What the President Didn't Seem to Learn From the Shirley Sherrod Incident - RJ Eskow/HuffPo

[WillyT]

What the President Didn't Seem to Learn From the Shirley Sherrod Incident
Richard (RJ) Eskow
Consultant, Writer, Policy Analyst
Posted: July 23, 2010 01:22 PM

<snip>

The "teachable moment" cliché may be overused, as Jason Linkins observed the other day, but what the White House really needed this week was a learnable moment. The Administration and other leading Democrats had an opportunity this week to understand the nature of the opposition they face. The President's remarks about Shirley Sherrod's firing suggest that this "learnable moment" may have been lost. Let's hope not. In what might be described as a "the buck stops there" comment, the President blamed Tom Vilsack for the decision. "He jumped the gun," said the President, "partly because we now live in this media culture where something goes up on YouTube or a blog and everybody scrambles."

No, Mr. President. The problem is that there is a highly motivated, ideologically driven, and extremely well funded movement that is determined to destroy you, your party, and everything you stand for, including the proper role of government in a civil society. Their ideology lies in tatters, destroyed by the economic collapse and the ecological devastation in the Gulf. All they have left is the politics of destruction. The problem is not blogs and YouTube,. The problem is Fox News. The Right has a very simple and very successful model: Use people like Matt Drudge or Andrew Breitbart to start phony rumors, then use the massive media power of Fox, Rush, and other outlets to spread a lie around the world before the truth can get open its mouth. Fox News.

The "media culture" locution is another one of the President's ways of trying to remain "above left and right." But to do so in this case is to misunderstand the situation. Sun Tzu said "If you know yourself and know your enemy, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles." The "media culture" frame is one that suggests he doesn't know his enemy.

It also suggests he doesn't know his friends. I'm here in Las Vegas at Netroots Nation, where progressive bloggers gather to share ideas and hear from their leaders. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid will be taking questions tomorrow, but I don't see any Administration representatives in attendance (except Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who took part in a panel yesterday). The President likes to disparage progressive bloggers -- no doubt egged on by Rahm Emanuel, who's extremely unpopular in this crowd. And he likes to lump progressive bloggers in with their counterparts on the Right, as part of the "media culture" he disdains.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I have heard high-level, educated, detailed discussions of policy topics that range from biofuels to counterinsurgency. This group represents a pool of talent the Administration and Congress could use to their advantage, if it weren't for their fear of "outside the Beltway" resources. And not a single one of the thousands of people here has ever doctored a video in order to ruin a career or discredit a Presidency.


<snip>

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/what-the-president-didnt_b_657307.html

:kick:

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

1. Hi WillyT,

Copyright laws limit us to four paragraphs. Could you edit & snip it down please?

best,
wakemeupwhenitsover

[nashville_brook]

2. k n r

[nashville_brook]

3. i'm so tired the disparagement of "media culture" as if it were a monolithic mustache twisting

conspiracy.

FIX, Sludge and Brightfart notwithstanding, "the media" is made up of individual writers and editors who could make a hell of a lot more money in PR, but do journalism b/c it's the right thing. and it's not easy. it's not easy to get a gig. it's not easy to keep a gig. and it's nearly impossible to feed a family on your gigs.

it's even more disgusting when leaders who are taken to task by "the media" and now, citizen bloggers, to cop this dismissive attitude ("media culture") as if people who write and think are somehow the enemy. how about this -- do things that you can be proud of seeing in print -- and then, don't expect the world to fall to its knees in worship. that's called good faith, and we could use a whole lot more of it nowadays.

[mmonk]

4. I wish I could recommend this more than once.

[nashville_brook]

5. i like the last paragraph...

As for the President's "media culture" comment, it reflects the same "above the fray" posture as those Wall Street/Main Street comments, and is equally likely to fizzle. Here's an idea: Don't hide your opponents in a verbal cloud, Mr. President. Name them. Call them out. If you don't want to go "left and right," just say that "there are those who would spread misinformation because the facts and the arguments aren't on their side." The ideology of deregulation and unfettered market rapacity is discredited, so they are using racial hatred and smear tactics to distract the public from the failure of their ideas. Remember, know your enemy and you need not fear a hundred battles.

[WillyT]

6. I Like It Too !!!

Good morning!!!

:hi:

Me and family are taking MommaT to Half Moon Bay for her 81st birthday today.

So watch the "store" for me, ok?

:silly:

:hi:

[nashville_brook]

7. awwwww! have fun!

:hi:

been doing my best, but had to run those dratted sunday errands. now i'm home boiling water b/c our water supply got contaminated after a power failure last night. i found this out at the grocery store after doing yardwork and drinking about a gallon of water.

arg.

[Kalun D]

8. They Didn't Learn The First Time

Do you really expect them to learn the 2nd time?

Anyone that gets their news from the internet knows Brietbart is a bald faced liar.

Now he lies a second time in the exact same fashion and you believe him?

Is the White House full of idiots, or do they not have internet access or something?

And why is it that if you're a crooked banker, or a felony criminal oil company CEO you get the benefit of the doubt till the cows come home? But if you are a community organizer or a social worker who helps poor farmers you go straight under the bus in a New York minute even if the charges are just a Faux News rumor?

What kind of crap is this?