Video: MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell provides perfect Appetizer for Media attacks on Romney

As much as it pains me to say that MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell makes a well-reasoned argument, he absolutely does here. Mitt Romney is in trouble with the mainstream media over his Mormonism. In this monologue, O'Donnell starts out by referring to a racist quote from Brigham Young, a man who Mormons believe was a prophet. O'Donnell conveys that Romney has praised Young in the past.

Again, my views on Mormonism are irrelevant. It's the views of the mainstream media and how they will communicate them that are going to matter. Look, NBC manipulated a 911 call and aired an altered tape to make George Zimmerman look like a racist who murdered Trayvon Martin in cold blood.

The Republican Party - and Romney in particular - have a very big hurdle to overcome relative to Mormonism. Based on what O'Donnell says below (and we can expect much, much more of it in months to come), Romney is going to have a pretty bad time getting the black vote.

Republicans really need to ask themselves if Romney is their guy because, frankly, he is among the most vulnerable when it comes to his religion... and the mainstream media knows it.

Pretty hard to refute O'Donnell here.

Via MediaIte:

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Video (it Begins): Mitt Romney asked about Mormonism at Town Hall

While at a town hall meeting in Wisconsin, Mitt Romney took a question from a Ron Paul supporter about his Mormon religion. The question was race-based; Bret Hatch wanted to know if Romney thought it was a sin for a white man to "marry and procreate with a black." Romney answered with an emphatic "no" and moved on but what he said a short time after that provided a clear opening for the mainstream media in the coming weeks and months.

Note that while referring back to Hatch a little bit later, Romney said he would not talk about the "doctrines" of  his religion but only the "practices" of his "faith." Again, if Romney thinks that setting these kinds of ground rules for the mainstream media is going to prevent future questions about the "doctrines" of his religion, he's living in an alternate universe. There are some bizarre practices in the Mormon religion he is certain to have to deal with as well, as I wrote about here and here.

There is something else at work here. Over the last several months, we've seen Ron Paul take a hands-off approach to Mitt Romney while attacking both Santorum and Gingrich. Why? As I wrote here, it probably has to do with a belief in the Paul camp that Romney is the least likely candidate to defeat Barack Obama; this would allow Rand Paul to run for president in 2016 as opposed to 2020.

If Mitt Romney thinks this moment was awkward, just wait until the mainstream media begins dissecting the "doctrines" of Mormonism. Though he is doing extremely well among Mormon voters, both he and they may want to be careful what they wish for because they could each end up in a lose / lose situation. No presidency and the "doctrines" of Mormonism laid bare by the media.

I've been saying it for quite a while now; Romney is a terrible choice for the Republicans to put up against Barack Obama because the media will be looking for some Jeremiah Wright payback in the form of a Mormon religion anal exam. Unfortunately, money and groupthink among the Republican establishment appears to be winning the day.

Via ABC News:

Trayvon Case: Carefully Orchestrated Media Conspiracy?

Why did the mainstream media wait for an entire month to "break" the Trayvon Martin story? Is "wait" the wrong word? Did the media need that much time to plot a strategy to, in unison, further a narrative in order to guarantee enflamed racial tensions? That question must be answered honestly; it also warrants being asked because of what we now know factually.

No one should scoff, especially in light of the video recently released by Breitbart. It includes a segment on Al Sharpton's involvement in the manufactured Tawana Brawley rape story in 1987. In that video - circa 1992 - Sharpton actually explains how he manipulates the media to his advantage. It also features an interview with a former Sharpton colleague who deserted the notorious race-baiter after it became obvious to him that Sharpton intentionally lied about the Brawley case.

The Tawana Brawley case establishes intent.

Fast forward to today. NBC news is caught intentionally pushing the narrative that feeds Sharpton's nefarious premise, relative to the shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman. That narrative is that a racist white male hunted down and shot a young black male.

Via Washington Post:

NBC told this blog today that it would investigate its handling of a piece on the “Today” show that ham-handedly abridged the conversation between George Zimmerman and a dispatcher in the moments before the death of Trayvon Martin. A statement from NBC:

“We have launched an internal investigation into the editorial process surrounding this particular story.” 

Great news right there. As exposed by Fox News and media watchdog site NewsBusters, the “Today” segment took this approach to a key part of the dispatcher call:

Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black. 

Here’s how the actual conversation went down:

Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. Or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about. 

Dispatcher: OK, and this guy — is he black, white or Hispanic? 

Zimmerman: He looks black.

Here is video of an exchange between Fox's Sean Hannity and Brent Bozell in which the aforementioned discrepancy is discussed. Bozell is particularly and visibly disgusted by what NBC did. In fact, it is a bit interesting that all of this - including the video below - was posted to the Washington Post's blog.



Ok, so did Sharpton and his gaggle of race-baiters all need to help the media get on the same page so that there would be a common narrative all would echo? Is that why it took so long for the media to pounce on the story? Again, I refer you to the video posted by Breitbart.

Moreover, it's important not to forget that the mainstream media - almost universally - posted disingenuous, dated, and inaccurate photos that seemed to serve the same purpose. Again, if this was orchestrated, it would take some time to pull off.

First, here are the photos released of Trayvon and Zimmerman that only served to further what appears to be an attempt by Sharpton to "manipulate" the media. Note that the photo of Trayvon is four years old and shows him as a happy young boy. The photo of Zimmerman is a 2005 mugshot.

A more realistic and current juxtaposition of the two would be something like this:

Additionally, none other than Barack Obama inserted himself into this case when he made the point that if he had a son, "he'd look like Trayvon."

It's time the media either realizes it's been had and comes clean or continues to remain complicit in a propaganda campaign designed solely and intentionally to enflame racial tensions for some larger agenda.

One more question that needs to be answered: To what extent is the Obama administration involved in this media manipulation?

h/t Sipsey Street