Ask many black conservatives and they can quickly define sell-out and list all the derogatory connotations "sell out" implies. Having often been labeled a sell-out myself, I present to you the required criteria for being tagged as such.  First, a sell-out must belong to a small group with a shared likeness of some kind -- be it race, agenda, profession, or culture. Second, that group must have an established platform of belief often with a leader of some sort at the helm. Third, the group must have a common enemy who regularly contests their established platform and worldview.  When the trusted member of this small group breaks one or all of these rules (either by going against the approved rhetoric or appearing to side with the enemy), he or she becomes a sell-out. 

The sell-out is accused of saying one thing for duplicitous reasons while believing what the group holds true. It is tempting to cover for the cause. But the real sell-out is he who hides a true voice in order to conform to a monolithic status quo.

It seems we witnessed this type of selling-out in the recent derogatory comments made by Mark Halperin, who last Thursday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" asked for a delay so he could say the President of the United States acted like a vulgar and crass word for genitalia.  Halperin's genital adjective of choice is more than disrespectful.  It is further revelation that the leftist media engages in journalist folly at expense of the truth.

Halperin meets all the criteria for a potential sell-out: his group is the elite leftist media; their agenda is to back the progressive politics of the left and make Americans buy into the lies of liberal propaganda; their established rhetorical platform is that all things conservative are ill-willed and liberal policies are the solution to our nation's troubles; their media enemy is Fox News Channel, but, their dominant nemesis is the truth.  

Halperin who is an editor-at-large for TIME magazine, a leading political analyst and a regular on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," seems to have been selling out. In asking to use the delay in order to say what he really thought, what Halperin confided is that he usually does not say what he really means. In other words, if he is to fit in with the group think, he is not permitted to call a spade a spade.

Halperin committed no crime in expressing distaste at the President's demeanor, but the manner and the vulgarity in which Halperin did so betrayed his integrity.  In asking for the delay button, Halperin sought to keep viewers in the dark on his true insights.  The vulgarity of his word suggests a back story.   An accomplished author, TIME magazine editor, and regular MSNBC commentator, Halperin must know of a more diplomatic way to describe Obama's demeanor other than the way he did.  Which means Halperin does not feel he can -- at least not in plain sight.  Not to mention, Halperin must have felt he was in safe quarters, delay or not, to say such a thing to his fellow hosts.

How many more of these leftist journalists are filling us with a bunch of nonsense about how great this President and his policies are when they do not believe it themselves?   That Halperin was comfortable describing the President with a genital adjective to his comrades, but not the American viewer, proves he is not the lone sell-out.  How can their viewers trust that Halperin or his leftist media group truly have conviction in their hearts for the words coming out of their mouths (when on camera)?

For instance, when Halperin declares, "The White House has been brilliant and the President has been disciplined," when talking about the 2011 budget, can the audience trust that he believes this?  And suddenly it makes sense that Halperin would claim that conservatives should be "turning the other cheek" while the media tried to make the Arizona shootings a referendum on hateful conservative rhetoric. It is possible even he didn't trust such a foolish suggestion.

The whole point of writing and commentating when given the privilege is to tell the audience what one really thinks or to give insight into what has not been mentioned. Now, we can understand why all the leftist news programs are all duplicates of one another. They are all hit the same keys over and over again hoping will strike a chord with us.

Lisa Fritsch is a talk radio show host and author of Obama, Tea Parties and God: What It Means to be an American, a Patriot and a Christian. Find her at www.lisafritsch.com