Since taking over for Tavis Smiley
on NPR on February 2, 2005 Ed Gordon has used his radio show to
showcase the right wing agenda. On at least 21 occasions over the past
2 months Gordon has had
Republican guests such as RNC strategist Tara Wall (who?) or led
discussions about the Republican agenda - gays, abortion and social
security. To be sure Gordon has had Progressive guests on his show. But
this is not an attempt at 'balancing the news' - it is an attempt to
curve it. Ed Gordon has a Black Show (the only Black show on lilly
white NPR). Blacks are not Republican - in November's election 88% of
Blacks voted Democrat - in 2000 91% voted Democrat. Ed Gordon's guests
and their agenda are extreme and outside the mainstream
of Black America. Why does he have these people on the radio nearly
everyday?
Unlike previous "negro outreach" efforts, Republicans are not waiting until election time to begin their lame campaign of symbolic politics. There is nothing different about the right wing agenda this time: they have nothing new to offer, they just want to improve their numbers. Republicans are arrogantly up front about all this. Chairman Mehlman has stated that the goal of the "outreach" effort is to get 30% of the Black vote. In other words- they do what they do because of politics - not for any substantive, meaningful reasons. And apparently now they have Ed Gordon to help them to do more talking about reaching out:
- 4/1/2005 Ken Mehlman discusses the
Republican National Committee's new strategies for winning 30 percent
of the African-American vote by 2008
- 3/31/2005 Discussion of Political Topics with Tara Wall of the Republican National Committee, adviser to George W. Bush's 2004 presidential campaign.
- 3/24/2005 Reverend
Joseph Watkins, pastor of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Philadelphia. Reverend Watkins worked for George W. Bush's 2004
campaign.
- 3/23/2005 Republican MD. Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele and Renee Amoore, president of The Amoore Group, a Republican consulting firm based in Pennsylvania discuss the RNC's African-American Advisory Committee
- 3/15/2005 Reverend Joseph Watkins, pastor of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Philadelphia. Reverend Watkins worked for George W. Bush's 2004 campaign.
- 3/15/2005 Topic was "Implications of a ruling by a California judge that the state's current ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional"
- 3/10/2005 Discussion of mayoral races and politics in the minority community with Tara Wall of the Republican National Committee, adviser to George W. Bush's 2004 presidential campaign.
- 3/4/2005 Joseph C. Phillips NPR "columnist" who admittedley campaigned for George Bush discuss Condoleezza Rice running for president
- 3/3/2005 with Fox News pundit Juan Williams discussing "Republican Party renews outreach to African-American community"
- 3/2/2005 with Danny Diaz, deputy communications director for the Republican National Committee to discuss President Bush's Social Security agenda
- 2/2/4/2005 with Reverend Joseph Watkins, pastor of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Philadelphia. Watkins worked for George W. Bush's 2004 campaign. to discuss African-Americans in the Democratic and Republican parties.
- 2/18/2005 topic was the Democratic Party and its position on abortion,
- 2/1/7/2005 Joseph Watkins pastor of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Philadelphia, who worked for George W. Bush's 2004 campaign. discuss the black Baptist agenda.
- 2/17/2005 with David Kuo, a Republican, and Former Deputy Director, Faith-Based and Community Initiatives to discuss President Bush's Faith-Based and Community Initiatives program.
- 2/16/2005 with Republican Joseph Perkins to discuss Alan Keyes' daughter, lying scientists, affirmative action and global warming.
- 2/11/2005 topic was "reaching out across common moral ground" - a discussion about gays.
- 2/10/2005 with Tara Wall, Republican National Committee spokeswoman to discuss President Bush's budget proposal, AIDS in the African-American community and Howard Dean becoming the chairman of the Democratic National Committee
- 2/9/2005 with Gospel Singer & Republican Marvin Winans to discuss Karl Rove and Republican Outreach to Blacks
- 2/9/2005 with Reverend Creflo Dollar to discuss the moral issues of African-American voters - gays
- 2/4/2005 with Republican Joseph Perkins to discuss President Bush's position on AIDS in the black community
- 2/3/2005 with Republican Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell to discuss the president's State of the Union address