Topic: Accuracy in Media
A July 10 Accuracy in Media blog post by Don Irvine falsely asserted that Barack Obama "praised" rapper Lil' Wayne, citing a post at Time's Swampland blog. But Swampland's Michael Scherer got it wrong too; he claimed that Obama was "praising Lil' Wayne's rhyming ability at a campaign event in Powder Springs, Georgia."
In fact, according to his source -- a Swampland post by Karen Tumulty -- Obama did no such thing. Tumulty quoted an ABC post headlined "Obama Slams Hoop Dreams for High School Students":
"You are probably not that good a rapper. Maybe you are the next Lil' Wayne, but probably not, in which case you need to stay in school," Obama, D-Ill., told a cheering crowd, brought to a standing ovation at a town hall meeting in Powder Springs, Georgia.
The presumptive Democratic nominee was speaking about high school drop out rates and the need for people to be committed to working hard in school so they can get a job after school.
Obama said nothing about Lil' Wayne's "rhyming ability," let alone offer any praise for him; Obama cited Lil' Wayne as a example of success that can't be duplicated unless one stays in school.
Irvine also pulled from Scherer's post an example of Lil' Wayne's "foul-mouthed" lyrics, but he curiously overlooks another example Scherer cited that would comport closer to sensibilities of Irvine and his fellow AIM acolytes:
For the same reason, the pop culture stature of Rev. Al Sharpton, another former Democratic candidate for president, has been directly challenged by another track from Lil' Wayne's latest album. At the end of the song Misunderstood, the rapper goes into an extended rumination on race, crime and politics in America. It ends with a blistering appraisal of Sharpton:
Mr. Al Sharpton, here’s why I don’t respect you, and nobody like you. You’re the type that gets off on getting on other people. That’s not good. . . . And rather unhuman, I should say. I mean, given the fact that humanity - well, good humanity, rather - to me is helping one another no matter your color or race. But this guy and people like him, they’d rather speculate before they informate, if that’s a word.
It turns out informate is a word, at least in one dictionary. Lil' Wayne goes on to call Sharpton "just another Don King, with a perm, hahah, just a little more political, and that just means you're a little unhuman."
Meanwhile, a July 10 AIM article by Cliff Kincaid, which -- in addition to whining again that Fox News still won't use his commie-conspiracy smears of Obama, as well as suggesting a new conspiracy, that Fox News is working in concert with Obama to out Jesse Jackson's crude comments about Obama in order to enable Obama "to rise above Jesse Jackson-style politics" -- smacks around Al Sharpton:
Into the mix comes another discredited and disgraced black politician, Al Sharpton, who has been all over Fox News commenting on the “controversy.” Sharpton was on Fox News this morning and on Hannity & Colmes last night. He might as well sleep in the “green room” where guests get ready to go on the air. He was also on Bill O’Reilly’s show last week talking about something else. That’s three times in about a week and a half. Remember that Sharpton is the “Reverend” who hyped black woman Tawana Brawley’s hoax about being raped by white men. Why is he even on the air?
Sounds like Kincaid is down with Lil' Wayne.
