Hooray for State Representative Todd Rutherford, a friend of the murdered Charleston pastor, Clementa Pinckney, for going on Fox News and telling Bill O’Reilly that Fox News promotes just the kind of inflammatory racism that would set off someone like Dylann Roof, the white racist who went on a killing spree in a historical black church.
O’Reilly played a clip of Rutherford theorizing on CNN about why Roof did what he did.
RUTHERFORD: He did so based on some ill-gotten belief, on some wrong belief that it’s okay to do that. He hears that, because he watches the news and he watches things like FOX News, where they talk about things that they call news, but they’re really not. They use that coded language, they use hate speech, they talk about the president as if he’s not the president.
O’Reilly let out a big sigh, then asked, “You gonna stand by that – I mean, it’s disturbing. I know you’re upset and I know it’s an emotional day.”
Yes, Rutherford stood by his comments.
RUTHERFORD: It is disturbing but it is disturbing to most African Americans to watch as Fox News continues to cover stories as to whether the president is truly the president, whether he was born in this country, whether his birth certificate’s legitimate…
O’Reilly interrupted. “I don’t know anybody on this network who does that. No one. And I see everything.”
Well, O’Reilly must have missed quite a bit. As I noted on June 30, 2011, Sean Hannity promoted birtherism on March 23, 2011, March 24, 2011, two segments on March 25, 2011 and on March 29, 2011, Hannity repeatedly tried – but failed – to push GOP presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty into playing the birther card along with him. Plus, Media Matters posted about Hannity promoting birtherism on April 15, 2011, April 25, 2011 and April 26, 2011. That’s not counting the warm reception he gave to birther Jerome Corsi in a 2009 interview.
Besides Hannity, Greta Van Susteren, Geraldo Rivera, Lou Dobbs, Fox & Friends, Jeanine Pirro and Sarah Palin have either helped validate birtherism or, at the least, they did not smack it down as a racist and utterly discredited smear.
The sad thing is, birtherism may be the least of the racism that regularly streams out of Fox News – including from Bill O’Reilly. And, by the way, O'Reilly's own inflammatory attacks on Dr. George Tiller preceded his assassination.
“Now you say that this Roof kid watches Fox News. Do you know that he watches Fox News?” O’Reilly asked Rutherford.
Rutherford pointed out that he had never said Roof watches Fox. That was in the very clip that O’Reilly had just played. But O’Reilly missed that, too. “You said he watches Fox News,” O’Reilly insisted.
When Rutherford explained, O’Reilly interrupted to accusingly ask, “You’re equating what Dylann Roof did in that church to our commentary? …Are you gonna stand there tonight and say that Fox News justifies brutal crimes against black Americans? Is that what you’re going to do?”
Rutherford had said nothing of the sort, but O’Reilly didn’t care.
"You are again inflaming the rhetoric," Rutherford told O'Reilly. "You are exactly what I’m talking about. …What I said is, people watching the news that they think are news but it is not. News stories like whether the president is a citizen of the United States – that’s not news, that’s fallacy. That was carried on your network, on Fox News, for years, knowing that any person born to a U.S. citizen woman would be a U.S. citizen child.”
Now O’Reilly acknowledged Fox had covered birtherism but, he argued, it was “carried on every network but it wasn’t endorsed by any responsible person.”
In the first place, while no “responsible” Fox pundit may have endorsed birtherism, that’s no excuse for promoting it without shooting it down. Secondly, since when does Fox point to the rest of the media as a reason for doing anything? And thirdly, why did Fox continue to treat Donald Trump as a legitimate pundit on Fox? Why didn’t O’Reilly mention birtherism during his lengthy interview with Trump after he announced his presidential candidacy?
O’Reilly – who never met Pinckney – closed the segment by saying, “I gotta say, I think Senator Pinckney - I know you’re a good friend of his and I know you’re upset - but I don’t think he would have embraced that kind of rhetoric today, sir. I really don’t.”
Watch it below, from the June 18 The O’Reilly Factor.
Fox did side with Eric Garner and Walter Scott when they were killed by the police. But not to the point of supporting any demonstrations, of course.
In the famous “shut up” segment of the Outfoxed movie where Jeremy Glick, the son of a 9/11 victim, debates O’Reilly about opposing war “in our name,” Glick talks about preparing for the interview, knowing that it would be contentious. He said he watched O’Reilly segments and timed, with a stopwatch, how long he’d have to speak before getting interrupted, so that he’d be able to get his points out. Which he did. And just think how much damage he did to Fox News in that one segment.
If you ask me, he put all the professional Democrats and liberals to shame. It just infuriates me how poorly prepared they are and how namby pamby they are in response. None of them even go as far as Rep. Rutherford.
That’s understandable, BillO, when you have this point of view:
http://cdn.gottabemobile.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/head-up-ass.jpg
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It makes the geezer base livid and is good for doing exactly what this guest says it does: cause the white viewers to despise the blacks.
O’Reilly is a jerk, but he’s not stupid. he knows exactly what he is allowing to be said on his show.
But I still think that Rutherford should have attempted to lay out some other racist examples anyway. It may be enough to make the viewer(s) wonder just why it is that BOR is hell-bent on shutting up a particular guest with his interruptions – enough maybe to cause the viewer(s) to start fact checking what BOR says and what is lib guest is trying to say; it may cause the viewer(s) to seek out some blogs that provide some counter to what BOR is pushing and what he’s trying to shut down. I should know because that’s what happened to my spouse and I. That’s how I came to find NHs, Crooks & Liars, DailyKos, MediaMatters, etc. And now we know just how full of sh!t and agenda-driven Mr. “No Spin Zone” really is. :-]
Rutherford: “If I can just get a word in edgewise, Bill….”
BOR: “Well, certainly, go ahead.”
R: “You see, when”
BOR: “I’m not stopping you from talking.”
R: “Yes, Bill, you”
BOR: “I’d never keep a guest from talking.”
R: “But you’re doing”
BOR: "Every guest who’s ever been here knows that I’ll let them make their point.
R: “And I appreciate that but, Bill”
BOR: "Is it my fault that you won’t just answer my questions truthfully?
And, it’s about this point that either Rutherford would be put back on the defensive (and looking like an impertinent, mean-spirited guest) or O’Reilly would “suddenly” find himself having to end the segment.
From Ellen’s post:
Yes, Rutherford stood by his comments.
RUTHERFORD: It is disturbing but it is disturbing to most African Americans to watch as Fox News continues to cover stories as to whether the president is truly the president, whether he was born in this country, whether his birth certificate’s legitimate…
O’Reilly interrupted. “I don’t know anybody on this network who does that. No one. And I see everything.”
_____________
And, a few paragraphs later, we read this:
What I said is, people watching the news that they think are news but it is not. News stories like whether the president is a citizen of the United States – that’s not news, that’s fallacy. That was carried on your network, on Fox News, for years, knowing that any person born to a U.S. citizen woman would be a U.S. citizen child.”
Now O’Reilly acknowledged Fox had covered birtherism but, he argued, it was “carried on every network but it wasn’t endorsed by any responsible person.”
So, Bill at first said that “No one” at FoxNoise did stories about birtherism but then does a 180 and pulls the old “we did, but so did everyone else” argument.
If O’Reilly were a witness under oath, that would be the gotcha! moment where his entire testimony would be followed by the judge’s instructions to disregard everything he’d ever said on the stand.
(Sorry—I only got that far in the story before I felt compelled to comment. Now, to go back to the post.)
Exactly, Ellen. I wish Mr. Rutherford had been better prepared with more examples of the every day/stealth kind of racist rhetoric that FOX “news” uses to influence the mindset of its viewers . I’ll give him kudos for going on BOR’s show but, imho, it was a missed opportunity.
Rep. Rutherford should have shown a copy of the racist comments from Hate Nation as proof.
These ignorant, third-rate producers know exactly what they are doing, and we will continue to expose their little methods to the masses.
Pay off his contract and send him packing.
