The ever-vigilant Brian Maloney at Radio Equalizer noticed that PBS curiously cut Harry Belafonte's anti-Obama rant from last Saturday's re-feed of the Smiley and West Show (Why a taxpayer-funded station has a show featuring two left-wingers ideologically pleasuring each other in their cozy little echo chamber is beyond me, but ...).
Melanie Morganstern at the Blaze has the story:
Legendary singer Harry Belafonte hasn’t been one to hold back his political opinions: He’s attacked the Tea Party, then-GOP presidential candidate Herman Cainand in July even voiced his dissatisfaction with President Barack Obama, saying Obama lacked courage and vision.
Interviewed recently on the “Smiley & West” radio program — co-hosted by PBS talk show host Tavis Smiley and Princeton University professor Cornel West — Belafonte came down on Obama again, saying the president lacks a “moral compass.”
But as Brian Maloney of the Radio Equalizer pointed out, Belafonte’s comments about Obama, available in full on the “Smiley & West” website, appear to have been edited out when the program was broadcast to its public radio affiliates around the country.
When trying to get an explanation ...
Joe Zefran, the producer of “Smiley & West,” said in a phone interview with The Blaze that the show was edited for time, not to try to cover up Belafonte’s remarks.
There are always two versions of the show, he said: A broadcast version that goes out to affiliate stations that’s limited to 59 minutes, and the longer, unedited version that is posted online and in podcast form.
But, as Morganstern notes, PBS omits Belafonte's offending words in the online transcript of the show. That's certainly not a time constraint issue!
But why cut that segment specifically?
“It was the least interesting part to be honest,” he said. “A lot of people have been saying that [about Obama], Fox News says that every night.”
Ah, that's right, Zefran. Try to deflect by going to Fox News! Nice try. But it's not going to work. Taxpayer-funded PBS is as much an Obama love fest as it ever was. For that reason, a black ultra-liberal criticizing him is very interesting, and your leaving that segment on the cutting-room floor is very suspect.
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