We all know that talking heads on television are reading their lines from a teleprompter. And we all know that sometimes the words typed onto the teleprompter can get mixed up. So it was when MSNBC's Contessa Brewer introduced Jesse Jackson as Al Sharpton, but then she said "I'm so sorry, ...I'm looking at your face, I know who you are Reverend Jackson, we all do. I'm sorry"
Personally I think it was an honest mistake, and probably caused by her script writer. But what if this had been a gaffe on FoxNews? Wouldn't the Al Sharpton's of the world have been howling around on Oprah, The View and CNN claiming that the "I'm looking at your face" comment was "RACIST"? Can't you just hear them saying this was all part of the "You all look alike to me" kind of attitude that those evil, racist white people secretly hold?
I'm not all that upset by Contessa's error, but I do think it provides us with a chance to examine the double standard at work in the media.
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