Liberal McCarthyism: George Will's Assessment of the Current Climate

On ABC's show "This Week" hosted by George Stephanopoulos, today's roundtable discussion treated the current debate surrounding former president Carter's accusation that racism fueled dissent of Obama and his policies.

What we’re hearing is the liberals’ McCarthyism, which is, when in doubt, blame people for racism. Litigators have an old argument: When the law’s on your side, argue the law. When the facts are on your side, argue the facts. When neither’s on your side, pound the table. This amounts to pounding the table.

I have yet to see evidence, is there -- does evidence even intrude in this conversation? Is there any evidence that these people are racists? I think not.

Noel Sheppard of Newsbusters.org comments on the other panelists' comments and Stephanopoulos' apparent lack of good journalistic questioning:

Unfortunately, those pounding the table include so-called journalists who should be exposing the lack of evidence rather than participating in the charade.

Such happened moments after Will made this statement when guests Donna Brazile and Robert Reich predictably disagreed with him:

BRAZILE: Well, George, there’s some evidence that -- not an overwhelming amount of evidence -- that some of -- a small fringe of this movement, clearly there’s some racism. And you don’t have to know the motives of someone’s heart to understand when you see signs, incendiary signs that basically compares him to a witch doctor, an African heathen. We know racism; we don’t have to be told or taught that. That -- that much we do know. [...]

REICH: Yes. The difference, though, I think -- and, by the way, I think Donna is absolutely right. There is some element of racism here. You can’t avoid it. The question is whether it’s the dominant element. I don’t think it is the dominant element. I think Peggy [Noonan] put her finger on it just now, and that is, when 1 out of 6 Americans is underemployed -- either unemployed or underemployed -- and when you have about 1 out of 3 Americans worried that they could be, there is an element of anxiety and fear in the population right now that demagogues either on the right or left will almost inevitably use to position themselves. The politics of resentment is something we’ve seen before in this country. Right now, you have right-wing talk radio people who are whipping it up, not just against the president, but against foreigners, against immigrants, against blacks, against elites. This is what happens in this country when people are scared.

Now, a real journalist, after what Will postulated, would have asked Brazile and Reich to offer evidence to support their positions. Host George Stephanopoulos didn't and instead changed the subject:

But -- that’s true, and it’s -- but it’s right and left. You know, Ed, I was struck this week -- I spent an evening flipping between Fox News and MSNBC. And it’s like you were living in parallel universes. They are basically taking completely different takes on a similar issue to just attack each other and not -- and not really look at -- look at the problem.

Given what Will stated at the beginning of this segment, why didn't Stephanopoulos ask Brazile and Reich to offer evidence that any of the current anti-government sentiment in the country is caused by racism?

Or would that be too much like journalism for ABC News's chief Washington correspondent?

Good question, Sheppard! I'd like to know exactly what shows Reich has been listening to, because I sure as hell haven't heard anything like that on "right wing" radio. At least Reich had the cojones to say he did believe that racism was dominant element, but to turn around and accuse radio hosts of "whipping it up" is ridiculous and cheap. And for Stephanopoulous to not challenge his guests on their lame accusations is ... well ... typical these days for MSM "journalists." They're no better than drugstore romance novelists: cheap, tawdry, and looking for a quick sell.

[Be sure to click on the link to the post at Newsbusters in order to see the video. Unfortunately, I was unable to imbed it here for you.]