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Parker: Beck and Limbaugh are "empower[ing] racists"; Brooks: Beck and Limbaugh are "race-baiting"

September 20, 2009 12:07 pm ET

From the September 20 edition of The Chris Matthews Show:

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    • Author by pros2pros2940 (September 20, 2009 12:35 pm ET)
      5  
      Good for these two.

      We need more honest dialog if we're going to move the Country forward and that can't happen with over the top rhetoric that distracts from important issues.
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      • Author by jwcoop715110 (September 20, 2009 4:44 pm ET)
        2  
        It's a sad state of affairs when the gop-slop spewin', shrub-shillin' likes of Brooks and Parker are the voice of reason.

        You'd be better off with Keith Richards as your designated driver.
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    • Author by TheDayV (September 20, 2009 12:41 pm ET)
      8  
      "Anti-elitist" is wrong. "Racist" in and of itself is difficult to prove. What instead the Obama WH is putting up with is a strident, capable, seductive, constant stream of anti-intellectualism and irrationality disguised as emotion.

      No one at these tea parties knows the difference between socialism and fascism; they've been reduced to simple buzzwords. No one believes that the legislation does not include death panels, despite the fact that a simple reading of the legislation would show that the panels are a myth.

      Intellect has been removed from the debate and replaced with peer pressure, speculation, oversimplification, and raw emotion.

      Also, Brooks makes it seam as if the racist tone of some of the rhetoric is forgivable because of how things work in the "longer view". He does not explain the purpose of the race-baiting; the short-term purpose is simple, but I cannot believe that the "longer view" is unknown.

      Finally, his conception of "mostly rural people" is prejudiced and needs further explanation. Working with your hands doesn't make you stupid or naive. ANYONE that does research into the connections between Washington and the private sector or even within the private sector itself knows that during the Bush administration, the private sector had all kinds of connections spread across all kinds of Boards of Directors. Washington was basically dealing with the same group of people, no matter which business sector it was addressing. IF these rural people are so suspicious of the close relationship between Washington and the private sector, then where was their suspicion then?

      Today's suspicion is the result of Beck, Limbaugh and others like them pushing a wedge between their consumers and a Democratic president. Race-baiting is a part of the package they've been feeding to their followers. That package has long-term goals, whether or not Beck and Limbaugh are even aware of them, and the maintenance of the racial divide is one of them.
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      • Author by kydem09 (September 21, 2009 10:17 am ET)
          4
        There wasn't the level of suspicion during the Bush administration because, by and large, people had their heads in the sand until the economic collapse last fall. That's when people woke up and became angry with regard to government spending and corruption. That's when we knew there was a failure of politicians to do right by the American people and when we knew there was a systemic problem of greed within Washington and on Wall Street.
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        • Author by bintx (September 21, 2009 11:48 am ET)
          4  
          Some folks were complaining during the Bush administration, but we were called "un-American" and "liberals." Many people were pointing out and complaining of the out of control spending, the lack of regulation of our financial institutions, the growing housing problem, the trashing of our Constitution, but we were called stupid and "Bush haters."

          The outrage was there . . . nobody paid attention.
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        • Author by foghornleghorn (September 21, 2009 1:39 pm ET)
          3  
          by and large, people had their heads in the sand until the economic collapse last fall.

          I guess the nutjobs were too busy cheerleading for a war and occupation to assuage their fear of brown people than to pay attention to Bush giving away trillions to the wealthy/corporatocracy/war profiteers.

          we knew there was a systemic problem of greed within Washington and on Wall Street.

          So you just NOW realized that Wall Street and Washington are built on greed. Welcome to reality. The rest of us have been here for a while.
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    • Author by wolf kotenberg (September 20, 2009 12:49 pm ET)
      5  
      What dowe do about it ? Republican elected officials are quiet ( or muzzled ). And a city here in the state of Washingtonwhere Mr beck was born ( Mt Vernon ) is giving the keys to the city for glenn Beck. Themaytor grew up with this idiot and is childhood friends. Is this the legacy of George Bush 43 ? a country in disarray and anarchism knocking on alldoors ?
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      • Author by Easy to refute wingnuts (September 20, 2009 1:51 pm ET)
        6  
        I'd give Beck the keys to the city, too. Then, when he's securely inside, I'd change the locks.
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    • Author by Sharpe3884 (September 20, 2009 1:01 pm ET)
         
      FINALLY! Someone calls these two chumps out for what they are - racist morons.
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    • Author by eweston8542983 (September 20, 2009 4:22 pm ET)
      1  
      Theme of the visit.
      Don't cry for me Mount Vernon!
      I've got a Nordstom Shoe Sale to get to!
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    • Author by Bill R in Oakland (September 20, 2009 4:32 pm ET)
         
      Brooks: "Rural, small town vs. cosmopolitan big city".

      Maybe not the fairest of generalizations, but isn't this a comment on education, world view, etc. (clearly the 'cosmopolitans' have some advantage here).

      Dumb is the new black.
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    • Author by noneyabidnis (September 20, 2009 4:36 pm ET)
      1  
      What's wrong with Chris at 1:08? I guess he's not much of a morning person...
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    • Author by Sharpe3884 (September 20, 2009 11:52 pm ET)
         
      This is one of those scary quotes. When someone can put beck and limbaugh on the absolute fringe and still say this isn't about race even those two are being racist while totally ignoring the fact that hundreds of thousands of people listen to those two each week. And ignoring any and all of the signs at these so called protests not one of which I saw protesting the economy or the bailout or anything at all in that realm. I would also find that legitimate, if 70,000 people came to DC and wanted to protest the bailouts, I would actually be pretty happy that Obama is being called out on his crappy moves but this is completely unfounded. This idea is totally based outside of reality. This is just making excuses for people that have portrayed clear racism plain and simple. Defending them is being just as bad as them.
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    • Author by Sharpe3884 (September 20, 2009 11:59 pm ET)
         
      What I want to know is if one of the people that tunes in everyday to get their "news" from AM or FOX, all of a sudden takes their gun and starts wreaking havoc, will any one in this stupid country hold Beck and Limbaugh responsible in any way. Or will it just be too big of an assumption? Too big of a leap? And also, at what point do you start calling something racist? I used to think it was any words or pictures that marginalized someone based on race, ethnicity or in terms of discrimination any major differences that person has from the majority in a group. If Slogans like go back to africa, give us back our country, obama bin ladin and obama dressed up in african tribal outfit is not racist, where is the line drawn? Apparently beck and limbaugh crossed that line but I dont see how they did and the protestors didn't. Because they are in the media? Make the connection that beck and limbaugh's ultimate ethics and opinions are forced upon their followers and so they mostly will not find any moral dilemma towards being blatantly racist while talking about the president because these two hacks set the standard for them and they certainly did set the bar extremely low.
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