Another Euphemism for Racism: Heckling the President

Tucker Carlson has been everywhere from MSNBC to Fox and now he runs a watered-down version of the lovechild of The Drudge Report and Fuckington Roast Huffington Post.


Today, covering the announcement by the President of an Executive Order aiding young illegal immigrants in full-time education as a first step towards citizenship, one of Carlson Daily Caller gang stepped forward and did the unthinkable.

On the grounds of the White House, in the midst of an announcement being made by the President of the United States, Neil Munro openly and loudly heckled ... heckled the President of the United States.

Now, I've had a problem with the White House Press Corps during this President's tenure. I find that all of them, especially the big ego'd big boys like upChuck Todd and Jake Tosser Tapper are sometimes openly disrespectful, both in their tones and in their insouciant questioning of the President during press conferences. This filters down to the rest of the sheep in the journalistic herd.

But this display seen below is simply the proof in the pudding: That this sort of behaviour would never have occurred, and indeed, didn't during the watches of George W Bush, Bill Clinton and any and all Presidents preceeding them. Why? It's not rocket science.

Watch:-



Watching this, and feeling my blood boil, I wanted to know more about the incredibly ignorant bozo that is Neil Munro, and here's the irony of what I found: He's late of the National Journal, and he's Irish. That's right. He's a resident of one of the British Isles, so it comes as no surprise to me that another fellow resident of the British Isles, the Englishman and MSNBC host, Martin Bashir, addressed the issue of this outburst with Washington Post correspondent, Jonathan Capehart, Democratic strategist, Julian Epstein, and Grio editor Joy-Ann Reid.

As Capehart points out, this was not just an announcement to the press from the Rose Garden, but also an address by the President to the people of the United States. The unspoken rule of protocol and decorum is that no one interrupts the President whilst he's talking to his constituents - but we all know that rule of thumb went flying out the window when Joe Wilson shouted out, calling the President a liar during the address to the Joint Session of Congress on Healthcare Reform in September 2009.

In the end, it behooved Julian Epstein to take the bull by the horns and address why and what motivated a member of the Rightwing press to treat the President of the United States with such rudeness. Again, it's not rocket science. Quite simply, the Rightwing media would never have been as openly rude to any white President, be he or she Democratic or Republican.

He spoke the great unspeakable, as so many others are doing at the moment, and I applaud him; because covert racism has been the single most motivating factor behind the Right's move to de-legitimise this President of the United States.

Again, watch:-



Mediaite's Tommy Christopher actually explained his theory behind Munro's outburst and the culture which governs Munro's attitude:-

But even a decent, straight reporter can become infected by a newsroom culture that trades in racial resentment and deranged opposition to Barack Obama. I believe it is that culture that egged Munro on to this stunt. His excuses don’t hold any water, every reporter knows that you don’t interrupt the President during remarks, and you certainly don’t do it twice if it’s an accident. No, Munro was obviously trying to make a name for himself, and The Daily Caller, and perhaps thought his Irish brogue might earn him a little cultural forgiveness. Hell, his fellow DC-ers probably convinced him it would be racist not to heckle President Obama.

If not, it’s still a win, because if Munro is banned from The White House (they haven’t returned requests for comment), he and The Daily Caller are heroes to their knuckle-dragging audience.

To that audience, I would say this: Neil Munro is not a hero or a martyr. He is, at best, the victim of a culture of hostility toward Barack Obama, by a website that has decided that exploiting racial resentment is fun and profitable. Despite The DC‘s dishonest excuses, White House reporters do not interrupt the President when he’s delivering remarks, not white presidents, and not black presidents.

Just for the record, I've included, below, the walkback and whiney lie Munro reiterated afterwards in his own defence of the indefensible, as well as his boss, Tucker Carlson's remarks, which, somehow, simply don't ring true.

From Neil Munro:-

I always go to the White House prepared with questions for our president. I timed the question believing the president was closing his remarks, because naturally I have no intention of interrupting the President of the United States. I know he rarely takes questions before walking away from the podium. When I asked the question as he finished his speech, he turned his back on the many reporters, and walked away while I and at least one other reporter asked questions.

(As you can see, a blatant lie about what actually occurred as opposed to Munro's version.)

From Tucker Carlson:-

 I don’t remember Diane Sawyer scolding her colleague Sam Donaldson for heckling President Reagan. And she shouldn’t have. A reporter’s job is to ask questions and get answers. Our job is to find out what the federal government is up to. Politicians often don’t want to tell us. A good reporter gets the story. We’re proud of Neil Munro.

And that's a lot of bullpucky too. I remember Sam Donaldson, who questioned Ronald Reagan vociferously, but always respectfully. Sam Donaldson didn't heckle, and those who seek to emulate him today - and, yes, that means you, upChuck and Widdle Jake - aren't even fit to shine Sam Donaldson's shoes.

I'm pleased Tucker Carlson, child of entitlement and white privilege, is proud of Neil Munro, who's probably an immigrant of sorts, himself. That pride only reinforces and strengthens the opinion I've long held of Carlson as a lightweight and not-very-clever wannabe pundit and journalist, as well as more than a bit of an overgrown fratboy, vintage-style from the Seventies.

As for Munro, his display of rudeness was the very embodiment of ignorance. I'd advise him to return to the Emerald Isle and learn some manners. They maketh the man. There's nought I can do about the racist veneer he's acquired.