New York Times Plays Race Card to Raise Circulation

The New York Times' non-story about Obama's casual relationship with Bill Ayers is their version of the odiously unfunny New Yorker cover of Obama dressed like a terrorist and Michelle Obama like a Black Panther. By screaming "Obama and '60s Bomber" on their front page they were parroting a desperate, right-wing talking point grounded in good ol'fashioned race hatred.

According to a recent Pew Research Center poll, 13% of Americans still think Obama is a Muslim. How many others suspect -- purely because of the color of his skin -- that he is a one-man sleeper cell, a Black Panther in Brooks Brothers clothing.

The New York Times article and the New Yorker cartoon recklessly flirt with that meme. They irresponsibly revive the irrational suspicions trumped up by the Rev. Wright controversy (and laid to rest by Obama's soaring Philadelphia race speech).

And in the Wright controversy Obama really did have a relationship with that nutjob that he had to sever. While the Ayers connection is billed as "Rev. Wright II," the Times story itself concludes that the two are no more than passing acquaintances.

John McCain has not offered a single substantive prescription for our ailing economy or how his foreign policy would differ from the train wreck of the Bush Administration's. Instead, it seems his only hope is capitalizing on the worst in us. His "Country First" and "The American President Americans have been waiting for," slogans are offensive not just to every minority in America but to the hundreds of millions of Americans who are children of immigrants.

The question for the TImes is why this old, non-news now? Why did the Rev. Wright scandal bubble up from the pit of the right-wing echo chamber into the MSM just as Obama was breaking away from Hillary?

I think I know why. The media is selling the race for the White House like a telenovela. I don't write soap operas. I write novels and movies, but in all these forms you don't put your big, climactic scene twenty pages from the end. Hey, it's called a finale for a reason.

As Obama continues to open up his lead in every major poll, this nail-biter of an election is beginning to look like a blowout. A blowout would mean an enormous loss of revenue to the media corporations, akin to everyone knowing Michael Phelps had already won his eight golds after just the third day of NBC's broadcast.

Market forces are the only logical reason I can see why our most important news outlet would place on their front page an article linking the possible future President of the United States to a terrorist (and then concluding inside the article that the two have nothing to do with each other at all).

Comments

[bannorhill]

Obama has been playing the race card this entire campaign. How many times have we heard "The first Black President".

Even Joe Biden stated "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man."

Who is playing the race card?

[folkforobama]

I take offense to the comment that Obama has been playing the race card. In case you are not up on your American History, Barrack Obama would be, I repeat, WOULD BE, the first African-American to hold the office of the U. S. presidency. I am over 40 yrs. of age and I am an African-American, and I can remember a time period when most of us believed that we would never see a black man ascend to the office of the Presidency of the U. S. We never thought that we would live long enough to see it. My mother suffered terribly as a teen-ager growing up in the 50s when only a few black kids were being bussed to an all white high school. My grandmother was a domestic who cooked for at two prominent white families in our small southern town. At 13, she had to leave home to go to work and live with a white family to help them raise their children, when she was a child herself. I can recall when I was a kid that whenever we went into the Corner drugstore, that the waitresses would always wait on us last. We were allowed to sit at the counter, but we would go in and sit and wait to be waited on and five minutes later, a white patron would come in and they would get served first, even though we had come in first.

[bannorhill]

Are you supporting Obama because he is Black? Have you looked at what he has accomplished as a Senator? In 4 1/2 years the only bill he sponsored that became law was one to rename a Post Office. Is that a record worthy of a President? If you take away the "pop culture" media you are left with a man who has not done much.

[toochie50]

Okay so if Ayers was such a bad guy, why is he not in jail? Why is he teaching at a prestigious university?
Answer that all your trolls.

[yammit]

you and AP have fallen into the Obama tactic of every challenge is racist... Ayers and his common law wife are the equal of OJ Simpson .. They got off on a technicality and caused the deaths of innocent people.. Ayers hosted an event for Senator Obama, not toddler Obama. He also was involved in an event in 1997 with Barack and Michelle in official capacities­..Portrayi­ng facts do not equal racism.. Playing the race card does

[barkanomics]

I guess the NY Times had to do the story to answer these attack ads. But it has only fueled them and now Palin says Obama "pals around with terrorists." Not only patently untrue, but possibly an enticement of violence against the senator. We are about to see America at its ugliest. I pray for Obama's safety.

[cyndeewi]

The american people can read. It they read the NYT then they will conclude that Palin is lies.

[Bitsko]

Good points made, Mr. Ellis. I began thinking the same thing half way through the lead paragraph.

[Dailyfare]

Trey, did you read the article? Exploring the issue to get to the facts is not playing the race card.

I think you're making an unsubstantive leap.

[wildernessed]

Six Pack Sara Palin in a speech accused Barack Obama of associating with a terrorist. Lies and fearmongering are a mainstay of all Republican campaigning, but one has to be taken back by this particulairly ridiculous verbage. What is striking is that in a country where we have worked so hard over the years to welcome everyone into the American family, and in the process civil rights and equal rights movement gains have come at a cost of great suffering and loss of life, John McCain would approve of comments that are an assault on race. What has happened here is that because Obama is African American, because his skin color is different than say McCains or Palins, but more like Mexican Americans, Arab Americans, Indian Americans, that he is somehow linked to the stereotypical terrorist, and should be viewed as such. I don't know that this type of a failed covert attack - wedge issue is appropriate ?, and I would like to hear what members of Americas cultural and ethnic melting pot have to say about this thoughtless, hurtful, discriminatory accusation. If Barack Obama was White, or European American this attempt at political segregation would never have occured. But with a wink, a nod, and a smile Sara Palin has said, "He is black, he is not like us, he is not American", this is an outrage and I hope Sara Palins ethnocentric comments are rebutted and rebuked by all Americans, and America's leaders.

[piper1233]

a must see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QIGJTHdH50

[Pulemerci]

I don't know how you can leap from a story about Obama's political career being launced at the home of a terrorist to the race card being played. As far as the race card being played, the only one playing it is Obama, preemptively. Remember, "They're going to try and scare you, he's got a funny name, he doesn't look like us. Did I mention he's black." McCain never went there but Obama did.

[VideoHammer]

Do you even read the News, I mean real News? I have been subjected to White code words for most of my life. Just because you willfully decide to ignore the bile, does not mean that it does not exist. Race issues are a reality in the United States and frankly, I do not rely on the excuses of closet racists to define them for me.

[OutsiderSA]

Preemptive strike?

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/obama_runs_constructive_criticism

If you outguess our opponent and pull the dirty on yourself first you essentially disarm your opponent.

I say that is smart.

[iswideopen]

The New York Times has already "debunked" this story. We have been here and done that during the primaries. John McCain and Sarah Palin will look back on their "bigotry" ran campaign very soon and ask themselves was it worth selling their souls to satan.....­..........­..It says something about someone's character in and of itself to feel "so comfortable" in doing such a thing and you know it is a LIE. Sarah Palin looked as if she was "having fun" while spewing this vile slander today at a rally. What message does that send out about America. Truly sad.

[Dandrea]

I don't see how anyone would say that the NYT played the race card. THis was a piece that put out the real facts about a topic that McCain and his magic act assistant will be busy lying about for the last 30 some days.I only wish that EVERYONE could read this article. Unfortunately, there are too many of us who only read those crazy emails and watch FNN and too many TV chatterers who know the facts but let lies and distortions go by unanswered.
Most voters are on to the fact that McCain has no legitimate way to win the election. He'll muddy our election but Americans are really tired of all of this.

[respectingothers]

they played the race card by making the title inconsistent with the story.and because there are so many folks who only read the titles they won't realize the story didn't support the title.

[Pulemerci]

Actually the story was factually correct. Obama's political career was launched at William Ayers home. William Ayers is an unremorseful terrorist. Those are what normal people call facts.

[tmetu]

I believe this article is preemptive in nature. The headline is one that will draw in right wingers to read the article thinking that it is a negative story on Obama. It even baits you to read it through by insinuated that there may be something to this association at the beginning. By the time you conclude you have learned all the facts and understand that this relationship was a passing association. This preempts John McCain's upcoming barrage of negative ads that will surely include the Ayers association. The New York Times is indeed "in the tank for Obama."

[instank]

You are wrong my friend.

Ignoring the issue won’t make it go away.

It was the epitome of responsibility for the very paper that printed the Ayers quote on Sept 11 to give some background about the relationship between these two men. William Ayers is a professor at the largest university in Chicago. Although he has participated in some despicable acts, his picture is not on any of the “most wanted t erro rist” playing cards. He contributes more to society than many patriotic Americans do. Here’s the kicker: HE’S TEACHING OUR FUTURE TEACHERS!!!

I don’t want to defend Ayers or the NYT. But EVERYONE should read the article for some FACTUAL background on the issue. It destroys any right-wing talking point.

Btw I personally LOATHE the term “Race Card,” and it bothers me when we people of color validate the idiotic term by using it.

It’s the right-wingers who blindly follow their candidates, ignoring any part of their pasts that they don’t like. Their knee-jerk reaction is to attack anyone who dares tarnish their candidate.

We are better than that.

[Pulemerci]

Exactly how does it destroy the talking point (I call it a fact) that Obama's political career was launched at the home of a man who bombed the Capitol and the Pentagon?

[Nia1999]

Well we now know where some of the October campaign money went for the negative ads the McCain campaign promised.