Matt Zeitlin: Impetuous Young Whippersnapper

Why does the Congressional Black Caucus love Fox News so much?  Why on earth would they want to patronize a news organization that is basically the propaganda ministry for the GOP and Bush administration?  This is just another sign that the CBC has no interest in liberal or progressive politics for the nation, but instead in accumulating its own power, no matter what the consequences.  I think the Alcee Hastings Intelligence chair fiasco and the absurd, tribal, reflexive defense of William “What’s that in my freezer?” Jefferson were instructive moments for the Democratic party and its supporters; in an almost Leninist fashion, it “heightened the contradictions,”  by displaying the CBC at its most craven and  power hungry, finally showing culturally sensitive liberals what a perfidious force it really is.  I think the meta issue, of how useful or “liberal” tribal identity politics is for the Democratic party or liberal movement as a whole can be discussed later, but the CBC really is beyond the pale.

So, back to the question, why do they want to patronize Fox News by hosting a debate that Edwards, Clinton and Obama will refuse to partcipate in it, thus rendering it unimportant?  Should we be willing to tolerate a caucus that lets Fox News producers into their meetings to decide on what strategy is best for the CBC to shill for FNC?…from the NYtimes:

There was, for example, a meeting for caucus press secretaries attended by representatives of News Corporation and Fox News, where talk turned to how to publicly present the merits of the debate.

It gets worse:

In June 2003, its political action committee, known as News America-Fox, made a $1,000 contribution to Mr. Cummings’s political committee.

The Fox group later made contributions of at least $1,000 each to other caucus members, including Representatives Sheila Jackson-Lee of Texas, and Gregory W. Meeks and Edolphus Towns of New York. The political arm of the caucus itself received a $5,000 contribution from the Fox group, in May 2006. And on the Web site of its foundation, the caucus lists News Corporation among several dozen corporate sponsors.

At this point, isn’t the minority majority stipulations in the Voting Rights Act enough to protect black political representation, does the CBC do anything besides promote a backlash against “black issues” from angry liberals like me?  Just because Fox had a temporary interest in “black politics” when it sought to manipulate the Neilsen ratings to include more blacks so their shows would have more viewers, doesn’t mean that they don’t function as a propaganda outlet for a party that many blacks view as openly hostile to their interests.  That they gave the CBC money, does not change the fact that they serve a party that blacks overwhelmingly despite.  This is about drawing a line in the sand, no liberals should support Fox News.
Conor Clarke wrote at TNR laying out a similar case against the CBC.