Race Issues

On the Wednesday, April 30, Hardball with Chris Matthews, guest and MSNBC political analyst Howard Fineman -- formerly of Newsweek -- mocked Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan's intent to visit impoverished areas as a plan to "introduce himself to the bro," and went on to complain that Ryan's budget "whacks away at" programs to help the poor.

CNN's Jake Tapper gave a full segment to Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson calling Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas an "Uncle Tom," but the broadcast networks completely ignored the controversy on Wednesday evening. The networks' blackout of a Democrat using a racial insult against a Justice shows a clear double standard after their deluge of coverage of Los Angeles Clippers owner…

On the Wednesday, April 30, The Reid Report, MSNBC host Joy Reid attacked Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan's budget plan, claiming that it "guts" programs to help people in poverty, and ended up cracking that he, like Mitt Romney, "wants to fire Big Bird" because the budget would end federal government funding for PBS. [See video below.]

On Wednesday, Jake Tapper set aside a full segment on his CNN program to Rep. Bennie Thompson's "Uncle Tom" insult of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Tapper spotlighted the "racially-charged" and controversial" remarks, where the Mississippi Democrat also denigrated Senator Mitch McConnell and opponents of ObamaCare in general as "racists." The anchor turned to correspondent Dana Bash…

MSNBC's Ed Schultz on Wednesday found a way to connect conservatives to NBA owner Donald Sterling's racist rant. Talking about Republicans in Congress, he sneered, "Not raising the wage, the minimum wage, is every bit as racist as comments made by Cliven Bundy and Donald Sterling. It's just displayed in a different way." [See video below. MP3 audio here.] Ascribing bigotry to any political…

ABC, CBS, and NBC have set aside over 146 minutes of air time on their morning and evening newscasts to the controversy surrounding a racist tirade by L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling. However, as of Wednesday morning, the Big Three networks have yet to pick up on a Tuesday scoop from Buzzfeed's Andrew Kaczynski, who discovered "shocking racial comments" by a sitting Democratic congressman…

Donald Sterling, the beleaguered owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, has been banned from the NBA for life. But for some in the media, the league's disciplinary action is something that should be pursued against socially conservative owners by virtue of their political beliefs. [Video below. MP3 audio here.] Take Esquire political blogger Charlie Pierce, for example. Appearing as a guest on…

When network journalists decide a story is important, they make sure it dominates the airwaves. Over the course of three and a half days, ABC, CBS and NBC vigorously investigated a racist rant by Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, offering 146 minutes and 39 seconds of coverage since Saturday night. CBS devoted the most, a whopping 52 minutes and 13 seconds.  NBC came in second with…

MSNBC guest Dorian Warren thinks that racism is behind the GOP's opposition to Medicaid expansion, affirmative action, and a minimum wage hike. Warren is a professor of political science and public affairs at Columbia University. "There's a distinction we should make between racist words and speech, and racist practices and policies. We should be focused on the policies and the racial impact…

Gavia Baker-Whitelaw lamented how the movie depictions of Spider-Man and other superheroes are all "straight, white men" in a Tuesday item on Salon.com titled "America deserves better superheroes: Why a straight, white Spider-Man is no longer a real underdog." Baker-Whitelaw, a "fandom and Internet culture" reporter for the website The Daily Dot, zeroed in on the supposed "ramifications of…

As the political firestorm surrounding Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy’s racist remarks have been replaced by the racist remarks of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, The Washington Post felt it appropriate to ask if conservative principles are inherently racist. In an online piece in The Washington Post’s “Politics” section written on April 29, reporter Wesley Lowery ponders “Does small…

Leave it to MSNBC’s Chris Matthews to use the controversy surrounding Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling as the perfect opportunity to attack prominent Republicans.  Appearing on his nightly Hardball program on Monday, April 28, Matthews claimed that Sterling’s racist comments was the “worst such case of verbal self-destruction since Mitt Romney`s 47 percent debacle.” [See video below…

Demonstrating once again that Israel remains a favorite whipping boy of the liberal media, there was John Heilemann of New York magazine on today's Morning Joe defending John Kerry's grotesque claim that Israel risked becoming an "apartheid state." According to Heilemann, Kerry's ugly accusation was "not actually an unreasonable statement."  To his credit, Joe Scarborough promptly riposted,…

Politico's David Nather must have thought he was so clever. Here's how he opened a recent column: "It can happen to anyone, right? You rally behind a guy ... and suddenly he’s spewing racist bile and boy, does it splash on your face." Yes, I left out a few words, and I'll get to that. But before providing them, the quote just rendered would apply to how those at Los Angeles branch of the NAACP…