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Washington, D.C. (CNN)If the racial tension underlying the 2016 presidential race could be distilled into a single cable news moment, this was it.
On Tuesday night, CNN contributors Van Jones and Jeffrey Lord became locked in a fiery and emotional debate in which each accused the other side's party party of stoking racial tensions.
The extended debate, which was both passionate and personal, served as a microcosm of the national discussion over racial divisiveness and the increasingly negative tone of the presidential campaign.
"There's a lot of blame to go around for the tone of this campaign," David Axelrod, the chief strategist on Barack Obama's presidential campaigns, said when their intense but respectful on-air faceoff was over. "You're seeing a preview of it here."
The debate started when Jones, a Democrat, criticized Donald Trump for refusing to unequivocally condemn white supremacist David Duke and the Klu Klux Klan.
On the night of a primary, CNN is known for its comprehensive coverage of who won what, flashy graphics, stalling for time and open speculation about what the heck will happen next. Moments of passionate exchange are, perhaps, less common.
Yet during CNN’s Super Tuesday coverage, such a moment came when former Obama staffer Van Jones took on former Reagan staffer and Donald Trump supporter Jeffrey Lord in a heated debate about race, the Democratic Party and the Ku Klux Klan.
The trouble began when fellow contributor S.E. Cupp, a conservative, accused Trump of “crazy, dog-whistle policy proposals” to curry favor with prejudiced voters.
“Donald Trump has tried to otherize every other candidate in this race,” Cupp said, “… to sort of scare this very small part of the electorate who thinks that all of their problems are the fault of people who don’t look like them.”
Lord disagreed, questioning the purported freethinking of the GOP mainstream.
“I hate to say this about the Republican establishment, but their view of civil rights is to tip the black waiter five bucks at the country club,” Lord said. Trump, meanwhile, is “not going to patronize people.”
So, is there any solution? How do we move past this era of politics?
originally posted by: Boadicea
a reply to: HoldMyBeer
So, is there any solution? How do we move past this era of politics?
When folks stop responding to the dog whistles and stop letting them divide us. When folks understand we really are all in this together. When we stop fighting each other and fight those who put us in this position.
When we can put aside our egos and stand together for the common and greater good.
It's not going to happen. .. listen to AM radio. The right wing politics of hate and division Ala Rush, Coulter, Beck, Hannity, Bork, Levin, Savage, Fox, etc. Have a vested interest in maintaining the current paridime. They have a HUGE audience! !!!!
originally posted by: Edumakated
Van Jones is a buffoon. He didn't seem to mind Obama giving the eulogy at Robert Byrd's funeral. You know, the Democrat Senator and Speaker of the House who was actually a Klan member.
The klan is about as relevant today as Vanilla Ice. Heck, they weren't even that relevant when I was growing up in the south in the 70s / 80s. I remember David Duke and no one took him seriously then, just like no one takes him seriously now. Trying to tie him to Trump is comical.
In October 2005 Jones said he was "a rowdy black nationalist" before the King verdict was announced, but that by August of that year (1992) he was a communist.
originally posted by: YouSir
a reply to: olaru12
Ummm...did you actually read what you just posted...?
I thought you were more intelligent than that...
YouSir
originally posted by: YouSir
a reply to: olaru12
Ummm...for starters for every AM vast right wing conspiracy station there's an Msnbc...CNN...CBS...New York Times...etc...
I just naturally assumed you were more balanced in your approach to infotainment...and not quite so partisan...
I've always thought you more intelligent than that is all...matter of fact I know you are...
YouSir