(Last Mod: 04 November 2010 20:37:46)
The list of inaccurate and/or unsupported things in this segment is quite
lengthy. Some of them are arguable and some of them are not. But clearly the
entire focus of the segment was about how the people bringing guns to these
protests (which I believe shows rather poor judgement on their part since it is
quite counter-productive to the very point they are trying to make) are
obviously angry white people upset because we elected a black president. They
obviously felt it was absolutely essential to include video of one such
protester carrying a "machine gun" -- which, of course, an AR-15 is not --
followed by the narrator asking about whether there is a racial overtone because
"here you have a man of color in the presidency and white people showing up with
guns."
Just one minor problem with that report -- the man that brought the AR-15 is
black.
YouTube video of an interview with the protester discussed in the MSNBC report.
How can anyone claim, with a straight face, that this segment was not very
carefully edited specifically to conceal the race of the person that was
carrying the AR-15? In fact, they had to edit it so much that they had to repeat
what was left three times in order for it to be long enough to have anything at
all! Could it be because the facts did not jive with the story they wanted to
put forward?
Another point of interest, unrelated to the MSNBC report, is that the people
that brought guns to the rally pre-coordinated doing so with the Phoenix Police
Department. Similarly, the man that brought a gun to the NH rally notified the
police beforehand and obtained permission from the property owners first. Again,
I'm far from certain that they were smart from the standpoint of moving the
debate in their favor, but it is clear that they were far from irresponsible in
how they went about it.