Misrepresenting the Facts, Again.

So I mentioned in a previous post that I am briefly staying with my parents and that while I appreciate the room the bombardment of Fox News’ revisionist history is torture. Let me first state that I’m not a Democrat or Republican; I’m an independent and I vote for both sides depending on the issue. Nevertheless, the utterly false refashioning of history by conservatives drives me crazy, not because of my political affiliation, but because of my profession (recalling I am a history professor). Let me share the latest example.

This morning I was subjected to a conveniently incomplete paraphrasing of a quote from Senator Harry Reid (Democrat). The paraphrase stated that Reid said that Republicans were on the wrong side of the health care bill, just like they were on the issue of slavery. Then the conservative issuing the paraphrase went on to say that Reid is an idiot because he does not seem to know that Republicans fought slavery and Democrats supported it.

Let’s look at the actual quote to see if the paraphrasing accurately reflects Reid’s comments:

"Instead of joining us on the right side of history, all Republicans have come up with is this slow down, stop everything, let's start over. You think you've heard these same excuses before, you're right. When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said, slow down, it's too early. Let's wait. Things aren't bad enough. When women spoke up for the right to speak up, they wanted to vote, some insisted slow down, there will be a better day to do that. The day isn't quite right. When this body was on the verge of guaranteeing equal civil rights to everyone, regardless of the color of their skin, some senators resorted to the same filibuster threats that we hear today. . . . History is repeating itself before our eyes. There are now those who don't think it is the right time to reform health care. If not now, when, madam president? But the reality for many that feel that way, it will never, never be a good time to reform health care."

In the actual quote Reid says that Republicans want to slow down change, and then he goes into the history lesson, stating that historically people have resisted change on issues like slavery and women’s suffrage. In the history lesson he refers to people who “dug in their heels and said , slow down, its too early.” He does not identify them as Republicans. Then he goes back to the modern day for analysis when he states, “History is repeating itself” because once again senators are resorting to filibuster threats and other means to slow down change, specifically the health care bill.

So what do we learn? Well, the conservative who issued the paraphrasing took some liberties in order to create a straw man he could knock down. Reid never said Republicans opposed all those things, just that there has always been people who opposed change, and he is right. And though Reid did not say they were Republicans, he would have been partially right to do so because those conservative elements resisting change have flip-flopped between parties depending on which would support their policy of resisting change. Who are these people that have been resisting change since the early nineteenth century? Southerners. They once called themselves Democrats (1820s-1940s), then Republicans (1950s-1960s) , then began switching back and forth depending on which party appealed to their attitude of resisting change (largely voted Democrat in the 1970s, Republican in the 1980s, Democrat in the 1990s, and Republican since 2000). Regardless of party affiliation, it is Southerners who have historically resisted change. That is okay—it is an acceptable and reasonable position—but let’s be sure we know who we are talking about. Not Republicans, not Democrats—just Southerners. They have historically resisted change, and are doing so again as members of the Republican party today.

So was Reid correct? Yes, there is a group who historically resist change and they are now resisting change as members of the Republican party. What did conservative media do with his comments? They misrepresented the quote and then challenged the historical accuracy and Reid’s credibility. The funny thing is that in their efforts to challenge his understanding of history they revealed that they do not actually understand history. So what is the moral of the story? Don’t get your history lessons from Political “news” talk shows and web sites. They don’t know history, but are happy to re-write it to defame their opposition and support their own political ideas.

On a side note, less you think I’m really a liberal because I continue to reveal the blunderings of Fox News and conservative media, let me simply explain that I am not subjected to liberal media like MSNBC so I cannot speak to their false assumptions. I am, however, forced to listen to conservative mistakes all day long.