MSNBC President: Conspiracy Theory About Obama's Citizenship Is "Racist"

[democracy1st]

MSNBC president Phil Griffin called the claim that President Obama is a foreigner, which has received significant media coverage over the last few days, "racist." From the NY Times

It's racist,said Phil Griffin, the president of MSNBC. It's racist. Just call it for what it is.

Mr. Griffin said the cable news coverage was set off by two back-to-back events: the introduction of a bill that would require presidential candidates to provide a copy of their original birth certificate (it has nine co-sponsors in the House and one in the Senate) and the video of a town hall held by a Republican Congressman that turned into a hearing on Mr. Obamas citizenship.

This morning, the president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a major civil rights group, wrote a letter calling on CNN President Jon Klein to remove CNN host Lou Dobbs from the air. The request stems from a segment on Dobbs' radio show this past Tuesday where Dobbs did his part to keep alive the conspiracy theory that President Obama is not an American citizen (AKA the "birther" theory). On air, he speculated: "I'm starting to think we have a document issue. You suppose he's un... no, I won't even use the word undocumented, it wouldn't be right."


The SPLC isn't the first group to have demanded the removal of Dobbs. Yesterday, the progressive watchdog group Media Matters blasted out a press release to reporters charging that "CNN has a very serious Lou Dobbs problem."

And it seemed as though the message was starting to sink in. TVNewser reported today that Jon Klein sent a memo to a group of Dobbs' staffers explaining in no uncertain terms that the whole "birthers" story is "dead."

However, in an interview with Greg Sargent this afternoon, Klein backtracked and brushed off the criticism. "Look, Lou's his own show, and CNN in general has repeatedly and thoroughly reported on the facts behind this situation."

He also took a dig at his critics, suggesting that they were politically motivated.

Asked if CNN is concerned that Dobbs' repeated granting of airtime to theories the network has conclusively debunked amounts to overkill and could harm CNN's credibility, Klein brushed off the possibility. "We respect our viewers enough to present them the facts and let them make up their own minds," he said, adding that what Dobbs does is "his editorial decision to make."

full interview here
http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/political-media/cnn-president-brushes-off-criticism-of-lou-dobbs-continued-floating-of-birther-theories/


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/24/major-civil-rights-group_n_244532.html

[PCIntern]

1. As far as I know, there is no truth to the rumor

that Lou Dobbs is the illegitimate spawn of Father Coughlin.

[dgibby]

3. or that he has sex with farm animals.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

4. I can neither confirm nor deny his cocaine habit

To speculate on whether Lou Dobbs is a drug user would be unprofessional of me. But suffice to say that if Lou Dobbs were doing cocaine on a regular basis in his office at CNN, it would be troubling. Troubing indeed.

[Cha]

19. I've read that's there more than ample "Documented" evidence

that he's a racist bigoted pig. Turning the tables on that fuck would be priceless.

[dave29]

30. I heard he once spit tobacco juice in Ann Coulter's face

which would be wrong, even if anyone did it -- and I certainly wouldn't suggest anyone do that.

[dgibby]

2. Maybe it's time to revisit the Lou Dobbs' "Obama Waffles" story,

and send it and the photos of Lou with his box of waffles to MSNBC, SPLC, mediamatters, etc. No doubt that, and a boycott of his sponsors would go a long way to help CNN do the right thing.:evilgrin:

[Cha]

20. Excellent choice from

the memory files on dobbs.

[Jennicut]

5. At least MSNBC gets it. CNN can go screw themselves.

[ginnyinWI]

6. Tweety is doing is part to try to debunk the story.

He's been having a segment on it daily pointing out how ridiculous it is. Maybe now Lou will just shut up and we can all go on to more important things.

[jberryhill]

7. One Weird Thing About Crazy People...

It turns out that the more debunking information is provided to them, then the more convinced they are that their pet theory is being "covered up" by a broader conspiracy.

Any reinforcement of their theory - even negative reinforcement - is a sign to them that they are being taken seriously.

[alsame]

8. And I'm sure it feeds into their theory of 'liberal media' every

time Tweety debunks.

[Cha]

22. Yeah, one won't change the "minds" of the

insane but they can get that crap off the air that's a freakin' feeding Frenzy.

[PatSeg]

16. He's been very effective,

always having a copy of the birth certificate on hand which he repeatedly shows to his guests and the camera.

[Cha]

24. Good..it's so ridiculous but

here we are.

I know you've followed this thing from the beginning and we all know how it grew.

[PatSeg]

25. Well I knew from the beginning that it was

"racist" plain and simple. These fringe groups could not come out and voice in public what you know they say in private, so they come up with a lame birth certificate story. More newcasters need to be as blunt and direct as Matthews has been - "Here's the birth certificate, now what do you want?"

[Cha]

26. ..

:thumbsup::thumbsup:
HighFive:hi:

[PatSeg]

28. Back at ya'

It sure took the media a long time to state the obvious!

[Cha]

21. cnn will have to make that racist bigoted pig

stfu.

[moondust]

9. "The Fantasies of Bigots"

Definitely documentary material.

[Leo The Cleo]

10. Duh!

Of course it's racist. However, some folks don't mind a bit of racism in their morning coffee.

[niceypoo]

11. Dobs gets more and more and more racist

every week.

He is a bitter, angry old man

[denem]

12. Clinton Says Obama Muslim Rumor Not True "As Far As I Know"

"I take him on the basis of what he says" March 1, 2008

Versus say, No. There's no truth to that. Nothing. etc. The low point of Hillary's campaign.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/03/clinton-says-ob.html

[Flying Dream Blues]

13. Yes. I won't forget that, ever, because it shocked me she would stoop to that. nt

[denem]

14. Hillary was Obama's first choice as SoS

In that respect he is like Hillary herself, focussed on outcomes.

[Flying Dream Blues]

15. Or keep your friends close and your enemies closer? nt

[Cha]

23. So what? They have the bigger picture

in mind and aren't stunted by the negative shit that happens.

[polmaven]

32. Get the f OVER the primaries....

You know as well as anyone else here that she said "as far as I know" as a little tag on AFTER she had said "NO" at LEAST 3 or 4 times....Grow the fuck up and get the real facts of a rumor before you continue to spread it. Have you even watched the video?

Maybe you need to see someone about your CDS. I hear it actually is curable.

[mkultra]

38. i saw the video and i thought she was insinuating

Not that it matters any more but if your going to get fired up, you might want to consider that people may have seen her statement in different ways. I don't really think she is a racist at all, i just figured she was race signaling to those who are. Its a political tactic that senators do with birthers as well. Its like saying "im with you" without exposing yourself.

She did it a couple of times actually, in my view.

Either just tonal misunderstandings or bad political moves.

[madmom]

17. Did lou dobbs get spurned by a person of color? That would explain his obsession.

[PatSeg]

27. I think he's playing the ratings game

Bringing up controversial subjects makes him competitive with FOX. I remember when he was relatively sane and reasonable, but as time went by his on camera outrage got more and more fabricated. I don't think he believes for one minutes that there is a grain of truth in the birth certificate story.

[4lbs]

29. He's married to a person of 'color'. Not black, but a "wise Latina woman".

Maybe she spurned him for sex the night before and he was upset.

;)

[Cha]

18. Now we're getting somewhere!

Yes, it most absolutely IS hurting cnn's credibility. glen beck use to work at cnn..why did he leave?

Thank you, Phil Griffin, msnbc President..and do go for the jugular on cnn..it might make them fucking more resonpsible.

Something happened between Klein saying the birfer story was "dead" and when he was sniveling out of it.

[Arkana]

31. Hey, he's right.

Because let's face it.

The birthers don't give two shits about a birth certificate. They really don't. They know as well as anyone that Obama's a natural born citizen.

But Obama did two things wrong in their eyes--one, he was born African-American, and two, he had the audacity to run for (and win) the Presidency. They long for a return to the "good ol' days" where you could string black people up in a tree and get acquitted of any criminal charges by the smirking, tobacco-chewing, like-minded sheriff.

[proud2BlibKansan]

33. Bingo!!

[MrsBrady]

35. Obama is an American born inside US or not.

His mother is American.

Pretty simple.

[Juche]

34. I think it is also the assumption on the far right that liberals are not 'real americans'

So you get a liberal president who is black and has a weird name, and stupid theories that he isn't 'a real american' are going to come from somewhere. If it wasn't the birth certificate issue, it'd have been something else.

[windbreeze]

36. nice to see someone is finally calling it like it is...n/t

[davidpdx]

37. I think we should start emailing Dobbs that we are investigating him

for all his illegitimate children, his drug habits, etc.

[SunsetDreams]

39. Kick and too late to rec :(