Such is the plight of the race obsessed that in the absence of any George Wallace rhetoric Democrats are inventing new racist rhetoric. Four years ago I wrote about how Dallas city Commissioner John Wiley Price claimed that the term “black hole” was racist. What? Racism is real, it exists, and the nation (and the world) has an embarrassing history in regards to race. It’s one thing to be sensitive and it’s another to be obsessed.
I’m all for exposing racial bigotry. It shouldn’t be tolerated in politics today. That’s why I don’t have time for Jesse Jackson. When Jackson goes around telling people they’re “not black enough” there’s a problem. In October, 2011, Juan Williams was fired from NPR for making “insensitive” comments about Muslims. Shouldn’t Mr. Williams be cognizant about the stupidity of “veiled racism?” Apparently not…
The language of GOP racial politics is heavy on euphemisms that allow the speaker to deny any responsibility for the racial content of his message. The code words in this game are “entitlement society” — as used by Mitt Romney — and “poor work ethic” and “food stamp president” — as used by Newt Gingrich. References to a lack of respect for the “Founding Fathers” and the “Constitution” also make certain ears perk up by demonizing anyone supposedly threatening core “old-fashioned American values.”
The code also extends to attacks on legal immigrants, always carefully lumped in with illegal immigrants, as people seeking “amnesty” and taking jobs from Americans.
But the code sometimes breaks down.
I didn’t know that blacks didn’t respect the Founding Fathers. Or that the “entitlement society” was racist. Most people on food stamps are white as are most people who make up the “entitlement society.” Also, the Republicans in this race have gone through painstaking detail about immigration. It would be very difficult to characterize Romney’s or Gingrich’s position as anti-immigration. Mr. Williams finishes his rant with this head scratcher:
The problem is not a lack of work ethic on the part of the poor, who are disproportionately minorities. The problem is there are few good jobs for blue-collar people with the best work ethic.
The problem is a lot more complicated than the lack of good jobs. There will never be “good jobs” for unskilled and uneducated people. I wish people like Juan Williams would get over all this racist crap and start talking about real problems. There’s an increasing number of unskilled and uneducated people. The common denominator with most of these people isn’t race, it’s family, or more accurately, the lack of it. Out of wedlock births are the underlying cancer of our society. For every feel-good story you see on CNN about a single mother who raised her kids there are 15 stories of tradegy.
Racism didn’t create this problem. Racism isn’t perpetuating the problem.
There’s a simple truth about economics: Market forces could care less about your skin color, your sex, your sexual preferences, your ethnicity, or anything else that superficially divides us as human beings. Did it matter much that the Soviet Union incorporated a rainbow of ethnic groups in its national mix? No. The economic system sucked, and still sucks. The same goes for Cuba, Venezuela, Greece and any other wannabe spread-the-wealth worker’s paradise.
This is one of many reasons I can’t comprehend the left’s fascination with race, ethnicity and identity in general. I figured the election of someone with a mixed racial background would finally end the nonsense, but it’s gotten worse.
America is not a racist nation. It was a racist nation, but systemic racism has been all but eradicated. Sure, there’s still racism (now mostly found on the left; more on that below), and there always will be. As long as there are people there will be hatred and strife. It’s just a fact of life, but if you live in a Utopian dream world filled with rainbows and unicorns, I suggest you bring yourself back to earth and read some history.
Free market capitalism turns humanity’s weakness – its overriding selfishness – into a strength. Economic central planning does the exact opposite; it exploits humanity’s weakness to reward the select few.
Let's send someone to the White House who is less likely to favor cronies and identity groups and more likely to allow Americans to exercise their liberties.
What does this have to do with race and identity politics? Two words: Herman Cain. I am endorsing Mr. Cain for President. Am I supporting Mr. Cain because he’s black, or because I’m excited about someone who’s not part of the traditional political structure and who actually speaks truth to power?
I’m exhausted by career politicians with degrees from Yale and Harvard who tell us they’re going to fix everything for us because they’re so damn smart. They may be “smart,” but they’re also arrogant, and the combination is toxic (see Enron, see also the Financial Meltdown of 2008).
Cain is smart, but he also has common sense, something you find in short supply in the rarefied air of Harvard, Yale, Lehman Brothers and the Beltway. He believes in limited government, personal responsibility and that all people are created equal, which is the only sensible way to govern a free people. Free people expect little from their government. Free people prefer to be treated based on the common denominator of their humanity rather than the vagaries of whatever identity group into which they may fit.
Our government was instituted to protect citizens from foreign and domestic enemies so they can pursue life, liberty and happiness. It was not instituted to provide life, liberty and happiness. Cain understands this, and the concept that the larger the government, the smaller the citizen.
The left, however, sneers at Cain and his accomplishments. They call him an “Oreo” and an “Uncle Tom”; he is a traitor to his race and not authentically black. Remember, these are people who call themselves “progressive.”
What of Dr. King’s dream? “I have a dream my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Progressives, however, prefer to live in a nation where we are judged by the color of our skin, not the content of our character. This is progress?
Unlike the left, I judge Herman Cain, and Barack Obama for that matter, by the content of their character. I can’t stand Obama’s politics, but I have nothing against him personally. And again, I could care less if he’s black, white, purple or blue. Note that the left demonizes its opponents, labeling them as evil, stupid or both. Rather than debate policy positions, the left personalizes and polarizes.
The difference between the two men – Cain and Obama – has nothing to do with race, and everything to do with philosophy. Two divergent backgrounds produced two opposing philosophies. Obama worked hard and succeeded through academia and politics. He lived a life of social theory and never had any practical experience in the real world.
Cain also worked hard, but excelled in business, despite rising in the ranks during a time when racism was much more prevalent. Cain has practical experience. He’s met a payroll, as the pundits like to put it. In other words, he’s more likely to understand how big government impacts the average person negatively because he’s been there. People like Barack Obama have never been there and are far less likely to understand basic, real-world economics.
But because Cain’s real-world view that government’s coddling of victim groups, which leads to dependency and poverty (you can look it up; Google “poverty black family since war on poverty”), he’s a racist traitor, according to the left. Back in the real world, Cain is exactly right that just because white liberals and big government treat you like you’re stupid and lazy, doesn’t mean you are.
The left seeks to divide. By dividing, they conquer. And when they conquer, they destroy. E Unum Pluribus!
I watched the season two premier of Boardwalk Empire last night. Boardwalk Empire is a fantastic show about Atlantic City in the early 1920s. This is a period in American history I find very fascinating. Last summer I read the book Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. That book is being used for the new Ken Burns documentary about Prohibition that’s starting next week.
On the season premier of Boardwalk Empire a group of Ku Klux Klan members open fire on African-Americans trafficking alcohol. They must have killed around six people, including a woman, and shot a number of others.There have been a series of things on the show that aren’t exactly historically accurate, but this scene was way over the top.
In 1920, the KKK had over a million members. The Klan was active in New Jersey during that period, but it’s always been a secret society. There were several unsolved lynchings during this period and many were related to KKK activity. The writers for Boardwalk Empire made it seem as if the KKK was committing atrocities out in the open. If that scene would have happened in Atlantic City in 1920 there’s no way it would have been tolerated by a majority of Americans.
My point is not to downplay the heinous nature of the KKK. The history of racism in the United States is important and the writers should have taken some more time to get it right. They could have still included the Klan and made their point without “jumping the shark.” It reminded me of the scene in the movie The Patriot where British Colonel Tavington orders a church full of a few hundred inhabitants burned with the people inside. No such thing ever took place. Nothing that brutal was ever recorded in the war.
The cowardice of the KKK was that it was a secret society. The KKK at that time was racist, anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic, anti-communist, and part of the temperance movement. The only thing the Boardwalk Empire writers made sure to include was the fact that KKK members thought they had God on their side. The whole episode is just a perfect example lazy writing.
What’s the big deal? Well, for people like myself who are educated about history it’s not a big deal. However, most people are pretty ignorant when it comes to history. Do we really want people to believe that in 1920 white people in New Jersey were gunning down African Americans in broad daylight? Do we want Americans to believe that the British were burning innocent civilians to death by the hundreds? Writers shouldn’t be expected to follow history perfectly, but it would be nice to get the major details correct. Otherwise, it’s just piss-poor propaganda.
Since losing the 2000 election Al Gore has become one of the saddest demagogues in politics today. Gore has refused to debate and he’s refused to apologize for his incorrect, crazy predictions. The only way Gore can make news now is to make idiotic claims. It’s no longer good enough to equate global warming skeptics to Holocaust deniers. Now global warming skeptics are the new racists.
The former vice president recalled how society succeeded in marginalizing racists and said climate change skeptics must be defeated in the same manner.
“Secondly, back to this phrase ‘win the conversation,’” he continued. “There came a time when friends or people you work with or people you were in clubs with — you’re much younger than me so you didn’t have to go through this personally — but there came a time when racist comments would come up in the course of the conversation and in years past they were just natural. Then there came a time when people would say, ‘Hey, man why do you talk that way, I mean that is wrong. I don’t go for that so don’t talk that way around me. I just don’t believe that.’ That happened in millions of conversations and slowly the conversation was won.”
Perry Surging: The first poll after the Perry announcement has him up big in the race for the GOP presidential nomination. For the moment this is probably his high water mark. A candidate is never as good as they are the moment they jump in the race. Perry has already put his foot in his mouth and there’s a lot of campaigning to do before Super Tuesday. Also, there are rumblings that Paul Ryan and Chris Christie are thinking about joining Perry in the race. I’m sure Romney is hoping that is true, but it’s getting late for anyone to get in now.
Even the Clouds are Racist: How can anyone take MSNBC seriously? Ed Schultz took to the airwaves claiming that Rick Perry was making veiled racist remarks about President Obama by saying there’s a “black cloud hanging over America.” Schultz edited the video in the worst possible way, but it’s still clear that Perry is talking about the national debt and not the President.
Killer TV: Watching TV can lead to a shorter life. At least that’s what researchers say. One hour of TV can shorten the average lifespan by 22 minutes. I am always leery of studies like this because I’m not convinced it’s accurate. How long before those in favor of the nanny state start advocating for the abolition of TV?
It’s that time again. I love reading crazy tweets. Today’s topic is racism. We’ll hear a lot about racism over the course of the next 15 months. Opposing President Obama’s reelection automatically means you’re a racist. Well, that’s what morons will be saying. Brace yourself, this is going to be the ugliest election in my lifetime.
States rights are racist kind of like how oxygen is racist or my toothbrush. I’ve seen the way my toothbrush looks at people. I can tell. Everything is racist is the new racism.
I’m tired of the rich myth. Two-thirds of the super-rich voted for Obama in the last election. The elite in this nation vote for Democrats. I’m not sure why this myth continues, but two thirds of people who make over $30 million a year voted for Obama in 2008.
I haven’t figured out the Ron Paul people. A lot of them are confused. For example, Ron Paul and Jon Stewart pretty much disagree on every policy issue. Jon Stewart is a liberal even though he tries to convince himself he’s a moderate. Sadly, that’s why viewers like this guy are all over the political map.
It’s Friday and what better way to close the week out than with some good old race baiting by House Representative Sheila Jackson Lee. The time has come in this nation to root out this evil. I don’t mean to dismiss the problems of discrimination, but many on the left can’t articulate any argument without shouting racism. It’s offensive and it its way has turned racism into a joke. Basically if you disagree with Obama you’re a racist.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) used the race card this afternoon to assess blame in the debt ceiling fight. Jackson Lee, a black Congresswoman, believes the disagreement over raising the debt ceiling is because of President Obama’s race.
“I am particularly sensitive to the fact that only this president, only this president, only this one has received the kind attacks and disagreements and inability to work. Only this one,” Jackson Lee said on the House floor this afternoon.
“Read between the lines.”
“What is different about this president that should put him in a position that he should not receive the same kind of respectful treatment of when it is necessary to raise the debt limit in order to pay our bills, something required by both statute and the 14th amendment?”
Real Clear Politics has the video. When President Obama was a senator he voted against raising the debt limit. Apparently Sheila Jackson Lee didn’t notice. She also didn’t notice that the Democrats blocked Bush’s judicial appointments and took the unprecedented step of blocking Bush’s Federal Reserve appointments. The left opposed and stonewalled Bush at every turn. President Bush never demagogued his position like President Obama has done on countless occasions. Obama has even called out the Supreme Court during a State of the Union speech.
Who cares, right? It’s all just partisan nonsense. Lee’s comments are ignorant. What attacks has Obama received that are unprecedented? What kind of nation are we living in when elected officials give speeches like this?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past four years the economy isn’t doing well. Unemployment is at the highest level since before I could tie my shoes. Chronic unemployment is worse than it was during the Great Depression. Typically, crime goes up when the economy tumbles. It’s certainly the case these days. Even here in Sarasota the change is evident.
I’ve gone to Siesta Key to visit the beautiful beach every year since I moved here in 2004. The amount of unruly behavior at the beach has increased dramatically the past two years. This is happening all over the country. Thanks in part to the increase in minimum wage youth unemployment is at record highs. Is it really surprising that youth violence is getting worse? The Drudge Report shed light on all the violent incidents all over the country during Memorial Day weekend. Apparently, this is racist. I know this because David Frum thinks it’s racist.
Who has a word to say when the popular home page of the DrudgeReport strings together local news headlines of college-student rowdiness over Memorial Day to create a (false, obviously) image of the Obama administration licensing a nationwide eruption of African-American anti-white violence?
Is there anyone who hates themself more than David Frum? The quote above comes from an article about the GOP’s prospects in 2012. When I saw the headlines I did what any rational person would do… surmise that violent crime among young people is increasing because of widespread unemployment. David Frum saw the headlines and linked college rowdiness to race and the President. Is Frum a closet racist? Apparently he’s not the only one.
It’s too bad that progressives are obsessed with race. Instead of focusing on the race straw-man perhaps they could rethink their support of minimum wage laws that help contribute to this mess. Unfortunately, most progressives aren’t part of the reality based community. David Frum isn’t a progressive, but he wants to be loved by them, hence Frum’s facincation with nonsense.
The inside the beltway types don’t understand that crime is a problem. I guess they only associate crime with minorities. Isn’t that racist? When a white guy busts a banjo on the head of another beachgoer on Siesta Key the man’s race was irrelevant.
If Obama loses his bid for reelection in 2012 the left will blame it on racism. If Obama wins in a close contest the left will blame racism. That’s how shallow some people on left are when it comes to racism. The left is obsessed with racism. Obama’s problems have nothing to do with his race and everything to do with his amateur leadership. Tavis Smiley has even gone a step further, predicting that 2012 will be “the the ugliest, the nastiest, the most divisive, and the most racist in the history of this Republic.” Only an idiot could make such a statement.
I guess Smiley has forgotten about George Wallace and has no historic knowledge of the election of 1860. Does Smiley really believe this upcoming election is going to be uglier and more divisive than the election that led to a civil war? Is race really that big of a problem today? The nation just elected a president named Barack Hussein Obama who wasn’t even qualified for the office. Race isn’t a major problem when that happens. It’s odd that the same people who drool over Martin Luther King’s famous words that we should not” judge by the color of skin, but by the content of character” are obsessed by the color of skin. Obama’s problem is the content of his agenda, not the color of his skin.
Tavis Smiley and his hate logic are perfectly acceptable for PBS, but Juan Williams is a problem? Give me a break!
Here’s another entry in the “you can’t make this up” files. The Supreme Court in Delaware overturned a Human Relations Commission (whatever the hell that is) ruling that made a movie theater pay $1,500 to 33 members of an audience who felt that the tone of manager David Stewart was racist.
Apparently, a member of the thought police, a.k.a., Human Relations Commission was in attendance and she felt that asking a mainly African-American audience to silence their cell phones was racist. I’ve been to several opening night shows where the theater was jammed packed and a theater representative asked everyone to behave before the show. These were mainly white audiences so I guess they were immune to the racist tones inherent in asking someone to be quiet.
Now I understand that certain members of our society suffer from a victim mentality. What’s so outrageous about this situation is that there’s a stupid Human Relations Commission that feels obligated to dish out fines if there’s a tone they feel is racist. That it ever reached the Delaware Supreme Court is embarrassing. In a bankrupt state the fact that taxpayers fund a Human Relations Commission is ridiculous. That commission should be abolished.
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