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You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Racial Justice / Post-racial America / Today In Overt Race-Baiting

Today In Overt Race-Baiting

by John Cole|  June 11, 20116:36 pm| 70 Comments

This post is in: Post-racial America, Assholes, Our Failed Media Experiment

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Courtesy of Fox:

During the opening of Fox Business’ Follow the Money on Friday, Eric Bolling teased a segment about the White House hosting the president of Gabon by saying, “Guess who’s coming to dinner? A dictator. Mr. Obama shares a laugh with one of Africa’s kleptocrats. It’s not first time he’s had a hoodlum in the hizzouse.”

I counted three bits of racial code in those few sentences, which isn’t bad. The film reference was nicely done, although the Fox audience probably think he is referring to Bernie Mac.

Anyone who thought it was a victory that Glenn Beck was leaving is sadly deluded. Glenn Beck was shown the door because he outlived his usefulness, and the wingnut bench is very, very deep. Bolling and others can be counted on to step up to the plate and churn out the bile until they, too, become too toxic or go just a little bit too far over whatever line Ailes has, and they’ll be replaced with some other asshole just as bad.

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Reader Interactions

70Comments

  1. 1.

    El Cid

    June 11, 2011 at 6:43 pm

    You liberals always see racism anywhere some white person is a conservative. Just because he makes a joke at the expense of the darkie Muslim in the White House, it doesn’t make him racist.

  2. 2.

    burnspbesq

    June 11, 2011 at 6:45 pm

    OT, but this is INSANE.

    http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/06/nj_gov_christie_enter_national.html

    The Fat Man has to go.

    Just to put this in perspective: if you work 15 hours a week at a fast food restaurant, you are going to be ineligible for Medicaid in New Jersey.

  3. 3.

    Fred

    June 11, 2011 at 6:46 pm

    What you fail to mention Mr Galt is that Faux ratings are tanking. That is the bottom line. I think they are down about 10% on average this last ratings period while MSNBC and CNN are up.

    The ratings are not just down on some things either. They are down across the board including some of the worst offenders like Hannity.

    Lastly, and this is a key point so pay attention. Average age of all their viewers are somewhere around 65.

    So let us recap…mmmok.

    Ratings falling, Their only strong demographic is old white people in their 60’s who are guaranteed to die relatively soon which pretty much guarantees the ratings will continue to decline. And nothing will change the inevitable slide unless they completely changed their format from non-hate, non-race baiting, scaring old white people demographic.

    So it’s all good as far as I’m concerned. The beginning of the end of Faux influence on politics as we know it. What will eventually happen is that Ailes will leave/die and/or Murdoch will leave/die and Ailes will be forced to leave/die. When that happens everything will change. It’s already reported that his sons don’t like Ailes the the current direction.

  4. 4.

    Yevgraf

    June 11, 2011 at 6:47 pm

    Of course, when we were supporting apartheid South Africa, or Augusto Pinochet, or Ferdie Marcos, or any number of dictators in the Caribbean, Central America, South America or elsewhere, that didn’t count. Its only OK if a white guy does it.

  5. 5.

    burnspbesq

    June 11, 2011 at 6:50 pm

    @Fred:

    Yeah, but while they are all singing along to one of my favorite Townes Van Zandt songs, they can do incalculable damage.

    Complacency of the kind you are displaying here cannot be tolerated.

  6. 6.

    dmsilev

    June 11, 2011 at 6:51 pm

    For “Offensiveness per square inch of text”, I think I can beat that. This morning’s edition of the local rag hadan editorial about circumcision which featured this lovely sentence:

    Hess also is the author of an online graphic novel featuring a blond hero named Foreskin Man who battles a scalpel-wielding villain named Monster Mohel.

    (The editorial itself wasn’t bad; this was an example of extremism in that particular debate.)

  7. 7.

    stuckinred

    June 11, 2011 at 6:52 pm

    @burnspbesq: Waiting Around to Die?

  8. 8.

    arguingwithsignposts

    June 11, 2011 at 6:52 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Yeah, but while they are all singing along to one of my favorite Townes Van Zandt songs, they can do incalculable damage.

    That would be all of them for me, could you give me a heads up on what is your fav?

    And FY Fred for the typical galt bullshit.

  9. 9.

    stuckinred

    June 11, 2011 at 6:54 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    The times were hard Lord the jobs were few
    All through Tecumseh Valley
    But she asked around and a job she found
    Tending bar for Gypsy Sally

  10. 10.

    Polly

    June 11, 2011 at 6:54 pm

    OT: BBC America is beginning a rerun of Battlestar Galactica tonight at 7 and 9 pm, PDT.

  11. 11.

    Jewish Steel

    June 11, 2011 at 6:55 pm

    @Fred: Is there anything John can write that won’t get him accused of concern trolling, Ratfucker Fred?

  12. 12.

    stuckinred

    June 11, 2011 at 6:56 pm

    @Jewish Steel: No prisoners!

  13. 13.

    Fred

    June 11, 2011 at 6:56 pm

    @burnspbesq: You got a better idea? And don’t give me that same horseshit that has been done going as far back as the Clinton administration. It doesn’t work.

  14. 14.

    arguingwithsignposts

    June 11, 2011 at 6:57 pm

    @stuckinred: Damn. Like I said, they are all awesomeoliciousness to me.
    Nanci Griffith Tecumseh Valley

  15. 15.

    Anya

    June 11, 2011 at 6:57 pm

    @burnspbesq: He looks so unhealthy, I think his heart will stop soon, if he does not lose weight. But sure, the people of New Jersey voted for this asshole, so I am inclined to say, they deserve what they got, specially if they’re not revolting against him. What’s wrong with this country that this fat bastard can get away with his wingnutty policies, in a freaking blue state?

  16. 16.

    Fred

    June 11, 2011 at 6:58 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts: When John Galt Cole posts a positive story on the current US mission in Afghanistan or on the current US mission (including Predator drone strikes) in Pakistan I will stop calling him John Galt Cole.

  17. 17.

    Fred

    June 11, 2011 at 7:01 pm

    @Jewish Steel: Well he could start by admitting he is ratfucking? Admit he’s an idiot for voting for the texas dummy twice and supporting Libertarian candidates for Prez like Johnson. Perhaps speak unkindly about his hero Greenwald.

    None of those things will ever happen….of course.

  18. 18.

    Davis X. Machina

    June 11, 2011 at 7:01 pm

    @Jewish Steel: “Better fewer, but better.”

    V.I. Lenin, On the Troll Question, 1923.

  19. 19.

    WyldPirate

    June 11, 2011 at 7:01 pm

    I don’t know if “African kleptocrat” is one of the “racist references”, but there certainly hasn’t been any shortage of outright thieves running many of those countries for decades.

    Of course they learned well from the white French, British, Dutch and German thieves that exploited African countries for so long as well.

    And yes, any leader that steals from his country–white or black— is a hoodlum.

    The “hizzhouse”…yep, check, racist.

  20. 20.

    Maude

    June 11, 2011 at 7:02 pm

    @burnspbesq:
    Christie will have to deal with the feds on the funding of Medicaid. He can’t do anything he wants, it has to be approved. If he gets rid of Medicaid funding in NJ, I doubt he’ll last long.
    He needs to go.

  21. 21.

    arguingwithsignposts

    June 11, 2011 at 7:03 pm

    @Fred:

    Admit he’s an idiot for voting for the texas dummy twice and supporting Libertarian candidates for Prez like Johnson.

    You might just google the archives of this site, dumbass. And he’s never posted about Johnson.

  22. 22.

    Jewish Steel

    June 11, 2011 at 7:10 pm

    @Fred: Fred, you are just making silly shit up. I think you are well acquainted with John’s positions. I think you are a sock-puppet. Nothing you have ever said has led me to believe otherwise.

  23. 23.

    John Cole

    June 11, 2011 at 7:11 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts: MY favorite thing about the yapping nutter Fred is that he is Canadian, and can’t even vote in American elections. Well, and that he thinks it is somehow “libertarian” to think drone strikes are bad. Or that I somehow support Johnson for President.

  24. 24.

    Anya

    June 11, 2011 at 7:13 pm

    Since Bush met with the same guy, lets see, if anyone at Fox used the same language. Lobbyist Sought $9 Million to Set Bush Meeting

    The African leader, President Omar Bongo of Gabon, met with President Bush in the Oval Office on May 26, 2004, 10 months after Mr. Abramoff made the offer.

  25. 25.

    burnspbesq

    June 11, 2011 at 7:13 pm

    @stuckinred:

    That would be correct.

  26. 26.

    MikeJ

    June 11, 2011 at 7:14 pm

    @John Cole: I really don’t like it when people get banned, but my personal threshold is being coherent. If Fred were a coherent troll, I’d have no problem with him. I have enough mentally ill people in my family that I tire of trying to make sense of word salad. Bring back Brick Oven whosis, lose Fred.

  27. 27.

    Jewish Steel

    June 11, 2011 at 7:15 pm

    @John Cole: HA! BUSTED!

  28. 28.

    Comrade Mary

    June 11, 2011 at 7:16 pm

    @John Cole: He’s Canadian? Oh, fuck. We’re sorry.

  29. 29.

    Fred

    June 11, 2011 at 7:16 pm

    @Jewish Steel: Keep relying on those razor sharp instincts of yours. They are deadly accurate and obviously have served you well throughout your life.

  30. 30.

    Josie

    June 11, 2011 at 7:18 pm

    @Fred: I don’t support our involvement in any middle eastern country, and I am definitely not libertarian, so that stupid accusation is out. Also, John has admitted to the wrongness of his previous votes any number of times, so there is no use to demand that he do it again. Further, I have never seen him support Johnson for president, so that is a lie. If you can find proof that he has posted such support, I will apologize. Do it quickly, though, since I am old and have an early bedtime.

  31. 31.

    Jewish Steel

    June 11, 2011 at 7:18 pm

    @Fred: Take off, hoser!

  32. 32.

    existential fish

    June 11, 2011 at 7:20 pm

    @John Cole: Glenn Beck leaving was a victory because it deomonstrated that a broad based network of loosely aligned people could accomplish things via social media that had never, ever been possible.

    Pre-twitter, boycotts were useless. Now, first with Beck and now with Orbitz the entire landscape is changing and no one is deft enough to realize it yet outside the people actually doing it.

    Getting rid of Beck did not change anything. But getting rid of his sponsors did.

  33. 33.

    Fred

    June 11, 2011 at 7:20 pm

    @MikeJ: Always happy to hear from my fans. It is especially cute when they refer to me in the 3rd person like that MikeJ guy.

  34. 34.

    Fred

    June 11, 2011 at 7:28 pm

    @existential fish: Sigh…….sit down son and let me tell you the deal ok.

    Beck is not the enemy. By going after him the the real enemy essentially got away. In fact that was probably Beck’s purpose all along. Whether he knew it or not.

    Think about it…..I can guarantee you Axelrod has because I see it in his actions. People like Axelrod/Obama are operating at a much higher level than most of use are capable of understanding. Not in everything mind you. But in the game of Politics they are experts. You cannot get to where they have and not be. This is what they do and they are very good at it. The rest of us are just pissing in the wind.

  35. 35.

    JPL

    June 11, 2011 at 7:31 pm

    @Fred: Your comments are so interesting, You could gather a following by starting your own blog.

  36. 36.

    Kyle

    June 11, 2011 at 7:36 pm

    @Fred:

    Canadian Idiot
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_TfBbR6L0M

  37. 37.

    Baron Jrod of Keeblershire

    June 11, 2011 at 8:12 pm

    @Fred: Nothing says “liberal bonafides” quite like supporting the useless clusterfuck in Afghanistan. True liberals cheer every time another wedding party is blown to bits!

  38. 38.

    Randy Paul

    June 11, 2011 at 8:15 pm

    There has been no greater kleptocrat in post-colonial Africa than the late, unlamented Mobutu Sese Seko of what was then Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    Mobutu visited the White House three times when Reagan was in power. Reagan referred to him as “a voice of good sense and goodwill.” Pat Robertson was also a fan.

    If anyone can find an instance of anyone on the right on Fox News criticizing Reagan for this, I will shave my head and post the video on my blog.

  39. 39.

    Yutsano

    June 11, 2011 at 8:16 pm

    @Comrade Mary: I don’t hold it against you or your country hon. Now if you could do something about that tool of a PM of yours…

  40. 40.

    Fred

    June 11, 2011 at 8:17 pm

    @Baron Jrod of Keeblershire: Ah a real opinion. Now there is something I can sink my teeth into for a change. Ok so it is 9/12. The day after 9/11. So you were out there yelling, “JUST LET IT GO”. “SHAKE IT OFF PEOPLE”. “JUST IGNORE THEM AND THEY WILL GO AWAY”

    amirite…amirite…huh?

  41. 41.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 11, 2011 at 8:23 pm

    @efgoldman: I don’t know how true it is, but I’ve read a couple of reports that a lot of Murdoch’s closest circle, his wife, his kids and top execs, are embarrassed by Beck and stuff like this, but that Ailes has a huge sway over the old man, who is himself a pretty nasty fuck.

    More in the WTF? than “Jesus you people make me sick” category from Fox comes this:
    Gary Johnson debates a bad Obama impersonator on “Stossel”
    I’m expecting a couple of dozen “If only…” columns from WaPo liberals that Johnson is the sort of Republican that we should all be paying the heed at

  42. 42.

    Baron Jrod of Keeblershire

    June 11, 2011 at 8:24 pm

    @Fred: It’s not 9/12 anymore.

    What the fuck are we doing in Afghanistan? What’s the goal? What’s the endgame look like? What are we accomplishing?

    Well, for one thing, we’re keeping our military contractors in cheddar. Every true liberal is very concerned with keeping the tax money flowing to them, amirite?

  43. 43.

    ppcli

    June 11, 2011 at 8:26 pm

    @John Cole: Fred’s Canadian? How embarrassing.

    Hey Fred:
    I think I speak for all the regular Canadian posters here when I say that you are making us ashamed that one of our own could be as dumb as you evidently are, and we wish you would go away.
    Or as we used to say at home: Crisse de caliss, ferme ta gueule, tabarnak!

  44. 44.

    Fred

    June 11, 2011 at 8:31 pm

    @Baron Jrod of Keeblershire: Bingo. We are there! Full stop!

    The time to be asking the questions of why are we there was BEFORE WE WENT IN THERE in the first place. Get it?

  45. 45.

    El Cid

    June 11, 2011 at 8:31 pm

    @Baron Jrod of Keeblershire:
    Oh yeah? Robert Gates just a few days ago clarified that if we can just stay in Afghanistan with at least a strong a presence as we have now, then the progress we’ve made can continue.

    And if we can do that through the end of the year, and probably a little beyond that, then we will have strengthened enough areas so that the Taliban could see that they can’t win.

    And once they see that, then we can have a real chance at political reconciliation.

    Now, of course, it’s possible that this may not happen on this timetable.

    But, you know, we can’t make these decisions on abstract timetables — we have to see what is happening on the ground and make a judgment from there.

    It’s kind of like Iraq.

    We are continually making impressive progress. And we may be able to continue to make progress nearly forever, if it so turns out that in a year’s time the progress we’ve made isn’t enough, and it might be the same the year after that.

    But we definitely need to be there long enough to make more progress.

    If we don’t then the consequences are just too horrible to imagine. We’re sure of it.

  46. 46.

    Yutsano

    June 11, 2011 at 8:33 pm

    @El Cid: The Friedman Unit, above all else, must be respected. All hail the Friedman Unit.

  47. 47.

    Fred

    June 11, 2011 at 8:34 pm

    @ppcli: My fame has gone international apparently. Always happy to hear from my fans even if they live where Santa Claus comes from.

  48. 48.

    Jewish Steel

    June 11, 2011 at 8:37 pm

    @Fred: When are you going to admit you were a dumbass for voting for Harper, mon ami?

  49. 49.

    Jewish Steel

    June 11, 2011 at 8:37 pm

    @Fred: When are you going to admit you were a dumbass for voting for Harper, mon ami?

  50. 50.

    Fred

    June 11, 2011 at 8:38 pm

    btw…anyone who tries to use the argument that a real liberal would never support the war in Afghanistan will get a hearty BAHAHAHAHahahahaha from me.

    I’m liberal, progress yada yada whatever. I even go to Starbucks for coffee so there!

    Being a liberal has nothing to do with opposing war! It’s understanding that war is a tool of last resort.

    Spare me your “why are we there BS” Where were you 10 years ago when that debate was going on….was there even a debate? I don’t think so. That is the time to ask “why are we going there” . Once you go in you are committed. That is PRECISELY why it’s a tool of last resort.

    Oh and seems short term memory has broken out (big surprise). The only reason this thing has dragged out so long is because Bush took his eye off the ball and went after the guy who tried to kill his daddy instead that’s is why. That son of a bitch should be wearing an orange jump suit in prison along with Cheney but that’s another topic.

  51. 51.

    Yutsano

    June 11, 2011 at 8:44 pm

    @Jewish Steel: Any Canadian who freely admits that deserves their very public shaming. I’ll bring rotten tomatoes. It’ll be epic.

  52. 52.

    Jewish Steel

    June 11, 2011 at 8:52 pm

    @Yutsano: Shouldn’t Fred be more worried about what his MP is up to?

    Fred does provide counter-balance to Canadian Observer. Maybe Ottawa provides him as a service. Canadians are very fair minded.

  53. 53.

    Josie

    June 11, 2011 at 9:00 pm

    @Fred: You know, I think you just like to string together phrases that you have heard or read and think that doing so makes you a liberal. You have no clue. I have been protesting, writing letters, donating and voting since Johnson ran against Goldwater. Being a liberal means supporting civil rights and social justice for all people and working against the military industrial complex in all its forms. Starbucks has nothing to do with it. When you have been at it as long as I have, maybe you will have the wisdom to keep your mouth shut when you don’t understand the subject.

  54. 54.

    Yutsano

    June 11, 2011 at 9:01 pm

    @Jewish Steel:

    Canadians are very fair minded.

    For the most part yes. Except when it comes to hockey. Then they turn into some of the fiercest partisans you’ve ever seen.

  55. 55.

    existential fish

    June 11, 2011 at 9:21 pm

    @Fred:

    If you got your head of our overly cryptic ass, you’d realize that through solidarity the left has always had power, and through modern social media we finally have an effective way to gather and use that power.

    Beck was the first target because he was the easiest. But if you’d stop fancying yourself as Aragon, you’d stop whining about someone that got away. Stop talking shit.

  56. 56.

    mellowjohn

    June 11, 2011 at 9:23 pm

    every time i hear “guess who’s coming to dinner,” i answer “natty dreadlocks.”
    i appreciate the herb you brought for me.

  57. 57.

    Fred

    June 11, 2011 at 9:27 pm

    @John Cole: How do you know I can’t vote in US elections?

    That’s besides the point anyways. US politics are so much more interesting than Canadian politics. This last Canadian election I had to laugh. All 3 parties were fighting over who loves our gov’t run healthcare more! LOL. That pretty much sums up Canadian politics. You have left and then you have lefter….

    But in the US. It’s a battle over going forward or back to the stone age. Completely different ball game.

  58. 58.

    Elie

    June 11, 2011 at 9:32 pm

    @Fred:

    Hey, take it easy on the note that 60 year olds are due to die relatively soon. Shit! I am sixty and though I know I am term limited, I would rather think that its not THAT soon…

    (BTW, I am not a whitey racist type that watches Fox, but Sheesh, I didn’t think of myself as dying tomorrow…in my mind, I am still thirty!)

  59. 59.

    Fred

    June 11, 2011 at 9:35 pm

    @existential fish: Do tell. What is your strategy? You are calling me childish names which is always a good way to impress people. Now that you have my attention I am all ears. Lay out this strategy of yours.

  60. 60.

    Fred

    June 11, 2011 at 9:39 pm

    @Elie: Statistically speaking when your audience is an average age of 65 they are not going to be around very long.

    That is ESPECIALLY true for the Faux audience because they are also more likely to be poorly educated. That ties in with having a bad diet, being overweight, poor health in general. Comes with their neanderthal mindset. So I would say the average Faux viewer has a shorter lifespan than your average American in general.

  61. 61.

    Elie

    June 11, 2011 at 9:40 pm

    @Jewish Steel:

    Yeah, overall they are pretty balanced, but I had a pretty familiar (unfortunately) discussion with a few Canadian folks this past holiday season (they were new converts to US citizenship). Whoa Boy! We got the “we aint given our taxes to poor people” argument right off the bat…

    So I don’t think ALL anything are totally fair minded, though I allow that as a whole the Canadians are a bit more civilized — at least superficially. I will also add that living here on the US/Canadian border has allowed me to see our neighbors to the North with slightly less idealization. They come down to Birch Bay State Park and litter up the place pretty much like us homies…they also have class differences — they just don’t talk about it in as obvious a way as we do..

    They are good people. No worse on the whole than most Americans — I truly believe…

  62. 62.

    Elie

    June 11, 2011 at 9:47 pm

    @Fred:

    Okay…kinda.

    Although bias is pretty intrinsic to the human condition. As we used to say back home when I was growing up, the first words any immigrant white person learned was “nigger”. Why’s that? Racism and bias are pretty easy to spread to each other. I also think that there is something intrinsic in human nature that wants to implement some sort of caste system. A lot of folks like order and feel more comfortable when social roles and hierarchy are clear — esp when they are on top…In fact, that is actually fairly common in all animal systems. Everyone is programmed to try to be the alpha wolf or alpha female etc. As humans, our “bwains” were supposed to help us overcome that, but — Oh well — maybe another 100K years of evolution will rid us of the “R” formation.

  63. 63.

    El Cid

    June 11, 2011 at 9:59 pm

    @Fred: I don’t think there have been too many wars regarding which “real liberals” or “real communists” or “real soshullists” didn’t in large numbers support it. Or when large numbers of people rose up and created chaos to stop a war, the same didn’t support the crushing of such uprisings.

  64. 64.

    boudicca

    June 11, 2011 at 10:27 pm

    Stop feeding the troll

  65. 65.

    Randy Paul

    June 11, 2011 at 11:35 pm

    @boudicca: Amen!

  66. 66.

    DPirate

    June 12, 2011 at 1:49 am

    I counted three bits of racial code

    Projection. Maybe “hizzouse”, but I’ve only ever heard that out of white people.

  67. 67.

    rikyrah

    June 12, 2011 at 10:48 am

    it’s who they are. it’s all they know how to do.

  68. 68.

    b-psycho

    June 12, 2011 at 3:06 pm

    @Fred:

    Spare me your “why are we there BS” Where were you 10 years ago when that debate was going on….was there even a debate? I don’t think so. That is the time to ask “why are we going there” . Once you go in you are committed. That is PRECISELY why it’s a tool of last resort.

    So U.S. forces can leave Afghanistan…never?

  69. 69.

    b-psycho

    June 12, 2011 at 3:10 pm

    @mellowjohn: Yes.

  70. 70.

    El Cid

    June 12, 2011 at 5:34 pm

    @b-psycho: Of course not. Didn’t you see my note about Robert Gates’ comments (and one of the other leading generals, not Petraeus)?

    We’re making progress. We just need to stay there in full force through the end of the year, or maybe longer. Then the Taliban will know they can’t win, so we’ll be able to finally have political reconciliation.

    Or not. And then we would need to stay there and keep making progress. We wouldn’t want to impose an abstract timetable.

    We might be able to keep making progress the longer we’re there. And making progress, and making progress, and making progress.

    Until we get to the stage when we feel like we’ve made enough progress, but since we don’t have any real definition of that, it’s hard to tell.

    Also the US has zero experience building up a stable nation state, though we’re pretty sure we know what we’re doing because (1) we know how to run our own country very well, and (2) we had a SURGE over there, and that always results in a good stable base for a strong nation, except we just haven’t seen that yet from anywhere.

    But not forever. Just until we make enough progress.

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