Matthews:"A lot of African-American faces over there, very happy, delighted faces..What's the story"

[sabra]

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2008/07/21/andrea-obama-trip-what-some-would-call-fake-interviews

<snip>

MATTHEWS: Let me ask you about access to the troops, Andrea. A lot of African-American faces over there, very happy, delighted faces. Is that a representation of the percentage of servicepeople who are African-American, or did they all choose to join someone they like, apparently? What's the story?

MITCHELL: I can't really say that. Being a reporter who was not present in any of those situations, I just cannot report on what was edited out, what was, you know, on the sidelines. That's my issue. We don't know what we are seeing.

:eyes:


In this photo released Saturday, July 19, 2008, by the the U.S. Army, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Friday, July 18, during a Congressional Delegation visit.
(AP Photo/U.S. Army, Jarod Perkioniemi)

[TwilightGardener]

1. I don't think Tweety was out-of-bounds for asking that--many people

wondered if the military was selecting primarily minority audience members, or whether the audience was self-selected.

[sabra]

3. makes sense - though it seemed like Matthews and Mitchell were trying to make a

story out of nothing...

[Blondiegrrl]

4. I agree about CM. I can't stand Andrea Mitchell, though.

She's not even trying to disguise her dislike of Obama. What a hack.

[ellacott]

6. I agree

I actually asked the same question. I wondered how they chose the audience.

[grantcart]

2. poor Andrea

never made it to the top tier of reporters and hoped that this trip would be her meal ticket.

Alas Andrea you just never had what it takes.

[snooper2]

9. Andrea is the MSNBC version of....

Candy Crowley

[Arugula Latte]

5. The racist subtext of these comments is that the demonstrated

support for Obama from the troops doesn't count because the crowd is not white enough to matter. :eyes:

[ellacott]

7. It's a question about how they chose the audience.

At least it is for me.

[Franks Wild Years]

10. Not surprising though.

The current administration has spent the last eight years trying to drive home the notion that blacks are a bit kooky, not worth as much as their white counterparts.

[Cha]

39. I see a lot of happy white faces too..tweety could

bring that up.

[islandmkl]

8. yeah...why didn't they have lots of white people in the crowd, too??...

you know, like all the black and brown people m.c.johnny has in his 'events'....

[Clark2008]

11. Uhhh.... isn't it rather common knowledge that the percentage

of black people in the Armed Forces is much higher than the percentage of black people in the country?

I don't have the stats, but, for example, if the nation has 13 percent black people, then the armed services has something like 25 percent.

And it all stems from lack of opportunity for many young black youth.

What part of that common knowledge do Tweety and Mrs. Greenspan not know?

[polichick]

13. I thought that's what Chris might be getting at.

[ellacott]

15. But that only accounts for 25%

The crowds didn't look like they were represented in the percentages that you cited. The crowd was higher than 25% black.

[Barack_America]

26. Minor point, but I would guess that 25% would apply to the entire military...

Not just those serving in Iraq.

I think it would be fascinating to hear those percentages as applied to soldiers deployed vs. stateside.

[ellacott]

29. I just remember seeing photos of Bush with the soldiers

It was a very different composition.


Off Topic - I have a very good pic to go with your signature :)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=6524361&mesg_id=6524755

[Clark2008]

30. I made up the percentages.

I couldn't find them, so I could be dead wrong.

I gave an example... in other words, there are X percentage in the general population, but there are X-squared in the services.

If someone who isn't working has time to look those up, it'd be helpful to this conversation.

I have about 50 windows open right now for work. LOL.

[tishaLA]

21. I think so. And that make's Andrea's peevish response even more

obnoxious. She can't tell because she didn't have access? Give me a fucking break.

[napi21]

28. That's my understanding as well. I found this info regarding the

Gulf War in the 90's.

In the Gulf War, about 25 percent of the American military was black. At the top was Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the first black man to be the U.S. militarys top commander. function sVidTeaseCW(sID,sHed,sCaption,nWidth,sAltImg,nAlign) { return parent.sVidTeaseCW(sID,sHed,sCaption,nWidth,sAltImg,nAlign);}

http://www.africanamericans.com/Military.htm

Because the economy is worse now, I suspect that % is much higher now.

[RamboLiberal]

32. Latest reports I've read is it's still around 25%

And actually blacks are enlisting at lower rates in last couple of years because of the Iraq War.

[Clark2008]

33. Wow...

I took a guess off the top of my head and was right.

I thought it was just slightly less than double the percentage of black people in the general population.

Damn, I'm good. :)

[Barack_America]

12. Um, I'm seeing a lot of white faces in that crowd too.

And would it be a shock to hear that African Americans are disproportionately represented in the military and further disproportionately represented in Iraq?

Um, no.

At least not to those outside of the elitist media.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

17. I counted around 20 out of 50. And it's a small sample.

I agree with Oregonian. There is a racist subtext to this bullshit.

[ellacott]

18. I think we see racism in a lot of places where it doesn't exist

I don't think it is being used in this thread. It was an honest question.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

27. Riiiight.

Yet you're trying to make race an issue.

[ellacott]

37. Are we working with the same definition of racism?

I was having a conversation that involves race. Does that make it racist or an issue of racism? Sometimes folks get too sensitive.

[Ganja Ninja]

14. It's funny they've never broached this subject after one of Bush's

photo-ops. Do all the troops at those events rush to get in line to see the dear leader?

[Straight Shooter]

16. I see smiling faces. So I don't give a flip if they're black, brown, white, yellow, red, or purple.

Why are so many f*cking pundits white?

If I were to make a list of why I don't watch television, the mere fact that Chris Matthews is a pundit would be one of the top 10 reasons. As for Mitchell "being a reporter," that blatant lie just forced God to kill a kitten.

I was in a good mood until I read this article. x(

[GreenPartyVoter]

25. seriously!

[KharmaTrain]

19. And Who Ends Up In The Military?????

Was it any of Mittens 5 White sons? Or how about booshies two White daughters? Or how about Tweety's "distinguished service"...(in the Peace Corp...and that's a lot more than most in the corporate media). Welcome to today's military...welcome to today's Iraq and welcome to today's America. For many, this military is one of the only tickets they have out of living in poverty, and, suprise, that means more blacks and hispanics in the military. It also explains why, of whites, a large number are from poor, rural areas.

Mrs. Greenspan, Tweety and the other bobbleheads rarely ever see a real military type. They get the top shelf treatment from the mucky-mucks...who, yes, are mostly white males and thus this is their "vision" of the military.

With all the "friends" the corporate media has inside the military (anyone forget about the pundits for sale scandal???), I'm sure if the photo-ops were staged or crowds were selected by Obama and his people, it'd be all over the corporate media.

As usual, it's more of their mental masturbation...

[Terran]

20. There are a lot of black people in the military.

Is that not commonly known? The photo shown, seems to me, depicts a pretty fair sampling of who makes up the military.

Though there is this: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/10/07/military_sees_big_decline_in_black_enlistees/

Per the article above, enlistment in 1996 was about 37% black and Latino, but that's way down now.

[opihimoimoi]

22. Its DENIAL framed in a question/comment...watch how they herd us with questions like that.

[crankychatter]

23. They're implying that the Military provided excessive AA's for political backdrop?

or what?

That looks like almost every unit I was ever in. Maybe more South Koreans and Hispanics, but it's close.

20 years ago, despite the "integration" from the Truman years... Engineering units were still predominately African American in the Enlisted Grades, and commanded by White officers.

It wouldn't surprise me at all to learn the ratio of Whites to Blacks in the military is disproportionate to the general population.

Economic opportunity and job stability are attractive to any young person facing challenges in our society and economy.

African Americans have been volunteering and serving with distinction and honor for as long as there has BEEN an America.

duh

Where's the beef?

[ellacott]

24. I remember when Bush used to exploit the military be using them as a back-drop

They were majority white. I did a yahoo image search that also showed a predominately white crowd. Now you see Obama with a predominately black crowd. Thus the question.

At least that's the way I see it.

[BklynChick]

31. I didn't have a problem with how the question was asked. Andrea, of course, is clueless

and just kept clamoring on about how reporters weren't allowed in the room so she had no idea. Like she would have any idea or sensitivity to that if she was in the room... I don't think so. I think what Tweety asked is what's on a lot of people's minds. The fact that Obama can connect with the troops in one moment and then go meet with the Iraqi leadership afterwards is stunning to watch. Of course the fact that he's a person of color and there are so many men of women of color in the armed forces is icing on the cake for them.

[ellacott]

35. Yes that is icing on the cake

It was wonderful seeing all those soldiers excited about seeing Obama. It was reported that he made a point to find the soldiers from Illinois.

[Cha]

34. Fucking andrea mitchell has a lot of issues but

that is about the last one she needs to worry her fascist fuckhead over.

[EffieBlack]

36. I'll take this question seriously when he asks similar

questions about Bush and McCain's lily-white crowds.

Chris evidences a very racially-tone-deaf attitude. He doesn't comment or apparently even notice when a crowd is grossly disproportionately white. But let there be more than a token sprinkling of black folk in a crowd and suddenly an audience's racial demographics are ripe for dissection.

"What's with all those black people?!"

[HardWorkingDem]

38. Some questions that need to asked.....

Did the military ask people if they wanted to see Obama? If so, then that might have led to something Matthews was hinting at. Also, what sort of military unit was present? That also might answer the question.

Personally, I don't get how anyone couldn't understand that a lot of black people might want to go see someone like Obama in his quest for the White House.


Heck, one year I went to see Bush I in a campaign appearance when running against Clinton and it was one of the most enjoyable things I've done (anyone should go see a sitting president regardless of party if given the chance - I would have much rather seen Clinton and Gore, but at the time Bush was all that was available).

[ellacott]

40. Good points

I don't think it's about not understanding. I think it'a more about how it was arranged.

[XemaSab]

41. When did they let Negroes in the army?

Everyone knows they lower the morale of the soldiers. :banghead:

[27inCali]

42. I think it's fair to say

that Black service men and women have a pretty fucking valid reason to be extra pumped about Obama and made the extra effort to be there ergo the porportions are a little tilted in that direction.

[Kber]

43. I'll bet the % of minority americans serving in Iraq

wouldn't be that hard to find out.

If you were a reporter and such.

[blogslut]

44. Hee hee

Andrea is so pissed she's not getting her precious access.

[ellacott]

45. Yes

She was in Bahgdad on Saturday. I wondered if she just assumed that she would get an interview. They say it was 155 degrees in Iraq. She might be hot, tired and a little mad that she got ignored.