Belafonte Blurs Bush With Planners of 9/11, Media Ignore Hillary Connection

Scott Whitlock
January 19th, 2006 5:24 PM
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Harry Belafonte recently compared George W. Bush and the architects of the Iraq war to those who planned the terrorist attacks of 9/11. In a speech on Sunday, January 15, he said:

"Killing is our easiest tool....It is an act that has driven fear and terror into the hearts of the American people. What is the essential difference in quality of our humanity for those who would do the cruel and tragic deed of flying an airplane into a building and killing 3,000 innocent Americans and those who would lie and lead the nation into a war that has killed hundreds of thousands? Excuse me, fellow citizens, if the line for me becomes a little blurred."

The pop singer made the above comments, which received 20 seconds of sustained applause, while speaking at a Duke University event celebrating Martin Luther King. (The speech can be heard HERE. The above comments can be found starting at 1:12:35.)

Belafonte’s statements were largely ignored by the mainstream media. On January 16th, FNC’s Hannity and Colmes did a story on the speech. However, Today, Good Morning America and The Early Show, among others, did not report it at all. Of those who did cover the event, such as the Raleigh News and Observer newspaper, some did not report other incendiary comments. Forty-one minutes into his speech, Mr. Belafonte asserted that the success of the United States could be traced to the "demise" of the poor:

"Our laws, our legislation, our foreign policy is always built on the demise of the poor. It is always built on the backs of those who are in need, by those who already have too much."

Duke University’s website also did not mention this part of the address. The Chronicle, Duke's independent student newspaper, did, however, report conservative opposition to the Belafonte event.

The following day, Monday, January 16, the pop singer made a late appearance at the Canaan Baptist Church in New York with Hillary Clinton, -- yes, this was her infamous "plantation" speech. The two did not share a podium, but spoke at different times. This is the second event that Clinton and Belafonte both attended. On January 13, they were at a Children’s Defense Fund dinner together. Could protecting Mrs. Clinton be the reason the media isn’t following the story?