Report: Absolute Moral Authority drops the N-bomb on Obama tape; Update: O’Reilly blames Internet “weasel” for leak
posted at 3:28 pm on July 16, 2008 by Allahpundit
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Normally I’d wait for video proof but Inside Cable News claimed with unusual insistence last night that it’s true and now TV Newser is corroborating it, so obviously someone who’s in a position to know is leaking. The alleged offending quote:
Barack…he’s talking down to black people…telling n—s how to behave.
Eh. Yeah, as the boss notes, he’s a total hypocrite, but the left loves to punish conservatives for preaching virtue while occasionally failing to live up to their own standards and I’m reluctant to do the same to Jackson. He slipped, but his intent wasn’t bad — just as the New Yorker’s wasn’t, I hasten to add — and his attempt to get entertainers to rein in their N-bomb usage is salutary. Where he does go too far is in flirting with criminalizing the word. He told the Today Show two years ago that public utterances should qualify as hate speech and he’s asserted before, quite matter-of-factly, that the word is unprotected by the First Amendment, presumably per the “fighting words” exception. Somebody, quick — arrest that man.
O’Reilly was just on Shep Smith’s show talking about this, but it looks like he’s saving the tape for the Factor tonight. I’ll go watch and see if anything he said warrants an update. In the meantime, here’s a sneak preview from last year of what’s sure to be Jackson’s defense: That not even he is immune from internalized degradation and the ugly “I want to cut his nuts off” thoughts to which it leads. In any case, he’s old news. Even his kid thinks so.
Update: O’Reilly tells Shep that he felt he had no choice but to address the rest of the tape now that some unnamed Internet “weasel” is publishing the details. Take a bow, TV Newser! Belated exit question: By O’R’s logic, doesn’t that give Fox an incentive to leak the tape? “Oops — it’s out there. Now we have to show it and do a whole new ratings blockbuster news cycle on it.”
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“… telling n—s how to behave.”
Isn’t this the same guy who gave a speech in which he (rightly) said “We know better!” after each offense he named off?
Tony737 on July 16, 2008 at 3:31 PM
It’s obviously not the same when a black person says it. It may be wrong but it certainly has no racism in it.
freevillage on July 16, 2008 at 3:31 PM
“Apologize”
MadisonConservative on July 16, 2008 at 3:32 PM
The point, to me, is not that he is hypocritical in using the word, but that he is really low-class for using it. And that he likes to use it as part of his actual private conversations with people of respect (as I would assume the context of a TV stage should imply) says it all. Doesn’t it?
progressoverpeace on July 16, 2008 at 3:34 PM
freevillage-
LOL…yea right!!
~B
Brian on July 16, 2008 at 3:34 PM
Sounds like the black version of the Hawaiian word: Aloha.
Or the Jewish word: Shalom.
It’s such a magical word.
Reminds me of that audio tape of the “F” word, you know, the one with the classical music in the background discussing the word “F”.
wise_man on July 16, 2008 at 3:35 PM
Shame on Jesse…
originalpechanga on July 16, 2008 at 3:36 PM
Its shakedown time! Someone ring the bell. Looks like the shakedown artist needs to be shaken down.
Clearly, Jesse needs to get his mind right. He do that via a debit card or through a paypal account, operators are standing by….
Maybe some of the folks
associatedshaken down through the wall st project would like to do the honors.moxie_neanderthal on July 16, 2008 at 3:36 PM
OMG, Jesse Jackson is the N-Word Guy!
JayHaw Phrenzie on July 16, 2008 at 3:36 PM
Jesse Jackson is going to have to apologize to Jesse Jackson, representative of the black community.
malan89 on July 16, 2008 at 3:37 PM
degradation, lamination, devastation, radiation, meditation, endangerment, bamboozelment!!!!!!!
Boo YA!
Chakra Hammer on July 16, 2008 at 3:38 PM
Remember the Imus!
Speakup on July 16, 2008 at 3:38 PM
I am dazzled by his brilliance. He manages to use hundreds of words and confuse metaphors to say what could be said in ten words or less.
AmericanDad on July 16, 2008 at 3:39 PM
I wonder what Al Sharpton thinks about all this.
nazo311 on July 16, 2008 at 3:39 PM
Does he have to apologize to Imus now?
Farmer_Joe on July 16, 2008 at 3:39 PM
Jesse Jackson is the N-Word Guy!
Now he’s gotta kiss his OWN butt! haha
Clue: People that annoy you …
N_GGERS
“Um, Pat, I’d like to solve the puzzle, please? The answer is (insert n-word here).”
“Uh, no, it’s NAGGERS”
HA! That’s a classic!
Tony737 on July 16, 2008 at 3:40 PM
Does anyone know, is Al Sharpton doing shakedowns anymore or is he out of the business and simply doing employment negotiations???
moxie_neanderthal on July 16, 2008 at 3:42 PM
In the way that Jesse meant the n word that degraded Black people or the way that he meant that Barack doesn’t qualify to be Black?
Speakup on July 16, 2008 at 3:43 PM
‘Nillas?
Yeah I figured that was what JJ said that was so horrible.
Actually I thought that J had made some reference to O’s light color or to the fact that O is half white. ‘Cause J is just that kind of guy.
baldilocks on July 16, 2008 at 3:44 PM
Did he mean n—as or n—ers? I understand there’s a difference.
Chuck Schick on July 16, 2008 at 3:44 PM
The nut-cutting is actually the more offensive here — or at least the more revealing, since African-Americans’ defense of using the n-word as having a different moral standard than if others use it has gone on now for the better part of 15 years. But there’s no getting around the castration crack, and it does show Jesse’s worried that his 40-year gig of raking in $$$ by playing on liberal white guilt could be up if Obama’s elected.
jon1979 on July 16, 2008 at 3:44 PM
Why didn’t they show the whole video initially? It is so ridiculous to assume that the rest of the tape’s details will not appear anywhere.
jencab on July 16, 2008 at 3:44 PM
Um…..guys/gals…let’s curb our ‘enthusiasm’. You all know I don’t normally call to check emotion but we don’t want to smear HA with the nutroots.
Limerick on July 16, 2008 at 3:45 PM
Imus must be saying and i got fired for what i said.there is no way this man or the Rev Al can be given any platform to spew there hate anymore.
thmcbb on July 16, 2008 at 3:46 PM
BOR is such a poof. An officious, fascistic poof, but a poof nonetheless.
LimeyGeek on July 16, 2008 at 3:46 PM
Obviously.
When I was in college I knew a black waitress who wouldn’t wait on black people. Obviously not racist.
Liberals are friggin’ incoherent. I really don’t know how any sane adult can be a liberal.
misterpeasea on July 16, 2008 at 3:47 PM
Ha.
Great minds … That’s exactly what I was thinking when I first heard this.
BowHuntingTexas on July 16, 2008 at 3:48 PM
My reaction when I read the “rest of the tape” story:
That’s it? That’s all he said, after all the windup about the additional inflammatory remarks held back from broadcast?
Sure it’s inappropriate, and undignified, and reduces Jackson’s credibility even further, but it’s not that big of a deal. I hear far worse language and slurs coming out of a hundred cars’ stereos every day.
Gilda on July 16, 2008 at 3:49 PM
As far as I can tell, this actually puts Jesse’s “nuts” comment in a more sympathetic light. It seems like he feels that Barack has betrayed black people, as opposed to before this second part came out, and it seemed like he just hated Obama for no reason. Now he’s standing up for the little (black) guy, against a candidate that most far left-wingers would agree is abandoning his constituency.
I’m not saying this makes any sense or is true or it excuses anything Jackson said, but this is how it will probably get spun. Ironically, its actually probably worse for Obama than just the “nuts” comment was because it gives an honest, visible criticism, not just an offensive violent comment that Obama doesn’t need to address.
jimmy the notable on July 16, 2008 at 3:50 PM
Kiss it.
misterpeasea on July 16, 2008 at 3:50 PM
hmm..I seem to recall Al Sharpton sticking up for Jesse..saying he said it not knowing anyone was listening, not like Don Imus.
Sharpton didnt think it was a big deal last week..I wonder what he thinks now.
Time for BOTH of them to be gone! Reverends my a$$!!
becki51758 on July 16, 2008 at 3:51 PM
To all you conservatives exacting your pound of schadenfreude at Jesse’s expense. Don’t you realize that he’s either: A) Satirizing you crazy enslaving white folks and your penchant for semiotic racial intimidation with white patriarchal vernacular? or B) the victim of black rage which is so intense that in its attempt to be released from the pure soul it can ricochet off anything, even other victimized blacks who still have their testicles intact? C) Trying to get on Sen Robert Byrd’s (D-WV) good side. or D) All of the above.
Run Jesse Run…to the back of the shakedown bus.
Western_Civ on July 16, 2008 at 3:52 PM
Please view this.
wise_man on July 16, 2008 at 3:52 PM
Bill tried to take the high road, but those dirty Internet geeks are forcing him to do what he intended to do all along.
Jim Treacher on July 16, 2008 at 3:52 PM
Spacing out the contents during this slow news period in the presidential race (unless guessing on the vice pres is exciting) is brilliant. Just mind boggling he would get mic’d up sit in front of a camera and start dropping n bombs.
koolbrease on July 16, 2008 at 3:52 PM
True, but you don’t hear it coming from a Revrund who critcized Don Imus for an alleged ethnic slur. From a Revrund who’s run an extortion racket for years accusing corporations of racism, and then dropping the claim if they made a “donation” to his PUSH group.
Probably be a good time for Obama to release his June fundraising numbers, what with this distraction.
Wethal on July 16, 2008 at 3:53 PM
His use of the n word might not be racist but it certainly shows his lack of class and style. Just as I always knew, he’s nothing but a street thug.
UnEasyRider on July 16, 2008 at 3:53 PM
I never have heard who the dude onscreen with him is. Anyone know?
Akzed on July 16, 2008 at 3:54 PM
Real question? To Moi?
Why did Bill O NOT COVER THIS???
Its not his place to edit news. Its not his place to only tell part of the story.
Fox News UNAFRAID???? HUH????
Coverup, pure and simple.
Romeo13 on July 16, 2008 at 3:54 PM
Why is it that Obama keep getting attacked about his race and religion by liberals.. The New Yorker, Hillary Clinton(ehhh.. ) and now Jesse Jackson.. sheesh.
Chakra Hammer on July 16, 2008 at 3:54 PM
South Park needs to do an episode on this.
exhelodrvr on July 16, 2008 at 3:55 PM
My, this does pose some difficulties. To whom does Jackson apologize? Is he flexible enough to kiss his own ass?
Blacklake on July 16, 2008 at 3:55 PM
Does Jesse now have to do the groveling apology tour — and make the big-buck$ donations to assorted black groups — that are required of white people who get caught using the n-word?
Seems only fair.
AZCoyote on July 16, 2008 at 3:55 PM
I think Jesse meant it in a good way.
bloggless on July 16, 2008 at 3:56 PM
Fox News cover up? Bah! It’s merchandising!
bloggless on July 16, 2008 at 3:57 PM
Cool! Now I can use the N word too! I can hardly wait!
Although I thought it was “symbolically buried” a few years ago, if I’m nae mistaken, so the word no longer exists, right? Or was the death temporary, like in most comic books?
Spanglemaker on July 16, 2008 at 3:57 PM
Hilarious…South Park is prophetic…who do they predict will win in November?
JustTruth101 on July 16, 2008 at 3:57 PM
Oh of course. Just like when I say “white trash”- it’s out of love.
Chuck Schick on July 16, 2008 at 3:57 PM
True. Especially since it evokes slavery/lynching imagery. Castration was a punishment used by Trans-Atlantic slave traders and by the Jim Crow-era white Supremacists. Ask Robert Byrd.
Interesting that J would conjure two separate items–one rhetoric-based, the other action-based–that have been used to oppress Americans who happened to be black.
Side note: castration was and is Standard Operating Procedure for the Arab-Muslim slave trade perpetrated against black Africans.
baldilocks on July 16, 2008 at 3:57 PM
It’s ok to use that word if you are black. He’s down with the struggle, therefore, it’s ok.
Whites cannot relate, so therefore, they cannot use it.
rightside on July 16, 2008 at 3:58 PM
but it’s not that big of a deal. I hear far worse language and slurs coming out of a hundred cars’ stereos every day.
Gilda on July 16, 2008 at 3:49 PM
Do the people in those cars run for President or claim to speak on behalf of every African American in the nation?
Bishop on July 16, 2008 at 3:58 PM
O’Reilly is such a tool. I am hard pressed to imagine what his mental image of the “Mysterious Interwebs” must be.
ronsfi on July 16, 2008 at 3:59 PM
I could have sworn that John Gibson had gone through the ENTIRE tape on his radio show the day that all this came out. I’m pretty sure he covered this then too.
Rick on July 16, 2008 at 4:00 PM
One word.
Reverend
HAHAHAHAHAHA.
fogw on July 16, 2008 at 4:00 PM
I’m sorry, but I’m not sure I get what you’re saying here.
Where he has gone too far, time after time, is by shaking down corporations and people for merely appearing racist, whatever their intent.
Remember Toyota and the gold-cap tooth incident?
It isn’t that he’s uttered the word, it’s that it was no big deal when he did it and he would have cut someone else’s nuts off for doing the exact same thing.
I don’t want him called a hypocrite. I don’t want to be upset about his use of that word.
I want him realized to be a fraud and for people to stop giving him any power.
MayBee on July 16, 2008 at 4:00 PM
I don’t know about that. I just know this. Only the stupidest moron (which unfortunately includes scores of HA contributors) can think that when a black comedian uses the word “nigger”, he actually uses it as a racial putdown.
You may have legitimate reasons to disapprove the use of these words regardless. And I’d be with you. But it’s manifestly acceptable within what may be called a black subculture, to call one another “niggers”. Clearly, Jackson isn’t a racist.
freevillage on July 16, 2008 at 4:02 PM
I can hardly imagine your skewed mental image of a man you’ve never meet in real life and make a judgment call about what he is like based on your own ignorance.
wise_man on July 16, 2008 at 4:02 PM
rightside on July 16, 2008 at 3:58 PM
I have a little slav in me, and muslim armies rampaging through eastern Europe used to send captured slavic people to the slave markets.
I have my own struggle, I want respect and reparations.
Bishop on July 16, 2008 at 4:02 PM
Suuuuuurrrreeeeeee he isn’t a racist.
wise_man on July 16, 2008 at 4:03 PM
Plausible deniability.
Want to go on CNN instead of Fox to explain your remarks Jesse…okie dokie…
TheBigOldDog on July 16, 2008 at 4:03 PM
Agreed, it is hypocritical. But not particularly shocking, especially considering Jackson’s long record of hypocrisy. It does not seem that this was meant to be public although Jackson certainly should have known better.
Gilda on July 16, 2008 at 4:03 PM
Nig**……..
What?
I could have written Night?
United States of America……… Land of the Free and Home of the Brave……….. yeah, Right!
……….. bunch of Pus****!
What?!?!
Seven Percent Solution on July 16, 2008 at 4:04 PM
It’s funny how papers fulls of lies are called “Truth” and idiots call themselves wise_men.
I’m not even discussing his attitude towards whites. Jackson doesn’t hate black people. What kind of a moron are you, anyway?
freevillage on July 16, 2008 at 4:05 PM
Typical liberal. Launches right into the personal attacks. Arrogant jackass.
TheBigOldDog on July 16, 2008 at 4:06 PM
This is unreleated but I don’t know where else to put it. HotAir needs a “general” forum.
Anyone else notice how the AP scrubbed an article about the drop in oil earlier today?
Earlier in the day and this is how the article began:
Oil prices tumbled Wednesday, extending a massive sell-off the previous day, after the government reported that U.S. crude and gasoline supplies unexpectedly jumped last week.
It now begins like this:
Oil prices tumbled Wednesday, putting prices on track for a dizzying drop of more than $10 in just two days of frenzied trading.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12400801/
No reason given in the second version, unless you look about half-way down the article where it says:
Sharply increased crude and gasoline supplies were the immediate cause of Wednesday’s decline.
Someone out there must not have liked that article mentioning a rise in “U.S. crude and gasoline supplies” as the cause.
The Gainsville Sun still has the entire original:
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20080716/news/881151470
rhinoishere on July 16, 2008 at 4:07 PM
Only the stupidest moron (which unfortunately includes scores of HA contributors
And of course you wouldn’t include yourself in that smear, right?
Ahem:
–Jackson referred to Jews as “Hymies” and to New York City as “Hymietown” in January 1984 during a conversation with Washington Post reporter Milton Coleman. Jackson at first denied the remarks, then accused Jews of conspiring to defeat him. When he finally did acknowledge that it was wrong to use the term, he said he did so in private to a reporter.–
Sound familiar, professor?
Bishop on July 16, 2008 at 4:08 PM
I’ve been saying this for years.
The MSM has to stop interviewing him. We’d be talking about something else had FNC not invited him to be interviewed by the folks at Fox and Friends.
If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that J and Al are the only two liberal Negroes that FNC knows.*
*Yes, I’ve seen Juan Williams and all the others. As a matter of fact, Mark Lamont Hill seems like a good candidate for up-and-coming victocrat.
baldilocks on July 16, 2008 at 4:08 PM
You are such an angry little man.
Sad. (for you)
wise_man on July 16, 2008 at 4:08 PM
I want to see Rev. Jackson do the shakedown on himself. heh heh heh
Bob's Kid on July 16, 2008 at 4:08 PM
Rightly so. If Imus called white people “crackers” and Jackson gave a lecture on how it was unacceptable to even call your own race names, then you’d have a point.
freevillage on July 16, 2008 at 4:09 PM
No, but Dick Cheney told Patrick Leahy to “go f— yourself.” The nutroots went crazy over that one, massively beclowning themselves in the process. I didn’t think that was a big deal either.
It’s hard for me to muster any outrage over the revelation that some people, even the most self-righteous, use language in private that they might condemn, or have condemned in Jackson’s case, in public discourse.
Gilda on July 16, 2008 at 4:10 PM
I’m very calm, and in all likelihood I’m much taller than you.
freevillage on July 16, 2008 at 4:10 PM
TheBigOldDog on July 16, 2008 at 4:06 PM
They have to keep up appearances when their political reps consist of brainiacs such as Biden, Reid and now Obama.
Bishop on July 16, 2008 at 4:11 PM
No, I don’t have a reason to. I’m not accusing a Civil rights activist (even if only in the distant past) of hating the black race.
freevillage on July 16, 2008 at 4:12 PM
His intent wasn’t bad??—how do you figure that?? The man called for his castration in the context of using the “N” word. The New Yorker’s wasn’t either? Oh no, they just wanted to imply that its common for conservatives to be bigots.
Dollayo on July 16, 2008 at 4:12 PM
Gilda on July 16, 2008 at 4:10 PM
I hear ya, but I DO get a tinge of outrage when I’m told such words need to be stricken from the lexicon while the tellers themselves continue to keep the word alive.
Bishop on July 16, 2008 at 4:13 PM
I’m pretty sure that free village is a liberal and I usually disagree with him. But in this case he’s right. Jesse Jackson is not a racist against black people. He may be a self-hating one–I’m laughing because many liberals would describe me using that adjective.
He is, however, in my estimation a racist against white people and an anti-Semite.
You may now return to your regularly scheduled bickering.
baldilocks on July 16, 2008 at 4:16 PM
Bite me. :)
You, stupid moron, accused someone of being a racist. That’s a personal attack. You understand at least that, don’t you, you idiot? We’ll get to why black people have infinitely more leeway before they are accused of hating black people a bit later if this is still unclear.
But you do understand that you can’t throw personal attacks and then complain that somebody personally attacked you. Right? I mean, you do. Right? Right?
freevillage on July 16, 2008 at 4:16 PM
So when Jackson says: “Barack…he’s talking down to black people…telling n—s how to behave.” He’s loving the black race, by calling them (not Barack, but the black people Barack is talking to) n_____s?
wise_man on July 16, 2008 at 4:16 PM
I honestly can’t tell if that was really, really stupid – or if you were just being satirical.
I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume the latter.
Professor Blather on July 16, 2008 at 4:17 PM
Words don’t have different meaning because a certain person uses it. This is absurd.
EJDolbow on July 16, 2008 at 4:17 PM
Ha! A classic episode. Hope you link it somewhere in the thread …
Professor Blather on July 16, 2008 at 4:17 PM
No, I don’t have a reason to. I’m not accusing a Civil rights activist (even if only in the distant past) of hating the black race.
Yet you are perfectly willing to smear “scores of HA contributors” as ’stupid morons’, presumably for opining on issues other than Jesse Jackson.
Ok then.
Bishop on July 16, 2008 at 4:18 PM
Whenever Jesse Jacka$$ (as Li’l Abner cartoonist Al Capp used to call him) speaks, I get a mental picture of a hippopotamus marking its territory. Same process.
SynthSmith on July 16, 2008 at 4:18 PM
Freevillage…
subculture my ars!!! In front of a camera mic’d up and use the n word. Who’s the moron again?
~B
Brian on July 16, 2008 at 4:18 PM
Both comments are equally as revealing, so there was no journalistic reason not to report both.
O’Reilly could have omitted either or neither to equal effect. It was a strategic decision, not an ethical one. By omitting one of the comments he could say that he exercized restraint, adding a patina of integrity to what was otherwise merely a “gotcha” moment.
So Big Bill got to make himself look good while slamming Jackson, knowing full well that eventually the whole thing would come to light anyway.
Akzed on July 16, 2008 at 4:18 PM
Who says they are?
I’ve never met one personally.
Professor Blather on July 16, 2008 at 4:19 PM
So if Jackson hates white people, and hates teh Joos, but not black folk, who he calls “N_____s,” then he’s just 2/3 racist, just not a complete racist?
wise_man on July 16, 2008 at 4:19 PM
LMAO! WTH.. O’Reilly do your job..
Yes, maybe the “n-word” would have drawn attention from the other part of the story but who cares.. COVER the whole story… Send your time talk about the nuts and not the n-word.. however do not edit, then say that you have something over someones head..
Chakra Hammer on July 16, 2008 at 4:19 PM
The sacred word is only allowed for use by the Black Pharasies. It is so sacred that it must be bleeped from “Blazing Saddles”, which is pathetic.
Double standards also abound for the Rev and his family.
Hening on July 16, 2008 at 4:19 PM
I do too. This is just another example of the typical liberal “do as I say, not as I do” double standard. Jackson has only re-confirmed what a lot of people already thought – he’s a disingenuous hypocrite. I’ve never regarded him otherwise so this comes as no surprise.
Gilda on July 16, 2008 at 4:19 PM
Really? What do you think a British man wants when he asks for potato chips?
freevillage on July 16, 2008 at 4:20 PM
Wow. Nope. You were actually being serious.
You’re a whole new kind of dumb, kid. I’m impressed. Your initial comment was actually kind of funny, when I was assuming it stemmed from a dry, sardonic wit.
Professor Blather on July 16, 2008 at 4:21 PM
Basically he was calling himself a n-word..
Chakra Hammer on July 16, 2008 at 4:22 PM
Considering the sender and the recipient of the words, JJ’s little outburst does not, per se, indicate love or hate for the black race. That’s the way a certain segment of black people–especially those of a certain generation–talks to other blacks. He would have never said such a thing to a non-black person or if he had known that the mike was on.
baldilocks on July 16, 2008 at 4:22 PM
Hmmm… sodomy?
Akzed on July 16, 2008 at 4:23 PM
he’s a disingenuous hypocrite. I’ve never regarded him otherwise so this comes as no surprise.
Gilda on July 16, 2008 at 4:19 PM
It’s just too bad that America will have to continue to give the man a regular pulpit, simply because of his connection to MLK. I am tired of his schtick and that fact that he gets so much attention drives me up a wall.
Bishop on July 16, 2008 at 4:23 PM
No, but they have different connotations.
baldilocks on July 16, 2008 at 4:23 PM
Puhleeze stop infantalizing people.
The word is nigger.
There.
Life goes on.
corona on July 16, 2008 at 4:23 PM
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