before ABC had to finally "report" on it.
Other stories we wouldn't have known about with the MSM
Submitted by CO2Maker on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 1:20pm.
ACORN fraud and facilitation
Ease of voter fraud at polls
Planned Parenthood lawbreaking
Fast and Furious
Submitted by ricklail on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 1:31pm.
Fast and Furious
More stories
Submitted by CO2Maker on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 2:24pm.
Islamist funding for NPR
Brain Damaged Left!
Submitted by Mrs. Vito on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 1:21pm.
The Rev. Wright 'issue' is out there thanks to Hannity. Even if Romney has decided to tip-toe around it in his campaign, ITS STILL OUT THERE! And people need to know!
Obama, Hannity, Rev. Wright
Submitted by NVRAT on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 1:23pm.
As usual the Left MSM is trying to twist things around and as usual they have everything associated to their circle of misfits surrounding the "O" man his self. If it had not been for Hannity we would probably never heard of Rev. Wright unless some unsuspecting citizen told FOX or Limbaugh. Even after Hannity broke the news it still took the Obama circle 5-7 days to get it in print or on the air. So, to Page, Parker and Matthews as usual you are behind the curve and full of S#IT.
Bigots
Submitted by Kingfish17 on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 1:27pm.
MATTHEWS: And everybody jumped on it. But there are people on the Obama side afraid that in the end, you can play the ethnic card, that foreign card, are they afraid that it will work against him?
PARKER: Sweetie, I don't think a Mormon is going to play the foreign card. That's dangerous stuff.
Nice stuff. When you have nothing, you might as well go after Romney's faith.
"You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas...on the taxpayer’s dime." Barack Obama
clueless
Submitted by MidAmerica on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 1:30pm.
I do commenting on my local paper website and often I'm amazed at the sometimes hyperventilating reaction when the indigenous obamabots are confronted with stuff they've never heard of. They think I'm some sort of fringe nut about to fall off a mental cliff. But the problem I have is trying to discuss serious issues about obama when they have no idea what I’m talking about because they get all their information from obama friendly outlets.
I have about the same
Submitted by ricklail on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 1:34pm.
I have about the same problem. The biggest reaction I got was when I talked about Obama telling the Bradys he was working on gun control under radar. It couldn't be true because Fox was the only news agency to report it. Most of the time that is their only arguement, Fox is the only one reporting so and so.
McLatchy trolls
Submitted by CJohnson on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 2:44pm.
Identical, rambling trolls comments appear in all McClatchy Co subsidiaries and are placed there so readers think it is the local echo. Bust them.
same here!
Submitted by Barabbus on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 4:19pm.
I can't tell you who many times this has happened to me as well. Countless times over the past few decades. It's nasty when that moment comes when you realize the lib you're talking to has no clue what you're referencing, then simply dismisses it because they didn't hear about it from a Katie, or a Soledad, or a tingles. Whether it's the findings of a congressional committee, basic facts of history, whatever! If they weren't told about it by Diane Sawyer, well, it could not have happened. It's like they are all characters in "Invasion of the body snatchers". I half expect them to just point at me with their mouths wide open.
Parker made a mistake, and uttered the truth.
Submitted by UpNorth on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 2:02pm.
"Further right people feel like, look, we never vetted Obama sufficiently. Talking about us, the media. And to some extent they're not wrong about that". Well, duh, Ms Parker. Who pointed that out to you, it certainly wasn't any of the nimrods sitting there with you.
Except for your "to some extent" qualifier. The LSM didn't vette Obama, at all.
it was SNL
Submitted by mom_rox on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 3:27pm.
when they parodied the media asking Obama, "Can I get you a pillow?".
SNL was not trying to be fair and balanced - they were advocating for Hillary.
Who knew??
Submitted by motherbelt on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 2:10pm.
So Sean Hannity is now a member of the mainstream media???
I agree
Submitted by misterbee241 on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 2:14pm.
that one person sitting in church has no say or responsibility for what the preacher says. However, if you sit there like a bump on a log and say nothing, then you are showing that you agree with what you are hearing. Obama liked the racist preaching and the GD America shtick. It also showed the homies he was one of them. I notice he hasn't found a church in three years of being in Washington, but has had no trouble finding golf courses. Just before election he'll be back in a liberal church to burnished his Christian cred. Watch for it.
The Wright Stuff
Submitted by CO2Maker on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 2:51pm.
According to Wright's own words on Klein's interview tapes, Obama didn't attend all that much. He wasn't a big church-going person. So, either:
1. Obama is guilty of being a very slack Christian, AND THUS
2. Didn't drink a lot of Wright's bile.
OR
Wright is lying on this point because he and Obama have calculated that it's better to be a lackadaisical Christian than an ardent devotee of Wright.
There is proof they covered it up
Submitted by Optionyout on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 2:17pm.
When Daily Caller uncovered the Journolist website comments it was discussed how they would purposely ignor the Rev Wright story.
A lil' Reverend Wright audio
Submitted by GregE on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 2:42pm.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/church-was-not-their-thing-new-audio-fro...
.....During the discussion, Wright told Klein that Obama said, ”You know what your problem is. You have to tell the truth.” The faith leader maintained that this isn’t a bad problem to have and that Obama, being a politician, has transformed into an individual who is not necessarily rooted in truth. “Politicians don’t have to tell the truth. Truth is what we say it is. Well, I somehow can’t live with that,” Wright told Klein. “That’s why I could never be a politician. I think that the transformed Barack has become a politician.” When the author asked when, exactly, Obama made this so-called evolution, Wright said he believes it happened when he assumed the presidency
##
....."......2010, I was in Los Angeles, and there was a pastors meeting, an inter-demonational pastor's meeting and they asked me to speak.......after the questions and answers and all that, one of the pastors came up to me and said, 'this has nothing to do with the election I just want you to know this, please don't think it was just Republicans after you. I said what, he said 'I was offered money by the Hillary Clinton campaign, to tear you down, but I knew you so I didn't take the job but I can tell you a guy here in Los Angeles who took it, she paid black preachers to attack you.' "
##
......“Church is not their thing. It was never their thing,” Wright says of Barack and Michelle Obama. “She was not the kind of black woman whose momma made her go to church, made her go to Sunday school…so the church was not an integral part of their lives before they got married — after they got married.”
After Wright made these comments, Klein said, “But the church was an integral part of his politics…because he needed that base.” Wright agreed with this statement, at one point saying “correct.”
Look, the truth doesn't mattter with these folks
Submitted by cristo on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 3:15pm.
It's all about "the story" and the truth can't get in the way. They tell us about Bill Clinton growing up poor in Arkansas when his step father owned a car dealership and he drove an El Camino in high school. How Clinton recalled black churches being burned when he was a boy, but it never happened. How Hillary landed in Bosnia under fire, yet a 10-year-old girl presented flowers to her on the tarmac. How Obama's mother and father were somehow put together because of the march on Selma, when it happened 5 years after Obama was born. How Elizabeth Warren is a Cherokee. So when Clarance Page says the mainstream media wrote the book on Rev. Wright, and he's obviously incorrect, Chris Matthews and Company take it for the truth, because it fits the narrative "the story" they wish to put "forward." Which has nothing to do with the truth. It's all tingle and no truth.
Page
Submitted by mmilesll on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 3:33pm.
Page is NUTS, the LSM media had NOTHING to do with it
I would say Page is A&O times zero right now.
Submitted by drsamherman on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 4:33pm.
In what we call a mini-mental status exam (MMSE), we physicians look for alertness and orientation as to a few different factors. The main four are: 1. time (what day, year, season, etc.); 2. place (what city are you in, state, are you at the hospital); 3. person (what is your name, who is your spouse, children, etc.); and 4) situation (why are you at the hospital, what happened to you, etc.). We don't always ask the same questions, but the MMSE is directed on a score or clinical judgment basis to look for cues of acute delirium and possible psychiatric or physical effects of illness.
Clarence is forgetting all four. He thinks he's back in the late 1980s, peddling the same garbage that he did on the various television shows for the alphabet networks and probably under the delusion that he's Walter Cronkite.
On The Glasgow Coma Scale
Submitted by stratman on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 11:58pm.
Joe Biden is a 12.
GCS of 12 = Physical or cognitive impairments which may or may not resolve.