Wednesday, March 19, 2008

ABC: Obama “told a different story”

Most liberal/leftist news organizations, including the Raleigh News & Observer, are ignoring the fact that yesterday Sen. Barack Obama contradicted his previous denials concerning what he knew about his Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s virulent anti-Americanism and racism. But ABC News is reporting it. What follows is some of its latest story with my comments below the star line.

From ABC News [excerpt]:

Until yesterday,[Sen.] Obama said the only thing controversial he knew about Rev. Wright was his stand on issues relating to Africa, abortion and gay marriage.

"I don't think my church is actually particularly controversial," Obama said at a community meeting in Nelsonville, Ohio, earlier this month.

"He has said some things that are considered controversial because he's considered that part of his social gospel; so he was one of the leaders in calling for divestment from South Africa and some other issues like that," Obama said on March 2.

His initial reaction to the initial ABC News broadcast of Rev. Wright's sermons denouncing the U.S. was that he had never heard his pastor of 20 years make any comments that were anti-U.S. until the tape was played on air.

But yesterday, he told a different story.

"Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes," he said in his speech yesterday in Philadelphia.

Obama did not say what he heard that he considered "controversial," and the campaign has yet to answer repeated requests for dates on which the senator attended Rev. Wright's sermons over the last 20 years. …

The entire ABC report is here.
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Comments:

It tells us something about the growing power of the Internet that MSM news organizations are being forced to report, albeit with much downplaying and withholding, on Wright’s anti-Americanism and racism; and on what Obama knew about Wright, when he knew it, and why he’s only now distancing himself from Wright.

Twenty years ago, most Americans wouldn’t be hearing about this most important story in any form.

Even with a few journalists and talk radio hosts such as Sean Hannity reporting the story for almost a year, it didn’t break through the MSM “filter” until Wright’s sermon video tapes started appearing at You Tube, after which Fox News and ABC News began reporting on them.

I would have expected Fox to report the story because of its commitment to fair and balanced news reporting.

I’m surprised and delighted ABC News is also out front on the story.
It’s reporter, Brian Ross, deserves a lot of praise for having the courage and tenacity to dig on this story when most of his MSM peers wanted to cover it up and are doing all they can now to minimize it.

Hat tip to Anon commenter who alerted me to this latest in a string of excellent stories by Ross who was assisted on this one by Avni Petal

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good to give credit where credit is due.

Insufficiently Sensitive said...

I would have expected Fox to report the story because of its commitment to fair and balanced news reporting.

Fox has its own flaws. One is that in hiring journalists of any stripe, it is bound to gather in a majority of believers in the groupthink of the MSM - since more than 90% of journalists in this country are such believers.

So the Fox organization may WISH it were fair and balanced, and its editorial policies may be less left-wing than the NYT. However, someone wisely noted a couple of years ago that Fox is far from immune from the foibles of MSM journalists in general, and that any particular story of the day can be a long way removed from 'fair and balanced'.

mac said...
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Anonymous said...

What's with ABC? Somebody give them a 'nads transplant or something?

mac said...
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Anonymous said...

Obama has been caught in his deception, but he's probably not consciously lying.

Due to the sister-in-law-from-hell I'm well acquainted with this phenomenon, and long ago decided it was unimportant. Whether or not someone is conscious of telling untruths is unimportant. Whether their rage at being called on it is real or feigned is unimportant. The bottom line is if you can't trust them, you can't trust them.

mac said...
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