Even though as we already know and as John just noted Andrew Breitbart is nothing more than a "major league smear merchant, who has no shame", David Gergen decides to give this wingnut some cover on AC 360. Yeah, the man who helped James O'Keefe play the media for fools on ACORN should now be given the benefit of the doubt. This guy's a nut job but David Gergen wants us all to think he should be taken seriously.
Joan Walsh is right. His "proof" that black congressmen lied about being called "nigger" is as useless as his ACORN clips. Joan, if you read this blog, maybe you could go have a talk with David Gergen and explain to him why the man should never be given one single ounce of credibility. As you said in your article:
AP also reports that Rep. Heath Shuler – a Blue Dog Democrat from North Carolina, no raving lefty – says he heard the slurs too.
That's four congressmen vs. Breitbart and his tea-party bullies. Which story do you believe?
I'm with you. I believe the Congressmen and Richard Trumka who said he heard the racist remarks as well. Shame on David Gergen for pretending Breitbart is nothing but another agitator who has little use for the truth if he thinks it will make a name and some money for himself.
Here's what Gergen said about Breitbart.
Gergen: I do want to disagree with Roland about the point about -- about Tea Party and the question of Congressman John Lewis walking across that street. That was an important moment. The accusation that had been called the N-word and spit upon was a searing moment during the health care debate.
And many of us took it as sort of like, that's what happened. Now, if it didn't happen, I think it's important to know that, because -- or if somebody was an impostor. Now we will have to -- maybe we will never know.
But I think it -- and the tea parties have every right to sort of say, hey, wait a minute, or Andrew Breitbart to say, wait a minute, if it didn't happen, let's get that clarified, because it did turn off an awful lot of Americans.
Sorry David, but it's already clarified that the man making the accusation is a known liar who should be treated as such. Not that your network to this day still isn't distorting the ACORN hit job done by Breitbart and his buddies. Here's how Cooper described that.
COOPER: That was Andrew Breitbart, the conservative blogger who released the video of ACORN workers counseling actors posing as a pimp and a prostitute.
Yeah, there's some "fair and balanced" reporting. No mention that they misled the ACORN workers and weren't dressed as a pimp and a prostitute when they actually talked to them. Nice disclaimer there Anderson.
Transcript below the fold via CNN.
COOPER: Now to the "Raw Politics" of the Tea Party movement.
On March 20th, near the end other bitter health care debate, Representatives John Lewis, Andre Carson, Emanuel Cleaver say that some demonstrators, many of them Tea Party activists, yelled the N- word as the congressmen walked from House office buildings to the Capitol.
Conservative and Tea Party activists insist it never happened. And one of them has been offered big money if anyone can prove it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW BREITBART: I offered $100,000 to anyone that can show video that the N-word was hurled once.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That was Andrew Breitbart, the conservative blogger who released the video of ACORN workers counseling actors posing as a pimp and a prostitute.
He's pledged to donate $100,000 to the United Negro College Fund if anyone provides proof of the epithets.
Joining us now with more on this and a lot of "Raw Politics," CNN senior political analyst David Gergen, chief correspondent political and host of CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION," Candy Crowley, host of "JOHN KING, USA," John King, CNN political contributor and Republican strategist Ed Rollins, and CNN political analyst Roland Martin.
Roland, what about that? I mean, if -- if this happened, you would think there would be video by now. Does that, the fact that it's still being discussed, is that a win for the Tea Party?
ROLAND MARTIN: No. I think it's -- I think it's dumb on the Tea Party's part to be focusing on this.
I mean, if you are trying to create an actual movement, this is the last thing you want to continue talking about. You want to be talking about policy. You want to be getting folks involved. You don't want to be constantly remind people at the possibility that the N-word was used, because all you're simply doing is having a self- fulfilling prophecy
I mean, it just makes no sense if you are trying to create an actual movement.
COOPER: David Gergen, I don't know if you were listening into the discuss we were having before the break about Oklahoma, and talking to the state senator. What do you make of that?
I mean, earlier in the day, a lot of liberal groups were certainly raising red flags, saying, you know, Tea Party groups are wanting to raise some sort of militia. The state senator made some comments that raised a lot of concern. Now he clearly seems to be saying he's not for some armed group of activists.
DAVID GERGEN: Well, I don't know if he laid it to rest or not, Anderson, but he certainly was suggesting there's more smoke here than fire.
And I -- until there's proof to the contrary -- and there may be proof -- I would sort of take him on his word -- at his word and move on.
I do want to disagree with Roland about the point about -- about Tea Party and the question of Congressman John Lewis walking across that street. That was an important moment. The accusation that had been called the N-word and spit upon was a searing moment during the health care debate.
And many of us took it as sort of like, that's what happened. Now, if it didn't happen, I think it's important to know that, because -- or if somebody was an impostor. Now we will have to -- maybe we will never know.
But I think it -- and the tea parties have every right to sort of say, hey, wait a minute, or Andrew Breitbart to say, wait a minute, if it didn't happen, let's get that clarified, because it did turn off an awful lot of Americans.
MARTIN: Well, first off, I'm making the point because we have had the previous accusations of the kind of these crazy posters being there.
I remember debating Mark Williams, one of Tea Party leaders, on Anderson's show, and I said, hey, if somebody had a racist sign, would you tell them to take it down? And he said, no, I don't want to infringe upon their First Amendment rights.
The point I'm making is, if you are trying to get folks elected, you don't continue to continue to -- coming back to that kind of story. You can try to disprove it all you want to, but the point is, you want people focusing on why you have a movement. You want them focusing on issues, not this, because as long -- if this is the conversation, that's the last thing you want, because you are never going to get people involved in your movement.
COOPER: But, John, I mean, this conversation is only going to continue. You also now have this liberal group called Crash the Party that says it's going to send people to the protest, the Tea Party protest, to try to blend in and basically do things as outrageous as they can to cast a bad light on -- on the Tea Party activists.
JOHN KING: And, so, you see yet another example of the fracture in our politics right now.
And to the point both Roland and David, I think, would agree on, is the challenge for the Tea Party is, are you a protest movement or a political movement?
MARTIN: That's right.
KING: And if you have people now trying to crash their party, if you will, then you see what's happening. You see that they have incited the left, which, in an odd way, is a good thing, if it means political activism. It's a bad thing if it means political stunts.
We are going to test this out. We are going to test this out through the primary season in a number of parts of the country. I know we will test it out come November. Are -- are -- is the Tea Party movement going to mature as a political movement?
What happens if their preferred candidates lose in the primaries? Do they become Republicans and conservatives, which is where most of their energy -- not all of it, but most of their energy -- is right now? Or do they protest, thinking they somehow got the short end of the stick?
That is one of the many questions in this very volatile year, where there are tensions on both the right and the left? It's not just on the right. There's tensions on the right and the left.
MARTIN: True.
KING: How do these fractured pieces come together?
