Discriminations

I have just reported (see post immediately below) that Barack Obama said over the weekend that he supports quotas — more specifically, that he supports affirmative action “when it is properly structured, so that it is not just a quota....”

He will, of course, deny that he said that, but since there is a CNN video confirming it he will no doubt fall back on clarifications and emendations to the effect that he misspoke, or that somehow the CNN video recorder misrecorded what he actually meant.

In this effort of clarification he will be able to point to, and in all likelihood receive confirmation from, mainstream press reporters who can, in this one clear instance, be shown to have heard what they wanted to hear rather than what their subject actually said.

I documented in my previous post that the New York Times and USA Today quoted Obama’s “properly structured” obfuscation but neglected to quote his so long as it’s “not just a quota” line. Others, however, actually had him saying the opposite of what he said. A few, but only a few, examples:

• Houston Chronicle: “I am a strong supporter of affirmative action when properly structured so there it is not a quota....”

• Kansas City Star: “I am a strong supporter of affirmative action when properly structured so there it is not a quota....”

• Detroit Free Press: “Obama also reiterated that he is a supporter of affirmative action programs if they are properly executed. He said he does not approve of quotas....”
  

Interesting that both the Houston Chronicle and the Kansas City Star had the same typo (“... so there it is not a quota”). I’m reminded of the student cheater who got caught when the smart student next to him wrote “I don’t know this answer” in response to one question, and the not too bright cheater answered that question by writing “I don’t know the answer either.”

In my previous post I commended the Associated Press and the Chicago Sun Times for quoting Obama correctly. Further research reveals that the Boston Globe and the National Journal also got the “not just a quota” remark just right.