Hey, I Thought Ill-Considered Charges of Racism Were Wrong Or Something

Apparently I'm missing some nuance.

Most members of the media, both liberal and conservative, expressed outrage over Sherrod’s sacking and the unfair media coverage that followed. Keith Olbermann denounced the “political guillotine” of Fox News and Breitbart, and the conservative desire to “convict the benevolent as racist.” It was important, Olbermann maintained, to remember that facts matter and that hyperbolic bloggers who end up treating their quarry like Danton should be humiliated...

Even Sherrod, having just observed the consequences of sloppily charging people with racism, told CNN that Breitbart “knew what effect [the video] would have on the conservative, racist people he's dealing with.” And as the scripted media introspection and the rehearsed “conversations” about race were inaugurated by those who already knew the answers, blogger and former Journolist member Matt Yglesias was falsely accusing libertarian economist Arnold Kling of racism—the second time Kling has had to endure the toxic charge. But Kling, unlike Sherrod, is an enemy.

If all this counted as a teachable moment, it is unclear who the students were.

posted by Ace at 03:26 PM

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