The Secret Behind Media Matters For America
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Steve Benen lays out the entire conspiracy for all to see:
[Jonah] Goldberg may not realize it, but he inadvertently alluded to his own confusion: “Media Matters quoted him.” Indeed, that’s the bulk of what Media Matters does — it tells the public what media figures and personalities say, offering audio/video clips and transcripts. The group didn’t “paint” bill O’Reilly as a racist; the group provided people with O’Reilly’s own words, in their full context. And what did O’Reilly say? “I couldn’t get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia’s restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it’s run by blacks, primarily black patronship.”
To hear Goldberg tell it, Media Matters’ biggest sin is shining a spotlight on conservative media figures, as if that were inherently underhanded. Goldberg’s argument, in a nutshell, seems to be: How dare a group show people what Limbaugh and O’Reilly told a national broadcast audience!
I was discussing this with a friend recently in the wake of the Limbaugh and O’Reilly incidents: Until Media Matters came along, especially in the world of mostly conservative talk radio, there was no scrutiny and they could just let it all hang out. What O’Reilly could self-censor on an hour long tv show, tends to come out on his radio show. Before 2004, nobody besides dittoheads were listening to all three hours of Limbaugh.
The secret of Media Matters: quoting people’s own actual words that they used.
BOOGEDY BOOGEDY BOOGEDY. SCARED YET KIDS????
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© 2000-2011 Oliver Willis
That’s really what i didn’t get about the O’Reilly thing. The guy said what he said and Media Matters just quoted him. It’s Goldberg who has to distort what O’Reilly said. As he wrote in the column referenced:
That sounds utterly harmless except that O’Reilly also added that he “couldn’t get over” the fact that this was the case as if it was some big surprise to him.
You guys are listening to Rush Limbaugh for three hours? Wow. I use my headphones at work when Rush’s crap (the dittohead in the cubicle next to mine plays him) gets me to want to call up and rebut, even though I know how useless that is.
Exactly. He was shocked. HE. It would have been different if he had said, “There are some who base their opinion on black culture on gangster rap, but…”
But no, he was talking how he was shocked at their good behavior.
“….all the jews should be killed….”
“You know, Adolph Hitler said that all the jews should be killed, and that is why winning world war two was so important”
Both completely accurate quotes. Both have completely different meanings.
Media Matters specializes in quoting people out of context. O’Reilly was contrasting the crap that is modern rap music with the refined atmosphere of a fine restaraunt to demonstrate that there is no monolithic “black culture” that embraces the useless filth that is sometime taken as modern black culture.
The full context of his quote was excerpted. Just because O’Reilly put his foot in his mouth you suddenly want us to put up his entire 3 hour show for it to be in context. O’Reilly said specifically he was personally surprised that blacks didn’t act like howling monkeys in the restaurant. Period. That’s what he said. Either admit what he said was idiotic or that you agree, but don’t pull the sorry-ass “out of context” dodge.
“‘….all the jews should be killed….’
‘You know, Adolph Hitler said that all the jews should be killed, and that is why winning world war two was so important’
Both completely accurate quotes. Both have completely different meanings.”
This analogy is crap.
O’Reilly didn’t say, ‘Some might be shocked by the refined atmosphere …’
He said, “I couldn’t get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia’s restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it’s run by blacks, primarily black patronship.”
He was talking about himself and his racist opinions. Got it?
“Media Matters specializes in quoting people out of context.”
Bullshit. And you can quote me on that.
“O’Reilly was contrasting the crap that is modern rap music with the refined atmosphere of a fine restaraunt to demonstrate that there is no monolithic “black culture” that embraces the useless filth that is sometime taken as modern black culture.”
O’Reilly was shocked that there was a refined atmosphere at a black restaurant. And this isn’t an interpretation, it is a direct quote.
The piece was in the correct context, as anyone reading the transcript can tell. Just because Media Matters didn’t post all three hours of his radio show, (which would be illegal, by the way), doesn’t mean he was taken out of context.
The thing that gets me is why O’Reilly and Limbaugh can’t bring themselves to say something like “I expressed myself poorly on that occasion, and I apologize. What I really meant to say was…” Instead they attack the people who quote their very words and perpetuate the controversy.
Good thing for us they’re so dumb.
“The thing that gets me is why O’Reilly and Limbaugh can’t bring themselves to say something like…”
The conservative culture of the moment likes bullies. They like people who fight to the death, even when they are wrong. Admitting you misspoke, even on the smallest most obvious issue, is akin to surrendering.
This is the culture they built, and this is the reason they are dying.