CNN's O'Brien Continues Challenging Attempt to Spin Away 'Chains' Controversy

NewsBusters.org ^ | August 16, 2012 | Randy Hall

[Kaslin]

Cable News Network host Soledad O'Brien has clashed often with conservative guests on her program, but on Thursday, she pressed the liberal chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus when he tried to dismiss Vice President Joe Biden's comment that Republicans wanted to "put y’all back in chains."

During that morning's edition of the Starting Point program, O'Brien showed a clip of Biden's remarks, from his campaign stop in Danville, Virginia, then asked Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) what he thought about his fellow Democrat's comments. The scandal-plagued congressman responded succinctly: “Absolutely nothing.”

“I would never have even paid attention to it but for the fact that campaigns nowadays are waiting for any kind of little nugget to try to create an atmosphere of more and more discord,” he added.

It makes absolutely no sense that some kind of a little throwaway line is now being used to make Vice President Biden appear to have been throwing out these words in order to somehow attract dumb African-Americans who if they hear the word “chains” are going to automatically vote for him and President Obama.

After stating that Cleaver was unfairly “extrapolating” with his “dumb African-American” description, the host made a fascinating comment:

You cannot tell me that if in fact we were talking about Mitt Romney saying a line like that…that people would not be going crazy and crying about race-baiting and talking about tone and tenor and coded language. I think we would, wouldn’t we?

Apparently caught off guard by O'Brien's question, Cleaver clumsily responded that he wasn’t sure about her assertion, and that any such remark would depend on the context.

I know Vice President Biden, and when you look at the video….there’s only a sprinkling of African-Americans there, clearly in the minority of that crowd.

O'Brien again turned up the heat on Cleaver by noting that press reports had indicated the crowd was about 50 percent black, much like the Danville community.

“Why would the vice president go into a setting like that where presumably half the people wouldn’t have any understanding or feelings about what was going on?” Cleaver asked.

The reality is that the discourse in our politics has become unsophisticated, unpolished, unnecessary, and rather than trying to raise the discord to some degree, both sides look for little things that would remove the discussion from the things that matter to something that’s completely asinine.

At that point, The Blaze’s Will Cain, a contributor to CNN, noted that it was hard to reconcile Cleaver‘s position that our national discourse has gotten out of hand while at the same time dismissing Biden’s controversial statement..

“I don‘t understand how you can say our national discourse is poor and then say that’s no big deal,” Cain asserted.

“I’ve been black all my life, so that comment I can tell you would have no impact on me,” Cleaver replied.

The Congressman then charged that “Mitt Romney wants to come in and give those guys carte blanche to do it again, and it would put you back in chains, you’d have another Wall Street collapse that would impact the nation and the world.”

“I'm not here to defend Vice President Biden,” he stated. “I don't even think that needs to be defended.”

“I know that that statement by the vice president had absolutely no impact,” Cleaver added. “There‘s not a single black person in this country who’s now going to say ‘by golly, I’ve got to vote for Obama and Biden because Biden said something about ‘puttin' y’all back in chains.'”

At the end of the interview, the Congressman said he thought Biden “veered from the teleprompter, as he is prone to do, and made comments that he thought might be cute.”

As NewsBusters previously reported, this wasn't O'Brien first clash over Biden's remarks. On Tuesday, she shot down the Obama campaign's ridiculous spin that the comment was not meant to be a reference to the enslavement of African-Americans in the past.

On Wednesday, the CNN anchor told The Hollywood Reporter that “I don't think I show bias in my TV show. … Am I a liberal or conservative? I'm neither.”

If O'Brien really wants to be unbiased, her interview on Thursday just might be a good first step toward that goal.

[guitar4jesus]

"there are an increasing number of people in ads (both print and television) where their race is indiscernible."

That's so they can use the same ad with a Spanish soundtrack and not have to pay two sets of "actors." Bright House Networks does it all of the time.

[neveralib]

Here you go Soledad

In you just can't make this sh*t up advertising caption, it states:

"Allowing women to stay down even longer!" LOL.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=124828120884906&set=a.149916998376018.29127.124827630884955&type=1&theater

[mo]

That which remains “unsaid” in the national media, is that indeed the economic consequences of this left wing administration, have been borne by the lower economic classes they claim to represent.

If fact, it is THEIR policies actively binding and restricting the less fortunate

As ALWAYS with liberals, they’re actively accusing their opposition of exactly that which they themselves are doing and advocating!!!

This is why Rep. Cleaver is just desperately hoping we can all hurry up and “ move on” here.....

[devolve]

Barack BLOW & Joe CHAINS



1984

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[Ignatz]

is that tattoo for real or is the picture photoshopped

It's photoshopped. Her real tat says, "Place thumbs here".

[Ignatz]

Leftie loon or not, the gal is not hard on the eyeballs at all

Tru dat! I'd hit it so hard that if you could pull me off you'd be declared the King of England!

[kearnyirish2]

I thought it was so they could have outreach to blacks without having something considered a “black” product (as happened with Cadillac, Heineken, etc.).