The Ghost of George Wallace Looms Over Politico
If you want to see an excellent example of hack journalism, look no further than Politico’s hit piece on Donald Trump titled Donald Trump, Alabama and the ghost of George Wallace. (Safe Google cache link; no links for bullies.)
It was immigration, not segregation, that brought some 20,000 southerners — far fewer than predicted — out for Donald Trump on Friday night, but the ghost of George Wallace loomed large.
Wallace, an avowed segregationist, was the last presidential candidate to win electoral votes as a third-party candidate. The threat of Trump doing so, propelled by a hardline immigration stance that many have condemned as racist, looms over the Republican Party now as it did over the Democratic Party then, even as the enthusiasm of his following, for once, fell far short of expectations.
Byron York notes:
Politico wins some sort of prize for Trump Alabama story. Included 'George Wallace' in headline, plus 1st, 2nd & 3rd grafs…
— Byron York (@ByronYork) August 22, 2015
Politico also worked 'segregation' into 1st and 2nd grafs, with 'racist' in 2nd. Bonus: two 'Confederate' references… http://t.co/TqbTJEPU08
— Byron York (@ByronYork) August 22, 2015
Aside from the obvious smear, and the standard use of “many” to reflect the writer’s leftist view, I am also amused by the sheer incompetence of the writing and proofreading.
The vast majority of supporters where white: of over 1,000 people waiting to enter on the east of the Ladd Peebles Stadium at 5 p.m., eight were black.
Where?
They cleaned up a couple of other proofreading errors that were in an earlier version of the piece, but I saved them with screenshots I took from my phone last night. There was Trump’s “flare” for showmanship:
He’s on fire! And of course a missing period at the end of a sentence, such as you often see in professional Big Media stories:
Mmm that’s good writing. And, along the lines of the “only eight black people out of 1000” observation, they took special care to show how people at the rally were racists, with the Confederate this and the Confederate that — and their support for whites like, er, Cuban-American Ted Cruz or, um, the black Ben Carson:
Marty Hughes, 47, wore a camouflage hat with Confederate flag detailing and said he liked Trump’s stances on immigration and taxes. He called the removal this year of Confederate flags from government property across much of the South “stupidity” and said he didn’t think a President Trump would stand for it. He named Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and neurosurgeon Ben Carson as other candidates who appealed to him.
Racists
By the way, I counted 5 out of 243 Politico staffers with a picture as being black. (Feel free to double-check my counting.)
Racists
Ding.
Patterico (3cc0c1) — 8/22/2015 @ 11:33 amI saw the title of this and wondered if you were going to pounce on it. Sad Part is that Alabama in a national sense is more mainstream than it was in the Wallace Era and Mobile is less Bama than the rest of the state sooo, Trump is burning up a lot of candle early (I thought Iowa was in November, donts ask me why but its months later)
I wonder why we are even having debates at this point? 6 months early?
EPWJ (69272a) — 8/22/2015 @ 11:46 amPolitico, like the NYT, “forgot” to mention that they moved the venue, twice, to be able to seat the number of people who attended. Originally, it was a 2000-seat civic center. So, it was far *more* than originally predicted. And local news estimated 30K people, so it is also far *more* than Politico is willing to admit.
Jeff Weimer (dfb6a0) — 8/22/2015 @ 11:47 amtrump’s not southern he’s manhattantrash through and through
he’s got the eurotrash hookers at home to prove it
and Bob Greenblatt on speed dial
happyfeet (831175) — 8/22/2015 @ 12:00 pmAnd yet these a-holes fail to understand why people neither like nor trust journalists. They spent all their capital on “trying to make a difference” instead of telling the truth and now to be a journalist or even a talking head on TV is to be perceived as a purveyor of lies, distortions and left wing propaganda. And till these dumbasses don’t get it.
Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie (f4eb27) — 8/22/2015 @ 12:01 pmBy the way, I counted 5 out of 243 Politico staffers with a picture as being black.
I’d be thrilled if some of those staffers were sent packing to Mexico, where a lot of their counterparts south of the border are being murdered on a regular basis. White-Anglo media leftists (but liberals in general) who love being purposefully idealistic in the most clueless and dishonest way imaginable deserve no less.
Actually, the situation south of the border is horrific and brutal, but idealistic people of left-leaning sentiments really do need to live the reality on a 24/7, 365-days-a-year basis, instead of schmoozing in a sweet, comfy apartment in Manhattan or Georgetown, etc.
Mark (e187ae) — 8/22/2015 @ 12:03 pmOh, one other thing. In their noble quest to “make a difference” they lost all objectivity and tried to become the news instead of reporting the news. They failed at all of it, miserably. Places like Politico just perpetuate the misery of activist journalists much like today’s supreme court does for judges. I long for a reformation in both journalism and law.
Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie (f4eb27) — 8/22/2015 @ 12:08 pmFrom your key board to God’s ears, Mark.
Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie (f4eb27) — 8/22/2015 @ 12:09 pmThose DC Corridor Racists are disgusting.
JD (4ebc00) — 8/22/2015 @ 12:13 pmThe Politico article confirms the claims of the Stump for Trump sisters: there is a media bias against Trump. And that’s what got them going in the first place.
Dana (86e864) — 8/22/2015 @ 12:19 pmThey really are aren’t they, JD? They see a crowd and immediately slice and dice it into male and female, how many gays and lesbians, black/white and Hispanics, rich and poor and on and on. We see a crowd and see Americans. Yet they always whine about “bring people together” when it is they who divide.
Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie (f4eb27) — 8/22/2015 @ 12:23 pmclicking on the pic in york’s tweet takes you to the politico article
happyfeet (831175) — 8/22/2015 @ 12:25 pmA black pastor opened the rally with an invocation, asking, “What if we could replace hate with love?” He was followed by an all-black middle school student council that led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance.
happyfeet (831175) — 8/22/2015 @ 12:27 pmhappy,
That’s a concession I’m willing to make to embed the York tweets.
Patterico (3cc0c1) — 8/22/2015 @ 12:33 pmi’m not criticizing i just really like the idea of not letting them have clicks
i think a lot more sites should be on that list really
happyfeet (831175) — 8/22/2015 @ 12:41 pmThe media attack on Trump makes me more interested in him, not less.
AZ Bob (34bb80) — 8/22/2015 @ 1:18 pmI think many Americans are mad, and stories like this will only make them madder.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/22/2015 @ 1:30 pmMeanwhile, liberals are also turning out in droves for Bernie Sanders. Trump and Sanders are speaking out and that seems to resonate with people on both sides. Beltway politicians and lobbyists should be concerned.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/22/2015 @ 1:33 pmWallace was the Democrat who was endorsed by the NAACP in 1958, before he decided being a racist was more politically expedient.
steveg (fed1c9) — 8/22/2015 @ 1:48 pmHe also was a man who after finding Jesus had the decency to apologize to black people and admitted that he was wrong.
In my view it is better to be an out and out racist than it is to patronize. Democrats today treat everyday black citizens like mentally and emotionally deficient children rather than as completely capable adults.
i think mostly this just shows how ungodly stupid failmericans have become
i blame the unionwhore-infested public schools
happyfeet (831175) — 8/22/2015 @ 1:48 pmWallace was a leftist economically and blacks I know from that era in Alabama said that there was always a state job for black men who needed one.
But he is defined by segregation.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/22/2015 @ 2:39 pmI suggest Schreckinger’s Law: The longer a American political discussion continues, the likelihood of someone referencing slavery or segregation approaches unity. When that happens, the discussion is over and the side making the reference has lost.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/22/2015 @ 2:43 pmThe GOP think tank has no clue on how to rid themselves of Trump.
mg (31009b) — 8/22/2015 @ 3:04 pmThey are a cesspool of knowledge. They would have better luck cutting ties with boosh, christie and rubio, and the guy from ohio.
George Will makes it pretty clear that he will do nearly anything but vote for Trump.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-losing-immigration-policy/2015/08/21/b58a6d9e-4771-11e5-846d-02792f854297_story.html
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/22/2015 @ 3:38 pmi’m still startled that jeb was so unself-aware as to think this country wants another member of his rancid self-dealing family of hyper-entitled fratboy douchebags in the white house
grandma lurchbush was right
happyfeet (831175) — 8/22/2015 @ 3:41 pmsomeone hand that ugly old broad a baby ruth
happyfeet (831175) — 8/22/2015 @ 3:42 pmI blame Reagan.
nk (dbc370) — 8/22/2015 @ 3:55 pmyeah I’m so over that one too
i got your three-legged stool right here ronnie
happyfeet (831175) — 8/22/2015 @ 3:58 pmThe GOP and Prince Reibus are a laugh riot. Whenever the GOP Chamber of Commerce candidates speak they lose voters. Priceless. And they want to blame Trump, for christ sakes man up, GOP.
mg (31009b) — 8/22/2015 @ 4:02 pmCruz/West
I probably would not vote for Trump, but I sure would go to a rally.
It’s the only way to send a message to the GOP.
Patricia (5fc097) — 8/22/2015 @ 4:05 pmyes if trump’s only contribution is putting together the infrastructure and logistics of a viable third party then I can tolerate him i suppose
as long as i don’t have to look at him listen to him or vote for him
happyfeet (831175) — 8/22/2015 @ 4:06 pmAnother election with
mg (31009b) — 8/22/2015 @ 4:28 pmBad/Worse 2016
Vote in a disguise.
You can tell that either the Dems or the Republican establishment is scared poopless of Trump. This proves that one.
Patrick in Michigan (6def51) — 8/22/2015 @ 4:50 pmForget Trump vs. the GOP presidential field. He is killing the GOP establishment and their toadies. Lack of any congressional leadership is what the informed voter is responding to. And that is why Trump is winning.
mg (31009b) — 8/22/2015 @ 5:35 pmCruz/West 2016
yes yes this is true i guess
but i guess I wonder to what end Mr. Trump is way more focused on the GOP establishment than he is on Hillary
happyfeet (831175) — 8/22/2015 @ 6:00 pmwhat politico ignores as in their nature, is trump’s support base being the radical middle, as Continetti, pointed out,
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/22/2015 @ 6:03 pmThe GOP is still in a ok spot as they fixed the crummynimbus bill with donate to jeb clauses. Wall street backers are not afraid of Trump. The GOP will back jeb only. They will vote for bill’s wife before they vote for Ted.
mg (31009b) — 8/22/2015 @ 6:15 pmThe GOP and RNC think they can have it their way. Not so fast you traitorous louses.
mg (31009b) — 8/23/2015 @ 3:37 amhttp://theconservativetreehouse.com/2015/08/22/tripwire-alert-evidence-now-exists-to-show-benefit-of-gope-road-mapped-splitter-strategy/
As a unenrolled conservative, the republican party has become the enemy.
mg (31009b) — 8/23/2015 @ 3:54 amBecause it’s the primaries happyfeet. If he wins that then he goes for blood on Hillary!.
No it’s not mg. The democrats are the enemy and if you forget that then you and the rest of us conservatives will loose. Some Republicans act like and appear to be the enemy and they’re the ones we need to throw out. But don’t let the democrat leftists win by redirecting your anger to what the do to our country, culture, traditions and people by turning you on our own. The left is really good at dividing people as you know. Don’t let them divide Republicans. The worst Republican is still better than the best democrap.
Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie (f4eb27) — 8/23/2015 @ 7:15 amCheck this out, mg.
Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie (f4eb27) — 8/23/2015 @ 7:24 amthanks RBHH.
mg (31009b) — 8/23/2015 @ 9:54 amIn Ma. I will vote against bill’s wife. As no republican will win the primary in this sanctuary state.
In a two-party system, both parties will have members towards the middle. The “stalwarts” of the parties — those at the edges — never ever understand that. The think that the party should revolve around them, rather than around the center of mass of the party, and those in the center that lean their way.
Truth of the matter is that those on the far edge of either party will always be disappointed. For every person here calling all the Republicans “RINOs” (in abject linguistic dissonance) there’s a corresponding (Marxist) person on the other side berating Obama for his centrism.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/23/2015 @ 10:02 amSo-called “centrists” or “moderates” in the Republican Party may have struck a sympathetic chord with me over 50 to 60 years ago, but not today.
The mid-point of the socio-political spectrum has shifted so far left since the 1960s, that what is liberal today would have been flaming radical decades ago, and what is moderate today (eg, supporting same-sex marriage but wanting it labeled as “civil union,” or deeming that underaged, unmarried pregnant girls, while not a good thing, shouldn’t be ostracized too loudly, or conforming to the ethos of Nidal-Hassan political correctness, etc) is fairly damn liberal by past standards.
Mark (e187ae) — 8/23/2015 @ 10:31 amYes, Mark, times have changed. You are very quickly going to be politically homeless, though, if you think that the GOP is going to fight the SSM battle much longer.
The point I make is that you can either 1) find common cause with people who agree with you on some things, or 2) wash your hands of the problem and let the people who hate everything you believe in take power.
If you want the GOP to move your way, or to slow the “slide”, you have to take part.
Or maybe you’re waiting for that Third Party that I hear so much about?
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/23/2015 @ 10:40 amI speak for a few and intellectually above the norm:
“I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.”
Howard Beale (8c365e) — 8/23/2015 @ 10:51 amAnd that’s the whole idea isn’t it Kevin M? Work within ur party to move it right. We won’t win every battle but if we leave we definitely loose every battle! Guys like you Mark, and Kevin M and me can move the party over time with effort. But if everybody’s gonna bail because they can’t be bothered with the effort than the left wins. The Republicans may not be or do everything we want but the democraps don’t do anything we want.
Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie (f4eb27) — 8/23/2015 @ 10:56 amYet every time there is grass roots movement, the too men are diligent to crush it, only their preferred faction gets the right of way.
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/23/2015 @ 11:06 amOn like others, at least Politico got Wallace’s Party Affiliation correct.
Pity a good biography has not been written about Wallace. His life was not nearly as monochromatic as it was taught in High School.
seeRpea (a7b697) — 8/23/2015 @ 11:19 amThey don’t want to talk about working class votes, that’s how Wallace made inroads in places like michigan, on a law and order platform among other things.
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/23/2015 @ 11:24 amYes, Mark, times have changed. You are very quickly going to be politically homeless, though, if you think that the GOP is going to fight the SSM battle much longer
Kevin M, by the same token, at least don’t allow “centrists” to frame the parameters of the debate. Maybe I’ve pegged you wrong, but you sound far too emotionally, philosophically accommodating of such a tactic, too much in the camp of “shhh, don’t bring up the issue of ideology! That makes people uncomfortable, embarrassed or resentful!”
If so, you remind me of George W Bush, who was so ideologically naive or untethered — so squish, squish, squishy in one fundamental way — he actually believed that conservatism or rightism needed to be qualified with “compassion.” Or that, instead of stating clearly, and being fully aware of the fact, that the ideology on the opposite side of the aisle is anything but truly compassionate.
I wonder if Bush at the time of his “compassionate conservatism” commentary was even aware, or is even aware today, of studies that reveal conservatives give more to charities — are more generous in general — than liberals? My suspicion is he’s the type who tends to not like focusing on a person’s political biases in general, perhaps because he thinks that’s too personal, too upfront, too rude, too blunt, or whatever.
Mark (e187ae) — 8/23/2015 @ 11:27 amHis life was not nearly as monochromatic as it was taught in High School.
I was IN high school in 1968. There was nothing about that year that didn’t suck, until Christmas from the Moon.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/23/2015 @ 12:35 pmMark, another way too look at is is this:
Sometimes you lose the battle.
Abortion was lost with the Casey decision in the 90’s. All that can be done is whittle on the edges and stop the extremists on the other side. A SC vote today on overturning Roe and Casey would lose 7-2 or 8-1 on grounds of stare decisis (Alito and maybe Thomas).
SSM is already lost. It’s the kind of thing that is very hard to undo, once done. The only thing to do now is prevent religious discrimination. Cruz understands this, Santorum does not.
Yet there are those that INSIST that the party beat the dead horses a while longer, even though the body politic has moved on (again, Santorum). Further, they won’t even listen to the other agendas of the mainstream party. Immigration, balancing the budget, energy independence, RKBA, undoing Obamacare, fixing the foreign policy mess, etc.
And when some in the party decide to stop flogging the bloody spot where the horse used to be, they scream RINO and stomp off.
Other times they have a take on a matter of interest to most the party, but the solution is up for debate. Such as immigration, Again, they only respond to the one single issue, and unless every member of the party agrees with their take on it, they again scream RINO and stomp off.
And as the door hits them on the way out, the rest of the party moves the other way.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/23/2015 @ 12:51 pmMark, as for W, I view him as a “Christian Liberal” domestically. He was conservative-ish on social issues, but he never ever vetoed a spending bill.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/23/2015 @ 12:53 pmKevin M, it comes down to whether you’re more annoyed with the true-blue conservatives or the squish-squish Republicans. From a purely emotional standpoint, the latter irk me to no end, but from a tactical standpoint, I think the former — meaning the “screw the RINOs!” crowd — has to tread carefully, meaning they should always remember to intertwine philosophy with fully alert gameplaying.
For example, regardless of Trump’s ideology, I thought he was tactically on target when he bluntly and loudly told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that the public doesn’t respect the media. It would have been even better if Trump sneered about the “liberal media,” but he at least spoke up in a way rarely or never heard from other Republicans, particularly the squish-squish ones.
Mark (e187ae) — 8/23/2015 @ 1:10 pmA smear on Wallace, who in his later years sought and received forgiveness and rapprochement with civil rights leaders, was a strong contender in the Democratic nomination race in ’72 until shot by a would-be assassin, and never advocated rounding anyone up to ship anywhere.
Estragon (ada867) — 8/23/2015 @ 6:08 pmCongrats on the Instapundit link.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/23/2015 @ 6:36 pmPolitico? Don’t waste a click. Old joke. What’s the difference between a catfish and Politico?
Dave72 (d25c1f) — 8/23/2015 @ 6:44 pmOne is a disgusting, slimy bottom feeder. The other one is a fish.
And CNN yesterday broke the news that one guy (yes, that’s what they said) was overheard shouting “white power” at the Trump every. Their screen flashed something like “‘White power’ overheard at Trump rally” as the headline for several minutes during an interview with his campaign manager.
Michael (2ec8be) — 8/23/2015 @ 7:05 pmThe make of Politico reminds me of the Toronto Start “White Jays” story which criticized the baseball team for not having minority faces – when the Toronto Star editorial board had nary a one.
seeRpea (a7b697) — 8/23/2015 @ 9:52 pmDid they remember to mention that George Wallace was a DEMOCRAT?
Donald Campbell (d7746f) — 8/24/2015 @ 5:18 amGood point – Please list the best ways in which we should ostracize unmarried pregnant girls.
At my parents’ house, I still have an old “Wallace for President’ shirt that someone handed me when I was 4 or 5 years old. Also a “Richard J Daley’s Neighborhood Program” shirt from the same era.
carlitos (c24ed5) — 8/24/2015 @ 7:04 amALSO – should have been “of more than 1000 people waiting”, not “of over 1000 people waiting”.
frannie (f75007) — 8/24/2015 @ 1:08 pm