1. Mediaite
  2. Gossip Cop
  3. Geekosystem
  4. Styleite
  5. SportsGrid
  6. The Mary Sue
  7. The Jane Dough
  8. The Braiser
Advertisement

Rick Sanchez Slams Tea Partier Who Blamed His Racism On The Bee Gees

video
» 38 comments

Rick Sanchez was outraged on his afternoon program today. I know what you’re thinking, but this time he had a legitimate reason– and delivered one of the most graceful take-downs of an unabashed racist since the head of the Sons of Confederate Veterans debated Roland Martin.

The racist in question is, unfortunately for conservatives, the head of the Springboro, Ohio Tea Party movement. His name is Sonny Thomas, and he would like all his Twitter followers to know that he is not comfortable with the amount of Latin Americans surrounding him lately. He tweeted: “Illegals everywhere today! So many sp— make me feel like a speck. Grrr. Where’s my gun?!”

Sanchez, who himself is Cuban-American, contacted Thomas for an explanation, and his attempt to get out of this tweet (since deleted from his account) was even more shocking that the tweet himself. He claimed that the tweet originated from his current music playlist, where the Bee Gees’ “Spicks and Specks” was on heavy rotation.

Sanchez handled the response perfectly, making some classic facial expressions of disgust at the man and shows genuine offense when he repeats, “he’s blaming this on the Bee Gees.” Watching Sanchez mature out of his cookie-cutter outrage or feigned dismay wonderful for viewers and even better, one imagines, for those who bet on him in CNN. is At the very least, it redeems him from the time he told a scientist to translate a meter measurement into “English.”

It’s also a reminder of when having a correspondent of the offended group can lead to a much more profound commentary on the given offense. Rachel Maddow‘s conversations with Lt. Dan Choi that revealed him to be gay and elevated him to be the most credible gay rights activist of his generation are a classic example, and, as previously mentioned, CNN’s African-American correspondents– most notably Roland Martin– demonstrated this perfectly during Bob McDonnell‘s regrettable Confederate History Month controversy. But rarely does the Latin American community get the similar satisfaction of seeing one of their own credibly destroy a racist argument against them.

Watch the clip below:


Follow us on Twitter.

Sign up for Mediaite's daily newsletter.

Email Twitter Facebook Digg Reddit Stumble Upon Yahoo Buzz LinkedIn Tumblr Delicious
  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bill-Adkins/1585417987 Bill Adkins

    Is this news now? I mean, a racist tea partier is like dog bites man.

  • Jamestaylor

    “Rick Sanchez was outraged on his afternoon program today.”

    Wow , what a shock.

  • http://www.sailrabbits.com Magister

    It was a nice, elegant takedown and Sanchez did well, but…

    If you look at the guy’s Twitter, he tweeted a link today alleging 300 FEMA camps and another about some kind of truther DVD; One has to ask, if taking down a random nutjob is the “journalism” CNN management has in mind.

  • Jamestaylor

    To CNN, that’s in-depth reporting.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bill-Adkins/1585417987 Bill Adkins

    “Magister says:
    April 13, 2010 at 10:06 pm
    It was a nice, elegant takedown and Sanchez did well, but…

    If you look at the guy’s Twitter, he tweeted a link today alleging 300 FEMA camps and another about some kind of truther DVD; One has to ask, if taking down a random nutjob is the “journalism” CNN management has in mind.”

    Another person who depends on Glenn Beck for ‘infotainment.’ Bet he has all the Popeil products, too.

  • http://thedailybarb.com Jack Burns

    Wow CNN got a list… Sounds like McCarthyism to me…

  • felixw

    The media is so desperate to play gotcha, they need to track down obscure people with Twitter accounts to score meaningless points. This is the kind of stuff that makes MSNBC look pathetic, but now CNN is going down the same path. What’s next? Maybe CNN should go into retirement homes and debate 99-year-olds who make politically incorrect statements? A note to Rick Sanchez: If you want to know why CNN’s ratings are collapsing, ask yourself which is more important, 15 million people out of work or Sonny Thomas’s Twitter page. The longer the elite media try to hide the real stories of the day by substituting non-stories of this sort, the more their audience will leave for Fox, where they can at least learn what’s happening of importance in the world.

  • ImNotBlue

    Bill Adkins says:
    April 13, 2010 at 10:16 pm

    Ugh… Bill, really? You still think Beck said something he didn’t? Do you care about the truth at all? Even a little? Have you no self respect?

    _________

    Good for them taking down this dumbass… of course, one random dumbass does not a political movement make or represent. I know, I know… Bill and fans are shouting, “Yes it does! Especially if it’s someone on the right!” But can’t we try for a little more integrity than that? If all this is true (and I have my doubts about anything Sanchez says), good to see him go… but if that’s the best CNN can do, they’re still gonna be hurting in the morning.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bill-Adkins/1585417987 Bill Adkins

    ” April 14, 2010 at 1:02 am
    Bill Adkins says:
    April 13, 2010 at 10:16 pm

    Ugh… Bill, really? You still think Beck said something he didn’t? Do you care about the truth at all? Even a little? Have you no self respect?”

    Ugh .. Blue, really? You still think Beck didn’t say something he did? Do you care about the truth at all? Even a little? Have you no integrity at all? Beck spent several shows pumping it up and one, finally, saying it was not true – he stoked the fires of paranoia than tried to piss on them to put them out. He failed and the Tea/tailgate Party is proof the flames still burn hot.

  • Big_F-ing_Deal

    God, those teabaggers are morons.

    And this is one of it’s LEADERS!! hahaha!!!

  • http://www.anonymousfinch.com AnonymousFinch

    Bill Adkins:

    You are wrong. ImNotBlue is right. here is what Beck said:

    http://www.anonymousfinch.com/2009/06/12/paul-krugman-the-big-fake/

    Seriously, doesn’t the truth mean anything?

  • Ted

    It’s the fault of those living in the “elite media bubble” for exposing this otherwise upstanding citizen as a racist tea-bagging buffoon. I admit though, I never saw this one coming.

  • http://www.anonymousfinch.com AnonymousFinch

    Here’s the other half of the Beck FEMA controversy (sorry, but you can’t post two links in a comment without it being held for moderation).

    Bill Adkins is absolutely wrong (not surprisingly). Beck did not spend “several shows pumping it up.” There was one comment on Fox & Friends that has been unfairly twisted into supposed support for FEMA camps. It was no such thing. Leftist like Bill Adkins have tried to grab on to that one comment to support their bogus claim that Beck believes in FEMA camps. That is absolutely false. From the very first time that a caller raised the FEMA camp conspiracy, Beck rejected it out of hand as crazy.

    Bill Adkins, if you’re going to claim Beck spent “several shows pumping it up” let’s see the video or audio. Put up or shut up. If you can’t show “several shows,” then withdraw what you said.

    http://www.anonymousfinch.com/2009/06/14/more-on-glenn-beck-and-the-fema-conspiracy-crooks-and-liars-lives-up-to-its-name/

    What is so pathetic about guys like Bill Adkins is that they go around repeating a claim that was perpetuated by liberal blogs (like Crooks & Liars) that don’t give a damn about the truth, and they never bother to find out the real facts for themselves. They are the ones being duped and perpetuating conspiracy theories, but their not even curious enough to try to find the truth.

  • The Real Royal King

    I wish to thank those who raised me for giving me an appreciation for music, good music, so that I would not be drawn to the Bee Gees and thence into the cesspool of Tea Partying intolerance and racism. Still, I have to admit I loathe “MacArthur Park” and “I Rode Through the Desert On a Horse With No Name”.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bill-Adkins/1585417987 Bill Adkins

    Follow the bouncing ball, Finch. What is so pathetic about guys like AnonymousFinch is that they ‘re so invested in being apologists they don’t give a damn about truth and they ignore the real facts so as to further their agenda. Finch here feels he’s entitled to his own set of facts. He’s the one who’s intent upon helping outlets like Fox Not News Channel perpetuate paranoia and then sell you down Denial. Finch and company just hope you’re not curious enough to try to find out the truth.

    http://mediamatters.org/research/200906120029

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bill-Adkins/1585417987 Bill Adkins

    That’s just one example, finch, of the ‘responsible journalism’ a/k/a infotainment of the Fox Not News Channel.
    Maybe you’ll like this one?

    http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/14846/

  • The Real Royal King

    The Imperial Wizard of our state Tea Party is a man with the improbable name of Dale Robertson whose chief claim to fame is denying he is a racist whilst holding up racist signs at convocations, for which see:

    http://www.blueridgemuse.com/node/3539

    Well, every group has its kooks, I suppose.

    Still, the Tea Party candidates in Texas’ Republican Primary run-off went down in glorious, spectacular flames last evening, save and except a state representative in the Lubbock area who is far too extreme to pose a political threat to anyone. I doubt the highway will be widened in Lubbock any time soon. The good news is the Supreme Court and the Board of Education are safe from Dale Robertson wannabees.

  • Big_F-ing_Deal

    Typical POS Beck.

    He doesn’t believe in FEMA camps, but he cant debunk them even though he has “tried”, yet if “you have any fear of a totalitarian state, look out, buckle up..”

    *cue to Beck crying”

    “America, I don’t want this to be true…..do you think I want to believe this can happen? I go to sleep every night praying this isn’t true, America, but I fear for this country”. lmfao

    This spreading of fear and propaganda without actually having to admit or prove anything is the genius of Beck, but even he went too far this time and had to finally back pedal on the story.

    Unfortunately, the Beck idiots only remember that he “couldn’t debunk it” so “buckle up” for “totalitarianism”.

    Classic Beck.

  • The Real Royal King

    I do so enjoy that little, “I can’t debunk ….” slight of hand, Bill.

  • http://www.anonymousfinch.com AnonymousFinch

    What’s really sad Bill is that you post that link to Media Matters without actually reading it. I quoted the same Fox & Friends piece in my write up as Media Matters quoted. The difference is that I also quote what Beck said about the issue BEFORE the Fox & Friends exchange and AFTER the Fox & Friends exchange (including what Beck actually said on his show that very same day). When you look at his vague statement on Fox & Friends (and I admit it was vague because he used a double negative; “can’t debunk”) in context, then it is absolutely clear that he was never believed the FEMA camp conspiracy.

    Again, what really pisses me off about this whole issue is that Beck consistently railed against the FEMA camp conspiracy for weeks, repeatedly. Anybody who listens to him regularly knows that. He gets on Fox & Friends and makes one vague statement (vague because because he uses the grammatically incorrect double negative (“can’t debunk”)) and suddenly Media Matter is claiming he SUPPORTS the conspiracy. Then, a myth grows–which you repeated here–that he did “several shows pumping it up.” He did no such thing, and you can’t point to any such transcripts or audio or video clips because they don’t exist. That is Orwellian. War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength; Beck Believes in FEMA Camps.

    Media Matters is deliberately lying to you. They have transcript after transcript (some of which I quoted in my piece) that shows that Beck never believed in that conspiracy, but they won’t show those transcripts to you. Te whole thing is shameful.

  • http://www.anonymousfinch.com AnonymousFinch

    Real Royal King:

    If you actually read my two pieces on it, you’ll see that it was not “slight of hand.” It all makes perfect sense in context. Media Matters and geniuses like Bill Adkins who link to them uncritically are the ones pulling a “slight of hand” by claiming that Beck supports something that he rejected over and over and over and over again.

  • http://www.anonymousfinch.com AnonymousFinch

    And I will add, in closing, that what’s really pathetic is that I give Bill Adkins two links to lengthy articles I wrote on the issue dissecting all the evidence piece by piece, and he rejects them WITHOUT EVEN READING WHAT I WROTE. He doesn’t have to actually read my presentation of the facts to know I’m wrong. Again, he’s not interested in the truth of the matter. He wants to slime Beck (and me) and praise Media Matters–facts be damned!

  • Big_F-ing_Deal

    Jesus Christ dude, stop triple posting.

    You’re worse than a chick.

  • timzank

    Big_F-ing_Deal says:
    April 14, 2010 at 8:43 am
    Jesus Christ dude, stop triple posting.

    You’re worse than a chick.

    Rut-Row!! Sexist alert…womanizer….

  • Big_F-ing_Deal

    “Rut-Row!! Sexist alert…womanizer….”

    You mean “sexist” like when Beck said women belong in the kitchen.

    Sexist like that?

  • http://www.anonymousfinch.com AnonymousFinch

    Big_F-ing_Deal:

    You are, truly, a sheep being led to the slaughter.

    Yes, I remember the day when Beck said women belong in the kitchen I remember it very, very distinctly. He said it about Sarah Plain the day when someone said that they should run for President and Vice president together.

    He said is sarcastically, in a stupid voice. Immediately after he said it, his producer, Stu, said something like, “You realize that Media Matters is transcribing every word you say, and they’re going to report that like you mean it.” That became a joke for the rest of the show as they talked about idiots who will, forever after, repeat it as if it were serious. He then kept on saying it over and over again for the rest of the show. Very often before he said repeated it, he would pause and jokingly warn the Media Matters transcribers to get ready because he was about to say it again.

    That’s the world we live in now. Your masters distort the truth and tell you what to think, and you accept it uncritically.

  • Big_F-ing_Deal

    Haha…you probably also think Beck didn’t lie about the ladies on The Vew even though he apologized on the air, didn’t show up for work that day, called in drunk, said he was on Nyquil and he didn’t realize how that can knock you out when every Alcoholic in the world knows about nyquil, and then made up a memo saying he was sick before The View even though he didn’t sound like it at all on the show but sounded like “death warmed over” after the show.

    Yeah, you probably don’t believe any of that because an unbiased source like Breitbart debunked it all by talking to a train employee.. lol

    Talk about sheep.

  • valkyrie101

    finch,
    To hear as many people as we do talking communist conspiracy here, it is clear who is following the rantings of their master. Beck’s hero is a man that was considered reactionary even back in the sixties, Skousen. One of the original “there is a communist under every rock” conspiracy nuts. And to defend Beck’s proclivity for off the wall conspiracy theories, is not a very objective observation. Beck said that he could not disprove the FIMA camp conspiracy theory. So, OK, he did not promote it, but he could not dismiss it, either.

  • Zakk

    Finch – in case you haven’t learned by now. Bill and his buddies don’t ever let the truth get in the way of their smears. They just do whatever KO or RM or the dog across the street tells them to do. They constantly echo statements from their heroes and truth be damned.

    Most of these fools have never actually watched Beck or Hannity, or listened to Limbaugh – but they do know what was said about them and they repeat it as if it were their own thoughts. I don’t let it bug me, I find it to be very humorous.

  • The Real Royal King

    I read very clearly, AF. I simply remain unconvinced in light of Beck’s sordid little dance around the truth on virtually every issue. I can’t for a moment believe Beck’s brand of vitriolic no-nothingism appeals to you. I should hope that you would take such message he may have, if any, with which you agree, broadcast it yourself, or find a less disingenuous, more credible messenger. Beck has to be considered an utter anathema to any reasonable, informed man or woman, and I include you in the former.

  • timzank

    Big_F-ing_Deal says:
    April 14, 2010 at 8:56 am
    “Rut-Row!! Sexist alert…womanizer….”

    You mean “sexist” like when Beck said women belong in the kitchen.

    Sexist like that?

    I want you to answer this honestly BFD: Are you really that stupid that you believe his intent was not sarcastic? Seriously, can you be that stupid? I know you’re not, so why do you guys say things like that? Just to try to piss us off? It doesn’t, it just shows other people how misguided and nasty you are, and to what extremes you guys will go to discredit someone you don’t like. What do you clowns do for fun at night, cruise around your neighborhood and poison Republicans dogs?

    What a petty little man you must be.

  • Penguin60

    Beck? Goofy tweets? Just watch the psycho-ramblings of KO and Mr. Ed if you want to see some real hate speech.
    Media matters as a reference? What a joke.

  • timzank

    It should also be noted Jeffrey Smuzinick was unavailable for comment.

  • valkyrie101

    As long as Beck and FOX do not get into the business of supporting violent rhetoric, and facilitating violence, then more power to it as a voice of the right. Nothing personal. Be politically incorect, speak up, it is your right. Even well reasoned racist opinions should be fairly on the table. And that should be how it is with the left, too. No violence or threats of violence, but calling a spade a spade is permitted, via sarcasm, one-liners and partisan banter. Let people get over their problems with race talk. It used to be, that it was completely OK to make fun of ethnic groups. Or at least we always thought so. In my generation it was Polish jokes, and light bulbs. Rush understands this, and he plays his role in challenging political correctness notions. He is a star in that regard. It is why he is popular. I listened to him every weekday for ten years. All through the Clinton and early Bush years. He is an immense talent. And he speaks for many people. Rush is on target. We should get over our sensitivity to racial talk, to chill on that. Not take it personal. Let the white supremicist, who disavows violence, speak his mind. (And to a large extent he can and does, because of the internet.)

    Freedom of speech is awsome. Unattached to violence, it is to be celebrated. Thus, Reverend Wright should be celebrated for the exercise of his free speech, and his abhorrence to violence. Again, give the man credit, he proved he is a man of peace by participating in the peaceful revolution that was the civil rights movement. There was no armed insurrection from that, though there were many communists who sought it. Those voices were fended off. But now the boys in the woods are packin in their military attire, claiming they are under attack. Black people and the liberal whites that supported them, held back against the calls for violence, defeated that enemy. What are the white people doing with their crazy element that would committ insurrection?

  • ImNotBlue

    Bill Adkins says:
    April 14, 2010 at 6:50 am

    So because Beck talked about a report he was going to give, and then gave it. When presented, it turned out to be the EXACT OPPOSITE of what you just claimed it did. And yet, to you… it’s still Beck’s fault because he, what? He didn’t report it to a timeline of your choosing or liking? Really?

    Are you serious?

    I guess even a little bit of integrity from you is too much to ask.

    The Real Royal King says:
    April 14, 2010 at 8:01 am

    Still, I have to admit I loathe “MacArthur Park” and “I Rode Through the Desert On a Horse With No Name”.

    Do you mean, “A horse with no name,” by America?

    valkyrie101 says:
    April 14, 2010 at 9:25 am

    Beck said that he could not disprove the FIMA (sic) camp conspiracy theory. So, OK, he did not promote it, but he could not dismiss it, either.

    Except that he has. Perhaps it was after that particular interview… but yes, he has debunked it.

  • ObamaSux

    That reminds me. Do they still make the household cleaner “Spic and Span”? Rick, you know?

  • lihaoxj16

    Buy full line Juicy couture products from our site at a low price to make yourself a fashionista! Dress juicy couture clothing, holding juicy couture
    Shop prom dresses, formal dresses, prom shoes, 2010 designer prom gowns at dres4sale.
    for cocktail dresses, dresses for prom, homecoming dresses, and evening dresses. Cheap prom dresses or couture designer evening gowns for your next formal.
    evening dresses
    Evening Dresses. Women’s Formal & Special Occasion Dresses … Welcome to Cheap Evening Dresses for Sale! … Buy Cheap Evening Dresses Sales & Accessories
    prom dresses

  • AmericanCowboy

    The only rRACE that matters to the Tea Party is the one in November 2010.

    Bye Bye Big Spending – Big Government Dems and Rinos. You fools need to start packing

    Castro = Big Government
    Chavez = Big Government
    Mao = Big Government
    Saddam Hussein = Big Government
    Hitler = Big Government
    Obama = Big Government

    You can keep your Big Governemt – I will choose Freedom – You can’t have both

© 2012 Mediaite, LLC | About Us | Advertise | Newsletter | Jobs | Privacy | User Agreement | Disclaimer | Power Grid FAQ | Contact | Archives | RSS RSS
Dan Abrams, Founder | Power Grid by Sound Strategies | Hosting by Datagram