As NewsBusters has been reporting for months, Obama-loving media are busily depicting every criticism of the Administration as being racially motivated.
On Saturday, Don Lemon brought on a number of guests on "CNN Newsroom" to discuss how the recent controversy surrounding rapper Common's appearance at the White House is all because he's black (video follows with transcript and commentary):
DON LEMON, ANCHOR: All right. So, Tim, is there -- because I've been hearing this, and I've been hearing this, I think African-Americans, the ones I know, won't say it, but white Americans are saying to me, Don, you know, there's some racial undertones here.
Do you see that? I want you -- but I want to play this clip from Bill Maher last night and then we'll talk about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL MAHER, TV HOST: And, of course, this, to them, has nothing to do with the fact that he's black. You have to feel bad for people like Karl Rove and Matt Drudge and Andrew Breitbart. It's so hard to live in a color blind society when all the bad people are black. It's just hard for them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So, listen, I know that, you know, FOX will play this and say, look what CNN did, they invited these people on and what-have-you, just asking the questions. Is there some racial undertones here?
TIM WISE, AUTHOR, "COLORBLIND": Well, there's a racial disparity in the way that a lot of white folks view hip hop as opposed to country music where you have artists for years. I live in Nashville, Tennessee. There are folks that made their living, Johnny Cash, some of the earlier work that Porter Wagoner did when he talked about killing his ex-wife and burying her in the forest. I mean, no one said, oh, my God, we can't talk about Porter Wagoner or Johnny Cash.
There's a definite racial disparity in the treatment of different types of music. And I think the reason is because for a lot of white Americans, they believe that when black people talk about violence, it's autobiographical and they're getting ready to go kill somebody, and they realize that when white folks do it -- oh, they're just talking.
Except, of course, you know, the real thing -- and Bill O'Reilly, you had the clip of him, and he said, you know, the White House doesn't understand a lot of America. I think the bigger issue is that these critics don't understand is that there's millions of Americans whose understanding and experience of this country is not the Lee Greenwood, you know, thank God I'm free, proud to be an American version, it's a version of the folks who live in the south Bronx, who live on Pine Ridge Reservation, brown skin folks in Arizona right now who don't feel free.
And when they write about it either in a rhyme or in a poem, I think that's what scares these conservative white folks. They don't accept the fact there are millions of people for whom the experience of America is different than theirs and they certainly don't want to have to confront that.
WATSON: White Americans.
LEMON: So, are they trying to gain traction on this, Tim?
WISE: Yes. Are you asking me? I'm not sure.
LEMON: Yes, Tim. Yes.
WISE: Yes. Yes, yes. I mean, absolutely. Look, this is one of those ways you can push a button with people. The same way you can by questioning the president's academic credentials. That's a very clear button of racial anxiety and racial resentment.
LEMON: OK.
Yep. That's it. It's got absolutely nothing to do with the content of Common's so-called songs.
Like everything else since America elected it's first black president, it's all about race.
Exit question: are you getting tired of being called racist for every concern you have about this White House?
(H/T Weasel Zippers)
