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What's the Matter with Soledad O'Brien?
Townhall.com ^ | March 14, 2012 | Michelle Malkin

Posted on 03/14/2012 4:09:10 AM PDT by Kaslin

What's the Matter with Soledad O'Brien? CNN's Soledad O'Brien isn't used to criticism. In the world of media elites, she's a beloved figure and an award-winning news anchor. But last week, she revealed her true, decidedly non-neutral colors. And she's not happy about the hoi polloi questioning her hallowed journalistic objectivity.

On Thursday, O'Brien interviewed Joel Pollak, editor-in-chief of the late Andrew Breitbart's online empire. Breitbart's BigGovernment.com released a 1991 video of Barack Obama (then a 30-year-old law student) at a Harvard rally embracing radical racialist Derrick Bell and his push for more aggressive race-based hiring at Harvard. Bell is a proponent of critical race theory (CRT), which posits that America remains a hopelessly racist country dominated by Jews and white supremacists.

O'Brien lost her cool when Pollak shed light on Bell's fringe legal theories. Acting more like an Obama campaign surrogate than a disinterested host, she angrily jumped on Pollak's mention of CRT. "That is a complete misreading of critical race theory," she shrieked. "That's an actual theory. You could Google it and some would give you a good definition. So that's not correct!"

When viewers took to Twitter to pepper O'Brien with follow-up questions about critical race theory, the CNN star had a twit fit. She invited a liberal professor, Emory University's Dorothy Brown, on her television show to back her up and then lashed out: "See? That was our critical race theory 101. Stop tweeting me. We have moved on, people."

Not so fast, sister.

Turns out that O'Brien, a Harvard grad, has a rather emotional connection to Bell. As documented at my new Twitter curation/aggregation site Twitchy.com, O'Brien tweeted that it was a "rough day" for her when Bell passed away last fall. She wrote that she had "just started re-reading" one of his books and mourned again: "RIP Prof. Bell." O'Brien also shared tributes to Bell from fellow Harvard prof and friend of Obama Charles Ogletree. That's the same Professor Ogletree who bragged that he "hid" the Obama/Bell video during the 2008 campaign.

O'Brien failed to disclose her pro-Bell bias to viewers before her segments.

O'Brien also failed to disclose that the liberal prof who denied on her show that critical race theory had aaaaaanything to do with bashing America as a white supremacy-ruled government actually wrote the exact opposite. In one of her own books, Brown asserted that the purpose of CRT was to "highlight the ways in which the law is not neutral and objective, but designed to support White supremacy and the subordination of people of color." Oops.

O'Brien is entitled to her opinions, of course. The problem is that she masks her political activism under the banner of corporate media "diversity." Of multicultural heritage, O'Brien has won countless accolades for her "Black in America" and "Latino in America" documentaries for CNN. The medical school at historically black Morehouse College created the "Soledad O'Brien Freedom's Voice Award" to honor "outstanding catalysts of social change." The first recipient of the activist award? Soledad O'Brien, of course.

O'Brien is also a card-carrying member of two racial/ethnic-centered journalism lobbying groups: the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. These organizations are inherently politicized entities that enforce a skin color-deep ideological solidarity and push a social justice agenda of advocacy journalism. I know because I've fought their collective herd mentality for the past 20 years.

Liberal minority journalists have themselves acknowledged their slavish fealty to Obama and his progressive agenda. During the 2008 campaign, the NABJ, NAHJ and Asian American Journalists Association held a "journalists of color" confab where then-candidate Obama was welcomed with Justin Bieber-style mania. One journalist squealed, "He touched me!" after Obama's address, which was interrupted multiple times with standing ovations, cheers and whistles by the press.

Organizers were so concerned about public displays of Obamedia affection that they issued several warnings to their news professional members that the speech would be broadcast live on (Soledad O'Brien's) CNN. "Professional decorum" was encouraged. One wire story even fretted: "Can minority journalists resist applauding Obama?"

Nope, liberal minority journalists simply can't resist carrying water for Obama. That's because their journalistic unity demands political unanimity. If you don't accept the left-leaning agenda of "social change" journalism, you're enabling racism. If you don't support the pursuit of racial hiring goals as a primary journalistic and academic goal, you're selling out.

Now you know the reason for O'Brien's thin-skinned reaction to Obama's critics. When you vet the president, you vet the media. And they don't like the narrative table-turning one bit


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: bell; breirbart; cnn; conflictofinterest; corruption; derrickbell; haaaaavaaaad; harvard; obrien; partisanmediashills; racist; soledadobrien; twitter
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1 posted on 03/14/2012 4:09:13 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

She deleted 2 of my tweets to her after I wrote “do a show called “White In America”.


2 posted on 03/14/2012 4:16:31 AM PDT by tobyhill (Fight Fire With Fire)
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To: Kaslin
This CNN gal just went absoLUTE bats*it. It was a meltdown of tremendous proportions. It lacked any cool, professional, balanced neutral journalistic tinge, but was so thick with liberal agenda drive you could cut it with a knife. I know. CNN. No surprise. But the way she seemed to have one of those liberal nervous breakdowns, I mean, it was even worse than MSNBC.

Truly this was a bar argument between a Tea Party member, and a Special Assistant to the President or perhaps a high DNC member.

3 posted on 03/14/2012 4:16:38 AM PDT by AmericanInTokyo (Same MSM pimping Mitt as "top electable" to naive GOP voters will be the one to DISMANTLE him later)
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To: Kaslin

I KNEW IT!!!


4 posted on 03/14/2012 4:17:40 AM PDT by AmericanInTokyo (Same MSM pimping Mitt as "top electable" to naive GOP voters will be the one to DISMANTLE him later)
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To: Kaslin

Excellant!


5 posted on 03/14/2012 4:20:27 AM PDT by shalom aleichem
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To: Kaslin

Poor POS Hussein Head, outed for the political hacktavist moron “journalist” she is, sacrificing everything including self-respect to defend her leftist racist commie pig hero.


6 posted on 03/14/2012 4:20:29 AM PDT by treetopsandroofs (Had FDR been GOP, there would have been no World Wars, just "The Great War" and "Roosevelt's Wars".)
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To: Kaslin

I must be missing something here.

When was Soledad O’Brien EVER unbiased?


7 posted on 03/14/2012 4:20:47 AM PDT by SMARTY ("The man who has no inner-life is a slave to his surroundings. "Henri Frederic Amiel)
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To: Kaslin
What the heck is a "Soledad"??

Never heard of one.

8 posted on 03/14/2012 4:21:36 AM PDT by liberty_lvr (Drill Gaia like a 3 am prom date)
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To: liberty_lvr

BTTT


9 posted on 03/14/2012 4:26:40 AM PDT by ConservativeMan55
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To: Kaslin

This person is a hypocrite everyday. This time is was amplified.


10 posted on 03/14/2012 4:27:37 AM PDT by bmwcyle (I am ready to serve Jesus on Earth because the GOP failed again)
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To: Kaslin
She is in CLEAR VIOLATION OF JOURNALIST STANDARDS AND FULL DISCLOSURE.

She should have refused the interview and told somebody else to do it, or, she should have stated flat out at the beginning of the interview with FULL PROFESSIONAL DISCLOSURE that she had a personal connection and an emotional interest in this topic and person of interest (deceased professor and Obama's defense of him back in the day) because of her own association and admiration. That is why of course she took it so personally. However, Soledad O'Brien of CNN chose to HIDE IT. Therefore, SHE LIED.

She should be kicked out of journalism for this. Of course, being CNN, she won't, but this just goes to show how dishonest these people are. This election year, when they go ballistic on our GOP nominee, I say we "vett" every journalist who writes a hit piece. I mean, investigative journalists or private detectives hired through a donation fund at Free Republic to dig back to their high school days, and come up with anything that will embarrass or nail them due to their liberal proclivities and hidden agenda and narrative trafficking.

11 posted on 03/14/2012 4:27:53 AM PDT by AmericanInTokyo (Same MSM pimping Mitt as "top electable" to naive GOP voters will be the one to DISMANTLE him later)
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To: Kaslin

I dont mind her bias; she’s in the MSM so leftist bias is a given. What was on display was her deep, ingrained stupidity. She couldn’t form a coherent thought or words to express whatever little activity was going on in her (formerly) pretty little head.


12 posted on 03/14/2012 4:28:16 AM PDT by muir_redwoods (No wonder this administration favors abortion; everything they have done is an abortion)
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To: AmericanInTokyo

It was a thing of beauty to watch .... the calm, gentlemanly, well-informed, rational Pollak vs the snarling, supercilious, crazed-look-in-the-eye Soledad. As the interview progressed, you could see and hear her frustration red-lining to a major meltdown. Pollak said at least twice “I’m glad we have this on tape” .... that is one tape that Soledad will never be able to shake. Of course, being a Lib, she has no shame .... but it will irk her ire every time that tape pops up. :-)


13 posted on 03/14/2012 4:29:48 AM PDT by MissMagnolia (Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't. (M.Thatcher))
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To: AmericanInTokyo

She’s always been a lightweight, a cute little mascot with the mix-n-match ethnic names with Katie Couric syndrome who imagined she was suddenly a real reporter.


14 posted on 03/14/2012 4:30:26 AM PDT by relictele (We are officially OUT of other people's money!)
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To: liberty_lvr

Soledad is a town in California best known for its prison.


15 posted on 03/14/2012 4:31:43 AM PDT by The people have spoken
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To: liberty_lvr

It’s Spanish for “solitude” which is an odd name to give a baby you’re about to raise, presumably in a family setting.


16 posted on 03/14/2012 4:32:11 AM PDT by muir_redwoods (No wonder this administration favors abortion; everything they have done is an abortion)
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To: liberty_lvr

‘What the heck is a “Soledad”??
Never heard of one.’

“George Lester Jackson (September 23, 1941 – August 21, 1971) was an African-American left-wing activist, Marxist, author, a member of the Black Panther Party, and co-founder of the Black Guerrilla Family while incarcerated. Jackson achieved fame as one of the Soledad Brothers and was later shot to death by prison guards in San Quentin Prison during an escape attempt.”


17 posted on 03/14/2012 4:33:40 AM PDT by Pelham (Georgetown, Home of the Hoyas, Hos, and Flukers.)
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To: Kaslin

I loved how Joe handled the whole thing.

She couldn’t figure out what the story was.
When he informed her the story was her very own reaction, I thought her head was going to spin around.

They might be starting to understand that “they” have become the issue.


18 posted on 03/14/2012 4:35:07 AM PDT by Scotswife
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Comment #19 Removed by Moderator

To: Kaslin

Perhaps she should spell it “Soul-Dad”.


20 posted on 03/14/2012 4:36:52 AM PDT by Colonel_Flagg (Myth Romney: All that hair is really just a Whig.)
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