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From tonight's opening segment:
Fox News has run with a few different stories this year that they really pushed all on their own. They weren't mainstream news stories -- they weren't even news, really. They were Fox agenda items, all following a very, very similar narrative. There was the Van Jones controversy, with Fox morphing the president's renewable-energy policy expert into an ex-con who served time after the Rodney King race riots -- not true. The other great Fox News crusade of the past year was against ACORN, an almost all-minority community organizing group which Fox characterized as stealing taxpayer money and an election. More recently, Fox News has crusaded against the New Black Panther Party, after video surfaced of two wackjob blacks at a polling station during the 2008 election. The Bush Justice Department investigated and found that the wackjobs hadn't intimidated voters that day, and Fox News has continued running the same footage over and over and over again.
The message? They're coming for you, white people. They're coming for you. Black people are coming for you, to take what's yours.
This week Fox News got a new crusade, alerting the world that an "Obama administration official resigned just a short time ago after she was caught on tape appearing to tell an audience that she had used her position to racially discriminate against white farmers." Except that USDA official Shirley Sherrod had told that audience no such thing.
Do you notice anything about those four stories -- Van Jones, ACORN, the New Black Panther Party, and now Shirley Sherrod? This isn't about racism. This isn't a story about picking on black people. This is a story about political outcomes, about the tried and true political strategy not of targeting black people but of targeting white people, about making white people feel afraid of African Americans as if they are not fellow Americans but rather a threat to what white people have.
Leave a Comment:
Thank You, for your show tonight. It's so sad that people in this country would rather except a LIE, before the TRUTH.
Thanks for exposing so well the political tool of anti-black racists being used by right-wing media (to try to gain more white votes for Republicans).
This is more than just getting votes. This is also about creating a general, public, racist discourse. Besides dividing the electorate, this discourse is also harmful to black people on a daily basis.
I watch TRMS frequently. What Fox news did is what Keith, Ed, and Rachel frequently do, what MSNBC is expert at. Obfuscating facts and twisting them to their point of view.I'm surprised it has taken Fox so long to run the radical left-wing playbook.
Citations please.
"Radical left-wing playbook" right... and there are 150 lesbian gangs in the DC area indoctrinating kids into homosexuality. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOpChXhglGg
You can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time.
SOOOO,
Let me get this straight. FOX is at fault because the White House, Vilsack and host of others decided on THEIR own to ask for resignation......(clearning throat) fire Sherrod? OH and because of FOX, 20 some states sued (and won) cases against ACORN. and OH, the New Black Panther Party is fine with all of you far lefties when they say they want to kill all the "cracker babies" Of course these aren't news stories. And if FOX is so bad and wrong, whyis it beating the daylights out of all other cable shows in the ratings?
For the same reason more people watch COPS than CourtTV.
Marc-2045314.... I don't remember anyone blaming Fox television for the firing of Ms Sherrod...I do remember them blaming Fox for not reporting the truth by showing the entire video...I do remember Fox television voicing their "outraged" when they showed the "edited" version of the video of Ms Sherrod ...I don't remember any news station condemning the courts for correctly prosecuting the wrong activities that ACORN was accused of and penalized for by the said courts, but I do remember fox television once again "editing" the "pimp show" video which once the UNEDITED video was shown the real "law breakers" turned out to be the "pimp" and his self-proclaimed "ho"....I have searched and searched for the death of "cracker babies" being killed by "black panthers"...have yet to find any...and in this country, thought one was innocent until proven guilty, Mr. Vilisack....and fox television has higher ratings because most right wingers cannot think for themselves but yet are dedicated enough to get their ideas and beliefs from someone, anyone...whereas liberals just check into other liberals, msnbc, when they have the time...
I consider myself a middle of the road kinda guy. I watch news shows on several different channels to try to get perspective from all angles.
Why would anyone (White House, USDA) act on a report from Fox News?? It was not just yesterday that many believe that they are not "Fair and Balanced". Fox is to blame for running a story, cut to look the way they want it. But my goodness, how stupid do the people look who believed . My first thought would have been to not trust Fox News and investigate further.
I hope someone learned that valuable lesson.
As everyone struggles to find a reason for the Obama administration's rush to judgment here.....i feel compelled to say what is so increasingly obvious--that the 'ends' which were brought about truly do reflect their own. It is hard to come to grips with the concept we are a little afraid of, in this case... that you will know them by their actions ..... Yet there it is, again & again & again.
All of the evidence is there before us...as Rachel painstakenly illustrated.....
But also, it is so important and valuable for Rachel to keep pushing at the true center of this story, which is to uncover the soft white underbelly of destructive conservative ideology throughout our system. I THANK HER SO MUCH for this ---
After all it WAS Rachel who futilely asked the most important question of all of candidate Obama when she proffered the idea of 'conservative ideology as a governing tool' to him.)
The brazenness of actors like Breitbart is shocking ---though understandable when you realize their own sense of untouchability...... knowing there will be no opposition (by democrats Presidential or otherwise) to the most flagrant & premeditated acts perpetrated in the name of corporate conservative goals. Shockingly gargantuan is the power and reach of this network
(Note, political opposition is a mythic concept...kept alive for just such occasions)
Please don't call Breitbart an actor. Some of my friends are actors and don't need to be associated with a schmuck like him.
Rachel continues to not state that Sherrod was actually fired before Fox News started their butchering of the story. Agreed that Fox News has there fair share of terrible news reporting. But here's the catch...All these media stations are slanted in some way. Alot of blame for this Sherrod case should be put on the NAACP and the White House Admin for poor judgement and jumping to conclusions as well as Fox News. Terrible job tonight Rachel
Thanks Rachael for swinging back. I don't consider anything that has come from Fox news as fact. The only time I watch it is if I am so unlucky as to be somewhere where it is turned on. I than ask the owner of said tv to turn it to something believable. Breitbart should be renamed DumbBart. If I was Shirley Sherrod I would sue this man until he was on welfare. Along with Fox news. I gort my cable company to drop fox to my house as I don't pay for trash talk.
ACORN was innocent . Cons are liars
http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/why-wont-media-address-real-issue-aco
Juan Carlos Vera is suing James O'Keefe, the ACORN. ... organization after deceptively edited and secretly recorded video tapes of a meeting ...
WOW! What an unbelievable attempt to increase viewership. How could someone go on & on & on & on & on over what every media outlet does; They report the news based on the information they have at the time. Do you know, for sure, that FOX had the entire video when they first reported the story? Did you spend any time verifying "the facts" in regards to your report on how FOX handled this story.
It would appear, by your extremely immature little fake "Hare Wins" story, that you are just as interested in sensationalizing a story as Rush or Bill, unfortunately you just lack the ratings they have. Maybe it is because you are more biased than the Right or the Left. Your type of reporting isn't even entertaining, it just shows that you you are more biggoted than those you attack.
If it fits their racist agenda, they "have" to believe.
It is truly sad to see a major "news?" channel using the fears some white people still have, in such a way. In fact, in ways, oh so scarily reminiscent, of former Klansman David Duke.
you are still at it you lie and blame fox news for every thing other networks did the same thing and you no it talk about haters you all are the worst i am not a rep but you people push people like me to look at the other side just for the remarks that are made get a life and you are not a journlest either so deal with it
huh?
It is called race baiting, Chastity. A technique as old as racism, itself. David Duke was a master at covert and overt race baiting, as analysis of his campaign speeches shows. Whoever, edited the tape on which Shirley Sherrod told a story of learning, chose to cut out the explanation that she had learned better. She started...as in the beginning... by explaining that it was such a story. Did whoever edited the tape, start watching the tape in the middle? Would anyone looking for a good story? It might have started on the internet, but Fox also, chose to air the tape, with or without, checking the full tape. Regardless, it was race baiting.
She could really use spell check.
...perhaps some grammar and punctuation, too. But we're talkin' Fox, here, so be easy, now.
I was never actually a professor, but I was a graduate teaching assistant in college, and also taught high school for a semester. You are never condescending, nor insulting, to your students.
...some self-esteem counseling, too!
Better ESL instruction, maybe?
Actually, I am sort of sorry, in reviewing my comment above, and realizing it is an insult. I have always believed that insults were counterproductive.
pens...for sure...I mean you responded to that long run on sentence...I didn't even get what chastity said, but could tell it was meant to be insulting...
Other than that pensword I enjoy your posts whether I agree with them or not...
I vote "huh?" as the most eloquent response. ; )
Yup.
Responses like Chastity's make me secretly wish there was a minimum IQ requirement to vote. Try having a rational thought now and then, it's refreshing.
Geekgirl142
An IQ minium would require an IQ test and that would be Jim Crow.
Tell it like it is, Rachel; you are so right.
BINGO! The right is on a witch-hunt. They will stop at nothing. Anyone is fair game. They are worse than non-productive, they are destructive.
I believe the SHERROD firestorm was all politically calculated in order to take away coverage of President Obama’s sweeping financial reforms. It is now obvious to me why President Obama has yet to receive credit for all of his accomplishments. The far right political operatives keep working to steal President Obama’s spotlight with controversial news that conveniently happens at the most opportunistic moments.
you've got that right...the same way the beautiful, but still under the influence and guidence of parents "high school photo" of Dr. Maddow, made its way online just when the Dr. Maddow and the TRMS team put out the best coverage, and concepts of the war in Afghanistan since the war there began....
I don't give a rats backside how popular Bill O'Reilly, or Shawn Hannity, or Glen Beck is-thank God for a voice of reason in all of this right wing blather, and to think that I used to be an avid Fox News fan and a rabid Republican. That must have been at least a million years and a long lifetime ago. I am now truly ashamed to say that I have any connection with any of these idiots. They really don't speack for me or for many other Americans. I, for one want to take back America for the dis-enfranchised and the truly hurting of America, and there are so many of them. I really do enjoy your rapid-fire and very (almost brutal) telling of the truth and your very succienct way of presenting clearly both sides of every issue and then let us choose. Keep up the good work and keep on keeping on. Thanks Sharon
you are a loser and dumb a
Ms. Maddow
Thank you for a wonderful piece tonight. I can't tell you how much the subject matter appealed to me. I felt very sad for Ms. Sherrod and other African Americans like myself. You would think that we would get past being blamed for all this countries ills -- apparently not. Please keep up the good work with stories and commentaries like tonight.....Donna
I thank you for making so clear what "Fools News" and others like them are trying to do but it hurts my heart because I can remember being called the "n" word in school(and that was in the 60's). The klan has said so many times that they want a race war and that not news station has every intention on helping them get it going. If we can keep wonderful people like you on tv reminding everyone that it doesn't have to be like that I think we may make it peacefully anyway.
I hope so too rememberingwhen...
I see the propaganda techniques of Josef Goebbels are alive and well. And the Fox audience is goose-stepping merrily along with it.
Goebbels could have learned many tactics by studying American history. Scaring white people is nothing new.
After the election of Lincoln many in the South complained about his "Black" administration and it's easy to imagine what else might had been said.. All in order to scare the Southern whites and get them angry enough to fight in the Civil War.
Another example can be found in 1898 just before America invaded Cuba. There was much debate, especially in the Atlanta Constitution, concerning Blacks fighting in the war. Specifically, the fear of armed Blacks.
To drive that fear home the newspaper ran a large article, at least a half a page and maybe more at a time when entire daily newspapers were 10 pages or so, about the slave Nat Turner who killed several whites. Grotesque details permeated the article with the message that Blacks were going to come and kill you. Be afraid, very afraid.
These are two examples off the top of my head and with some research I'm sure there's hundreds of more examples that could easily be found.
As I said, Goebbels easily could have studied American history and seen how well scaring people works....he certainly used the same kind of tactics.
This overcharged media and administration is promoting racism. WHY did Maxine Waters included a race factor in the financial bill? Not low-income, need OR the ability to make payments (not just take the $ & run like the housing bailout debacles. Never in my lifetime have we been exposed to the daily politically-charged pronouncements racism.
Maddow played the same (Sherrod) video as Fox News - but her version cut just before the NAACP audience laughed and applauded Sherrod's bigoted statements.
Curiously, Sherrod has been offered a promotion! Maybe the White House should have just backed off and given the Ag Dept time to address the situation. Gibb's denied the WH had any input into the firing yet he apologized FOR the WH.
Do not be duped by the media or any politician that ramps up racism to promote themselves and their agenda.
um, guess you didn't hear about how that video was purposely edited to make her look like she made racist comments when she didn't? or about how the farmers in question have been on several new programs refuting everything fox claimed, that not only did sherrod help the farmers, but remains close friends with them even today?
Knotmore, watching the entire tape indicates no bigotry on speaker's part. Audience is not speaker. Emotional intelligence indicates that those involved even if only passively, would speak up and take responsibility for action or even inaction. Lack of emotional intelligence indicates that still, projection persists, blame is laid indiscriminately, etc.. I equate that type of rhetoric to equal " it's not my fault; you're the one who bent over to pick up the bar of soap."
Take your last sentence and send it to the Faux viewers where it belongs (as a legal disclosure before each FOX broadcast).
Beware of Grima, he whispers a plague into your ear.
Oh, and uh, Knotmore? Ahem... NO ONE applauded Ms. Sherrod's statements. The only thing they laughed at (tittered a little bit, would be more appropriate) was when she said "I knew what he was up to" in reference to Spooner's alleged "superior" act. I take it you're not black and probably don't get the reference, but it is not racist to acknowledge that you've witnessed racism.
When I saw the video my impression was that Ms. Sherrod's actions, 24 years ago, had nothing to do with raceism. She was relating a story of a man who was being a jerk (acting superior) while she was trying to help him. Because of his attitude she was, initially, unwilling to go that extra mile to help him. She assesed her feelings and understood that he was a product of his times and went on to help him save his farm. Remember, this was the "South" and the Civil Rights Legislation was only 20 years old or so. Therefore I can understand the farmer's attitude, at the time, and she came to that realization as well. I too, would have thought of turning him over to someone he was more comfortable with, ie.. a white lawyer, if it would help him save his farm. If you have ever been in a service oriented job, you may have come across this type of situation. How would you respond to an obnoxious person that you are in a position the help? Maybe the farmer was trying to hold onto some dignity while asking for help. Who knows? The bottom line is, Mr. Breitbart has accomplished what he set to accomplish. We are now seeing raceism in everything that anyone says or does.
Just look at this blog...and what it brought out...I see all the deleted posts and have read some that are pretty ... I guess...sad...
how in the hell do you no what that what farmer said was you there no you was not just going by what this women said the people in the aud still applaued so what does that make them did you not see that are are you just as hateful as rachel the other hater that people see through everyday
The people resonated with what Sherrod was saying because they have experienced it themselves. And history proves it. She took those same people and enlightened them.
I saw the interview with the farmers Mrs. Sherrod helped. At the end of the day their words mean a lot. More to me almost than all the rest of this. She helped those folks and they were very grateful. They thanked her again and said if not for Sherrod they would have lost their farm.
At the end of that situation, hate and prejudice did not rule the day. Good lesson for all.
Gotta love Faux News!
You are so totally awesome. I love having such an intelligent, articulate, well-educated person out there to make these points and make them big.
Everyone should look at the rap "What if the TeaParty were Black?" on Jasirix.com or YouTube. It is a very saavy look at this very topic of how race so twists us into uncomfortable, perplexed people in a nation that so needs to have a continuing, constructive discussion of the fundamental that racism is for the fabric of our national life, and international life, in the U.S.A. today and from the very beginning. I would so love to see you, Rachel, do a segment on this video and what it reveals.
you people on here are so strange if you don t agree with what goes on in the white house you are a rasicts why is that just don t get it he is not god and that is the truth
Chastity, are you aware that you are making things up, that we do not think Obama is god, that is the opposition saying that? They use phrases like the Messiah to get a reaction, it seems to work with the target audience and I will not stoop to say "you people", like you did 2 times. You are using race baiting yourself when you say "if you don't agree with what's going on in the white house you are a racists".
Are you feeling picked on? Because the truth is, there are people playing upon fear and race, using that, not that liberals are making you seem racist.
I know, sometimes it's hard to see it, when it's right there.
Rachel - I'm so glad you have a platform for your message. You're brilliant and you educate many people everyday. Great segment - Thank you!
I just don't understand why these news people don't stop and think that Ms. Sherrod and the ACORN employee in San Diego are good people just trying to do the best job they can and they never did anything to Fox News. Why destroy their lives for the sake of some political agenda, some juicy news story. These are human beings but I don't think any one at Fox even cares about their fellow human beings they only care about sounding clever. Thank you Rachel for being honest and having integrity the youth of our country need some one to look up to.
Great show tonight Rachel. You pegged it.
Why is Jon Stewart always on vacation when we need him?
Scaring white America? It's way to easy.
lol -- true!
More scaring white people, read: more like highly offending them.
uh, values=porn=political leader?:
N.Y. gov hopeful and Tea Partier Carl Paladino joins Palin, Gingrich, et al. in opposing Muslim community center
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/07/22/paladino_against_ground_zero_mosque
NY Gubernatorial Candidate Carl Paladino's Racist and Sexist Email History
http://wnymedia.net/paladino/
you know, my grandmother was raised believing that drugs were bad because black men would rape her. then, civil rights were bad because black men would rape her. in fact, my grandmother believed pretty much her entire life that all black men wanted to do was rape white women. made me proud that the last vote she cast in her entire life was for barack obama. now that is true change.
i'm proud of your grandmother too!
Oh for a chance to set up Breitbart the same way he did Ms. Sherrod. What would'd you bet he'd cry "foul" and "out of context"?
Brietbart doesn't have anything to lose--he doesn't deserve any respect to start with.
Rachel - you and Keith are my two media heroes - what did we ever do without you?
I don't believe people do evil things for the sake of evil, or immoral things for the sake of immorality. They do it for a reason...to achieve a particular outcome. And usually it has something to do with power being used to get more power.
What I see in Breitbart is willingness to get power by trampling on the black community. I see certain people in the media willing to get ratings without any thought to how what they are broadcasting affects the psyche of the nation. And Fox only cares that the people working for them get ratings, not how they get them.
I used to watch Fox News a lot...a long time ago...like, say 9 years ago. I watched their coverage of September 11th. And you know how they kept playing the towers collapsing over and over and the Red Cross was like, "Hey, cable news, you're giving Americans PTSD by continually playing this in a loop." CNN listened and stopped. Fox News just disagreed with the Red Cross and kept at it because it gets ratings. That's when I stopped watching Fox News...not because they're right wing or biased, but because it is an organization with no moral compass.
When you have an organization with no moral compass, no ethics controlling it, it becomes a vessel for all kinds of crap. Fox's goal is ratings. The Right Wing news media concocts stories for political purposes that also get ratings. Fox doesn't care how they get ratings and there is a faction of conservatives that don't care how they get votes. They only use power to get more power. They're perfect for each other.
So when Fox News fans take jabs at TRMS ratings being half of Fox News, it doesn't prove that Fox News is better at journalism or editorials or thinking. They are good at giving people what they crave and even creating the craving, but journalism is more about giving people what they need.
Thank you, for as always, shining light on the subject as no one else can. If only your insight and wisdom could be spoon fed to all. You are my hero -
Rachel,
I love your show. I agree with your viewpoint about 99.9% of the time. I'm glad you're on air! You're the smart lesbian on TV. Thank the gods, we need you.
BUT you missed a chance today to do a bit of healing, instead of solely going for the sensationalism. George Wallace's actions way-back-when were deplorable. But you might ALSO have mentioned his own self-redemption. Unless I'm mistaken, at the very end of his life, he had HUGE regrets for having been a radical racist. And apologized very openly and profusely for his faults in this area.
It's a minor point of history. But a helpful and healing point you might have mentioned. MANY people manage to overcome their prejudices and repent in dust an ashes of their hard heartedness. George Wallace was one of those. And it is IMPORTANT to note that even HE later would have readily repudiated his old positions.
Still LOVE YOU!!!!
John
Dear John, (couldn't resist that lol)
I commend you for your ability to forgive, (I do not possess that quality in certain circumstances)...I condemn you for your choice of forgiving a man like George Wallace. George Wallace, as Governor, as a man who held the highest position of power you can attain in a state, deliberately and defiantly allowed, as he sat back and watched, the most horrendous atrocities perpetrated by Americans on fellow HUMAN BEINGS. On the streets of an american state, african american citizens were beaten with clubs, watered down with firehoses, attacked by dogs, regardless of gender or age, all because they wanted equal rights. I did not forgive him then, I do not forgive now, nor will I ever forgive him...and you know what bugs the crap out of me...when someone is on death's bed, believing he is about to be JUDGED for the life he has chosen to lead, suddenly becomes so profusely sorry for the heinious sins he committed...
btw...TRMS...terrific show as usual...
Dear Scotch43,
I hadn't thought that the main point of my message would be interpreted as a call to forgive George Wallace. My intent was WAY less expansive than that.
One of Rachel's great talents is her ability to teach. I had thought I was suggesting she mention the facts as a cautionary tale. To teach that even the most reprehensible bigots come to regret their actions.
But forgive George Wallace? I don't think so either.
Sorry to have given you the wrong impression. So sorry if anyone else interpreted my message to mean that bigotry should be tolerated in any way. The fault is mine. I wrote a stupid message.
Mea Culpa,
John
Way to go, KO—The witch hunt vs. Sherrod and those who made it possible
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#38353508
**gotta wait for Rachel on iTunes podcast :)
Awesome, Rachel.
Rachel, you are the best. I just have a few points to back up what you're saying.
1.) Van Jones was fired because he was a 9-11 Truther, not because of the other stuff. He was thrown under the bus by an administration that refused to defend him (and his undefendable beliefs).
2.) ACORN agents attempted to tell actors how to evade tax laws to set up brothels. ACORN's raison d'etre is to deliver illegal and minority votes to Democrats while collecting guilt money from businesses and government. Guilty on tape. If a crusading liberal reporter found a bank not giving $$ to minorities on tape, they would be lauded as a hero. Not so fast when shady liberal groups are busted.
3.) A summary judgment of guilty was founded against the Black Panthers. What the hell is Maddow talking about? They were found guilty of voter intimidation. From Stephen Hayes at the weekly Standard: "New Black Panther members were caught on videotape violating the law. The Justice Department had won a default judgment in the case. Obama administration political appointees rejected that victory in favor of a non-punishment punishment."
4.) Sherrod was canned by the Obama Administration who acted rashly because it prefers the first post-racial Prez not actually address any racial issues (for fear he will pull the sh*t he pulled in front of no teleprompters when discussing Skip Gates).
Hmmm...maybe my points (or "facts") don't back up what you're claiming. My bad.
Could have been a good tactic if it would have been the truth. Luckily for Rachel, her viewers are thinkers, that's why they're her viewers.
I remember that movie. He said, "you can't handle the truth". He ended up being escorted by guards out of the courtroom...for his own court-marshal...nice one
As we "right wingers" (what is that, anyway?) like to say: just the facts, ma'am!
1) Van Jones was not fired. He resigned.
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Van_Jones_environmental_jobs_adviser_to_US_President_Barack_Obama_resigns
2) The ACORN tape has already been debunked. Repeatedly. It is in fact a hoax with smoke and mirrors, a trick.
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2009/12/report_clears_a.php
3) The New Black Panthers are totally unrelated to The Black Panthers. They were not "found guilty" of voter intimidation. The DOJ only sought an injunction, which is like saying "don't that again in the future."
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2009/January/09-crt-014.html
van jones resigned just like General McCrystal resigned.
Rick, not really. Van Jones resigned because the media was picking over every thing he had ever said and done in the past that were not even related to his job. He was harrassed by Fox News. McCrystal resigned for what he said in the present that was directly related to his job.
Oh, wait, you were just trying to make a sarcastic over simplification.
Having communists beliefs affected every aspect of his job.
The red scare is over. The USSR has collapsed. It's 2010. I can't believe there are still people worried about communist beliefs when most people don't know what communist beliefs actually are.
That is so true Grrrl...
I wonder if it occurs to anyone that the good old US of freaking A is on the verge of collapse?
Watched your show tonight and you lied tonight. You said Van Jones never went to jail. He was arrested for protesting the Rodney King verdict. Charges were later dropped, but he was arrested along with other protestors. Also, you made a big deal about Glenn Beck calling Jones a communist. Well, Jones himself said that after the King verdict he became a communist. Why don't you practice what you preach: tell the truth!
More damning is the fact Jones was a 9-11 Truther.
Traci: Getting arrested and going to jail are two different things. The charges were dropped after the arrests for those involved. Spending jail time means the person is guilty. The purpose of our heads is not to carry hair around. Hair is just a marginal benefit. Don't be afraid; try to educate yourself. You may end up liking it!
Medusa, no, when you get arrested you don't go home and wait for trial, you go sit in a jail cell and await what comes next. I mentioned that charges were dropped. I didn't leave that part out. And. even if you want to say jail and arrest is different, she made it sound like he'd never been arrested. You can lie by omission. That might be the better way to put this. And, you didn't mention anything about his communist claim. Lastly, don't insult me. That's a problem I have with a lot of people who claim to be so intelligent is that they end up insulting people. I'm not afraid of anyone, I'm educated on several issues and I don't try to insult or belittle people who offer other opinions. However, I do call people liars when they lie. Especially if they are calling on others to be truthful.
Buffalo66: I didn't mention 9/11 truther because I didn't remember seeing anything where Maddow talked about that. I was trying to limit this to what I saw and heard her say last night.
I believe Dr. Maddow said that the right-wing noise machine called Jones "a convicted felon," which was definitely not true. I do not know if her claim is correct, that the words "convicted felon" were used by Beck, Hannity & co...but those were the words she used last night.
Medusa you really don't know about the process if you think once one is arrested they just sit in jail till it is resolved. Depending on the charges people are either held on bail or released on their own recognizance. Protesters do not just sit in jail they get processed then released quickly in most areas of this country. Most jails have two areas. One to house inmates that are awaiting trial or serving time and the booking area where most only spend a couple of hours before they are released. Also just because you are arrested does not mean you will even be arraigned for the charges you were arrested on.
Traci C.
If you have such a problem with people telling the truth then go watch Fox news. I am sure you will get the truth then!
She said he wasn't convicted, just wanted to show I was paying attention, like everyone else here. I figure the mishap with the military jargon, more needed to back up Rachel.