The Uncle Tom Strategy; meet Reverend Joe Watkins

[TheDoorbellRang]

Anyone else see the black pastor making the rounds with the talking heads criticizing Rev. Wright? Legit cuz he's black and a minister, right? Here's the poop on the guy:

The Uncle Tom Strategy; meet Reverend Joe Watkins
by Deoliver47
Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 09:55:52 AM PDT

Last night I got ready to turn off MSNBC after watching Keith Olbermann, but left it on because my husband wanted to watch Verdict with Dan Abrams, a program I personally can’t stand. Abrams had a "panel" of analysts on, discussing in heated rhetoric the upcoming Bill Moyer’s interview with Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

The most fervent attacker of Rev. Wright was the African-American commentator Joe Watkins, who I haven’t really paid much attention to. He was practically frothing at the mouth, attempting to put words into Jeremiah Wright’s mouth and reading "meaning" into his statements to Moyer’s, egged on by Abrams. The only person disagreeing with him was Lawrence O’Donnell.

more...

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/4/25/12333/7646/51/503358

[ej510]

1. Yeah he does it all the time. The republicans..... they keep his pockets fat.

[speedoo]

2. Oh THAT cretin...

I should have known.

[liberaldem4ever]

5. Oh that guy-yuck

He's on TV a lot and is a real jerk who always puts down Dems and praises Repukes. I've never heard him say anything remotely intelligent.

[spanone]

6. what makes him reverential? he's a fucking politician. and gets paid for it

i only hope he doesn't get a tax exemption

[me b zola]

14. I wonder if he's on bush*s 'faith-based' pay list? (n/t)

[spanone]

3. he's an asshole

[TheDebbieDee]

4. There's also another unfortunate-looking, long-faced, cock-eyed

African-American named Ron Christie/Christy. He used to be an aide for Dick Cheney and he now makes appearances as a repuke strategist. He's totally pathetic!

ETA: Ron Christy reminds me of a black version of Ken Mehlman, former repuke strategist and Chairman of the Repuke Party.

[ej510]

8. I cannot stand the idiot either!

[Kool Kitty]

12. He makes me scream and want to throw things.

I have the same reaction to Marsha Blackburn.

[Coexist]

7. A congregation of 85? and he is on t.v.?

http://www.elca.org/ScriptLib/OS/Congregations/cdsDetail.asp?Id=A59DA1AA94

Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church
3008 W Diamond St Philadelphia, PA 19121 Phone: [phone]
Pastor(s) and Called Lay Staff
Membership:
Baptized 90
Confirmed 70
Average Attendance 85

and I like this paragraph from the OP:

"It takes a black pastor to attack a black pastor" seems to be the modus operandi here. Esteemed he isn’t, nor does he inherit the mantle of historic black Phlly congregations like Mother Bethel AME, or Salem Baptist Church of Jenkintown, or First African Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia.

[TheDoorbellRang]

11. Yup. Looks like he's one inspirational preacher

What a crock of hooey this guy is.

[TheDoorbellRang]

9. He's even got a token church to give him "reverend" credibility

From the kos diary:

Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church
3008 W Diamond St Philadelphia, PA 19121 Phone: [phone]
Pastor(s) and Called Lay Staff
Membership:
Baptized 90
Confirmed 70
Average Attendance 85

I'd sure like to visit this church on a Sunday and hear Rev. Watkins hold forth. Wonder if he extols the wonders of B*sh, since he worked in poppy's administration.

[blm]

10. How LONG has he been a Rev? I just posted a thread on this because I always

only saw him the last 15 years acting as a GOP talking head.

[TheDoorbellRang]

Not hard to be an ordained minister these days

What I wonder is how long he's been ministering to the church in Philly, since as you say, his new title has just started popping up.

[Doityourself]

13. more on Joe

On the September 12, 2005 edition of CNN's Paula Zahn Now show, CNN contributor, talk radio host, and Bush-Cheney '04 campaign adviser, Rev. Joe Watkins, falsely claimed that the United States has experienced a "reduction" in poverty under President Bush. Watkins stated that "under Bill Clinton, 15.1 percent of the population was poor; under President Bush, 12.7 percent of the population is poor. That's a reduction, that's a good thing."

The truth is that the 15.1 percent poverty rate is what Democratic President Bill Clinton inherited from his predecessor, Republican President George W.H. Bush. What any honest reporter would credit him with is what he did with that figure. And since President Clinton reduced the 15.1% poverty when he took office in 1993 to a low of 11.3 percent in 2000; what he should be credited with is the 11.3 figure. By the same token, what Republican President George W. Bush deserves credit for is not the 11.7% which he inherited from President Clinton, but what he himself did with that figure. And since the poverty rate has risen every year that Bush has been in office, from 11.7 percent in 2001 to 12.7 percent in 2004, his record is the very opposite of what this shameful Black Republican "man of God" claims. What "god" does Rev. Joe Watkins represent, anyway? Source http://mediamatters.org/items/200509130002

[BlooInBloo]

15. There's little white folks love moe than getting one browbeaten black guy who'll say anything...

... that white folks wanna hear, just so that white folks will (pretend to) like him.