Speaker Nancy Pelosi has deleted her tweet demanding justice while Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) is now “withholding judgment” after previously calling it an “attempted modern-day lynching.” After politicians, pundits, and the press spent days calling for swift justice and denouncing the Trump Administration for the rise in hate crimes, Washington figures are running for cover as reports grew that Chicago police have evidence of a stage hate crime by “Empire” actor and singer Jussie Smollett. The case again raises the problem of leaders in politics and the media reaching immediate conclusions on such allegations before the evidence has been gathered.
Pelosi deleted her original tweet calling denouncing the “racist, homophobic attack” by alleged Trump supporters wearing MAGA hats in a Chicago subway on Saturday, January 29th, at 2 am.
Sen. Kamala Harris also took the account as true and tweeted “This was an attempted modern day lynching. No one should have to fear for their life because of their sexuality or color of their skin. We must confront this hate.” When confronted with the new evidence, Harris gave the answer that should have been the first response: “I think that once the investigation is concluded, then we should all comment, but I’m not going to comment until I know the outcome of that investigation.”
Sen. Corey Booker also expressed this same view, tweeting “The vicious attack on actor Jussie Smollett was an attempted modern-day lynching. I’m glad he’s safe. To those in Congress who don’t feel the urgency to pass our Anti-Lynching bill designating lynching as a federal hate crime– I urge you to pay attention.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez actually objected to those not treating the attack as an established fact. She tweeted that the attack was not “possibly” a racist and homophobic attack, but that “it was a racist and homophobic attack.”
The story quickly took over the networks and cable shows as the focus turned on how the Trump Administration has unleashed racist forces. Rep. Maxine Waters declared “Why all of a sudden do we have people unable to study while black, unable to mow a lawn while black, unable to have picnic while black, and being attacked? It’s coming from the president of the United States. He’s dog whistling every day.”
Likewise, Roxane Gay tweeted, “I am so sorry to hear what happened to @JussieSmollett,” adding that she was “committed to holding this administration and its ilk accountable for this hothouse of hate being fostered.”
The facts are still being gathered and Smollett denies a hoax. The issue is how the media and politicians use these allegations and the different degree of scrutiny that is applied to different claims. There is a fear that even suggesting that the allegation needs to be proven will be treated as hostility to victims or denial of racial animus in the country. Even today, there is little scrutiny of the media’s handling of the story or how these politicians and pundits used the allegation as a proven hate crime in calling for public action.
Smollett previously appeared in public giving accounts of how he fought back and how “the truth” must be told. He has now released a statement by his lawyers that “As a victim of a hate crime who has cooperated with the police investigation, Jussie Smollett is angered and devastated by recent reports that the perpetrators are individuals he is familiar with. He has now been further victimized by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that Jussie played a role in his own attack. Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying.”
Translate “smollet” (one t not two t s) from Nigerian and it is: turd.
The King of Hate Crimes has now weighed in and even he — The Rev Al –sees the light:
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2019/02/18/sharpton-calls-smollett-face-accountability-maximum-he-staged-hoax/
Mespo………..regarding being accountable if it was a hoax: I don’t know anything about this kid, like, does he have a personal support group of people, etc? My fear is that this may have a very, very sad end, like suicide. Hope I’m way off track.
Me too but bottom line he’s a racist for making it a phony hate crime. I won’t be shedding too many tears over the guy.
absolutely…It’s very serious, but sounded like a good thing initially because this is what the media and big kids do all the time and, they get away with it. They lie, cheat, fabricate, hate Trump.
Cindy, feel bad instead for all the lost souls out there who are poor white boys who have been accused of “white privilege” when they were just poor nobodies and crackers nobody cared about. Who went off and went to Jail or OD’d or killed themselves and nobody cared or gave a damn. Trust me that’s a lot of people.
This well employed and likely well heeled actor is an overgrown punk and he should go to jail for false informing.
Mr Kurtz……..of course I have empathy for those who have been wronged! Don’t be ridiculous. The term white privilege is a racist slur. It’s full frontal “race shaming”.
Smollet should be arrested and charged, if guilty, of course!
You misunderstand my sentiment. As a former teacher, I am saddened when kids go bad…and I don’t understand why some in the black culture continue to raise their kids as thugs and.racists.
This story never made sense from the get-go. Chicago is not MAGA country. The city does not have a recent history of hate crimes – m.o. is to really mess someone up if they’ve got a beef/ stealing, or just shoot them. A little scratch on the face and noose around neck is just pure fantasy by a lefty loon guilty of trying to create anti-Trump sentiment. The hoax is the real hate crime which lefty media will not try to figure out/report on.
The infiltration of journalism by political activists is a terribly alarming trend. The problem is that any bias in the media will be exploited by info-warriors, essentially turning mainstream media into their PR amplifier. Only by rejecting the premise that its role is to shape public opinion in direction X (or pander to confirmation bias is its audience) can the ethical media survive in its essential role as truth-gatherers.
The number of info-warfare campaigns that have successfully duped the mainstream media is growing, and already legendary. Ahmet Chalabi’s feeding of WMD and Al Qaeda-alliance misinformation into the CIA in order to get the US to topple Saddam’s regime tops the list. Hillary’s conspiratorial-theory speculation in July 2016 that “Donald Trump had to have something to do with the Russian-Wikileaks attack on the Democratic Convention”, picked up by John Brennan, Harry Reid, Andrew McCabe and others has turned into an institution-crippling nightmare for the United States. Recently, Jamal Khashoggi’s infowarrior campaign to unseat the Crown Prince MBS and his subsequent murder teach another lesson, but not one the mainstream media can be trusted to unpack. To the activist-journalist, what Khashoggi did (pen articles for the WaPo to discredit MBS), and who he was (a Saudi intelligence operative) were just fine — all that matters is what cause he is trying to further, and whether you support it. The real lesson of Khashoggi is that intelligence-trained officers like Khashoggi and Andy McCabe know advanced techniques of info-warfare — true journalists are smart to “rope off” these actors as untrustworthy gatherers of truth, for their purpose is not to objectively present facts and let the audience decide on the conclusion. Theirs is to implant the desired conclusion in the public’s mind.
The Smollett case presents another “red flag” opportunity for the mainstream media to self-improve. The dangers of the MSM being “gamed” into serving the goals of skilled info-warriors are already proven. Society stands to make bad decisions without an unbiased, inquisitive journalist able to question motives equally, no matter which actor is vying for media attention.
This is a thought-provoking comment. I have always been critical of media’s clever walking-the-line promotion of innuendo and opinion in an attempt to influence the views of the public. Courts (rightfully) provide broad latitude to the press,– noting that Americans have wide opportunity to investigate multiple sources in order to gleen the actual truth. But, I argue, many communities, especially in non-urban areas across large swaths of the country, have little or no access to Internet, wireless, and cable. Accordingly, they rely on mainstream media networks, like NBC, ABC, etc., for unbiased, objective reporting. What they get instead is coastal politics orchestrating the stories and the slant. Controlled by wealth, (add WaPo, NYT for example) they syndicate their biased stories to local news sources, and small communites swallow their renditions as the trusted truth. The incredible SELECTIVE FACT-REPORTING and political biases of these networks and news sources are inexcusable examples of the price we pay for our freedom of the press.
As Kamala Harris continues to run for president, she should be questioned as to whether she will conduct her presidency in the same knee-jerk manner as she reacted to this story.
Not like it hasn’t happened before – “cops acted stupidly”; “if I had a son”, etc.
“How will you be able to heal?”
Jeezus!
He will get a few baggies of crystal meth, have his Nigerian bosybuilder buds plow his black azz and she will feel right as rain 😉
https://news.grabien.com/story-abcs-roberts-uses-exclusive-interview-try-salvaging-smollett
Montage: ABC’s Roberts Uses Interview to Try Salvaging Smollett’s Sensational Story
‘If the attackers are never found, how will you be able to heal?’
ABC’s Robin Roberts scored an interview with the man who sparked a worldwide media blockbuster after claiming he was the victim of a vicious, racist, homophobic hate crime.
Actor Jussie Smollett, who says he was randomly attacked by two Trump-supporting fanatics in the middle of a Chicago night two weeks ago, discussed the incident for the first time Thursday morning.
Roberts used the sit down to address widespread doubts about the veracity of Smollett’s story, repeatedly assuring viewers his story is credible. Whereas Roberts could have used the interview to ask Smollett tough questions and point out the inconsistencies in his story, she instead help shepherd him through his narrative, ignoring when he appeared to slip up. Every question Roberts asked presupposed everything Smollett initially reported about that night is true.
“If the attackers are never found,” she asked at one point, “How will you be able to heal?”
After an initial portion of the interview aired, Roberts told viewers that Smollett is “consistent,” “credible,” and “very cooperative” — none of which is actually true.
Days after the attack, Smollett read a statement acknowledging parts of his original story were untrue. Smollett admitted his ribs were not actually broken and that he never went to the hospital. As for being “cooperative,” Smollett still refuses to turn his phone over to police, which they say could help pinpoint his alleged attackers. Smollett’s manager, whom the actor says was on the phone during the beat-down, has likewise refused to give police his phone.
When first describing the incident he says occurred, Smollett seemed to contradict his original story, referring to just a single “attacker,” but later adds that a second attacker was also kicking him:
Despite being the apparent victim of one of the worst hate crimes in recent national memory, Smollett did not initially report the incident police, but rather to the celebrity gossip site, TMZ. Asked why, Smollett blamed American society for believing gay men are “weak.”
“We live in a society where as a gay man, you are considered somehow to be weak,” he said. “And I’m not weak. I am not weak. And we are as a people are not weak. So during that time before they came — took them about maybe half hour to come, and during that time I was looking at myself just like checking myself.”
Moving on, Roberts then falsely suggests Smollett has turned his phone over to police, saying: “Many of those doubts [about his story] around the issue of his phone, with some wondering why he didn’t initially hand it over to authorities.” [Emphasis added]
Smollett has never turned his phone over to police. Two weeks after the attack, he gave the Chicago Police Department a PDF file listing calls made around the time of the attack, a document the police said is useless.
Roberts tells Smollett that “the vast majority of people have been supportive and loving and understanding” of his apparent hate crime and then asks what he thinks about his doubters. With this setup, Smollett says those questioning his story would believe him had he said his attackers were “Muslim” or “Mexican” or “black.”
“It feels like if I had said it was a Muslim or a Mexican or someone black, I feel like the doubters would have supported me a lot much more, a lot more, and that says a lot about the place that we are in our country right,” Smollett said.
After the second portion of the interview aired, Roberts again told viewers that Smollett should be believed.
“He’s not just angry at what happened then, he’s angry at what happened now and he realizes,” people don’t believe him, Roberts said. “He is — is adamant and as I said earlier the police have said he’s been consistent, that he’s been credible, that he is cooperative and that the investigation is ongoing.”
Roberts frequently setup Smollett to re-frame his anti-Trump narrative and establish himself as a victim.
Had Roberts actually been interested in digging out the truth from this story, why didn’t she ask:
— How were you able to fight off two attackers simultaneously, while holding onto your sandwich? (Surveillance footage from Smollett’s apartment shows him returning with the sandwich still in his hands.)
— Where are the clothes that would have been stained after being doused in bleach?
— Why didn’t you go to the hospital if the attack were half as bad as you’ve reported?
— The New York Post found a bottle of hot sauce near the scene of the incident that they said contains a bleach-like substance. Was that the bottle used in the attack? If so, why didn’t you point it out to police when you showed them the scene of the attack? Shouldn’t you have recognized it?
— Why won’t your manager turn his phone over to police?
— If you’re telling the truth, why have you hired a crisis PR firm?
— If, as you say, the death threat you received in the mail is from the same people who attacked you, how do you think they knew you’d be at that Subway at 2 AM?
Instead of anything like that, viewers instead got Roberts repeatedly setting up Smollett to attack conservatives, asking, “Why do you think you were targeted?”; “There is no doubt in your mind what motivated this attack?”; and, “What do you feel people need to hear the most about this story?”
For getting to the truth of what happened that night, Robert’s interview was a lost opportunity. But for helping build the narrative that America is a racist, intolerant society, Roberts’ interview was a major win.
your comment should be required reading for Roberts AND network ABC.
This story was questionable from the start because what racist is going to be walking around one of Chicago’s highest lgbt population neighborhoods at midnight in subzero temperatures and recognize a character from an all black show who is wearing a snorkel walking alone, and they just happen to be carrying a noose and some bleach, then put a tiny cut under his eye.
Smollett has done a disservice to the multitude of actual victims of attacks based on difference including but not limited to race or orientation. He was also given every opportunity to walk away from the story when others began to suspect him. It seemed like every story imaginable including the govt shutdown, a mainstream trap rapper being detained by ICE for being British born, the super bowl itself, other presidential contenders entering the fray, the wall being declared an emergency and Amazon leaving New York. But he had to have his moment in the spotlight and do the GMA interview.
Unfortunately it will make the next minority or gay victim appear like the boy who cried wolf to most because it was so high profile and he has a lot of responsibility to represent communities that face discrimination. It seems he was more concerned with himself and staying in the spotlight than any type of duty he had. I don’t know if he was always this narcissistic or if growing up a child actor in the mighty ducks etc screwed him up but this is a national embarrassment that will embolden hate and could have easily started a race war or worse.
Smollett has done a disservice to the multitude of actual victims of attacks based on difference including but not limited to race or orientation.
The ‘multitude’ in question summed to about 8,400 offenses in 2017, per the FBI’s statisticians. Of these, 27% were instances of vandalism, 27% were of intimidation, 21% were of common assault, and 4% were of larceny; another 3% were weapons and vice charges (which is puzzling).
I meant multitude over time. Not even focused on what’s happening this year. This goes back to the days of Emmett Till, Medgar Evans and Civil Rights.
A number of forum goers (Turley included, though he was young) were alive during civil rights. How disgusted would I feel to hear this man, who arranged someone to put a tiny cut below his eye, arranged this selfish farce for publicity, when people fought Jim Crow, lynchings and police brutality without a shred of publicity all for human dignity.
Orange man BAD! Hombre de naranja MUY MALO!!!
Denzel Washington said it best. The MSM doesn’t care about the truth of a story. They only care about being first to report a story.
Actually, decisions surrounding news selection need serious examination. The standard cannot be “We’ll run with whatever the others are running”, because is a sensationalist, Twitter-sphere environment, that gives every propagandist an opening to push fake news out…the more sensationalistic, the better.
Serious journalists are letting their video feeds and rags become drenched with gossipy infotainment. If you go back a month or two, and look at what got covered, much of it is now irrelevant. Future relevance should be a primary metric for news selection, not sensationalistic appeal.
Corey Booker and Jussie Smollett are both drama queens. But I have to say that it’s really pathetic when you want to be a victim so bad that you have to pay for it!
I don’t believe Pittypat Hamilton could rival the over-the-top hysterics, without ceasing, coming from the Left.
Fresh hell, daily.
“Fresh hell, daily.”
😂…on point, Cindy
We havent had this much fun since the 1990s drip, drip, drip news of Hillary and Bill’s lovely marriage farce when they commandeered the White House
Government sets the standard with it’s own false flags, Gulf of Tonkin, WMD, MH 17, “Russian Collusion”.
The Dems were playing to their base; “mistakes” don’t matter to them. It is the intent that counts and these Pinkos signaled virtue.
We see leftist virtual lynch mobs all the time; up to us to limit their power.
No credibility…
Covington Catholic boys, russia, Russia, RUSSIA, “Empire” “actor”, Wahpooh, NY Times, Va Governor Ralph “call me grand wizard KKK” Northam, Va Lt Gov Justin “suck me beach” Fairfax,…Jeff “marriage vows die in billions” Bezos….
Wonderful to see them all implode.
Damn right: “Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.”
They’re all hoaxes perpetrated by real racists:
https://www.foxnews.com/us/hate-crimes-and-hoaxes-10-campus-stories-debunked-in-2017
Ashton Kutcher says, “Dudes, you’ve been Punk’d.”
I called this a hoax on day one. The “This is Maga Country” was the biggest tell. But, there were others.
It was ridiculous from the inception: two white guys in a black neighborhood at two am with a -20 wind-chill equipped with bleach and a noose. The gullibility of the press, our leaders and those who just want to believe the worst is astounding.
Thomas Sowell once offered that people commonly confuse intelligence with articulateness. Journalists are articulate people .
What exactly is “intelligence”? Agreement with whatever you think?
Intelligence may include the ability to deceive others without deceiving oneself. But I doubt that intelligence is limited to that ability.
I gather Chris P. Bacon writes for the local bar rag.
TIAx2:
There is some correlation between language dexterity and intelligence but there is none between language dexterity and judgment. Our journalists of late are too young, (hence too inexperienced), too quick to conclude and too partisan to be described as wise. They’re all “on the make” which means ethics be damned and the mores of the past are mere impediments to their entitled fortune and fame. Too bad to see so much promise tossed by ruthless ambition and shattered on the rocks of reality.
They only want to ‘believe the worst’ about designated scapegoats.
True and its a short, colorful list.
“two am with a -20 wind”
bingo. At that hour and temperarure no one has the presence of mind to be walking the streets of Chicago.
Smollett was high on crystal meth, got rejected by the gays at the bars, and needed some attention to feel good about herself
Well, security services is your biz.
What gets you is that Bory Cooker is an extensively educated man who has been the mayor of a city where street crime is a severe problem. He’s not unintelligent and he hasn’t spent his adult life in a college town in Maine, but he falls for the Fake Noose News.
When partisan Democrats embarrass themselves in this way, you never quite know if stupidity or malice explains it.
“When partisan Democrats embarrass themselves in this way, you never quite know if stupidity or malice explains it.”
******************************
One usually leads to the other in the order you cite. Embarrassment is a powerful emotion.
The avoidance of embarrassment ought not to be the central organizing principle of human social life. And yet . . . completing this sentence might demonstrate the case.
“The avoidance of embarassment” is a good reason for L4B to post under at least
one alias.
I don’t think she wants her duplicity, lack of integrety and lack of intellectual honesty tracked back to her or her coven, or whoever writes this tripe posted under the Late4Dinner alias.
she and Peter Shill write the lions share of “divide and conquer” comments on these forums using multiple aliases. Fact: David Brock has shifts of paid trolls flooding many websites. I wouldnt be surprised if these profiles were shared by multiple shifts of paid trolls.
“When the Internet’s legions of Hillary hecklers steal away to chat rooms and Facebook pages to vent grievances about Clinton, express revulsion toward Clinton and launch attacks on Clinton, they now may find themselves in a surprising place – confronted by a multimillion dollar super PAC working with Clinton.
Hillary Clinton’s well-heeled backers have opened a new frontier in digital campaigning, one that seems to have been inspired by some of the Internet’s worst instincts. Correct the Record, a super PAC coordinating with Clinton’s campaign, is spending some $1 million to find and confront social media users who post unflattering messages about the Democratic front-runner
In effect, the effort aims to spend a large sum of money to increase the amount of trolling that already exists online.
The plan comes as Clinton operatives grapple with the reality that her supporters just aren’t as engaged and aggressive online as are her detractors inside and outside the Democratic Party.”
https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-clinton-digital-trolling-20160506-snap-htmlstory.html
I wouldnt be surprised if these profiles were shared by multiple shifts of paid trolls.
It would be quite remarkable if multiple people could stay in character so consistently. It wouldn’t surprise me if Diane actually did receive some sort of per diem, but Diane’s just Diane.
Estovir, you’ve been writing under alias’, not ‘me’..!!! I always use my name. What’s more, there are very few liberals even commenting on this blog. This is probably one of the most Trump-friendly forums hosted by a recognized law professor.
The real threat to this form comes from delusional culture warriors who want to launch hit & run attacks against the few liberals here. It’s easy to be a tough guy when ‘your side’ greatly outnumbers the opposition.
That’s what’s known as ‘tribalism’ or ‘mob mentality’; an emboldened sense of courage that comes from outnumbering the others. Certain losers get carried away by it.
Cry it out, Peter. Just give in and have a good cry. You’ll feel better, I promise.
Apparently Smollett didn’t have any white friends to stage this attack.
nick:
Their rate was too high so he got Nigerians to work at half-price. It’s the corporate way.
LOL!
tons of nigerians in chicago, driving cabs and so forth, and they are national experts in fraud and also tribal warfare and politics.
so perfect!
Pelosi and democrats are behaving like Johnnie Cochran in the OJ trial: They ignore obvious facts and just keep pounding the table and shouting their divisive rhetoric. Unfortunately, without a vigorous press motivated to deflate the propaganda with actual facts, we’ll have the same unjust, insane outcome.
Kind of reminds me of Tawana Brawley, Duke rape case and St. Tayvon Martin.
It still amazes me how leftists really, really believe that ordinary people who support Donald Trump are mostly crazed individuals looking to harm minorities.
antonio
Don’t forget the UVA case with that other sacred cow — the rape victim that wasn’t.
I think the motive was different in the UVA case. She was an aging black stripper who was consigned to low-rent gigs like frat parties. In her mind, these were rich white boys who were easy pickins for a shake down. She thought she would make a bogus charge, everyone would rally around her, and then she would walk away with a fat financial settlement to tide her over until her next scam. The scary thing is that it almost worked. With Jussie Smollett, he is the typical fake hate crime victim. They are virtually always gay and/or black, whose motive is attention and adoration by the left. The Chicago PD treated him with kid gloves publicly, while thoroughly investigating privately. Yet even as the story, which was ridiculous on its face, has unraveled, he’s continuing to hang on, now claiming he is “devasted” to learn that his assailants were people he knew. I’m still waiting for his explanation of how he thought two Nigerians with accents were white rednecks. Blond wigs? White face?
TIN:
Possibly. “Jackie” was a love-struck sociopath in the UVA case. Our Duke stripper harbored no sentimental illusions in her endeavors to falsely accuse. As to the Nigerians, obviously they were dead-ringers for Baron Samedi in the James Bond movie:
Oh, what the Hell! There have been so many of these fake cases that I’m mixing them up! Yes, the black stripper was at Duke, and “Jackie” was at UVA. My bad!
In her mind, these were rich white boys who were easy pickins for a shake down. She thought she would make a bogus charge, everyone would rally around her, and then she would walk away with a fat financial settlement to tide her over until her next scam.
I think you mean the Duke case. And in that case what happened was she made up the rape story on the fly in order to avoid a civil commitment order. That triggered SANE examination at Duke University medical center, which triggered in turn a call to the police. The inept nurse who assisted in the SANE investigation (one Tara Levicy) made a number of errors in the course of assisting and talking to law enforcement. The matter was then referred to the DA’s office. The ADA assigned the case drafted a motion to the court of an unusual evidence hoover. The acting District Attorney got wind of it and realized he could use the case in the primary campaign in which he was embroiled. He made some occult deal with the Durham police department to direct the investigation himself and the police officers assigned to the case were directed to report to him rather than their regular supervisors. The accuser, Crystal Gail Mangum was called in for interviews and given line ups of suspects to examine (interspersed with pictures of the lax team). She gave inconsistent answers every time. It was just an improvisation on her part. The case would have gone nowhere without the rather malign objects of one Michael Nifong and the bollocks of Nurse Levicy.