CNN’s headline for this story reads, quote, “Bush: crime of slavery ultimately ‘set America free’”. Which has, to my eye, somewhat questionable implications.
In fact, what he really said was “The stolen sons and daughters of Africa helped to awaken the conscience of America. The very people traded into slavery helped to set America free.” The crime itself didn’t set people free; rather, the people we wronged helped set us free. Very different meaning, there.
The mainstream press is pretty much gonna dogpile on whoever looks vulnerable, whether they’re liberal or conservative. The Republicans have just done a better job convincing the press they aren’t vulnerable. That’s why it’s important to have a big whacking mass of think tanks pumping out stuff that supports your point of view — it lends the weight of authority.
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Looks like there’s some revisionist history going on. The tag on the front page is “In Africa, Bush says slaves ‘set America free'” The headline for the story itself is “Bush: Slavery one of history’s ‘greatest crimes'”