(Misleading) Headline of the Day (Obama-Gates-Crowley-Congress edition)
By Michael J.W. Stickings
The Hill:
True? Yes, strictly speaking.
Misleading? Absolutely.
As Libby puts it over at The Impolitic, the headline should have been "Insane GOPer to introduce resolution…"
Because while the House will, in fact, be considering this anti-Obama resolution, the resolution itsels is the work not of the Democratic majority, or of some bipartisan group, as the headline implies, but of a single Republican, Thaddeus McCotter, who is obviously hoping to use the whole Gates-Crowley incident to score political points against Obama.
I suppose we can have a serious discussion about the arrest,* as well as about whether/how Obama should have responded, but turning an incident with obvious racial/racist overtones is hardly helpful.
Though it's pretty much what you'd expect from the House GOP these days.
* But let's not forget the basic facts here: A black man was arrested in his own home because the police thought he was robbing it. Is that stupid? I'd say so. Obama has since refined his comments, but he remains right about it. The whole incident was an appalling over-reaction, one that brought to the fore, once more, America's extremely deep racial divides, not to mention its long history of state-sanctioned racism.
And you know what else is appalling? The way the media are covering the ongoing story -- how they're spewing Republican/conservative spin and otherwise manufacturing controversy.
The Hill:
True? Yes, strictly speaking.
Misleading? Absolutely.
As Libby puts it over at The Impolitic, the headline should have been "Insane GOPer to introduce resolution…"
Because while the House will, in fact, be considering this anti-Obama resolution, the resolution itsels is the work not of the Democratic majority, or of some bipartisan group, as the headline implies, but of a single Republican, Thaddeus McCotter, who is obviously hoping to use the whole Gates-Crowley incident to score political points against Obama.
I suppose we can have a serious discussion about the arrest,* as well as about whether/how Obama should have responded, but turning an incident with obvious racial/racist overtones is hardly helpful.
Though it's pretty much what you'd expect from the House GOP these days.
* But let's not forget the basic facts here: A black man was arrested in his own home because the police thought he was robbing it. Is that stupid? I'd say so. Obama has since refined his comments, but he remains right about it. The whole incident was an appalling over-reaction, one that brought to the fore, once more, America's extremely deep racial divides, not to mention its long history of state-sanctioned racism.
And you know what else is appalling? The way the media are covering the ongoing story -- how they're spewing Republican/conservative spin and otherwise manufacturing controversy.
Labels: Barack Obama, Headline of the Day, race, racism, Republicans, U.S. House of Representatives
posted by Michael J.W. Stickings at
3:46 PM
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