Live on Fox: Well, at least I held my ownPosted on 04/28/2004 5:43:35 AM PDT by mhking
Live on Fox: Well, at least I held my own
Last night, I appeared on Fox News Channel's Hannity & Colmes in a "debate" (and I use the term loosely, it was more like an ambush than anything else) with New York City Councilman Charles "I Wanna Slap The Nearest White Person For My Mental Health" Barron.
Project 21 put out a press release Monday, which strongly criticized a Jesse Jackson's earlier this month in Boston. In the speech, Jackson accused the US Military of "murder," called for the impeachment of the President, and called for both UN sanctions and military action by the United Nations against the United States.
Last I checked, openly supporting military action against the US is grounds for treason, isn't it? Am I missing something?
Well, in any event, Project 21's release was very critical of Jackson, and I was quoted prominently in the release.
"Jesse Jackson's motives have never been as transparent as they were with these statements. If anyone needs to apologize, it's him. He indulges his fantasies and delusions of grandeur by calling for Bush's impeachment and calling for United Nations action against us. But blacks are beginning to see the truth -- that Jackson's bluster is exactly that: all smoke and no substance."FNC's Atlanta studio is in a new facility in Midtown, where Georgia Public Broadcasting has it's headquarters.
The bureau is fairly small, but the facilities modern.
The producer (I'm sorry, I can't remember his name -- I so bad with names; I generally don't forget a face, but I'm horrible with names) ushered me into the studio. The room was comfortable, nowhere near as tiny as the veritable closet that NBC uses for it's Atlanta studio. A chair and low table sat in front of a "Fox Atlanta" backdrop.
The producer explained that the camera was controlled from New York. It was a fancy robotic affair, not overly large at all. A small monitor sat nearby.
They set me up, and I waited a short while, making small talk with the producer, and with the people in New York. The producer turned the monitor away from me -- "So I wouldn't be tempted to look at it," he claimed.
Bottom of the hour, and they came up live. NYC Councilman Charles Barron, along with Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes. I have spoken to Sean a couple of times in the past -- he and I were on competing talk radio stations in the same time slot when I first came to Atlanta nearly 10 years ago. I'm not sure if he remembers me though.
Sean did the intro, then tossed out a question. Barron immediately jumped on it, trying to marginalize me. "Nobody knows who you people are. Yet you are trying to speak for black people."
"No, I'm not trying to speak for everyone. However, I never stopped to elect Jesse Jackson to speak for me," I retorted.
Barron was on a roll. He had the advantage of being in the studio with Sean and Alan -- he could read body language and facial expressions, where I couldn't see a thing (save the unblinking eye of the camera).
He began yelling, and when I didn't shut up right off, he began screeching.
Alan jumped in, grabbed the conversation, and yanked it -- hard -- into the deep water of Iraq, where I was not prepared to go.
Barron was in his element. I thought he sensed my unease, but everyone I've spoken to said that I was pretty cool throughout the whole thing. They said that if anything, Barron was unhinged by my not getting upset and flying off the handle.
I have a strong commanding voice and presence. I am certainly aware of that, and use it pretty much unconsciously.
I spoke over Barron, in an attempt to get my point across. I'm not sure if I did -- the segment was over so quickly.
I kicked myself on the drive home, for allowing Alan to grab the subject from me and head off in another direction.
My wife (She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed) insisted that I did just fine, and reminded me that Alan was one of the hosts -- he had the right and perogative to shift gears if he wanted to.
Oh, well. Come to find out that Mitchell (my 10 year old) yelled at Barron to shut up and let me talk; Lynese just wandered up to the TV, pointed, and said, "There's Daddy."
Then she waved. "Hi, Daddy!"
After I got home, I talked to my folks. I could hear my mom beaming through the phone. My dad? Well, my very liberal dad finally surprised me. "Well, boy, I don't agree with your politics, but you did good. You were polished and authoritative. I'm proud of you."
I guess the "idiot son" has finally come home and shed the "idiot" label.
They started shouting. You won. Great job.
I was dismayed that Sean Let Alan move the conversation away from Jesse -- would have loved to see you pound that spike right into Barron's forehead.
All in all though, you came out the best. Barron looked like a wild-eyed weasel, and it was obvious that Alan was very uncomfortable and couldn't wait to get the subject off of Jesse. They know Jesse screwed up with his statement, and are scared to death that a strong, articulate Black man is out there getting the message out about Jesse's true "Color"
It is just plain stupid for them to do so.
Any one who has been an actor on a stage knows from crowd reactions, that acting like an bully does not win the viewers. When players act like a bully, they don't get applause they get booed.
Remember the object is to get viewers to like and respect you and therefore tend to accept your positions on issues. The object is to win the hearts and minds of the undecided center. My Dad taught me politics as a 16 year old teenager. He used subjects I was really interested in (at the time) to teach me. I remember Dad saying, "Being obnoxious is not a way to get a girl in the back seat or a voter in a booth." Dad knew how to get my attention.
Imagine the two of you were each trying to sell a viewer a car, rather than a policitcal view. Do you really think that his yelling and interrupting, and being a bully would help him sell the viewers a car? People don't buy used cars from bullies.
If they wouldn't buy a used car from him, do you think they would buy his political views?
You did fantastic. You weren't the bully.. you did something far more valuable to your cause. You made the sale.
Kudos to you.
I saw that show as well. She claimed that the reason the birth rate among unmarried black women was so high was because of white men raping them!
Blanks happen to the smartest among us. I know that was frustrating for you, but it was at that point that I realized how big a disadvantage it is to be alone in a studio rather than in the group. Sean would have bailed you out there.
Sean should have interrupted and silenced the shouting so that your clear thoughts could come through, but apparently they had limited the time, and he was taken a bit by surprise and therefore somehow didn't manage to do this. That's my impression.
All this notwithstanding, you were impressive. I hope we'll see you in the Newsmedia much more in the future.
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