MSNBC Calls Us “Real Rednecks”
By Greg L | 7 June 2008 | Virginia Politics | 67 Comments
MSNBC certainly seems to have a warm place in their heart for Virgina as the MJM points out in one of their rare lucid editorials:
[Andrea Mitchell] was referencing an appearance by Sen. Barack Obama in Bristol and used these words to describe the area:
“This is real redneck, sort of, bordering on Appalachia country,” she said. “This is not the Northern Virginia, you know, sort of high-tech corridor. And these are voters that he would not logically be, you know, gravitating to.”
Now doesn’t this look familiar? Liberal mainstream media outlets telling their readers and/or viewers that Prince William County is a hick-town, devoid of any semblance of culture, and of no redeeming value to these liberals? Gosh, I hope they continue to believe this, because we sure don’t have much use for their ilk around here. About the only thing that makes sense in this at all is that Virgina is not at all Obama country, the reason being that we don’t particularly care for unqualified, neo-marxists with close ties to former terrorists and radical religious types such as Barack Obama.
Considering the source, it might be worth noting that MSNBC has without a doubt the shoddiest, most run-down studios of any television network I have ever seen. Fairfax Public Access is positively luxurious compared to the dilapidated quarters that MSNBC uses for their studio in DC. If there’s any media outlet that might have some legitimate authority to talk about class and culture, it certainly would never be MSNBC.
The take-away here is that for folks in Virginia, it’s just not worth it to watch MSNBC.
UPDATE: Readers point out that the editorial actually referred to Bristol, Virginia and not to Bristow in Prince William County where Obama held a rally. Still, you gotta love it when the mainstream media displays its open disdain for “flyover country” like this.
The opinions expressed here are solely the views of the author, and not representative of the position of any organization, political party, doughnut shop, knitting guild, or waste recycling facility, but may be correctly attributed to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. If anything in the above article has offended you, please click here to receive an immediate apology.
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Obama’s words:
“And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”
she is an idiot. can’t even carry on a conversation. Think she needs to retire and soon.
I’d rather live among “real rednecks” than “elitist snobs”.
Although I am not a Mitchell fan, her comments were directed at residents of Bristol in SW Virginia and not PWC. They are still offensive and reek of elitism. If this is how Obama intends to “win over” the blue collar rural areas then the wheels have fallen off his national campaign before it even got started.
Okay, completely confused reader here.
Barack Obama was in BrisoL, Virginia on Friday.
He was in BristoW, Virginia on Thursday.
So, I don’t think Mitchell was insulting the residents of PWC. She was insulting the residents of the Bristol/Tri-Cities area.
Of course, having visited the area and having hated every minute of it, I might personally be inclined to use a term similar to Mitchell’s.
oops, that should be BristoL. Must learn to proofread.
Andrea Mitchell lives in Georgetown, DC, with her husband
Alan Greenspan. I seriously doubt if either of them have
many conversations with “real people” other than their
household servants. They must lives in a very isolated world.
Definitely Bristol not Bristow [even the article says Bristol]. While Andrea has been blind on more than one occasion, this quote should have been our first clue that she wasn’t in PWC -
“bordering on Appalachia country”
Nope, not even on our worst days.
I will say I didn’t read the article but its nothing new to me for this area to be called rednecks.
I could give 2 Sh$ts about it and an NOT offended
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L30V5vnYHzk
Here is the video appearing on the Huffington Post. (okay,
I’ll go wash my hands after clicking on that site)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/05/msnbcs-andrea-mitchell-re_n_105462.html
For the record, I do NOT leave my Christmas light on my front porch all year long
Oh, good grief, Greg. Try reading for comprehension. Andrea Mitchell’s report was about Obama’s trip to Bristol, Virginia, which is just about on the Tennessee border. No where near the heart of PWC. This is not the first time somebody on this blog has confused the two. Did you not know that the Nissan Pavilion is in Bristow, VA? Ever hear of Bristow, VA? Bristow Run, perhaps? Maybe Bristow Run Elementary School rings a bell?
Ford the record, I do have a broken T5 transmission taking up space in my garage. At least it’s not in the front yard
Yeah, he leaked poo out of his mouth at a high school in Bristol, VA earlier in the day before coming to PWC and gracing us with his Holy Presence.
So is your point that I was wrong in saying that the MJM editorial was a “rare lucid moment”, and in fact they had their head up their butts again?
I daresay my sense of hopeful optimism has been utterly shattered. Go figure the MJM gets the facts wrong in one of their editorials. Again.
So it seems as though the MJM made a mistake if they thought Mitchell was describing Bristow, when in fact she was describing Bristol. Of course, if she said that about Bristol, VA, it is still a surprisingly offensive thing to say.
After reading the editorial, it sounds like the MJM had it right. Nowhere does it insinuate Mitchell was referring to PWC. I know when I saw the coverage of Obama’s poo-flinging in Bristol, I thought they were referring to his appearance in Bristow and they mispelled it. Weird he would go to Bristol and Bristow in the same day.
I re-read the editorial. I don’t see where the MJM got their facts wrong. They don’t in any way indicate that Mitchell was talking about PWC.
BattleCat,
DING DING DING!
I would take it as offensive to be a REPORTER but I doubt that those folks down there round the corner past that tree would be shocked or damn near offended and surprised, dag nab it
In all seriousness, I am just seeing more and more SNOBS coming out of the “wood work” as an EXCUSE for when things don’t go right or to their liking ( standards)
I find it funny how a redneck would not be surprised by any of it.
Redneck is a culture shock????? nahhhhhh, just REAL
To heck with that walking plastic surgery disaster Andrea Mitchell. Just look at her. That kind of big-city sophistication, nobody needs. Her skin is tighter than a conga drum.
Not to be terribly rude, but she’s what you call a “two-bagger”.
Geography Bee,
There is no Bristow Run, the school board made it up to name the school. Looks like you are out of the geography bee.
Greg said “we don’t particularly care for unqualified, neo-marxists with close ties to former terrorists and radical religious types”. Sounds like our current president.
Don Imus was just trying to be funny and looked what happend to him.
Is NBC going to be letting Andrea go now?
Will she have to meet with the good people of Bristol, VA and apologize for her insensitivity?
Who will come forward and play, you know, the redneck Al Sharpton part?
Inquiring minds want to know!!
The Republican party in VA is in complete disarray. Few of the Republicans in VA are happy with their Senate candidate, Gilmore, or with their Presidential candidate, John McCain. For proof, one need look no further than this very blog.
For this reason, Barack Obama will win the state of Virginia this fall with the help of Mark Warner. I predict that Democrats will make major gains in the state legislature as well, as most Republican will be staying home this November.
Ducky, ditto. I volunteered to work at a recent GOP booth. Alot of folks came by for McCain bumper stickers, especially vets. As for Gilmore, he was the butt of many jokes through out the day and we couldn’t have paid people to take one of his bumper stickers. He is unpopular with Moderates because of his ideology, and with Conservatives because he is not “100%” pro-life.
Republican’s need to start winning elections, and the way to do that was to have supported Tom Davis’ desire to have a primary for Senate, afterall he is the only Republican candidate that could have possibly retained John Warner’s seat in the U.S. Senate. Furthermore, Davis would have had significant influence in carrying Fimian along with him on the campaign trail and into office.
Voters in the 11th Congressional District ,and in Jeff Frederick’s soon to be vacated seat in the 52nd HOD, want more substance from GOP politician’s than just god, guns and gays mantra.
Why is it the same people who wouldn’t dream of insulting Black, Hispanic or any other culture in public have no problem insulting Bristol’s culture? I think redneck might be one of those terms where it’s okay to call yourself a redneck, but an insult when somebody outside the culture does. Redawn, I love that song!
Peter,
I was referencing the many uses of the Bristow name throughout the county, including Bristow Run and Bristow Run Elementary School, as well as a town (though most people don’t think of it as such). I would think anyone whose lived here for any length of time knows that Bristow is a common geographic reference point in PWC.
Bristol, however, is not.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristow,_Virginia
Dignidad,
That’s how the far left works. Analyze ANYTHING they do and you will find at its core the notion of “if I do it, it’s OK, because I’m enlightened” “If you do it, it’s not OK because you are not enlightened”. In fact, name-calling is a particular specialty of liberals…that and arguing from emotion instead of a brain, experience, and 5 senses. And good old Andrea Mitchell is just another member of the liberal media. Another good example is Barry Obama, who when he’s with his California millionaire buddies will say “those bitter middle class Americans, clinging to their guns, their religion, and their crazy respect for our nation’s borders”
How to fight it? Be an American and call “Bull$hit” when you see it or hear it, and don’t let the left look down upon you.
Have you ever seen Mitchell up close? Her face is so dicked up it looks like she shaves with hand gernades. But what other comments would an American expect from an ultra-liberal member of the “media”. Come November it will be a pleasure to ram those words down her throat.
First of all, lots of folks in Bristol agree that they are Rednecks. To some, the moniker is one of pride in country roots, to others the term is an epithet. The latter folks do not understand why Rednecks are not incensed at being called Rednecks.
Having lived amongst wealthy, well educated people and poor uneducated Rednecks, I have concluded that about 98% of people are pretty good, no matter where you go and that all of the shit is caused by about 2%. These ignorant, and hateful souls in the 2% devote their energy to only destructive acts; acts that the rest of us spend much of our time trying to either prevent or contain. It is the same burden in every society, to a greater or lesser extent.
My question is why anyone is still getting their information from unreliable sources such as television?
Has anyone missed the fact that Mz. Mitchell made an unmistakable racist remark and nobody has called her on it? What if a white candidate had been campaigning in a predominantly black area of Virginia and she called the residents the “N” word? How is she not a racist? Why do we accept her racist behavior and comments? Why isn’t she held to the same standard as others?
I remember her from the 1992 election when she had a chart that showed how the Bush vs. Clinton debates were all at the same time as baseball games, and she suggested that then President Bush had intentionally arranged it that way so fewer people would see the debates. She’s just out of it. A friend of mine saw her in person one time. He said it’s not a pleasant sight.
I have never thought much of Andrea Mitchell, and after the story she reported I think even less of her. That being said, how can all of you attack her on her looks? Like the bunch of you are great looking people. I am sure some of you attackers must be ugly as mud but are all models behind your keyboards. Stick to her poor reporting and not the way she looks.
Having lived in and around DC my entire life, I have to say, this is the reputation Manassas has long had in the greater Northern Virginia area. I think Mitchell was out of line here with the redneck and Appalachia comment, but this is a generally held opinion for folks who don’t live in Manassas, and the local history (with the anti-African American CCC groups in the 1950s and 60s) and now the anti-immigrant resolution, does not do much to challenge those beliefs.
Sara,
Andrea Mitchell wasn’t talking about Manassas or Prince William County. She was talking about a small town near the Tennessee border way down in South West Virginia. Greg misreported the story.
Funny she lives in Georgetown. Cory Stewart is a graduate of Georgetown University. We must be real hicks.
Gretchen Wilson says it all.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Y8ECto9wdRw
“…the local history (with the anti-African American CCC groups in the 1950s and 60s)…”
I grew up in PWC in the 60’s Sara (was in Alexandria thru the 50’s)…would you mind explaining these CCC groups and exactly who they were, where they were and what they did? I never heard of them, unless you mean the Civilian Conservation Corp, of course. You might also want to explain to us where YOU were in the 50’s and 60’s…I doubt that it was Prince William County.
Red Dawn said on 7 Jun 2008 at 11:45 pm:
“Redneck is a culture shock????? nahhhhhh, just REAL :)”
Just don’t touch my pork rinds, k?
El Guapo said on 8 Jun 2008 at 2:33 pm:
Sara,
Andrea Mitchell wasn’t talking about Manassas or Prince William County. She was talking about a small town near the Tennessee border way down in South West Virginia. Greg misreported the story.
with all due respect, El Guapo, i will disagree. to someone like Andrea Mitchell, a long-time newscaster, mover and shaker, and resident inside the Beltway, anyone voluntarily living outside the Beltway is, if not a redneck, an idiot, not to be listened to.
I can’t believe I have to say this again. She was talking about Bristol, Virginia, a town located in south western Virginia near the Tennessee border. She’s very clear on the video what she is talking about.
oh i understand what she said, and what you are saying that she said (okay, this is gonna give me a headache in a minute!). however, i stand by MY assertion that most “inside the beltway” types think that anyone who lives outside the Beltway is pretty much an idiot. actually, true be told, if you don’t live in the proper DC neighborhoods, you’re an idiot.
but since pretentious people just really don’t exist on my radar, it really doesn’t bother me.
There was a Chicago lady running for the Senate seat to represent IL. She said she didn’t need the red necks of So. IL to win the seat. She lost miserably!!
Rednecks, at least back in the 80’s took it personally when they were called red neck in a derogatory fashion. This may come back to bite Obama in November. I am surprised that Mitchell has not been forced to apologize to these fine neighbors of ours that happen to live down south.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,364362,00.html
Here is the pablum being spoon fed to Ike Leggett’s prodigies.
Battle Cat- you nailed it. That’s why I ask the hard questions about race and racism. Has anyone noticed how fast Spike Lee went to the race card in his spat with Clint Eastwood? Good Lord, do all blacks really think that all whites who disagree with them are racists? And worse, don’t those blacks see the racism in themselves? Or is it just a convenient way to garner sympathy? As far as I’m concerned, the term used by Andrea was used in a derogatory manner. Liberal fascist bigot.
Unfortunately reverse discrimination has become socially acceptable, if this lady was in a town with a high minority population and said something similar everyone would be up in arms over it and it would be all over the news. However, she was only putting down white people so it’s okay….. right? I don’t think it matters what town she was talking about, it was an insensitive comment and it’s unfortunate that she will never get any heat for it. What’s next?
If she says this type of stuff “on-air” I wonder what she really thinks….
Yes they do. I find it offensive that blacks can have a black only website for the DC entertainment provided for them. If a white person were to have the same type of website for white people, not white people only, it would be given a cease and desist order IMMEDIATELY!!!
Of course it is ok to put down white people, they have oppressed the black people for a long time and continue to do so today!! I would LOVE to see how that is true. Examples, not just rheotric spouted by the likes of “Rev” al and “Rev” jesse. I use quotes because neither of these men deserve the title. Where was the outrage by them when the lady was caught lying about the Duke boys?? Did they offer up a request for forgiveness from the Duke boys for dragging them through the mud and basically ruining their lives?? Did they offer their help to re-establish their good names?
It was OK to demand they swing by the nearest tree, but when they were found INNOCENT because the black girl had LIED, they quickly moved on to the next travesty against their fellow blacks. I have no respect for people like that.
Medic-
Just as with islamic terrorism, it will only stop when muslims demand it. Jesse and Al will change their tune when the money stops rolling in and everyone who supports people like them stop doing it and demand that they stop.
We are not rednecks. That is a racist term. The proper name and politically correct name is Appalachian Americans. I am proud to be one.
Pass it on!
Sadly, while I was living in Northern Va and California the prevailing mindset was that the Southwestern area of Virginia was considered as “redneck”; my dad who is white would even call them “white trash” areas.
I really hope Barack Obama wins the state of Virginian and prove to the world that the “whole” state has moved on with progressive ideas and thoughts.
I find this entire thing rather humorous as my first two years of college I went to King College in Bristol TN/VA. For those who don’t understand why I call it that, the town of Bristol is quite literally built on the border of Virginia and Tennessee, to the point where, if you’re on the main road in the center of the town while if you’re on the north side of the line you’re in Virginia, if you’re on the south side of the line, you’re in Tennessee.
Having spend the majority of two years down there, I found the vast majority of folks quite friendly and nice, hardly redneck, and it was nice to get away from the hubbub of this area.
Also, of final note, Bristol TN/VA is not considered to be “near” the Appalachian region of the US, it’s smack in the middle of it, in a valley between the the tail end of the Blue Ridge and Cumberland Mountain ranges.
“I really hope Barack Obama wins the state of Virginian and prove to the world that the “whole” state has moved on with progressive ideas and thoughts.”
Why Chris…so that you won’t feel compelled to use that term in question and feel guilty about using it? I doubt that how YOU and your father feel about Southwest Virginia is going to be a deciding factor in how they, or anyone in Virginia, vote.
What of the last 40 or so years?
— Today, if black Americans’ gross domestic product were measured separately, it would be the 16th-richest country in the world.
— Nearly 80 percent of blacks live above the poverty level, contrasted with 65 percent 40 years ago.
— The greater percentage of blacks live either middle-class or better lives.
— The employment rate for married black men equals the employment rate for married white men.
— The average black woman with a college degree makes more money than the average white woman with a college degree.
— The highest percentage of blacks in American history — 46 percent — own their homes.
— The majority of blacks live in integrated neighborhoods (defined as living with at least 10 percent of neighbors belonging to “other races”).
— Black-white interracial marriage has soared — after anti-miscegenation laws were struck down by the Supreme Court in 1967 — from 65,000 in 1970 to 422,000 in 2005.
— Los Angeles, a city devastated by the Watts riots in 1965, with a population about 11 percent black, hired back-to-back black police chiefs.
— A black man served as United States ambassador to the United Nations.
— A black man served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
— Two blacks have served as members of the United States Supreme Court.
— The largest association of doctors — the predominately white American Medical Association — elected a black physician as leader.
— The largest association of lawyers, the American Bar Association, elected a black president.
— The Ford Foundation, one of America’s largest philanthropic private foundations, with 2007 assets valued at $13.7 billion, was led for 12 years by a black man.
— Blacks hold or have held CEO positions at major companies, such as Merrill Lynch, American Express and Time Warner.
— Black-owned businesses grow at a rate faster than white-owned businesses.
— The multiracial Tiger Woods is the world’s most famous and wealthiest athlete in earnings and product endorsements.
— Major League Baseball — America’s pastime — is composed of 40 percent black, Latino and Asian players.
— The Super Bowl, the most-watched sporting event in America, recently featured two teams headed by black coaches.
— Black females have won the Miss America beauty pageant.
— Black economist and best-selling author Thomas Sowell, based on the number of newspapers that carry his column, is one of the country’s top 10 columnists.
— “The Cosby Show,” a positive, upbeat sitcom about a black, upper-middle-class family, reigned for years as America’s most-watched television program.
— Black faces on television abound — in commercials, as local and national news anchors, and in shows playing a variety of characters — from doctors and lawyers up to and including the president of the United States.
— Will Smith, a black actor, tops the list of the nation’s movie box-office stars.
— Black actor Samuel L. Jackson appeared in more movies than any other actor of any color during the 1990s.
— Black television host Oprah Winfrey, arguably one of the most powerful television personalities in the history of the medium, has amassed, to date, a fortune estimated at $2.5 billion.
— Blacks serve or have served as mayors in many American cities, including the three largest — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
— The current speaker of the California Assembly is the first black woman to head a statewide legislative body.
— Blacks comprise 10 percent of the House of Representatives, including some from primarily white Southern districts.
— A black man serves as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee — arguably the most powerful committee in the House.
— A black man served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
— Virginia, one of the states of the original Confederacy, elected a black man governor.
— The Republican Party, in the last election cycle, nominated blacks as candidates for governor of Ohio, governor of Pennsylvania, and senator from Maryland.
— Blacks have served the current administration as back-to-back secretaries of State.
So, what does Obama’s candidacy mean? His victory shows that America grows ever closer to Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of a society that judges people based on content of character, rather than color of skin.
Obama’s victory does not prove this. It confirms it.
Larry Elder is a syndicated radio talk show host and best-selling author. His latest book, “Stupid Black Men: How to Play the Race Card — and Lose”
appalachian said on 9 Jun 2008 at 12:46 pm:
The proper name and politically correct name is Appalachian Americans.
No! Just a disagreement with that idea (nothing personal). We (all Americans) need to stop hyphenating ourselves and just be Americans.
We’ll never build unity in this country when everyone is trying to set themselves apart.
I am proud to be one.
Me too.
Medic,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBZGMuBn4bo
I have said that all along!!! No need to hyphenate America. We are all in the same boat. It is AMERICAN not XXX-American.
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/06/10/msnbcs-andrea-mitchell-apologizes-for-redneck-remark/
Another non-apology by a racist. Bet that hurt to say!
Johnson said on 10 Jun 2008 at 12:31 pm:
Another non-apology by a racist. Bet that hurt to say!
She is slick, eh?
“I owe and apology to the good people of Bristol, Virginia, for something stupid that I said last week.”
That was okay. Admitting that she said something stupid is good (and accurate). But then….
“I was trying to explain based on reporting from Democratic strategists why Barack Obama was campaigning in southwest Virginia. But without attribution or explanation, I used a term strategists often use to demean an entire community,”
Ergo, she’s sorry because she used a term that Democratic strategists use to “demean an entire community”.
Quite telling.
I rember when Oprah had a Saturday morning show in Baltimore. Once she interviewed Frank Purdue. She said to him, “A lot of people say you look like a chicken.” He replied to her, “………
Afterwards the screen went to static for about 5 minutes. When the show came back on the Curly haired co-host she worked with finished the interview with Frank. I’ve never forgot that. I wonder if either of them have.
Taco Truck Ted said on 10 Jun 2008 at 8:15 pm:
Afterwards the screen went to static for about 5 minutes. When the show came back on the Curly haired co-host she worked with finished the interview with Frank. I’ve never forgot that. I wonder if either of them have.
well, i don’t really think it’s an issue for Frank at this point, since he died 3 years ago this past March.
es_la_ley said on 8 Jun 2008 at 8:06 pm:
Red Dawn said on 7 Jun 2008 at 11:45 pm:
“Redneck is a culture shock????? nahhhhhh, just REAL :)”
Just don’t touch my pork rinds, k?
Pork rinds be a Lousania thing but Scraple and pigs feet is Redneck :)) along with squirle brains and scrambled eggs
No kidding, I thought guys that rich live forever!
I love me some scraple! If they sold scraple tacos I would be tempted to buy one.
http://www.zillow.com/aerial/DualMapPage.htm?zpid=37520815
I bet Frank died on purpose, just to get out of paying those fines for polluting the Bay!
Just for the record, Greg, I’ve never called you “dumb.”
Oop! That would have been a lot funnier if the headline had actually said “dumb rednecks.”