Keith Ellison Opponent Explains Elusive Nature Of 'Facts' And Quotes To Lucky Reporter

Have you ever wondered how people in the public eye feel when they are blatantly misrepresented by the media? Well, wonder no longer! They feel sad! You can see this in the following amazing transcript between Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison's Republican opponent, Chris Fields, and lucky CityPages reporter Andy Mannix.

Chris Fields: "I just want to point your attention to a few things that are blatantly misrepresented."

City Pages: "In my post?"

Fields: "Yes, in your post. I did not explicitly call Keith a reverse racist. I didn't. I didn't."

CP: "Ok, I'm looking at the ad right now, it says, 'reverse racism.' And there's a picture of Keith Ellison next to it."

Fields: "Ok, it says two words. What about the rest of the words there? I mean, do they count? And I'm not trying to be confrontational here --"

Reader, would it shock you to learn that Mr. Fields does in fact go on to be confrontational? US TOO!

CP: "So you're trying to tell me that you're not calling Keith Ellison a reverse racist?"

Fields: "It says, 'Does Keith--'"

CP: "Yeah, 'Does Keith Ellison practice reverse racism and racial politics?'"

Fields: "You decide. You decide."

CP: "And then you're trying to tell me that in this literature it's not supposed to be answering that question for the people that are reading it?"

Fields: "I'm putting a set of facts out there, just like everybody else. And I'll tell you this much --"

CP: "No, no, no. Let me read another part of this. 'Keith Ellison has a double standard for justice: one for blacks, one for whites. That's just wrong.' I mean, c'mon, you're not gonna tell me that you're not trying to say that he's a reverse racist. Why even introduce the term reverse racism?"

Fields: "Here's the thing, Andy. If we're going to talk about facts -- facts are facts. I said, factually, I did not call him a racist. That's what I'm saying. And then if you want to talk about the actual issue itself, do you believe, Andy, in your heart, mind, and soul, that if Brian Terry were black, and this were the Bush administration, and the attorney general were John Ashcroft - if those were the cast of players, do you believe that they would have walked out?"

It goes on -- quite enjoyably! -- from there. But we can all agree that Mannix should be drummed out of CityPages at once and posthaste for saying Mr. Fields called Rep. Ellison a reverse racist when those were only two words, next to his picture! This is just a journalism science fact, and it is so obvious we shouldn't even have to say it, but there we are. Because ethics. Shame, Mr. Mannix. For shame, sir.

[ CityPages ]