No O'Reilly thread yet? (Slaves that built White House were well fed!)

[dank69]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...lle-obama-white-house-slaves-speech/87604632/

Do I need to comment on this or is it fucked up enough to stand on its own merit? I'll start the discussion just in case:

How does this guy still have his job? How is a comment like this not enough for immediate dismissal? Oh that's right, Fox News is a haven for wildly racist pundits.

 

[sandorski]

Oh, well that changes everything.

 

[yllus]

I think everyone realized he gets paid to say asshole-y things so why bother listening.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

There really is no defending what he said, but I'm sure some of the usual suspects will chime in and 'explain' o'reilly's reasoning.

 

[brycejones]

Some asshats here lost their shit at that line in her speech. Something about white people built it as well. The whoosh was amazing.

 

[bshole]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...lle-obama-white-house-slaves-speech/87604632/

Do I need to comment on this or is it fucked up enough to stand on its own merit? I'll start the discussion just in case:

How does this guy still have his job? How is a comment like this not enough for immediate dismissal? Oh that's right, Fox News is a haven for wildly racist pundits.

This is the right wings version of virtue signaling. His audience probably LOVED it.

 

[MomentsofSanity]

Some asshats here lost their shit at that line in her speech. Something about white people built it as well. The whoosh was amazing.

Yup. It wasn't JUST slaves. They didn't clarify just how many slaves were an acceptable number however.

They all seem to miss the entire point which is a black family lives in the most powerful house on the planet, built by people who had no power or freedom at all and could never envision the current occupants.

Edit: sorry built IN PART by people with no power or freedom. Don't want to set anyone else off.

 

[dank69]

Yup. It wasn't JUST slaves. They didn't clarify just how many slaves were an acceptable number however.

They all seem to miss the entire point which is a black family lives in the most powerful house on the planet, built by people who had no power or freedom at all and could never envision the current occupants.

Edit: sorry built IN PART by people with no power or freedom. Don't want to set anyone else off.

White contractor lives matter!

 

[Blackjack200]

Yeah, it says something when a major political commentator dismissing slavery barely moves the needle anymore.

 

[glenn1]

So while he fact checked Michelle Obama's statement and validated it was true, he didn't sufficiently make a ritual denunciation of slavery so that's an unsatisfactory fact check?

 

[brycejones]

So while he fact checked Michelle Obama's statement and validated it was true, he didn't sufficiently make a ritual denunciation of slavery so that's an unsatisfactory fact check?

Whoosh

 

[emperus]

So while he fact checked Michelle Obama's statement and validated it was true, he didn't sufficiently make a ritual denunciation of slavery so that's an unsatisfactory fact check?

You and your comments in this thread and the Democratic thread is the reason why Trump should never win the election. He has given cover for Racists like yourself to come out into the open.

 

[fskimospy]

So while he fact checked Michelle Obama's statement and validated it was true, he didn't sufficiently make a ritual denunciation of slavery so that's an unsatisfactory fact check?

Let's just say it's generally considered bad form to go out of your way to tell people about how nice you think the conditions were for enslaved people.

 

[Knowing]

It was burned, rebuilt, gutted and rebuilt (twice?), and remodeled so many times that what is standing now was probably never touched by a slave. However, that doesn't really matter in the context she intended. The first iteration of the "white house" in American parlance meaning "the residence of the president of the United States" was built with slave labor. I don't know why this needed to be fact checked, are public schools not teaching the war of 1812 anymore?

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

So while he fact checked Michelle Obama's statement and validated it was true, he didn't sufficiently make a ritual denunciation of slavery so that's an unsatisfactory fact check?

dog whistle sounded... dog whistle answered

 

[MomentsofSanity]

So while he fact checked Michelle Obama's statement and validated it was true, he didn't sufficiently make a ritual denunciation of slavery so that's an unsatisfactory fact check?

She uses the story as a demonstration of how far the country has come in 200 years. Then people like O'Reilly use it as a way to claim she is divisive by saying it wasn't all slaves or it wasn't so bad for the slaves.

Get the problem now?

 

[bshole]

So while he fact checked Michelle Obama's statement and validated it was true, he didn't sufficiently make a ritual denunciation of slavery so that's an unsatisfactory fact check?

You didn't find the slave apologetics off-putting? Why would he say the slaves were well-fed and housed? Is he trying to convince us that slavery is a good thing? I really don't get it.

 

[glenn1]

She uses the story as a demonstration of how far the country has come in 200 years. Then people like O'Reilly use it as a way to claim she is divisive by saying it wasn't all slaves or it wasn't so bad for the slaves.

Get the problem now?

No, can't say that I do. Many of Bill O'Reilly's listeners probably didn't believe Michelle when she said that and would have argued to the contrary so he did a public service by confirming the truth by someone they trust. Saying that slaves owned by the U.S. Government weren't abused doesn't lessen the horror of that mere fact any more than saying that Japanese held in camps during WW2 weren't abused. It doesn't excuse away what happened, in fact both speak to our failings as a country on a matter of basic policy.

 

[Jaskalas]

They all seem to miss the entire point which is a black family lives in the most powerful house on the planet, built by people who had no power or freedom at all and could never envision the current occupants.

Yeah... right wing media all describe that statement as her revulsion of the white house, to go along with the never proud of America until it elected her husband statement. It's weaving two story threads together to fit a narrative of angry black woman.

O'Reilly apparently believed that context and thought to... wade into it.

I just skimmed her speech to verify the context, and yours is absolutely right. Her commentary is one of celebration for where this country is today.

That is the story of this country, the story that has
brought me to this stage tonight, the story of generations
of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of
servitude, the sting of segregation, but who kept on
striving and hoping and doing what needed to be done so
that today, I wake up every morning in a house that was
built by slaves -- (applause) -- and I watch my daughters –
- two beautiful, intelligent, black young women –- playing
with their dogs on the White House lawn. (Applause.) And
because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters –- and all our
sons and daughters -– now take for granted that a woman can
be President of the United States. (Applause.)

 

[glenn1]

You didn't find the slave apologetics off-putting? Why would he say the slaves were well-fed and housed? Is he trying to convince us that slavery is a good thing? I really don't get it.

Because it's actually more horrifying that we treated the slaves well because it meant we knew what we were doing. It wasn't just some overlooked contractor situation where the government could claim plausible deniability, we not only used slaves but we treated them 'well' because they were seen as U.S. property and thus doing so was a protection of our "investment."

People need to know that instead of like picture 1 below, it was more like picture 2. There's no excuse for either, but there's also no getting around the the implicit knowledge that what you're doing is wrong. The U.S. government didn't use slaves to build the White House because we conquered some other people, we did it to save a few bucks and completely ignored the morality that was telling us it was wrong.

 

[Blackjack200]

Saying that slaves owned by the U.S. Government weren't abused doesn't lessen the horror of that mere fact any more than saying that Japanese held in camps during WW2 weren't abused. It doesn't excuse away what happened, in fact both speak to our failings as a country on a matter of basic policy.

I mean, it also shows the great stewardship of the American government to take care of its property. Contrary to the right wing narrative of government waste and poor management, they took good care of their human property to ensure they maximized the labor they got out of them.

 

[Jaskalas]

You didn't find the slave apologetics off-putting? Why would he say the slaves were well-fed and housed? Is he trying to convince us that slavery is a good thing? I really don't get it.

1: Believe right wing context for her statement.
2: Feel the need to "defend" the white house.

It's a beat your chest patriot thing.

 

[Subyman]

So while he fact checked Michelle Obama's statement and validated it was true, he didn't sufficiently make a ritual denunciation of slavery so that's an unsatisfactory fact check?

He was obviously trying to minimize the power of Michelle's statement by saying, "well the slaves were well fed." As if they somehow reduces her statements. It's pretty fucked up and heartless. He's a sour old man.

 

[SMOGZINN]

Many of Bill O'Reilly's listeners probably didn't believe Michelle when she said that and would have argued to the contrary so he did a public service by confirming the truth by someone they trust.

It says something about out political and educational system that this needed to be fact checked at all but that is not the point of my reply, so I'll let it go.


[quite]Saying that slaves owned by the U.S. Government weren't abused doesn't lessen the horror of that mere fact any more than saying that Japanese held in camps during WW2 weren't abused. It doesn't excuse away what happened, in fact both speak to our failings as a country on a matter of basic policy.[/QUOTE]

Yes, it is a direct attempt to lessen the horror of it, or why bother saying it? What did that tidbit of information add to the conversation? It is not relevant to the story except to reduce the impact of the fact that slaves were used.

 

[Jaskalas]

He was obviously trying to minimize the power of Michelle's statement by saying, "well the slaves were well fed." As if they somehow reduces her statements. It's pretty fucked up and heartless. He's a sour old man.

Maybe O'Reilly took a look at his life during the Roger Ailes controversy and decided he'd rather be home sipping tea. So he decided to boost his retirement plan. :wub: