Fired POLITICO Reporter Blames Conservative ‘Noise Machine,‘ Not His Comments About Romney and ’White Folk’
- Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:16pm by
Becket Adams
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During an interview on Current TV’s “The War Room With Jennifer Granholm,” former White House correspondent for POLITICO Joe Williams explained why the conservative “noise machine” is to blame for his firing and not, in fact, his own mouth.
For those of you wondering who Joe Williams is, here’s a refresher: he’s the “objective journalist” who used Twitter to mock Romney for his wealth, call NASCAR fans racists, and retweet a penis joke involving Ann Romney [stay classy]. Once, while bemoaning what’s really going on in politics, he tweeted: “what’s most irritating is the overlay of blatant racism. that’s the secret sauce in the Politico s***burger.”
He then appeared on MSNBC and said that former Massachusetts Gov. Romney is only comfortable when he’s around “white folk.”
“It’s very interesting that he [Romney] does so many appearances on ‘Fox & Friends’ and it’s unscripted,” Williams said during an interview with MSNBC’s insufferable Martin Bashir.
“It’s the only time they let Mitt off the leash, so to speak … Romney is very, very comfortable, it seems, with people who are like him. That’s one of the reasons why he seems so stiff and awkward in some town hall settings, why he can’t relate to people other than that. But when he comes on ‘Fox & Friends,’ they’re like him. They’re white folks who are very much relaxed in their own company,” he added.
Apparently, this was too much for the folks over at POLITICO.
Not long after Williams made these remarks, and shortly after his editors removed their palms from their foreheads, POLITICO did what any other business would do to protect its profit and reputation: it ditched the reporter.
But, of course, Williams refuses to admit that his mouth got him into trouble and insists he’s a casualty of the right-wing “noise machine.”
“This is a problem that the journalism industry is going to have to address,” Williams said Granholm. “You have a small cadre of people that are willing to make enough noise, and throw up enough dust, and obscure enough issues to target people.”
“And one of the things I think journalism really has to start thinking about is the fact that these people … they’re self-appointed watchdogs. They’ve decided to take it upon themselves to root out what they see as a liberal bias in the media,” he added.
He continued:
And that’s to me a sort of antithetical of what a watchdog really is. A watchdog keeps vigilance and makes sure that he’s aware that nothing goes wrong. These folks are actually seeking it out and they’re creating it in some ways when it doesn’t necessarily exist and newspapers and journalism outlets too often tend to react to that rather than think very carefully about “who are making these allegations?” “what is their point of view?” and “what is their ultimate objective?”
So, there you have it: POLITICO fired Williams not because he said Romney was more comfortable around “white folks,” but because the people at Breitbart have it out for him.
“Who funds them?” Granholm asked. “Who’s underneath them?”
Although Williams isn’t sure who funds conservative news sites, he is certain of one thing: the people who work for them are “just bloggers” as opposed to the big boy reporters who, you know, retweet penis jokes.
This story has been updated.
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Comments (92)
izukiddin
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 4:05pmLisa Simpson would say “ha-haaaaa”.
Report Post »backandtotheleft
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 5:36pmYou mean Nelson?
Report Post »Cemoto78
Posted on July 4, 2012 at 12:42pmIt appears to me that if you disagree with any liberal/ progressive then you are a liar, hate children, want dirty air and water, and of course don’t care about the environment because of your denial of climate change, a.k.a. global warming. Oh, don’t forget you want to own a firearm for your own protection.
Report Post »jimbo_from_suwanee
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 4:00pmRise up conservatives. We need to win big from local to the white house to shift this into the right place.
Report Post »db321
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 6:49pmI’m Fire Up and I know a lot of Americans are fire up. You can tell who’s fired up and ready by looking at everyone Voters Registration Card. ARE YOU REGISTERED? IF NOT sit down a shut up.
Report Post »inblack
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:58pmYeah like how ESPN fired a random writer for using a common non-racist reference.
Boo hoo, another liberal victim.
It‘s always someone else’s fault.
Report Post »imsteph
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 5:57pmsame cra# different day….
wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah ……………………………………….
Report Post »12gaugesage
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:58pmIt seems calling everyone else racist is more popular than ever these days. Pure desperation, or an orchestrated effort?
Report Post »DrunkenDuck
Posted on July 8, 2012 at 11:48amAn orchestrated effort. Liberal propaganda, as all propaganda needs repetition to become “true.” The more ‘news’ sources that repeat it the better. Obama, for example, on the worst job report in months pretended it was a good jobs report and switched and combined it with selective statistics. Millions of jobs created when any examination of the “whole” would prove his policies are weak at best and failing at worst. Any casual study of propaganda techniques shows Joe Williams and his fellow propagandist use a variety of techniques including ‘glittering generalities’ ‘name calling’ and ‘stereotyping’ to win over their listeners. They make a statement which is either tautological in nature or that can be called an ‘assertion’ which is an energetic statement presented as a fact, although it is not necessarily true. They often imply that the statement requires no explanation, the ‘Bandwagon effect and any intelligent person would know it is true. Sound incredible, it often works. These propaganda techniques and others are used to obscure the truth in political ads. Buy into their propaganda without independently seeking the truth and the American people will have to live with buyer’s remorse once again.
Report Post »Depressed_American
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:52pmAnd the Liberal Mouth Pieces don’t. They are a 1000 times worse than the Conservative Mouth Pieces. Some of the crap coming out of the Liberal News/Media sights is down-right vulgar. If a Conservative said a third of the crap Liberals get away with, there would be rioting in the streets….. (Rush Limbaugh, Don Imus, ect…) Look at all the uproar when they said the things they did. But of course the Liberals deem it okay for Liberals to say the crap they say, but no others…..
Report Post »Kelly Henderson
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 4:13pmThis as s monkey has nothing to worry about. Affirmative action keeps dorks like himself and (nodick) al sharpton in front of a camera.
Report Post »cranberry
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:51pmOh yea, THAT guy. He is obviously very racist. Why does he have to bring race into the discussion. He has a huge chip on his shoulder and does not treat every person as an individual, but lumps all white people together and puts them down.
Report Post »mercenary4freedom
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 4:21pmThis clown & Mark Lamont Hil are cut from the same cloth..affirmative action pundits
Report Post »tomacz
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:49pmthey madeim do it
Report Post »eaglesview
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:44pmMonkey see, monkey do.
Report Post »Mr. Williams total lack of personal responsbility, and blaming someone else reminds me of The Amateur we have occupying the White House.
Grow up, and grow a pair.
Run around spouting your personal biases, and racism, and you get it stuffed right back up your heinie.
Bill Rowland
Posted on July 4, 2012 at 6:51amMr Williams refusal to accept responsibility for his actions and his willingness to blame others for his mistakes qualifies him for a position at the White House.
OMG Nov 6, 2012
Report Post »caleejr
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:40pmwait – thought conservatives were such a small minority. how can they be “responsible” for the firing?
Report Post »RoaRock
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:38pmWOW, he describes Media Matters to a T. He is a hack, got caught and fired. Sounds like part of the game to me. Remember, Decomocrates / Librals have gone after more Republicans – Sarah Palin to name one.
Report Post »djeffcoat
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:37pmDumba$$!
Report Post »Nemo13
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:37pmFor this guy, Holder, or Obama, etc., you can see their responses to charges mirror any that you get whilst watching the TV show COPS: “What’d I do?“ ”It wasn’t me..“ ”That’s not mine..“ ”You racist..”
Report Post »Kelly Henderson
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 4:16pmYou left out obamas favorite line. ” Let me be perfectly clear.It is Bush`s fault”.
Report Post »Yaya2
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:36pmJoe, you need to man up and take responsibility for yourself…you cannot go around spouting off like that and not expect to be called in on it. You are not a journalist but a biased, whiney reporter who has no idea what objective means.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:35pmWhat, so I called you a racist name, me and my homies call each other racists names and always refer to you white devils with racist names. Why are you so sensitive Kracka?
Report Post »copatriots
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:35pmSee ya, Joe, your 15 minutes are up.
Report Post »progressiveslayer
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:35pmThe A hole can go work for Sharpton or Jackson,maybe join forces and they can be the three stooges.The racists have a lot in common and they can shake down businesses,the usual stuff they do.
Report Post »The American People
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:35pmI would love to ask him if its worth it. I would like to ask NBC and ABC the same question. Is it worth it to destroy your reputation, credibility, ratings and the principals of REAL journalism, just to give so much desperate praise and worship to Obama?? I’ve never seen the media so quick to wreck itself for a man that they think is some kind of messiah. It really is creepy how freely they are committing career suicide on the left just so that his excellency, Barack Hussein Obama, can try to scrape back some loyalty after all of his lies, lawlessness and his poor choices.
Report Post »Ruthie3
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:59pmVery astute comments!
Report Post »Taquoshi
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 6:58pmI heard Current TV is hiring.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:34pmDon’t worry Joe. I’m sure a man with your qualifications will find a home in the Obama administration, but then again, that will only last until January. Dust off the resume pal.
Report Post »wakewiseone
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:37pmyeah……and consider you might have to get a job that requires real effort and work on your part.
Report Post »intercepter
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:34pmtoo bad so sad bye bye
Report Post »gunslingerpatriot
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:33pmWilliams, buddy, ole pal—its called the river of denial….You obviously are taking a very long swim in it today.
Report Post »beckwill
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:25pmWell if that is what he wants to think then I have a message for him from the conservatives he alleges caused him to lose his job…”Tell your friends Joe, they may be next!”
Report Post »STOMP – SCRAPE – DISCARD.
Tri-ox
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:25pm∅bama supporters are an ignorant lot.
Report Post »Want our country back
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:25pmWhen ‘caught’, the left ALWAYS accuse the other guy for doing what they themselves do…. there is a word for that but can’t remember the word (having a senior moment)
Report Post »RightThinking1
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:29pm“Projection”. That is what causes them to think that any election they loose is the consequence of vote fraud.
Report Post »RightThinking1
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:30pm*lose
Oops.
Report Post »beckwill
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:30pmDeflecting, perhaps?
Report Post »T D Martin
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:22pmConstant denial
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 3:20pmKinda like media matters……..
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