This video best exemplifies why I have zero respect for Fox News. Kirsten Powers is a regular contributor on Fox News. Megyn Kelly is rude, out of control, and is bullying a regular contributor. At one point Kelly threatens to cut her guest’s mic.
There is much controversy over this case as to wrong doing. Apparently the one main witness who speaks out on Fox News is Christian Adams who is a right wing activist and was with the DOJ under George Bush. I don’t think anyone is disputing that the black panther, Samir Shabazz, intimidated voters and was in the wrong. The dispute seems to be over the charges that DOJ did nothing.
According to thinkprogressive.org:
This afternoon, Kelly invited New York Post columnist — and regular Fox contributor — Kirsten Powers to debate the importance of this story. Kelly bemoaned that “no one seems to give a darn” about the allegations promulgated by former Bush DoJ lawyer J. Christian Adams. The conservative activist claims that the Obama Justice Department dropped voter intimidation charges against the New Black Panther Party due to racial considerations. Contrary to the claims, the Obama DoJ has issued an injunction against the member of the NBPP who was seen engaging in voter intimidation tactics, prohibiting him “from displaying a weapon within 100 feet of any Philadelphia polling place through 2012.”
Powers effectively dismantled the faux scandal for what it is, telling Kelly, “You can put me in the same category of people who don’t really give a darn.” “You don’t seem to know what you’re talking about,” Kelly immediately responded, growing more enraged as the two wrestled, jabbed, and bickered over the facts:
POWERS: The minute I challenge you, you tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about?
KELLY: Because you don’t.
POWERS: You just want people to come on and just agree with you –
KELLY: No, I want informed people.
POWERS: — that what you’ve been doing and the way you’ve been completely doing the “scary black man thing.”
All evidence indicates that DOJ did prosecute the case. The contention seems to be that they didn’t go far enough with sanctions.
I have not put up a thread over the story because I felt we were lacking on actual facts. When Fox News is leading a story, I have to have a back up from another source. It wasn’t there. No one disputes that Samir Shabazz is a creep. No one disputes he was wrong. No one disputes that voter intimidation took place. The dispute is over the action taken by DOJ. Apparently action was taken–Just not enough to suit out onf control Megyn Kelly, Christian Adams, or Fox News.
Background information
[UPDATE: This Link leads to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Black Panther Report]
Hmm, well I see that that the alternate more “unbiased” source of news is something called thinkprogressive.org. That might be the first clue to the idea that black voter intimidation does not need to be treated the same as – say – KKK voter intimidation, but, more importantly, I thought it interesting that the article called J. Christian Adams a former Bush DoJ lawyer. Can someone clarify that for me, I was under the impression that he was a DOJ civil servant.
No one said it was unbiased. It is an alternative point of view. I guess that is a bizarre concept?
Think Progressive didn’t make those nasty, ugly words come out of Meggie’s mouth, now did they?
He agreed not to carry a weapon near a polling place until the next election, and the case is dropped. That is entirely laughable. This thing obviously stinks to high heaven.
Eric “Nation of Cowards” Holder is a real disgrace.
(let me get on my soapbox here)
An Attorney General who says we’re a nation of cowards, promises multiple lawsuits over bills he doesn’t deign to read, and oversees deliberate racial bias.
A DHS Chief who advocates Amnesty for illegal immigrants, and resists the notion of border security.
A Treasury Secretary who is a known tax cheat.
A head of NASA who believes that a primar6y goal of his is outreach to the Muslim world – and promotion of positive self-image to Muslim nations! (as if that were their problem)
And the architect of this circus clown cabinet, our President who never managed anything of size or consequence save his own campaign which was probably the most vacuous and disingenuous of all time
@Rick, maybe you would be happier with Sarah Palin.
If I let that many people in office bother me that much, I would just take a break from the news. I had to do that a few times during the Bush years.
You might feel better if you stopped doing the Fox trot….I get depressed if I have it on for too long.
And a Secretery of State who is a political opportunist with her eyes on her own Presidency, let’s not forget about her though she hasn’t embarassed him yet
Kelly was awful on the air. Breezing by her a few times during weekdays, I’ve noticed there was a gloating shrill woman on air far less likeable than their other hosts. I don;t think Powers will be inviting her over for tea and crumpets. I assume that someone at FOX had to mediate after this.
I think the actual issue is far more interesting to talk about though than possible topics such as “Was Megan Kelly On The Rag?” or “What Must Life Be Like for Megan Kelly’s Husband?” You know, actual acts of our Federal Government.
“maybe you would be happier with Sarah Palin”
probably.
I don’t watch FOX News all that much, but a slight bit. Actually, the OTHER channels frustrate me so greatly, with their extreme bias and unwillingness to address what’s real. Only FOX News cheers me up.
@Rick, I would expect any journalist to be fired for behavior like that. But I grew up on Cronkite.
I like Shepherd Smith on Fox. Fox is a study in something..not sure what…using the media to manipulate political thinking. I like the addition of the hooters girls coming in on Mondays with wings and things. that just says it all. They go well with the cleavage and legs. Bring the men on.
It reminds me of grab them by the nads and their hearts and minds will follow…politically. Meanwhile, the women get mainly trolls and troglodytes to not drool over. I guess Bill Hemmer and Shep Smith are the eye candy and we should be grateful for those 2.
Its all glaringly obvious and also a brilliant way to manipulate the politics of a nation. There will probably be many dissertations written about this all works.
“Meanwhile, the women get mainly trolls and troglodytes to not drool over. ”
Don’t try to tell me you don’t dream of a tryst with O’Reilly and Beck.
[running finger down throat] Not this week.
It isn’t as important to get to the women watchers. 2 different psychologies.
I made it through about 3/4 of that video – I don’t like Fixed News and I don’t like screeching heads. The combo was more than I could stand. This country’s news programs are a damn embarrassing joke. ( I guess the “d” word is okay now!) The DOJ’s actions could have been an interesting topic for a legitimate news organization to cover. Maybe I’ll search NPR – at least I’ll be spared the histrionics..
I want you to try to imagine that tryst with O’reilly and Beck.
O’Reilly could get you worked up for it with a few hours of phone sex (see http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1013043mackris1.html)
Then Beck would come out with a white board and explain the symbolic significance of all sex acts that were to be undertaken, complete with acronyms
Then O’Reilly and Beck would start yelling at each other over who should do what with who first
It would be a wild scene.
OReilly would win. Beck would cry.
What if you had to pick between O’Reilly and Mel Gibson?
Sometimes you wonder why Kelly even bother with “guests”.
She talks over them even more than O’Reilly shouts down his.
The hasty plug pulling is something they both do rather well.
Hah, Eric Holder’s DOJ has just dug itself a deeper hole; and Kirsten Powers, among others, knows it. You can tell it when the defense becomes a denigration of the whistle blower and references back to the Bush administration, not to mention dismissing the original actions of the NBPP as unimportant and misunderstood. Powers did the whole routine. But I won’t be too hard on her. Unlike Cronkite, she is a columnist for the New York Post, not a reporter. Columnists have a certain understood license for bias.
J. Christian Powers has been a career trial attorney in the Voting Rights Section of DOJ since 2005 and has pursued a number of cases, including one against Whites in Georgia. Of course, the Dems claim that Bush “politicized” the DOJ by hiring the likes of Adams for critical DOJ sections. That automatically makes Adams and others like him liars with extreme political bias if they ever get out of line with their new Dem masters. They are just “political activists”, after all. But, Heaven forbid that a Dem administration would EVER put its own people into the DOJ. Of course not. They are all little angels with absolutely clean hands and not even the faintest taint of political activism. And I know of some beach property on the south Louisiana coast, if you are interested and have the cash.
I hear there are some other witnesses with direct access who can come forward to substantiate the claims made by Adams. This should be interesting.
Oops, make that J. Christian Adams in para two of #17.
Some folks on here had no problem denigrating Colonel Morris Davis who was also a whistle blower. @ Wolverine
I actually don’t see what Kirsten Powers has to do with the story other than she was a guest who was treated extremely badly. Megyn Kelly should be fired for her rudeness.
But moving on past manners, what Kirsten Powers thinks is irrelevant. What actually happened is not.
Wolverine, please list some sources. This should not be Democrat vs Republican. It should be fact finding. We have one person who has testifed. I need to see more than don’t have a Fox paw print on them.
You usually aren’t snide. When there is a story where the primary roto rooter is Fox, I need to find it else where.
Thinkprogressive?
Now there’s an oxymoron!
Did I ever take a slap at Morris for whistle blowing? I don’t think so. I read his article in the WSJ concerning military commissions vs. civilian trials with regard to al-Qaeda and pretty much agreed with his opinions up and down that line. I thought he was right in taking the administration to task on that issue. What he said needed to be said. In the end, I think Morris is going to be proven to be very right. It is just too bad that something couldn’t have been worked out between himself and the Congressional Research Service.
As for resigning from his post as chief prosecutor at Gitmo, apparently in a disagreement with his new military boss over the legal issue of waterboarding, my opinion is that Morris did what a true gentleman and person of principle should do. I do not hold that against him one bit. Regardless of how one might feel about the issue at hand, you have to applaud someone with the integrity to walk away with dignity and principles intact.
With regard to other sources on the DOJ story, you have hit upon one of the primary complaints. Fox and a few others are following it, but the other media outlets seem to be shying away thus far. I do not see here the dogged investigative journalistic pursuit which I would surely see if this had happened under the Bush administration. Up until now, the principal targets seem to be those bringing forth the claims. Adams is a “political activist.” The US Commission on Civil Rights is controlled by the right wing. Kirsten Powers goes way out into right field in demeaning the whole issue and denigrating the whistle blower. Right now this is a “bits and pieces” deal. With the exception of the testimony of Adams before the Commission, a list of various “sources” would take up all the space on this blog. Tell you what. Let’s ask Rachel Maddow to have Adams on her show in a full and fair squareoff and see where that goes.
I tend to get snide when I see the kind of show Powers put on. I agree that Kelly should have handled the thing much better but I also consider this just a sideshow when compared to the actual issue at hand. That does not excuse the tactics employed by Powers, columnist or no columnist. If she comes on TV and makes known her views, she becomes part of the equation and fair game for criticism. Want to see some more snide remarks? I hear that taking news photos of the results of the oil spill down on the south Louisana coast has been made into a federal felony charge. Anderson Cooper of CNN is absolutely livid about that. Where is the rest of the MSM?
You do not like Fox News. I get it. In my opinion, there are many things in the news that would create far more interesting discussions. Here are some examples:
1) If a self-proclaimed Tea Partier were filmed in this video ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neGbKHyGuHU ) instead of a member of the Black Panther Party, do we really think that Eric Holder would have made the same decision, that is, simply file an injunction to keep the person away from voting places? Or would the book have been thrown at the person for voter intimidation?
2) According a poll by the Democracy Corps, 55% of Americans now think that Obama is a socialist and according to a CBSNews poll ( http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/07/13/opinion/polls/main6675137.shtml ), only 13% believe that Obama’s policies have helped them. Short of a terrorist attack, can Obama recover? Is he really a socialist?
3) A 24-year-old illegal alien self-deported back to Mexico to do the “right thing.” He is a college student who wants legal access in the United States so as to hold more than menial jobs. Should the U.S. give him a break ( http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/2010/07/04/20100704oscar0704.html )? I tend to say yes since he did the right thing on his own.
Sorry Kelly, a couple people wanted to discuss this one. I was not one of them but I am an old softie when it comes to Wolverine.
Kelly, I don’t think anyone is disputing that the black panther thing happened or that it was dead wrong. I don’t know what Eric Holder would have done and you don’t either had the BP been a TPP. Whatever happens to one, should happen to the other and anyone else who wants to do voter intimidation, in whatever form.
Yes Obama can recover. I find saying he is a socialist to be very offensive. I also know who and why it is being said. I heard a lot of whining when George Bush was Prez about people always picking on him. I found that amusing considering the real crappy politics of mass destruction began before Clinton was even inaugurated. I expect the paybacks will be even nastier this time. I actually think the behavior on all sides in UN-American.
The college student be allowed back in immediately.
Why do we have to pick between Palin and Obama in 2012? How about someone truly competent? I had a discussion with someone recently who was arguing that Obama is very intelligent. Obviously, he is. He’s one of the intellectually strongest people who has ever held the office. That’s great for a college professor. However, he has no common sense and is more ideological than Bush, Beck, etc. Palin – well, Palin is Palin. The Republicans do have some very strong candiates to put forth in 2012.
Regarding whistle-blowers, I like them very much. We need more. I met and heard Harry Markopolos (the guy who exposed Madoff) speak. Can we add a budget line next year to hire him in the Prince William County Government? Peacor and Griffin wouldn’t last out the week.
I would be glad to see Maddow interview Adams. I would like to see her interview other people on the subject also. There are media folks out there who try to be neutral and others who are centrists. Why have they not investigated this? Could it be that they have and decided there was no story? I don’t know. I also don’t know what usually happens to people who violate voting rights.
What I am seeing is one thug getting slapped on the wrist and told not to do it again. Truthfully, in the grand scheme of things I consider inequitable, I see very little difference in whatever his name is being at the polls talking smack with a billy club and some other dude parading around a huge dog or someone else taking pictures of those entering the polls.
I suppose my question becomes why wasn’t what’s his name removed from the polls immediately? Why didn’t someone call the election board or the police? Or perhaps they did. There are just a lot of missing holes.
As I have said time and time again….I have disliked the Panthers for many years and I can see not much as changed. They should be marginalized. No one should be intimidated at the polls for any reason.
I am just not sure what should be done with the intimidator. What would happen to me if I did it?
Wolverine, I don’t know anything about Kirsten Powers. Does she have a track record of dong things you don’t like? I know that Megyn Kelly can be very strident and rude and opinionated.
Oh and Wolverine, I didn’t say you made snide remarks about Colonel Davis. Several people did however. I am truly sorry you thought I meant you. He was just an example of someone who whistle blew and got criticized for it.
@Moon-howler
I actually don’t see what Kirsten Powers has to do with the story other than she was a guest who was treated extremely badly. Megyn Kelly should be fired for her rudeness.
Hey! While we’re at it, can we get Chrissie Matthews (of Hard[nut]ball fame) fired as well for his prolific rudeness to his guests? Just askin’!
@ RingDangDoo
I rarely watch Chris Matthews and when I have he hasn’t been rude. But if he is rude to guests, then I would say yes.
@Kelly
The night stick guy was taken away by the police according to one of the witnesses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX4dcvIYk9A&feature=related
There is an answer to one of my question. However, I don’t think anyone was attacked.
Rick’s got a point, here….that Mel Gibson stuff is….WOW!
@Captain Idiot-Face
It depends on what I had to do with him after I picked.
Great going Moonhowler! Keep’em guessing 🙂 Good night!
Exactly how I feel Censored!
the left has cnn, msnbc, npr et al in their pocket, but they cant seem to tolerate the last bastions of free speech in this country: conservative talk radio and fox news. typical of authoritarian statists the world over.
Hi e! How are things back in the old home state? I would disagree about CNN being a leftie station. It is about as middle of the road as one can get, in my opinion. So middle of the road ….zzzzz…..zzzzzz…..
@Moon-howler
Remember our conversation about the middle? The location of the middle is relative to the observer. I feel CNN is leftwing and George Bush was Centrist. Others feel……..differently.
I wouldn’t label Bush as a centrist but I believe our argument is over terminology….rather than intent. I used to go nuts over Bush. He was too conservative over some things and too liberal over other things….for my tastes. All the wrong things I might add. But I think that might why you are calling him a centrist. I think *I* am a centrist. Everything is relative.
If CNN is left…where on earth do you put MSNBC?
hi mh. i always breathe a little easier with several hundred miles between me and the regime
I wouldnt count on your state protecting you. 🙄
On 13 July, the USG backed down on charging individuals with a felony if they take unauthorized photos of the oil clean up or get too close to those operations. My hat is off to Anderson Cooper, who stood up strong for the First Amendment. That guy has been doing yoeman’s work in covering the problems in south Louisiana. From Haiti to south Louisiana. I am beginning to like to this guy.
Anderson Cooper has been rather impressive.
What was the Obama Administrations’s justification for that prohibition? This is really a pretty scary test of authority.
Actually the entire black panther hype is all about political theater at this point…the political theater that is designed to ruin the Obama administration. No one filed a complaint that they had been intimidated at the polls. Perhaps that might be why the justice dept. chose not to get out a cannon to kill a fly. The black panthers are a marginal fringe lunatic group.
Much ado about nothing. Pollitical theater and the politics of mass destruction. Deja vu…the Clinton years revisited.
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/14/the-new-black-panther-party-is-the-new-acorn0.html
Moon, I understand your perspective. Here’s why i think the story DOES merit discussion :
A. The perception, I would say reality, is that the elitists who run our government don’t play fair, don’t enforce law depending on whim – and during times when one party controls the Congress and the Presidency, precluding Congressional investigation, even less so. I want to know about each and every instance where our laws weren’t enforced or were selectively prosecuted in violation of any objective version of common sense (including gun-toting Minutemen at the polls in past years).
B. Obama is the only sitting President who I can recall letting his race-based precepts flow out of him so freely (in Gates-Crowley) so his role in this is worthy of examination. His Attorney General has shown incompetance on occasion (“I Haven’t Read Arizona’s Bill yet, But We’ll Probably Sue Every Way Possible”) and frankly anything that this man does is worth scrutiny.
C. The video of the “New Black Panthers” leader intimating that the case was dropped because a black man became Attorney general in and of itself calls for some measure of accountability, some public sunshine on what went on here.
@Rick
I just can’t believe the panthers are being given this much attention. They are a flea on an elephant.
Tell me what you want to happen. What I have not seen yet is anyone stepping up and saying what should have happened. All I have heard is Holder bashing. Now, I have no feelings about Holder one way or the other. I just see all this as political theater to destroy a presidency.
What should have happened to Mr. Night Billy Club? I don’t think there is anyone around, save a couple of disgruntled panthers, who thinks that what they saw was a good thing. I also don’t think that having dogs at the polls is a good thing. It routinely happens in Herndon. The dog’s owner has political connections. It just shouldn’t happen. Leave your dogs and your billy clubs at home.
Rick, I totally agree with you about Obama and the Gates-gate. He apologized and tried to fix it. But the horse was out of the barn.
If that’s inconvenient politics for the Democrats, I for one don’t care. I’m more concerned with the way our unelected elitist political appointees pick and choose which laws to enforce when.