In last night’s Democratic debate, the mainstream media aggressively overlooked their Great White Hope’s racial characterizations of black people and their parenting. Why? Because many of them have already made their choice for the Democratic presidential nominee and they are unwilling to acknowledge any of his negative aspects. They want the status quo, they do not want change and they are even willing to ignore racial insults from their favored candidate to have a center/right, pro-corporate white man in the White House.

Is this just hyperbole by someone who favors a different candidate in the Dem primary? To be upfront, I am Progressive and I do favor Elizabeth Warren in the primary but I am on record here countless times affirming that I will vote for whichever Democrat wins the primary. Even if it turned out to be Biden…but I think that would be a serious problem for Dems winning the General Election in 2020. And the MSM would have the stain of an existential loss to Trump on their hands…but I’m sure they’d whitewash that away too.

Judge for yourself, here is the clip from last night’s debate in Houston, when Biden was asked about racial inequality:

First, please note Biden’s initial response to first being told by ABC News correspondent Linsey Davis, a black female moderator (one of only 4 in the history of debates), that she wanted to talk with him about race. He smiles and snickers. Why? How is that an appropriate reaction? Perhaps he recognized that he was about to be held responsible for a racial statement of his in his past?

Davis begins by detailing how in the past, Biden responded to school segregation by saying he feels no responsibility for “the sins of my father and grandfather” and with regards to reparations for slavery, “I’ll be damned if I feel responsible to pay for what happened 300 years ago.”

Wow. Isn’t that kind of white self-righteousness something we could easily imagine Donald Trump or one of his bigoted cultists spouting? And this came out of the mouth of a Democratic candidate? Of course, Biden’s response was not to apologize for having said that, he just pivoted quickly away to “red-lining” (huh?). Then quickly spun away from that to a pie in the sky promise of tripling money to Title 1 schools, raising teacher pay to $60,000 and installing flying unicorns in every gym (of course he had no legit proposal of how any of that would work or be paid for).

Then it took a turn for the worse. While the issue was about racial equality and segregated schooling, Biden pointed at the inferior psychological state of black people as a major part of the problem. He stated that more psychologists were needed in their schools then, in a most racist turn, declared that social workers needed to be brought into homes with black parents to “help them deal with how to raise their children”.

So…there aren’t a lot of white parents who need instruction on parenting their children (SEE: Every mass shooter and other rabid racists who became that way due to their parents)?

Biden went on to describe black parents in this way, “It’s not that they don’t want to help, they don’t know quite what to do. Play the radio, make sure the television…excuse me…make sure you have the record player on at night. Make sure the kids hear words.”

My question is, why aren’t people hearing Biden’s words? Putting aside his frozen-in-time mind that thinks people still sit around the Philco console listening to The Jack Benny Show or set the needle down on the Victrola to listen to a 78 RPM single of Glenn Miller (lapses like these should be far more troubling to voters than they seem to be), his old school white paternalism towards black people should be recognized as offensive and seriously out of touch by the MSM.

Yes, older black people strongly support Biden, primarily because he was President Obama’s VP. But would any other candidate get away with stating that the real issues needing to be dealt with when it comes to racism and school segregation is that black children need to be treated for psychological problems and black adults aren’t capable as parents and need to be taught how to parent?

Wouldn’t a reasonable person have expected a response to racism and segregation that would have condemned the current structure of our economic and public school system that especially neglects African Americans in poor neighborhoods and seek to solve that institutional racism?

Maybe solving economic injustice and balancing the scales is the big picture solution a Democratic candidate should promote? Maybe putting out the fire is more important than blaming it on those who have been injured by it and framing them as helpless victims who are part of the problem?

In addition to refusing to apologize for his racist stances in the past and evidencing his white paternalist prejudices, Biden made many gaffes betraying his declining mental acuity. He called Bernie Sanders “President” (I’m sure Berners enjoyed that one), he stated that people who lost their jobs could buy into his health plan then denied he said “buy in” then changed the subject and said people who couldn’t afford it would automatically be enrolled and lastly, especially later in the debate, rambled here and there with word salad.

But if you were watching MSNBC for the debate analysis, as I unfortunately did, the white paternalist got a full whitewash by the Republicans and moderates who dominate that channel (why is it that MSNBC is mostly a channel populated by disaffected Republicans who insist on telling Dems who they should vote for? How did that work out when they did it in their own party…that they had to abandon?)

The chorus on MSNBC included proven prevaricator and elitist Brian Williams, insightful but sometimes-tunnel-visioned Nicole Wallace, belligerent and aggressively center-right Chris Matthews, conservative Dem who lost in a record Dem win nationally in 2018 because she had the poor reasoning to chase after Trump voters instead of Democrats, Claire McKaskill, etc. They all sung a nauseating refrain of group-think to whitewash all of Biden’s sins.

Not one mention of the racist-tinged response Biden made to moderator Linsey Davis. However, the lion’s share of the Biden whitewashing they all nodded to was:

a. Biden’s mental acuity issues should be ignored because Trump’s lying is much worse.

b. Biden’s numbers in the polls have held strong and steady (Soon after Biden entered the race, on 5/6/2019, Biden polled at 46%. This week, Biden polled at a new low of 27%)

c. Biden’s unchanging polling (which is a falsehood, see above) proves Americans don’t care about his gaffes or mental status.

d. Democrats need to nominate a moderate to win back Trump voters in swing states and Biden is best positioned to do that (nope, Trump cultists are not big on reasoning and changing their minds. The real wealth of untapped voters, like those who helped Dems win their record victory in 2018, are their natural allies who don’t always vote, minorities, women and youth).

e. Biden is leading now in most demographics so he will be hard to beat (Hillary Clinton led Barack Obama in the polls at this point in September 2007, 41%-27%. A few weeks before the Iowa caucus, which Obama won, Hillary led by 40%-32%.)

f. Biden is the most electable (not an issue, all of the top 5 Dem candidates beat Trump in many polls by big margins. It doesn’t matter if Biden has the widest margin over Trump at 16% and Warren has a margin over Trump of 12%, both are just as electable).

It’s not surprising that center/right Republicans, who dominate much of MSNBC as hosts and pundits (excluding Hayes, Maddow and O’Donnell) are trying to push their alternative facts on the moderate and Progressive Dems who watch them more than other news channels. However, it is not principled nor honest.

Biden has proven in three debates already that he is not steady. Waiting for Biden to respond to a question or an attack is like watching a YouTube video of a skateboarder grinding on a railing, will he land triumphantly or slip and wipe out in a very painful way?

The unfortunate truth is that Biden is loaded with racist and sexist baggage that may be quickly dismissed by the MSM’s Republican pundits who want a center/right Dem (that reminds them of old school center/right Repubs) but don’t doubt that it will be viciously exploited by Republicans and Trump in a General Election.

A seriously flawed candidate should not be acceptable to Democrats when an election of the existential importance of 2020 is at stake. Have we forgotten 2016 so quickly? Rationalizing away or powering through all the negatives Hillary brought with her to get her over the finish line in the primaries did not keep those issues from being blown up massively in the General Election.

The lesson from 2016 should be, nominate someone who is inspiring to voters and brings with them too little baggage to be buried under. The media types who are Republicans and lean center/right or right, are more preoccupied with filling the Dem nomination slot with someone reflecting their establishment sensibilities. That is different from picking the candidate most likely to beat Trump though they don’t recognize that.

These NeverTrump Republicans in the media do not want to see or acknowledge truths that interfere with their memes about Biden winning the nomination. They don’t want to engage in big-picture thinking and envision what a General Election against Trump (and the Russians) would really be like with such a flawed and vulnerable candidate as Biden.

Their thinking led to moderates like Jeb Bush losing primaries and Trump taking over their party and the White House. Not a great track record for people who now want Democrats to follow them. They don’t get it, this is not the era for old, white, establishment, incrementalists. Voters don’t want that, they’ve made that clear in the past two elections.

So Democrats should listen to the talk on the street of their fellow Democrats and independent voters, they should pay attention to recent history and election results, not Republicans in the MSM claiming to know best who Democrats really should nominate for President.

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Nonpartay
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Nonpartay

Aside from Hayes, Maddow, and O’Donnell, I’m finding it harder and harder to watch anything else on MSNBC. I gave up on Joy Reed because she talks too fast, and I needed a break on the weekends anyway. But the main thing that bugs me about all the shows is how they keep floating pictures of the Orange Meanie on the screen as other people are talking about him. Why? We know what he looks like. It’s not like we’ve never seen his face, and it’s not pretty.

I agree with you, as someone who favors younger candidates, especially Elizabeth Warren, that Democrats need to be appealing to Democrats. If all the Democrats and those of us who are liberal independents came out and voted in 2016, in spite of Comey’s last-minute nonsense, we would, as the protest sign said during the Women’s March, all be at brunch. There are enough Democrats to beat any Republican if they just come out and vote. I realize some districts are hideously gerrymandered, but even a lot of those districts had Democratic wins in 2018 because our people voted. We don’t need to talk any of the Orange Meanie’s fans into not being his fans. There are more of us than there are of them. But they vote. Therein lies the difference.

And btw, Joe Biden doesn’t have even half the Democrats supporting him. He may poll higher than the others, but his numbers have never been great. I have no idea why the media would be promoting him and ignoring his obvious flaws. I would vote for him if he’s the nominee and hope for the best—he’s certainly better than the Orange Meanie—but really, how about a woman? Someone younger? Someone more up to the rigors of the office? It couldn’t hurt.

TOCB
Member

I am an MSNBC junkie. I agree that the prime time line-up is good, but I also like Joy, Ari and Ali & Stephanie. I also agree that Warren is going to be a great president.

Nonpartay
Member
Nonpartay

Do you think she’ll get the nomination? I know people who like her really like her. I’ve always been sort of fascinated with her since the first time I saw her on The Daily Show. 🙂 Her schoolmarm persona just might appeal to enough “conservatives” that she could win the election even if some Democrats don’t vote.

kesmarn
Admin

I watched the PBS NewsHour this evening as well as Washington Week with Bob Costa and the usual panel, and no one raised this issue at all in the entire 90 minutes of airtime that those two shows encompass! How could they have missed it? So thanks so much for raising this issue, AdLib.

I’ve seen polls that show that the preferred candidate of Black voters under 30 is actually Bernie Sanders. Why Biden has so much support from older Black voters is — frankly — a mystery to me. Yes, of course I realize that he was veep during Obama’s eight years. But are people listening to what he’s saying now? And has been saying for years?

I was talking to a centrist Dem friend this morning and she was pretty much convinced that Biden would be the eventual nominee. (But then, she does watch MSNBC religiously.) And she was pretty much okay with that. All I could say in reply was that if that turned out to be the case, I was fairly certain that we would be seeing 2016 (2.0 Version) again in 2020. “Let’s just play it ‘safe’ one more time and watch what happens.” i couldn’t think of anything else to say to her. Very disappointing.

NoManIsAnIsland
Member
NoManIsAnIsland

I watched the PBS NewsHour tonight and was really disappointed Biden’s
sickening racism seemed — I’m afraid — almost deliberately ignored.

If older Black voters continue to be oblivious to Biden’s naked racism,
there must be a massive effort to get out the primary votes of the Black
voters under 30 to help keep Biden from getting the nomination — if it
comes to it.

I think, as well as hope, Biden will have faded as a viable candidate well
before the primaries even start; but it seems there’s already a concerted
effort on the part of the reactionary Democratic establishment and their
allegedly centrist supporters to make Biden the Hillary Clinton of 2020 —
although they foolishly expect different results!

kesmarn
Admin

NoMan, I had to wonder whether PBS had made a conscious choice to “overlook” Biden’s comments as well. Maybe it’s just me — but it seems over the last few years, PBS (which used to pride itself on its neutrality) has developed its own agenda. You may have noticed — as I have — that a huge preponderance of its “experts” on political issues are from the Washington Post. Which — as we all know — is owned by Jeff Bezos. Granted, the WaPo has done some extremely good reporting. But there’s little doubt that they have their own (Bezos-guided) editorial stance too. They also swap reporters with NBC. Yamiche Alcindor and Bob Costa will periodically appear on Chuck Todd’s NBC show on Sunday, for example. As we all know again, the “MS” in “MSNBC” stands for Microsoft. So here we have two corporate giants — Amazon and Microsoft — dictating a huge amount of the information that television viewers are fed. And other networks are similarly influenced by other major corporations. That’s worrisome.

So yes, there does seem to be strong pressure to make Biden the Hillary Clinton of 2020. And as you implied in your final sentence: “The definition of madness is………”

NoManIsAnIsland
Member
NoManIsAnIsland

I’ve noticed that, too. And I’ve also noticed the NewsHour often
has Matt Schlapp, Chairman of the American Conservative Union
on to represent the so-called “conservative” — but actually right-
wing reactionary Republican — view without ever mentioning that his wife, Mercedes Schlapp worked for trump as the White House Director of Strategic Communications in the Trump administration until July 19 this year. And she appeared speaking for trump from time to time.

Hello, PBS, conflict of interest anyone?

kesmarn
Admin

Good catch, NoMan! I’ve learned something today!

NoManIsAnIsland
Member
NoManIsAnIsland

Thank you, Kesmarn. And really as far as I’m
concerned, this is only the tip of the proverbial
iceberg.

My newsflash for the NewsHour producers: There are NOT two sides to every story, and it’s the depth of journalistic irresponsibility to pretend there that are.

For a very long time, it has seemed to me the NewsHour has almost gone out of its way to
seek out a right-wing reactionary Republican to “balance” the viewpoint of a liberal or a progressive authority or a respected and knowledgeable retired diplomat or other retired government official.

Granted it’s easier — and it’s probably more
productive — to find hens’ teeth than to find responsible and rational conservative commentators, but I don’t think there’s any valid reason for the NewsHour to help political
extremists spread their noxious views in the guise of providing necessary “balance.”

There’s a reason the network is called “Public Broadcast Service.” It has a duty to be as impartial as it can; and in my opinion it could and should do a much better job in living up to it.

TOCB
Member

I don’t think Biden is a racist, but he is an old white male who was indoctrinated about race/ethnicity during Jim Crow and a time when white males had all power. He is not a bad person, but he is not a good choice for president in the 21st century.

I am not convinced that most older black voters support Biden that much. Jim Clyburn might support him and that might be why he polls so well in SC, but I don’t think he polls that well with older blacks in other parts of the country.

Although the main stream media is saying that Warren lacks black support, she is viewed very highly among black women, which is a key Democratic demographic.

kesmarn
Admin

TOCB, I agree in that I don’t think Biden is a bad person either. I really believe his heart in the right place. But as you say, he’s a product of his era.

It’s interesting to read your observation that you’re not convinced that most older black voters support him. I’m relieved to hear that. I forget what publication posted the original article that I read which indicated that most of Biden’s support among black voters did not come from younger black citizens, so I’d be hard pressed to cite the statistics/polls that were used to support that p.o.v in the article. I’m glad you have a different take on that.

Also interesting to read that black women have a positive opinion of Warren. Having worked the polls for a number of years one thing I have observed (in Ohio at least) is that black women vote! (Not that black men don’t… LOL!) But I would say the ladies have the greater numbers in that area around here.

Kalima
Admin

Here is someone else who seriously agrees with you. It was mind boggling and got a lot of journalists in the international press pointing it out.

We just witnessed ‘one of the most explicitly racist moments of all time in a Democratic debate’: author

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/09/we-just-witnessed-one-of-the-most-explicitly-racist-moments-of-all-time-in-a-democratic-debate-author/

NoManIsAnIsland
Member
NoManIsAnIsland

Bravo, AdLib! If Joe Biden had any capacity for self-examination and
repentance, he would be mortified by his show of openly patronizing
and appalling racism directed last night at a black moderator, no less!

I’m deeply ashamed that someone with Biden’s very checkered record
is being held up as the great (and I deliberately refrain from using the
word “white”) hope of the Democratic Party to retake the presidency
in 2020.

Anyone who thinks Biden will bring more low information and racist
former Democrats who voted for trump back to vote for him than he
will lose among the multiple demographic groups without whose
support no Democratic candidate can win, is very sadly mistaken.

And as for the mainstream media, it’s so clueless and subservient to
establishment and corporate interests and so out of touch with today’s
political realities, it should be called the “muddledstream” media.