Fox ‘news’ anchor loses show for Obama slur

FoxNews anchor ED Hill has been removed from the air, but reportedly remains with Foxnews – off air – after her comment calling the victory bump of Barack Obama and his wife a ‘terrorist fist jab.”   More here.

How uncomfortable is Obama with LGBTQ issues?

The Obama campaign gay-gaffed again on Wednesday during a conference call with LGBTQ media reps.  While he seems to have his heart in the right place for our issues, he and his campaign seem uncomfortable and (maybe too harsh a phrase) tone-deaf in some regards.

PageOneQ reports that during the call, to announce the hiring of David Noble as “Director of the LBGT Vote”, the Obama campaign’s Steve Hildebrand referred to the need for acceptance of “the gay lifestyle.”

During a brief question-and-answer period, Matt Comer of QNotes in Charlotte, North Carolina asked what safeguards the campaign had put in place to prevent another Donnie McClurkin incident, referring to the gospel singer’s anti-gay rant during an Obama-sponsored gospel tour before the South Carolina Primary.

Hildebrand took responsibility as the person “central to overseeing our operations” in South Carolina, as well as being Obama’s key advisor.

“We messed on the vetting of Donnie McClurkin,” Hildebrand said. “Had we known some of his background, we probably never would have invited him to participate in that gospel tour.”

Hildebrand then talked about how Obama is “a different kind of politician” who often talks with the African-American community about how “there needs to be less bigotry, there needs to be more of a working relationship, you know, more acceptance of a lot of African-Americans who do not agree with the gay lifestyle. There was a time where [Obama] repeated that we’ve got to do better – that my own black community needs to do better. And he does not hesitate to do that.”

One could almost hear an audible gasp coming across the muted press phone lines. “Gay lifestyle?” That a term long associated with anti-gay right-wingers who promote sexual orientation as a “lifestyle choice” flowed so easily from the lips of Obama’s top gay advisor was startling.

Audio of this reporter’s question ad the campaign’s answer may be heard here.

I haven’t seen any bloggers or MSM comments so far, but it irks me just as much that Hildebrand states the campaign only “probably” would not have included Donnie McClurkin him on their gospel tour if they had known his background. Slip of the tongue, or freudian slip?

Neocons – race-based campaigning against Obama

Bilerico Project has an insightful article on the Neocons’ marketing meme of Obama as a ’scary black man.’  The LA Times has a report as well, citing the usual suspect FoxNews.  You may not have seen the spot they refer to although I actually did, as I was visiting my Dad at the time it aired.  Fox teleprompt-reader E.D. Hill calls the fist-bump of Barack and Michelle Obama a ‘terrorist fist jab’, among other things.

Bilerico report here.

LA Times piece here.

The LA Times piece includes the video footage of the “bump” and Fox’s message.

Storm Bear, author of the Bilerico piece, also cites Fox’s Sean Hannity thusly.

Sean Hannity prattles on and on about “secret Muslim,” “Obama’s radical past,” and “most liberal man in the Senate.” I wonder how Ted Kennedy feels about losing that title to Obama? I am sure he has larger fish to fry these days. (Get well Ted!)

And it’s not just about Barack Obama. Maureen Down in the NYT recounts the slur campaigns being strategized against his wife, Michelle.

She’s a devoted daughter, wife and mother who has lived the American dream, from the humble South Side of Chicago to Harvard Law School. Hey, isn’t it totally unAmerican to complain that being a black woman in the ’80s at a class-conscious, white-bread college, Princeton, was somewhat uncomfortable?

Just as Bill and Hillary did the “Pssst! He’s black!” thing on Barry, now the Republicans will use the same tactic on the strong and opinionated Michelle.

Unlike her husband, who wrote in his memoir that he had learned at a young age to smile and charm and disarm whites of the notion that he might be a bristly black militant, Michelle has not always hidden her jangly opinions so well. She has spent more time dwelling on the ways in which society can pull down the less privileged and refers a lot to a callous but unnamed “They.”

“Michelle,” as one political observer puts it, “is a target-rich environment.”

But wait – we can be expect the blogosphere to be fast and loose with un-vetted rumors and outright lies.  But, the broadcast news media have a different standard.  Let’s see what the caption-writers at Foxnews have to say about attacks on Michelle Obama.

Well – it’s good to see the standards for our 2008 Presidential campaign reporting are set at least as high as a Junior High Class President race.