Some media figures just can’t let go of the idea that opposition to ObamaCare is fueled by hatred of the president himself. On Wednesday’s The Cycle, co-host Toure engaged in some Matthewsian ranting against opponents of the health care law.
Near the end of a roundtable discussion about the failures of Healthcare.gov, Toure redirected everyone’s attention to what he saw as the major issue: [See video below the break.]
"The Republican opposition is not really to ObamaCare or government spending; it is to Obama and anything that he has to say. And if he wanted to make the military bigger, they would suddenly be against that. Whatever he's got, they are against."
Toure then joked that The Cycle had video of “something crazy” that someone said to Obama in a recent meeting, cuing up a clip of recording artist Kelis, in one of her music videos, throwing a tantrum and singing/chanting, “I hate you so much right now/I hate you so much right now.”
The MSNBC host was not joking as he continued his rant:
"[T]hat's clearly how Republicans feel nowadays. They have been rooting for ObamaCare to fail, they have been rooting for the country to fail, ever since he was elected and it's kind of disgusting."
Guest Matt Miller of The Washington Post, unfortunately, seemed to agree with Toure’s sentiment. Citing recent Tea Party focus groups, Miller introduced race into the discussion:
"[T]here's a racial angle to this also where [Tea Party members] feel that ObamaCare is really part of some socialist plot to make minorities dependent when the truth is, the biggest percentage of the uninsured are white. You've got to be asking, what does a black man in the Oval Office have to do to give affordable health coverage to 25 million poor white workers?"
Media liberals are always so eager to play up the racial element and the views of the fringe. The fact is that most of the opposition to ObamaCare is policy-based. Miller and other journalists ought to confront those criticisms rather than cynically crying racism in an attempt to shut down honest debate.
Below is a transcript of the segment:
TOURE: Matt, I think the bigger idea here is that really we're not really talking about ObamaCare. The Republican opposition is not really to ObamaCare or government spending; it is to Obama and anything that he has to say. And if he wanted to make the military bigger, they would suddenly be against that. Whatever he's got, they are against. And it’s not just ideological, it's personal. We're hearing some noise about maybe something crazy was said to the president in a recent meeting, some people saying it didn't happen. But we actually have video of it. Can we roll that?
KELIS (singing): I hate you so much right now. I hate you so much right now. Ahhh!
TOURE: Okay, that's obviously the wrong video but that's clearly how Republicans feel nowadays. They have been rooting for ObamaCare to fail, they have been rooting for the country to fail, ever since he was elected and it's kind of disgusting.
MATT MILLER, The Washington Post: Well, it's also the case, what’s so weird -- if you look at the recent focus groups that Stan Greenberg and his colleagues did of the Tea Party, there's a racial angle to this also where they feel that ObamaCare is really part of some socialist plot to make minorities dependent when the truth is, the biggest percentage of the uninsured are white. You've got to be asking, what does a black man in the Oval Office have to do to give affordable health coverage to 25 million poor white workers? It's crazy.
ARI MELBER: Matt Miller. Standing up for the white people and the black people. Thanks for being here.
