“There is no room in the hallowed halls of Congress … for memorializing men who embody the violent bigotry and grotesque racism of the Confederacy,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement at her Thursday June 18, 2020 press conference reported by left-of-center NBC News.
Those quoted words are from a letter Speaker Pelosi wrote to Cheryl Johnson, clerk of the House of Representatives. It was released Thursday, said NBC and others in media.
“We cannot honor men such as James Orr, who swore on the House Floor to ‘preserve and perpetuate’ slavery in order to ‘enjoy our property in peace, quiet and security,’ or Robert Hunter, who served at nearly every level of the Confederacy, including in the Confederate Provincial Congress, as Confederate Secretary of State, in the Confederate Senate and in the Confederate Army,” Pelosi wrote in the letter to Johnson. “The portraits of these men are symbols that set back our nation’s work to confront and combat bigotry.”
Speaker Pelosi (CA-D) said that she made the request ahead of Friday’s 6.19.2020 “Juneteenth” holiday which celebrates the end of slavery for African Americans amid “a moment of extraordinary national anguish” after the deaths of George Floyd and other Black Americans.
Speaker Pelosi is the top elected Democrat in the federal government at this time. She comes from a district that includes some of the U.S. tech giants. During her weekly press conference Thursday she stated that her team were ‘unaware’ that the portraits existed inside the Capitol until “we were taking inventory of the statues and the curator told us” about the four paintings of the Confederate speakers.
What NBC News didn’t report is what right-of-center Townhall underscored about the order to remove those portraits. Each of those four prior speakers were all Democrats. Put differently, it was a coverup in plain sight of decades of dark history in the Democratic Party.
But there is more.
Orwellian Gaslighting?
Put differently, Pelosi was using this “moment of extraordinary national anguish” to remove evidence from the U.S. Capitol Building that the history of the Democratic Party was built in good measure on racism against black Americans.
As the deep dive report yesterday, linked below, reflects the Democratic Party was the pro-slavery party, while the Republican Party was the pro-abolitionist political party in America that literally fought a Civil War which ended chattel slavery.
While millions have some level of awareness of the racist history of the Democratic Party vs. that of the party of Abraham Lincoln, the Republican President who freed the slaves, there are millions more who might never again vote Democratic if they knew the truth about past and more recent historic ties between Democrats, the Klu Klux Klan (KKK), white supremacy, and ongoing black oppression.
Left-of-center NBC News failed to mention the fact that each of those prior House Speakers were Democrats. Why did a news source fail to note that important detail?
ABC News’ report on the same event also failed to mention that the four portraits ordered removed were all Democrats who fought to keep slavery. But left-of-center ABC News did report this, “House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy conceded Pelosi has the right to remove the controversial portraits, but he argued Democrats should rethink their nominee for president, former Vice President Joe Biden, due to comments McCarthy recalled Biden made about race in the 1970s.”
“I wish she would go further,” McCarthy, a California Republican, said. “If the Speaker’s concerned about that, should she also start talking about changing the name of her party and actually changing the nominee?” It was a sarcastic reference to the double standard and duplicity on the issue of racial injustice. So compared to NBC News, at least ABC News hinted at the broader truth, although they stopped short of telling the fuller story.
The more centrist Just the News opened their report like this, “House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy suggested Thursday that the Democratic Party change its name, considering its ties to the Confederacy and segregation law.”
Nicholas Ballasay was the Just the News writer who reported that “Pelosi, a California Democrat, on Thursday announced the removal of four portraits of former House speakers – three Democrats and one a Whig who later registered as a Democratic.”
Ballasay also reported that “McCarthy went further and said the Democrats should consider changing Joe Biden as their 2020 presidential nominee, given his remarks at the funeral of Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.V.), a former member of the KKK who later denounced the group. Biden referred to Byrd as a “mentor” and “dear friend” at his funeral when he was vice president…” for former President Barack H. Obama.
By contrast to other left-leaning media narratives, Ballasay noted that Minority Leader McCarthy said that he was “very proud” of the history of the Republican Party, citing the successes of former President Abraham Lincoln. That’s what straight reporting is supposed to do, represent a complete picture, not just part of it.
MHProNews Analysis and Commentary
Above there were four different news sources cited on the same topic. Two of those are from the left – NBC and ABC, one centrist source – Just the News – and from the right-of-center Townhall. Each had a significant differences.
This is a vivid and current example of how media spins a narrative which is often based upon apparent bias. It is also a case for open paltering, pandering, and election meddling – as will be noted further below.
While Professor Chrysalis Wright’s quote below uses Fox News and CNN as its examples, it nevertheless illustrates the importance of her expert contention that media are biased. “So, if you’re only watching say CNN, you only get half the story, or if you’re only watching Fox, you’re only getting half the story. We need to make sure that we’re getting our information from multiple sources, engaging in fact-checking, doing our own research,” said Wright, the director of media and migration lab at the University of Central Florida in a published discussion by the American Psychological Association “talking about fake news.”
In this instance, Fox News didn’t mention in their report about Speaker Pelosi’s statement any of House Minority leader Kevin McCarty’s comments. Why not? CNN also failed to mention Minority leader McCarthy’s statement, nor did they mention the ties between those Confederates the Democratic Party. Where was the balance from news sources Fox, CNN or NBC?
To Wright’s broader point, if someone is not actively fact-checking – done in party by looking at multiple sources – then it is easier to buy into what amounts to corporate propaganda. That is another point that Wright made in that same published talk about fake news, pointing out the news is a business that is ‘selling’ products and presenting information in a way that they can make money.
“Everything is for profit, right. So, even in mainstream, traditional news outlets they have commercials that they’re trying to sell you in between news breaks and the way they present information is done in such a way where they want you as a consumer to watch their show rather than the other one So, that they can make more money. So, it kind of boils down to profit regardless of if it’s hard news or fake news,” said Wright.
Who de facto made a similar point? Democratic Governor Jerry Brown. Brown said, “Multinational corporations do control, They control the politicians. They control the media. They control the pattern of consumption, entertainment, thinking. They’re destroying the planet and laying the foundation for violent outbursts and racial division.” That quotes is according to Capitol Weekly and BrainyQuotes.
Right-of-center Breitbart, whose founder Andrew Breitbart once worked with the left-of-center Huffington Post (HuffPo), correctly identified in their headline that each former House Speaker being removed by Pelosi’s fiat were all Democrats.
Breitbart also noted the following.
“The speaker formally made the request in a letter to House Clerk Cheryl Johnson, requesting the “immediate removal of the portraits in the U.S. Capitol of four previous Speakers who served in the Confederacy: Robert Hunter of Virginia (1839-1841), Howell Cobb of Georgia (1849-1851), James Orr of South Carolina (1857-1859), and Charles Crisp of Georgia (1891-1895)” — all of whom were once members of Pelosi’s very own party.”
Breitbart is periodically lashed by voices on the left such as the Washington Post, but they nevertheless routinely does accurate reports which reflects their generally right-of-center views. They are a widely read news source, per third-party metrics reported by Similar Web, which said that in May 2020 they had 70.44 million visits. Also right-leaning Washington Times had 10.87 million visits in that same period. The Huffington Post had 3.3 million visits in that same period, per Similar Web.
Breitbart added, “Pelosi has, however, largely failed to lead by example in condemning the actions of her late father, who oversaw the dedication of a Confederate statue — the Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee Monument — in Baltimore’s Wyman Park while serving as the city’s mayor in 1948.”
The same source said, “The speaker has also requested the removal of Confederate statues at the Capitol, describing them as “monuments to men who advocated cruelty and barbarism to achieve such a plainly racist end.” It added Pelosi’s said “While I believe it is imperative that we never forget our history lest we repeat it, I also believe that there is no room for celebrating the violent bigotry of the men of the Confederacy in the hallowed halls of the United States Capitol or places of honor across the country,” the speaker said in a letter to the Joint Committee on the Library.
The letter from Speaker Pelosi is linked here.
Isn’t that paltering and pandering in the open? How is history to be recalled if the evidence of history is removed? The Free Press International (FPI) posted this Voice of America video today.
FPI also noted the following.
Author Obianuju Ekeocha posted a video telling Democrats to stop “virtue signalling” by wearing African cloth in the Capitol.
“Excuse me, Democrats,” Ekeocha wrote. “Don’t treat Africans like we’re children. These fabrics and these colorful things that we have within our culture and tradition, they all mean something to us. I know you look at us and you say, ‘Oh, Africans are so cute in all of your colorful dresses.’ Well, some of those dresses and patterns and colors and fabrics actually do mean something to us.”
Frederick Joseph, a former surrogate for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, tweeted: “If anyone can’t understand why Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and them dressed up like they’re trying to sneak into Wakanda is disrespectful and appropriative you have a great deal to learn,” referring to the fictional land where Marvel’s “Black Panther” takes place,” all per FPI.
The Countdown
It is 137 days to the November 3, 2020 general election. The Democratic Party’s coalition is made up in good measure with blacks and other minority groups. Failure to turn out the black vote for Democratic candidates could be a political disaster for them.
It must be stressed that Democrats and Republicans alike were supportive of key affordable manufactured housing legislation. Both parties have members that still support the use of more manufactured homes to help more Americans of all backgrounds become homeowners. Put differently, this isn’t a partisan analysis, it is a fact and evidence based analysis.
That bipartisan/nonpartisan points noted, it must also be said that members of both major parties take money from corporate, PAC, and often wealthy donors. Just as Democrats want to cover up their party’s history with racism, the KKK and slavery. Republicans are not keen on reminding voters that the start of the current mess with Communist China was under Republican President Richard Nixon.
Rephrased, neither party is perfect. Nor are their individual leaders or members perfect.
That noted, under President Donald J. Trump, the Republicans have increasingly become an “America First” and an American Workers first party. Prior to the Wuhan Virus pandemic’s impact on America, President Trump’s popularity was rising among minorities, according to surveys. While routinely branded as a ‘racist’ by the left or political enemies, before his candidacy, citizen Trump was welcomed and embraced by Hollywood, the media, and media figures such as black billionaire and Democratic supporter, Oprah Winfrey.
Put differently, there are agendas and narratives being spun. That is routine in politics. The question is, which narrative is closer to reality? Which narrative is better for the working and middle class Americans of all backgrounds?
George Orwell, the famous author of the novels Animal Farm and 1984, was telling stories with a purpose.
Orwell was himself a socialist, but became disillusioned with that system. It was during that period, says Red Flag, that he wrote Animal Farm and 1984. Orwell’s purpose was a warning about what socialism and dictatorial societies were actually like.
There are several issues openly at play or which are boiling under the surface in the 2020 contest. They include, but are not limited to these. In no specific order of importance.
- Which political party or politicians will be better to revive the economy post-pandemic?
- Which political party or politicians is truly for ‘equal justice for all,’ and which are merely posturing while blaming their opponents?
- Which political party or politicians will stand up to Communist China, which is a hot issue for many voters?
- Which political party or politicians will enforce the border and control immigration at a time when tens of millions of Americans are out of work?
- Which political party or politicians will work to address reforms in policing by rogue cops, without destroying law enforcement’s vital role in keeping people and property safe?
Wittingly or not, sources have an agenda. That’s a point made by media rating group AllSides. This report is a snapshot of how different sources can be on ‘the same’ news story. That is a wakeup call to those who may be stuck following only one mainstream media outlet.
Programming note. MHProNews is in the process of revamping our industry-leading x2 weekly emailed headline news updates. The revisions should be completed by late June or early July. Watch for it. What’s the point of this report for an affordable manufactured housing industry focused publication? It is this. Our industry is also suffering from ‘fake news.’ Our industry – along with all other professions – are impacted by these national issues.
See the related reports following the byline and notices for more. If you haven’t read the first four below, make those your priority.
That’s a wrap on this installment of manufactured housing “Industry News, Tips, and Views Pros Can Use” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) (See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHLivingNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing. For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com. This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position, and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
Recent and Related Reports:
The text/image boxes below are linked to other reports, which can be accessed by clicking on them.
