Mark Knoller, the award-winning White House correspondent for CBS News, was in Washington today covering the President’s attempt to rally Democrats to pass his government-run health care plan. In the course of describing the scene, Knoller shucked off his role as objective reporter so he could drop a casual slur on a significant chunk of America.
Yep, to the objective Mark Knoller, if you oppose Obamacare, you also enjoy dipping your genitals into someone else’s mouth for sexual gratification or as a joke (link NSFW and NSF Lunch either).
I’m going to give Knoller credit for not being a completely idiot here. This derogatory term for the Tea Party movement has been around, and has been clearly identified as a slur, for almost a year. If he doesn’t know what it means, he’s been grossly negligent in his job and shouldn’t be the White House correspondent, since the controversy about the insult has been almost as large a political headline as the movement itself. I choose to believe he’s not that uninformed and that he’s a competent reporter.
Which leads me to ask why he felt secure in casually leveling the insult.
Actually, I don’t really care why. What I do care about is that Knoller did it and owes us a public apology. Otherwise, I’ll feel at complete liberty to tack a couple nicknames on him, like, say “Dirty Sanchez Knoller” or “lead White House Rusty Trombonist for CBS News”. I am sick and tired of MSM figures operating under the belief they can slur good men and women with a nasty sexual insult without getting any sort of comeuppance. I don’t have a huge microphone, but I can sure as heck yell as loudly as I can about it and hope that others who do have big bullhorns pick it up, too.
Here’s his Twitter feed. Fill it up, folks. Normally, I’d say you should be civil but, really, that’s up to you. He didn’t feel the need to be civil to your family or friends. I’m not quite sure why I should counsel you to be any different. Oh, okay. Here’s my disclaimer. Don’t threaten violence or drop a lot of F-bombs. Seriously.
On the other hand, whatever you do, please don’t make use of this list (very, very NSFW) to find some creative new nicknames. That would be just horrible.
UPDATE: Linked by Steve Green, Jeff Goldstein, Carolyn Tackett, and The Lonely Conservative. Thank you all. I’m done with being nice to folks like second-rate bigots like Knoller, who think nothing of the slurs they spew without thought.
UPDATE 2: Stacy McCain picked up the story at The American spectator. It’s also a main item at memeorandum. Check the comments here for a perfect example of a pathetic left-wing attempt to excuse Knoller’s unprofessional behavior.
UPDATE 3: Dan Riehl wonders if Mark has a son who patronizes WalMart.
UPDATE 4: More links from Nolanimrod (a good new blogger), Larwyn at Directorblue, and Six Meat Buffet, who does not spare the language one bit. Good on him. He also has evidence that James Clyburn just might be a liar. Gee, who would have guessed that?
UPDATE 5: I take Dan Collins’ point here. It’s possible that Knoller was being ironic, but he needs to take care. The term is not taken kindly at all by the people against whom it’s been hurled for well over a year. At the very least, Knoller showed poor judgment by using it and even worse judgment by not making very sure we understood his ironic use of the world. However, until I see otherwise from him, I’m going to assume he’s just another member of what @ericinva has cleverly-dubbed the Hot Luncher Media.
Tags: Mark Knoller, Media Bias, Tea Parties
[...] Jimmie Bise Jr. at The Sundries Shack is as angry about this as I am. I am sick and tired of MSM figures operating under the belief they can slur good men and women with a nasty sexual insult without getting any sort of comeuppance. I don’t have a huge microphone, but I can sure as heck yell as loudly as I can about it and hope that others who do have big bullhorns pick it up, too. [...]
Tea partiers just called Barney Frank a “faggot” and Rep. John Lewis a “nigger.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....07116.html
Be glad you’re called teabaggers. Ignorant nazi, racist dipwads would be much, much more accurate. Now quit whining.
[...] Jimmie Bise reports that Mark Knoller of CBS News sent this Twitter message, using a derogatory gay-sex term to refer to tens of thousands of protesters in [...]
Any reports from a witness who doesn’t have a vested interest in making the Tea Party protesters look bad?
No?
Yeah…that’s what I thought.
However, even if there were witnesses, I could give a rat’s patoot what a citizen who is there to specifically protest the Democrats’ attempt to pass legislation the American people overwhelmingly do not want. They are doing the exact opposite of their jobs and if a few anonymous citizens hurl a couple epithets, well, no skin off my nose.
But to have a professional journalist, an allegedly objective and impassive reporter of fact, drop that slur in the middle of his report without a moment’s hesitation is unprofessional and wrong. No one, left or right, should tolerate that. Shame on you for your feeble attempt to excuse it.
[...] to paraphrase Crocodile Dundee, That’s not a rant. THIS is [...]
Barney Frank is apparently whining that someone called him a faggot. Perhaps someone should ask him is he supports or is opposed to teabagging.
[...] entire leftwing media complex that’s been calling you a teabagging faggot for the past year or so is suddenly incensed that one stray voice in a crowd of thousands may [...]
Mark Knoller can get down on his award winning knees and blow me at the next tea party. Hey Mark – hat’s it like to be reporting from the losing side of history? What’s it like to be outed as an angry partisan amateur after all these years? What’s it like to realize this is what you’ll be remembered for after you retire?
Oh, and be sure to give a shout out to your ex-colleague Dan Rather up on Channel 897. Another infantile left-wing loser.
Anyone really surprised?
The only way to stop this nonsense. Anytime you are having a conversation with anyone who uses the term tea-bagger, immediately stop and say that you are not familiar with that term and force them to explain the meaning to you or anyone else is listening. Force them to state exactly what it means. I did this at a party recently and the person who used the term did not want to provide the requested definition in front of other people. I insisted and the person withdrew the comment.
Interesting that Clyburn and Lewis claim that the guy who yelled Nigger was arrested but they are not going to pursue the case. Meanwhile the Capitol cops claim they did not arrest anybody. Who to believe. What a toughie. I think I would believe the Capitol cops over Clyburn and lewis any day.
I think you forget that the “Tea Partiers” called themselves teabaggers first. No one saddled them with this term meaing to dip your genitals in someones mouth, they saddled themselves. Bummer.
You are incorrect. The first person to widely use the term was Anderson Cooper on CNN.
http://nrd.nationalreview.com/.....FiOWJmNDE=
Rewriting history is doomed to failure in the Internet age.
That’s not actually proof. That one or two people showed up with signs exhorting others to “tea bag” the Democrats does not make them “tea baggers” any more than your exhorting your favorite basketball team to beat the other team makes you a basketball player. Since the signs were directed at Republicans in Congress, you could perhaps (barely) hang that name on them. But, since they didn’t actually do it, it wouldn’t quite work.
Now, had the Tea Party movement said something like “We want to ‘tea bag’ the Democrats”, you could have had a point. But they didn’t, so you don’t.
I get that English is tough sometimes, but give it a whirl!
[...] spewed by one or two wackos if in fact anyone did. Yet apparently its OK for the media like fat pig Mark Knoller White House correspondent for CBS News and even elected members of the U.S. House of [...]
[...] CBS’s Mark Knoller thinks you’re a “teabagger.” Jimmy Bise has the details. [...]