The outrage that wasn't

WTOP, a Maryland radio station, says the alleged incident in which Black Republican Michael Steele had Oreo cookies thrown at him was exaggerated:

According to numerous reports in the Washington Times, Steele was "pelted" with Oreo cookies, which signifies a racial slur for being black on the outside and white on the inside.

Times reporter S.A. Miller is one of the writers who referenced the incident in news articles on more than one occasion. Miller told WTOP he attended the event in 2002 and saw Steele get hit with cookies.

When pressed, Miller said he couldn't swear in court that Steele did get hit with cookies because he didn't actually see it happen.

On Tuesday, Steele told WTOP that he was never hit with Oreos and said the incident has been exaggerated.

"I've never claimed that I was hit, no. The one or two that I saw at my feet were there. I just happened to look down and see them," Steele said.

Even "one or two" Oreos thrown is a grotesque, insulting smear, and this still doesn't excuse some of the rhetoric directed at Steele on "liberal" websites. But it looks like the Washington Times - always controversial, because of its pro-Republican stance and Moonie ownership - blew this one way out of proportion.

Posted by damian at November 16, 2005 09:12 AM | TrackBack