Color of Change, the group founded by admitted Marxist and 9/11 truther Van Jones, is chest-thumping all over Twitter essentially saying that they, not Dylan Ratigan, run “The Dylan Ratigan Show.” Writing on Daily Kos, Color of Change’s James Rucker says [emphasis Kos]:
As you may know, ColorOfChange members led the charge to ensure that Breitbart’s credibility and image weren’t sanitized by ABC News or the Huffington Post. After we saw Breitbart on Ratigan’s show, with Ratigan seemingly praising Breitbart as “smart” and a “sharp shooter who gets results,” we were deeply concerned.
When I spoke with Ratigan, he explained what he was trying to do. He quickly agreed that Breitbart was a race-baiter, dishonest, and undeserving of credibility — without question. And he frankly hadn’t thought about the legitimizing effect that having Breitbart on his show — without clearly labeling him as the race-baiter and deceiver he is — would have.
Moving forward, Ratigan said that if he deals with Breitbart at all in the future, it will be with the explicit disclaimer that Breibart is someone who deceives and race-baits. Ratigan recognizes and respects the argument that there’s a problem with giving Breitbart a mainstream platform, and he’s committed to making sure that his show is not used to lend Breitbart the appearance of legitimacy and credibility.
When I reached out to leadership at MSNBC, they were also receptive to our concerns — here’s what Jeremy Gaines, a spokesperson for MSNBC submitted to me when going on the record:
James, I understand and appreciate your concerns. Our goal is to ensure that our network has a high standard of integrity and that guests whose integrity or credibility may be in question are presented as such. You might notice that the next time Breitbart appeared on our network, the following day, Martin Bashir held Breitbart’s feet to the fire and engaged in a line of questioning that brought to light the specific issues of Breitbart’s integrity and credibility which I understand to be your concern.
Color of Change seeks to suppress conservative commentary across the board, period. They’re not interested in social justice issues as they market themselves to be, otherwise they would have been the first out of the gate with the Pigford story. They would have been the first to condemn the exploitation of black farmers for monetary and other gain by government officials and members of the Democratic party. Instead, they’ve taken the hard line against those farmers and against dissent of any form.
If this group has succeeded in overtaking a cable news network and fatalistically snuff out any non-progressive voice on a debunked race-baiting charge, it’s troubling for free speech and diverse thought, indeed.
I’ve reached out to MSNBC for comment on the story that Color of Change is circulating and will update with their response in a separate post.
*Addendum: I have a feeling that Ratigan knows that Color of Change is making these assertions. Check the Twitter timeline: