Aha! ...Aha! Aha! Aha! Associated Press writer Jesse Washington has investigated the March 20 incident in Washington, D.C. at which members of the Tea Party supposedly hurled the N-word at black Congressmen. Well, no recording of that word being used could be found but that hasn't stopped Washington from blaming the Tea Partiers...for posting the "wrong" video of that incident on YouTube. I kid you not:
Three Democratic congressmen — all black — say they heard racial slurs as they walked through thousands of angry protesters outside the U.S. Capitol. A white lawmaker says he heard the epithets too. Conservative activists say the lawmakers are lying.
What does the video show? Not much. Indeed, new interviews show that a much-viewed YouTube recording cited as evidence by conservatives was actually shot well after the time in question.
...A reconstruction of the events shows that the conservative challenges largely sprang from a mislabeled video that was shot later in the day.
Okay, so what does the video from the time frame in question show? Also nothing. Oops!
Only 22 seconds of video have emerged from the time in question, filmed by Lee Fang of the liberal American Progress think tank. His YouTube clip — labeled as being filmed about five minutes after the crowd rushed Lewis and Carson — has been posted by Breitbart and dozens of blogs accusing Democrats of lying.
Fang told the AP he was standing "pretty far away" across Independence Avenue from the Cannon building when he saw the crowd erupt, so he hurried over. Fang did not hear the epithet, but he said he believes it was used. "The hatred was palpable," he said.
Amazing! Fang himself never heard the word but was somehow sure it was used. And what of the many other people with cell phone cameras? Would it have been tough to catch the racial epithet if it was used? Not a bit according to Congressman Andre Carson. Check out this transcript provided by NewsBusters' own Kerry Picket of an interview between Carson and reporters which appeared at her Washington Times Watercooler blog:
REP. CARSON: John Lewis...n - word, n - word at least 15 times...hundreds of people, and Capitol Police finally became aware and started protecting us. I want to know...those people who had cameras. I would love to get the actual [video].
REPORTER: When did this happen...just now....right before votes?
REP. CARSON: Just now.
PICKET: What exactly happened? I'm sorry. I came in late here.
REPORTER: Outside of this building?
REP. CARSON: Cannon....coming out with John Lewis out of the elevator with his chief of staff, and it was just the three of us walking down the steps -- 'kill the bill', 'kill the bill'...n - word fifteen times.
REPORTER: How many people were saying it?
REP. CARSON: Maybe out of...how many people are out there?...four hundred? Maybe fifteen people about fifteen times.
REPORTER: What were they saying? Just 'kill the bill'?
REP. CARSON: 'kill the bill' and then the n - word (imitates crowd yelling racial slur) Lewis, his chief of staff, and myself (a former cop) I'm closer to Lewis... [we were] very stoic, looked straight forward, and Capitol Police got the idea. They started surrounding us. It was like a page out of a time machine.
Got that? According to Congressman Carson the N-word was used not just once, not twice, not three times. No not even a mere ten times but FIFTEEN times. And by FIFTEEN different people! And yet with all that repetition not once was that word recorded by the dozens of cell phone cameras recording the scene. Well, at least the AP "resolved" the matter by blaming the Tea Party folks for the laughable crime of posting the "wrong" video...except that it was the right video because it proved no intentional spitting on Congressman Emanuel Cleaver.
