This has been diaried to death, but I put a bunch of work into this post at my personal blog and believe, humbly, that it is a thoughtful tying together that can maybe close the book on this whole Ashley Todd episode and keep it alive in our collective memory.
I've been very upset all weekend.
I don't think this campaign has to be, to borrow a word from Ali G, "racialist." On either side! That is, honestly, I don't think the McCain campaign is "racialist" either, and I believe that the Senators are doing their best to keep things above board.
Not so for Fox News. And you may be surprised to find out that Fox News's News Director John Moody ((212) 301-8560)called John McCain (and much of white America) racist on Friday.
In an extraordinarily over-stated, ill-advised blog posting now familiar to Kossacks, John Moody puts all his eggs in a tremendously dubious basket. It's a dangerous gamut. It reminds me of Al Franken's presidential nemesis in Why Not Me?, who promises to "eat his hat" if something doesn't happen his way, and Franken's brother follows him around New Hampshire with a hat and a place setting for weeks. (It's a pertinent and quick read).
Before quoting Moody, I should mention that Moody's voicemail, according to a disgruntled poster at a Ron Paul forum, can be reached at (212) 301-8560. News organizations are almost always responsive to the viewing public, so tell him how you feel, but keep it clean!
John Moody starts with the "Facts of the Case," even though the McCain campaign was disseminating its "details"despite the police's unwillingness to confirm the unconfirmable (patently false) allegations:
It had to happen.
Less than two weeks before we vote for a new president, a white woman says a black man attacked her, then scarred her face, and says there was a political motive for it.
Ashley Todd, a 20-year-old white volunteer for John McCain’s presidential campaign, says she was mugged at an ATM machine in Pittsburgh (my hometown) by a big black man. She further says he threw her down, then disfigured her by carving the letter "B" into her face with a sharp implement when he saw that she supported McCain, not Barack Obama.
First of all, what a stunning lede! Leave aside the facts of the case--that the "B" carved into her face was indeed backwards (which--conspiracy alert--"backwards" is an anagram for "Barack WDs!"--as in, "Barack withdraws from race after crazed supporter goes crazy nuts") as if carved while looking in a mirror.
Nobody said Ashley Todd was all that bright.
It had to happen.
\
Well, didn't have to happen. Every day of my life I have walked around, and never once have I been the victim of a racially or politically motivated attack. I've never had anything carved into my skin. I've never been robbed outside an ATM. I had a Bush bumper sticker torn off my car in 2004 the day after the election (while they left the Kerry bumper sticker and the "Nixon/Lodge" bumper sticker alone--that was quite a car, I tell you--I was a "moderate" then), but that's the extent of my victimhood as far as political terrorism goes.
and B)It didn't "had to have happened," because, well, it didn't, uh, happen
But, Mr. Moody, so what if it did happen? What then? Could you please absurdly overstate the racialist tensions in American society in a way that sets race relations back to the early 1970s and presumes we're still a nation that divides neatly into the two ethnic categories of "irate, anti-busing suburban parents" and "criminal, illiterate ghetto hoodrats"?
Part of the appeal of, and the unspoken tension behind, Senator Obama’s campaign is his transformational status as the first African-American to win a major party’s presidential nomination.
That does not mean that he has erased the mutual distrust between black and white Americans, and this incident could become a watershed event in the 11 days before the election.
Sometimes writers use utterly meaningless phrases. You know, "and the such as" and the like, as it were, you know, yada yada yada. What does "unspoken tension behind" exactly mean? There's no tension behind the appeal of his status. There may be tension against it, but there's no tension behind it.
And since when do we identify Barack Obama with all black Americans? Do we, white Americans, honestly fear pulling into an ATM and having Barack Obama give us a whuppin? This ain't Marcus-Garvey-time. He ain't Malcolm X. He's not even Martin Luther King, Jr. His path to the Senate as a liberal democratic candidate was actually quite conventional: a Columbia University education with some mild, uncontroversial protests (I think everyone--even Mr. Moody--can agree that Apartheid was a bad idea) that showed him a larger purpose and led him out of modest drug-use habits, some time working for non-profits, an excellent career at Harvard Law, time as a Civil Rights lawyer and law professor, and a consensus-building, pathologically careful figure in the IL State Senate. It's a fairly common liberal career path. I don't know when he had the time for scarin' white folk and attackin' them in the street.
Why not just say, "Black people shouldn't be president. They should be muggers." At least he'd get points for his honesty. Why not come out and say it? Whoops. Moody continues:
If Ms. Todd’s allegations are proven accurate, some voters may revisit their support for Senator Obama, not because they are racists (with due respect to Rep. John Murtha), but because they suddenly feel they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee.
Wait a minute... First of all, how can somebody "suddenly feel they do not know enough" about someone? That would imply that they know less than they already did. And if a racialized incident (and remember, "[Obama has not] erased the mutual distrust between black and white Americans, and this incident could become a watershed event") is the cause, how is that not a tad bit racialist? Hmm. Let's let that craaaaaaaaaaazy Marxist dictionary, the OED, settle this one.
A. n. An advocate or supporter of racism; a person whose words or actions display racial prejudice or discrimination. Also in extended use: a person who is prejudiced against people of other nationalities. Cf. RACIALIST n.
So subconsciously or consciously reevaluating your support for a person of a certain race because a common street thug didn't beat up a white woman is not at all racialist. It doesn't display "prejudice or discrimination." It's just a way of, you know, indexing people.
But this whole thing from Moody is not what <concern trolling/snark> really </concern trolling/snark> upset me. I got particularly angry when he decided to take on John McCain, and call him racialist:
If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting.
The horror! And to think, I thought McCain could pull this one out. The McCain campaign ought to demand an apology from Moody, and soon.
But lest he put his his own career on the line, remember, Moody was responsible in hedging: "if this turns out to be true..."
At least as News Director, he made sure his anchors and reporters--like the execrable excuse for a person, Carl Cameron --preached caution and made sure that they didn't full speed ahead with the story, via Wile E. Coyote into the mirage-tunnel (via Jed L):
Uh, whoops. Well, if you feel strongly about this, as a McCain supporter or white American whose racial motivations have been unfairly called into question, call up John Moody at (212) 301-8560. and tell him so. Journalists are responsible to the public, and I'm sure he'd be responsive to your opinions, positive or negative, and love the feedback.
UPDATE: But who is John Moody? A refresher course, with special emphasis on Eric Rudolph that seems "apropos" for some reason.
FOX news exec John Moody on 9-11 Commission.:
"Do not turn this into Watergate"
Moody on the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal:
[T]he pictures from Abu Graeb [sic] prison are disturbing. They have rightly provoked outrage. Today we have a picture -- aired on Al Arabiya -- of an American hostage being held with a scarf over his eyes, clearly against his will. Who's outraged on his behalf? It is important that we keep the Abu Graeb [sic] situation in perspective (5/5/04).
Moody on the war in Iraq:
As is often the case, the real news is [sic] Iraq is being obscured by temporary tragedy. The creation of a defense ministry, which will be run by Iraqis, is a major step forward in the country's redevelopment. Let's look at that, as well as the deaths of a US soldier in a roadside bombing (3/25/04).
Into Fallujah: It's called Operation Vigilant Resolve and it began Monday morning (NY time) with the US and Iraqi military surrounding Fallujah. We will cover this hour by hour today, explaining repeatedly why it is happening. It won't be long before some people start to decry the use of "excessive force". We won't be among that group (4/4/04).
The events in Iraq Tuesday are going to be the top story, unless and until something else (or worse) happens. Err on the side of doing too much Iraq rather than not enough. Do not fall into the easy trap of mourning the loss of US lives and asking out loud why are we there? The US is in Iraq to help a country brutalized for 30 years protect the gains made by Operation Iraqi Freedom and set it on the path to democracy. Some people in Iraq don't want that to happen. That is why American GIs are dying. And what we should remind our viewers (4/6/04).
If, as promised, the coalition decides to take Fallujah back by force, it will not be for lack of opportunities for the terrorists holed up there to negotiate. Let's not get lost in breast-beating about the sadness of the loss of life. They had a chance (4/22/04).
The continuing carnage in Iraq -- mostly the deaths of seven US troops in Sadr City -- is leaving the American military little choice but to punish perpetrators. When this happens, we should be ready to put in context the events that led to it. More than 600 US military dead, attacks on the UN headquarters last year, assassination of Iraqi officials who work with the coalition, the deaths of Spanish troops last fall, the outrage in Fallujah: whatever happens, it is richly deserved (4/4/04).
[L]et's refer to the US marines we see in the foreground [of pictures coming out of Fallujah] as "sharpshooters" not snipers, which carries a negative connotation (4/28/04).
Moody on abortion:
[Le]t's spend a good deal of time on the battle over judicial nominations, which [th]e President will address this morning. Nominees who both sides admit are [qu]alified are being held up because of their POSSIBLE, not demonstrated, views [on] one issue -- abortion. This should be a trademark issue for FNC today and in [th]e days to come (5/9/03).
Two style notes: [Eric Ru]dolph is charged with bombing an abortion clinic, not a "health clinic." ...[TO]DAY'S HEARING IS NOT AN ARRAIGNMENT. IT IS AN INITIAL HEARING (6/2/03).
Moody on Senator John Kerry (D-MA):
Kerry, starting to feel the heat for his flip-flop voting record, is in West Virginia. There's a near-meaningless primary in Illinois (3/16/04).
Ribbons or medals? Which did John Kerry throw away after he returned from Vietnam. This may become an issue for him today. His perceived disrespect for the military could be more damaging to the candidate than questions about his actions in uniform (4/26/04).
John Kerry may wish he'd taken off his microphone before trashing the GOP. Though he insists he meant republican [sic] "attack squads," his coarse description of his opponents has cast a lurid glow over the campaign (3/12/04).
Bill Clinton's book "My Life" may come out in time to let John Kerry have the spotlight by convention time. Then again, maybe it won't (4/27/04).
Moody on President George W. Bush:
[Th]e president is doing something that few of his predecessors dared undertake: [pu]tting the US case for mideast peace to an Arab summit. It's a distinctly [sk]eptical crowd that Bush faces. His political courage and tactical cunning ar[e] [wo]rth noting in our reporting through the day (6/3/03).
Moody on the 9/11 Commission:
The so-called 9/11 commission has already been meeting. In fact, this is its eighth session. The fact that former Clinton and both frmer [sic] and current Bush administration officials are testifying gives it a certain tension, but this is not "what did he know and when did he know it" stuff. Do not turn this into Watergate. Remember the fleeting sense of national unity that emerged from this tragedy. Let's not desecrate that (3/23/04).
Remember that while there are obvious political implications for Bush, the commission is looking at eight years of the Clinton Administration versus eight months (the time prior to 9/11 that Bush was in office) for the incumbent (3/24/04).
Moody on America's European "allies":
[At] the UN, Catherine Herridge will follow the US sponsored resolution calling [fo]r the lifting of sanctions against Iraq. Not surprisingly, we're facing [re]sistance from our erstwhile European buddies, the French and Germans (5/9/03).
[Bu]sh's G-8 trip is actually less important than his fledgling efforts to knock [t]ogether the Israeli and Palestinian PMs' heads. Let's keep in mind that the [G-]8 contains the most obstreperous dissidents against the war on terror. Bush [ha]s a long memory and new friends in Poland the rest of Eastern Europe (5/29/03).
Moody on what war footage to air and not air:
Five American GIs killed in Iraq in a bomb and an attack represent one of the grimmest days there in months. There is also footage of a mutilated body being dragged down a road which WE WILL NOT AIR UNTIL IT HAS BEEN CLEARED (3/31/04).
The pictures shown in the Times and NY Post today of the dead American contractors are exactly what we chose NOT to use yesterday. Please don't get sucked into this taste race to the bottom (4/1/04).
Moody on Bush's tax cut:
[Th]e tax cut passed last night by the Senate, though less than half what Bush [or]iginally proposed, contains some important victories for the administration. [Th]e DC crew will parse the bill and explain how it will fatten -- marginally - [yo]ur wallet (5/22/03).
Moody on rising gas prices:
Gas prices are at all time highs in the US. There are reasons for the surge, some economic, some mere business tactics. Remember: US prices, while they seem high to us, are a half or less the cost of gasoline elsewhere (3/16/04).
Moody on the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU):
For everyone's information, the hotel where our Baghdad bureau is housed was hit by some kind of explosive device overnight. ALL FOX PERSONNEL ARE OK. The incident is a reminder of the danger our colleagues in Baghdad face, day in and day out. Please offer a prayer of thanks for their safety to whatever God you revere (and let the ACLU stick it where the sun don't shine) (3/24/04).