4 Worst Right-Wing Reactions to Michael Brown's Killing and the Protests

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http://www.alternet.org/4-worst-right-wing-reactions-michael-browns-killing-and-protests

1. To cover or not: While CNN and MSNBC had live, on-the-ground coverage when the protests metastasized Sunday night, Fox News trained its cameras on Mike Huckabee jamming with a country singer, followed by a rerun of Megyn Kelly interviewing Bill Ayers. By the time Fox noticed the protests, it revived of its oldest tricks: finding an African American leader to repeat its talking points back to it. Up this time were Kevin Jackson, who spouted Fox-approved rhetoric about the decay of black communities, and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s niece.

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2. Smearing Michael Brown: Conservative media has never met a young black man it couldn’t retroactively enlist into the shadowy urban gangs of its fevered imagination. Enter Pat Dollard and Jim “the Gateway Pundit” Hoft, both of whom posted photos of Brown “ making gang signs” (which, in fact, was nothing more than Brown “doing things with his hands,” in Asawin Suebsaeng’s phrasing). Hoft allegedthat the signs were unique Blood codes, though the worst Brown does is give the middle finger. Dollard went further: “The red gear seals the deal on proof that Brown was a member of the notoriously violent Bloods street gang,” he noted.

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3. Smearing the protestors: It only takes one bad actor in a protest for the Fox News crowd to see anarchy in the street. Conservative radio host Laura Ingraham said, “We know now that thugs are thugs,” and went on to blame the media for turning the protests into “a reality show.” “People who are going to take advantage of the situation are going to do that especially if they know that the media’s all there, right? Got the cameras on everyone. It’s become its own reality show. So, there’s going to be cameras trained on you. You’re going to be looting and you might get stopped but you probably won’t get stopped.”

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4. Smearing Barack Obama: Fox News munchkin Todd Starnes hasn’t let a single event pass without using it to tar Obama, even if his current critique contradicts his previous one. Having spent the preceding few days sniping at Obama for not interrupting his vacation to address his various issues, Starnes pulled a sharp right last week and denounced Obama for interrupting his vacation to address Brown’s death.