http://mediamatters.org/items/200909170010 The New York Times reported that "several conservatives ... accused their liberal counterparts of unfairly tainting them as racists for engaging in legitimate criticism of the White House" and quoted Rush Limbaugh saying, "Today, it's all based in racism -- the criticism of Obama's health care plan or whatever." But the Times ignored Limbaugh's statement that "in Obama's America, the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering"; the paper also ignored charges of racism by other conservatives, including Glenn Beck, who has stated that President Obama is a "racist" and has "exposed himself as a guy" who has "a deep-seated hatred for white people." NY Times: "[P]rominent conservatives say critics have been smeared by many of the president's supporters"From the September 16 Times article by Jeff Zeleny and Jim Rutenberg: President Obama has long suggested that he would like to move beyond race. The question now is whether the country will let him. He woke up on Wednesday to a rapidly intensifying debate about how his race factors into the broader discussion of civility in politics, a question prompted in part by former President Jimmy Carter's assertion Tuesday that racism was behind a Republican lawmaker's outburst against Mr. Obama last week as the president addressed a joint session of Congress. Even before that, several conservatives had accused their liberal counterparts of unfairly tainting them as racists for engaging in legitimate criticism of the White House. [...] But a number of prominent conservatives say critics have been smeared by many of the president's supporters. On his radio program this week, Rush Limbaugh said, "Today, it's all based in racism -- the criticism of Obama's health care plan or whatever." On Fox News, former Speaker Newt Gingrich added, "I think it's very destructive for America to suggest that we can't criticize a president without it being a racial act." [...] Other supporters of Mr. Obama, however, say they cannot help seeing overt racism in some of the conservative attacks. "You cannot act like you don't have several hundred years of racial context here, where a painted face has a racial context to it in this country," said Cornell Belcher, a Democratic pollster who helped on Mr. Obama's presidential campaign and has studied race extensively.
Times ignores Limbaugh's racism charges against Obama and othersLimbaugh: "[I]n Obama's America, the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering." During the same show from which Zeleny and Rutenberg quoted Limbaugh's statement that "it's all based in racism -- the criticism of Obama's health care plan or whatever," Limbaugh referred to an incident in Illinois in which a white student was allegedly assaulted by black students on a school bus, saying: "[I]n Obama's America, the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering." [Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show, 9/15/09] Limbaugh called Obama "the greatest living example of a reverse racist." Attacking the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Limbaugh called Sotomayor a "reverse racist" who was appointed by "the greatest living example of a reverse racist." [The Rush Limbaugh Show, 5/26/09] Limbaugh: The way to "get promoted in a Barack Obama administration" is "by hating white people"; compared Sotomayor nomination to David Duke. Discussing Sotomayor's nomination, Limbaugh stated, "How do you get promoted in a Barack Obama administration? By hating white people or even saying you do." Limbaugh later said that Sotomayor "brings a form of bigotry or racism to the court" and asked: "[H]ow can a party get behind such a candidate? That's what would be asked if somebody were foolish enough to nominate David Duke or pick somebody even less offensive." [The Rush Limbaugh Show, 5/29/09] Limbaugh: "I do believe" Obama is an "angry black guy." Responding to criticism from Georgetown University professor and author Michael Eric Dyson, Limbaugh said: "[T]hey're finally hearing me. 'He's an angry black guy.' I do believe that about the president. I do believe he's angry. I think his wife is angry." [The Rush Limbaugh Show, 7/27/09] Limbaugh called Gates "an angry racist." Talking about Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates, Limbaugh said: "He's a racist. He's an angry racist, and is -- you know, when he got into -- when he applied for admissions to Yale, he said, 'Yeah, OK, I have to sit and be judged by whitey again.' " [The Rush Limbaugh Show, 7/27/09] Limbaugh said Colin Powell's endorsement of Obama was "purely and solely based on race." Limbaugh stated: "The Republican Party nominated the exact kind of candidate Colin Powell thinks the Republican Party should have, and he still endorsed Obama. I just think he's just mad at me because I'm the one person in the country that had the guts to explain his endorsement of Obama: It was purely and solely based on race. There can be no other explanation for it." Limbaugh later added: "The only reason to endorse Obama is race. I don't think Powell thinks he could get away with not endorsing Obama because the Republicans nominated the exact candidate and had the exact campaign -- other than Sarah Palin -- that Colin Powell advocated." [The Rush Limbaugh Show, 5/6/09] Times also ignores other conservatives' charges of racism against ObamaBeck called Obama a "racist" with "a deep-seated hatred for white people." Beck said on Fox News' Fox & Friends that Obama "has exposed himself as a guy, over and over and over again, who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture," adding, "This guy is, I believe, a racist." [Fox News' Fox & Friends, 7/28/09] Hannity: "Do the Obamas have a race problem of their own?" Sean Hannity asserted on Fox News' now-defunct Hannity & Colmes: "As more is learned about Barack Obama's positions, his past, and his affiliations, it seems that the 'change' candidate has all the same problems with race as those before him." Hannity later added: "It's only fair to ask: Do the Obamas have a race problem of their own?" [Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, 3/2/08] | 
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