As NewsBusters has been reporting for several months, Obama-loving media are doing their darnedest to depict every potential Republican presidential candidate as a racist.
Doing his part, NBC's David Gregory on Sunday's "Meet the Press" accused Newt Gingrich of racism for having called Barack Obama "The most successful food stamp president in American history" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
DAVID GREGORY, HOST: What, what about jobs? Jobless rate now at 9 percent. You gave a speech on Friday in Georgia, and you said the following about this president:
(Videotape)
NEWT GINGRICH: You want to be a country that creates food stamps, in which case frankly Obama's is an enormous success. The most successful food stamp president in American history. Or do you want to be a country that creates paychecks?
(End videotape)
GINGRICH: Oh, come on, David.
GREGORY: What did you mean? What was the point?
REP. GINGRICH: That's, that's bizarre. That--this kind of automatic reference to racism, this is the president of the United States. The president of the United States has to be held accountable. Now, the idea that--and what I said is factually true. Forty-seven million Americans are on food stamps. One out of every six Americans is on food stamps. And to hide behind the charge of racism? I have--I have never said anything about President Obama which is racist.
Gingrich and all Republicans having the nerve to toss their hats into the ring better get used to this kind of question because absolutely every criticism they offer about the current White House resident in the next seventeen-plus months is going to be tied to the color of Obama's skin.
It really is disgraceful that Americans have to be subjected to this nonsense in the year 2011.
Our nation has very serious problems - probably the most serious since World War II. Media members like Gregory are constantly asking where the adults are in Washington willing to face these problems head on.
Yet whenever someone on the right side of the aisle tries to do exactly that, he or she is immediately accused of racism.
Maybe Gregory and his Obama-loving colleagues are the ones that need to grow up.
(H/T Amanda Carpenter)
*****Update: For those interested in the demographics of food stamp usage, the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire did an interesting study in 2005. They found that in rural areas, 53 percent of food stamp recipients were white as compared to 27 percent black. In urban areas, this breakdown was 34 percent white to 35 percent black.
Despite Gregory's insinuation, food stamp usage is not a racial issue at all and shouldn't be depicted as such.
