REPORT: Fox News has hyped phony New Black Panthers scandal at least 95 times

[babylonsister]

Smells like desperation...


REPORT: Fox News has hyped phony New Black Panthers scandal at least 95 times
Fox devoted more than 8 hours of airtime to discussion of New Black Panthers


Six Fox News shows have discussed the phony New Black Panthers scandal during a total of 95 segments since Megyn Kelly's June 30 interview hyping the unsubstantiated allegations of right-wing activist J. Christian Adams. In all, these Fox shows have devoted more than eight hours of airtime to discussing the New Black Panthers.

Adams' accusations don't stand up to the facts

* Adams is a longtime right-wing activist who is known for filing an ethics complaint against Hugh Rodham that was subsequently dismissed. Adams served as a poll watcher for George W. Bush in Florida in 2004, and he reportedly volunteered for a Republican group that trains lawyers to fight "racially tinged battles over voting rights."

* Adams was hired at the Justice Department in 2005 by Bradley Schlozman, who was found by the Justice Department's inspector general and Office of Professional Responsibility to have improperly considered political affiliation when hiring career attorneys -- the former head of the DOJ voting rights section reportedly said that Adams was "exhibit A of the type of people hired by Schlozman."

* Adams has admitted that he does not have firsthand knowledge of the events, conversations, and decisions that he is citing to advance his accusations.

* The Bush administration's Justice Department -- not the Obama administration -- made the decision not to pursue criminal charges against members of the New Black Panther Party for alleged voter intimidation at a polling center in Philadelphia in 2008.

* The Obama administration successfully obtained default judgment against King Samir Shabazz, a member of the New Black Panther Party who was carrying a nightstick outside the Philadelphia polling center.

* The Bush administration DOJ chose not to pursue similar charges against members of the Minutemen, one of whom allegedly carried a weapon while harassing Hispanic voters in Arizona in 2006.

* No voters have come forward to claim that they were intimidated and did not vote because of the New Black Panthers' presence outside the polling center.

* The Republican vice chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, which is currently investigating the Justice Department's decision, has said that the case is "very small potatoes" and that it has been surrounded by "overheated rhetoric filled with insinuations and unsubstantiated charges." She has further stated that the investigation has not "served the interests of the Commission" and that the DOJ has given a "plausible argument" for not pursuing additional charges in the case.

more...

http://mediamatters.org/research/201007160038

[CatWoman]

1. *sigh*

It ought to be a crime to be so irresponsible...........

[babylonsister]

2. Agreed. The dumbing down of America continues.

:hi:, CatWoman!

[malaise]

3. FIrst Acorn

now this non-event and they haven't apologized over ACORN yet.

[NYC_SKP]

4. Only a Fox News fan would buy this bullshit story.

I commented extensively on this during the days that the story broke.

And I have the perspective of living near these sorts of projects for years.

A. Nothing unusual about gentlemen guarding the outside of THEIR polling place given the history of abuse of voting rights and in light of the candidate's race.

B. Nobody who belonged there, who was registered to vote there, was disturbed by their presence.

C. Enter some obnoxious punk outsider filming the polling place with Cell Phone (actually looking to MAKE some news, IMO).

D. Given above facts and circumstances, and having watched what transpired, the gentlemen in question behaved quite responsibly and cooperated with local law enforcement that day.

Conclusion: The REAL news story here is WTF was the asshole with the phone trying to prove, provoke, etc.

Bullshit story, Bullshit network. Not unlike the Bullshit attempt to trap ACORN employees, similarly hyped by Fox.

:puke:

[foxfeet]

5. I'm waiting for them to start in on Gladys Knight and the Pips.

[pinboy3niner]

6. LOL! And I'd guess the Average White Band is safe...

:evilgrin:

[Scurrilous]

7. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Hollywood Hills]

8. Acorn with guns

Boogey men!!!!

[tilsammans]

9. My cousin just went on and on about this . . .

. . . on the phone. i hadn't heard a thing about it, and I asked her where she heard it. Well, Fox, of course. :grr:

I told her I NEVER watch Fox.

To that she replied, "Well, I want to hear all sides of a story."

Say wha'?