Rush Limbaugh, love him or hate him, predicted that electing Barrack Obama President would not improve but actually intensify racial politics in America. Sadly, white liberals like former President Jimmy Carter and girl columnist Maureen Dowd have proved him right by their public statements equating opposition to Obama's policies as racist. Many in the African-American community agree. We should have seen it coming when the Obama primary election campaign accused Bill Clinton, once called the "first black president", of racism because of several comments he made while supporting his wife's bid for the Democratic nomination. Still we long for the day racism ends as a significant force in American life.
Two black senior citizen friends of mine, one a PhD educator and the other a Boeing retiree, may provide a starting point. Both grew up and were educated through college in the Deep South and suffered the outrageous indignities of segregation. The educator recalls coming to Seattle as an Army officer in the 1960s and not being able to find housing near his base due to unwritten "whites only" restrictions. My Boeing friend refuses "forever" to patronize Texaco because they were sued for racial discrimination at one of their gas stations. "Forever" even though Texaco paid a fine and apologized.
These men are so scarred by their experiences that nothing will ever be able to compensate them. Truman integrating the armed forces, Brown vs. the Board of Education, Eisenhower sending troops to Little Rock, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, affirmative action, electing a black president, none of this matters. To them, black people in American are permanent victims of slavery and racial discrimination and that has not changed. It explains virtually all of the problems of crime, fatherless homes, poor education and lack of economic progress in the black community.
The children of my friends are all well educated and successful. If they are not tainted by the bad old days like their fathers, if they are a little embarrassed by leaders of the race industry such as Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and the more extreme black political leaders, then hopefully each new generation will see more and more the end of racism. Just as a dying yellow jacket can still sting, society must be on guard against discrimination but we do not need to parse every word searching for hidden racial epithets.
Posted by warrenpeterson at September 16, 2009 08:43 PM | Email ThisIf anything, this ACORN story shows that the 'old media' is out of touch and really not interested in pursuing a story that contradicts their political philosopy. It's why Charlie Gibson hadn't heard until Monday about any ACORN controversey even though it brok on last thursday or friday. It's why FOX news is increasing its viewership and is rapidly becoming the most trusted name in news.
Posted by: Rick D. on September 16, 2009 09:14 PMIn context, BSD doesn't interrupt the school day for just about anything. And, they want to know content before doing so. This speech was an unknown, sprung on them at the last minute. So they decided to let teachers record it and deal with it as part of the curriculum as they saw fit.
These two parents disagreed with this decision. They proceeded to call the superintendent, the administration, and the school board members racist for not airing the speech. They didn't just say it once. They continued. And they were rudely loud.
Finally one of the board members told them to sit down, they had said enough.
If they women had stopped at their objection, they would have had credibility. As it was, everyone just looked at them as the lunatics that they were.
Posted by: janet s on September 16, 2009 09:34 PMAnd I'm touched that Rush Limbaugh -- you know, the Rush Limbaugh who played "Barack the Magic Negro" repeatedly on his show -- is worried about Obama stoking racism. But Obama's career -- from law school through president -- has notably avoided the topic of race unless it was forced on him by idiots like Limbaugh.
Posted by: Bruce on September 16, 2009 10:02 PMIt was only a matter of time before someone pushed the "you're a racist" button on Obama's opponents.
Face it, if he were politically white, he'd still be easy to dislike. He's a smug, condescending member of the intelligensia who know better than the rest of us.
And his policies? Excrecrable.
Posted by: J Cline on September 16, 2009 10:43 PMMethinks the lady doth protest too much.
Given all of the clear racism coming from the right -- Michael Steele got his position because the three white guys who were ahead of him in the polls managed to one by one out themselves as closet racists, and that's not even counting the hordes of (admittedly ignorant and fringe) people at these Teabagger rallies who give voice to overt racism -- it hardly seems a stretch to say that some of the virulence of the opposition to Obama is racially motivated.
Acknowledging reality exists would go a long ways towards making the right's claims more plausible. But instead we get rabid, frothing at the mouth denials of racism that a blind, deaf cow could recognize. It's an almost ironic display of exactly the behavior Stephan Colbert portrays in his "My Black Best Friend" bits.
Here's some things to consider:
You know who accuses people of "playing the race card?" Racists.
You know who vehemently denies that growing up in a racist society has left them with unaddressed racist attitudes and beliefs? Racists!
You know who gets most offended by accusations of racism? RACISTS!
You guys aren't fooling anyone but yourselves.
Posted by: Ken on September 16, 2009 11:33 PMand yes, there ISN'T racism under every rock. Though the dems try to pretend so.
And Jimmy Carter--someone who many think is very anti-semitic--calling other people racist?? Very interesting, to say the least.
The truth is, the only people who keep talking about race are the democrats. The republicans are too busy talking about Obama's ideas and actions to care what color he is. The democrats are actually the ones with the race problem. They just can't see anything in Obama BUT his color. Otherwise they wouldn't keep bringing it up. We wish they'd just talk about what he's DOING, not his color.
Posted by: Michele on September 17, 2009 12:14 AMYou seem positively dripping is blind race psychosis.
Lighten up.
My white friends will dismiss another man for the color of his socks before dismissing him for the color of his skin.
Are you suggesting that there is NO REASON to dislike the man other than for the color of his skin?
You are straight out of an Archie Bunker skit.
I doubt anyone in America dislikes Obama simply for the color of his lovely mocha skin. I wish I had it.
Maybe that's it!
Skin color envy among whites!
No. Just kidding. He is reviled by some because he has a snobby superior intellect, but with inferior knowledge and solutions.
And he is freely able to jerk the reins in my mouth with impunity. I want to buck him.
Why don't you?
Some people, such as myself, don't like smart fools controlling my destiny.
Is it OK to be grumpy about that without having to use the silly race card as an explanation?
Wikipedia describes further the origins of the term. Spike Lee is described there as having "popularized the term, deriding the archetype of the 'super-duper'magical negro' in 2001 while discussing films with students at Washington State University and Yale University." Even if you or I would choose not to use such a term, it has been used by more than one liberal and to me seems that when Rush mentions the title of the March 2007 L.A. Times piece, he's actually mocking the liberal L.A. Times and liberals in general for using the term.
Posted by: Michele on September 17, 2009 12:38 AMYou don't even know the origin of the phrase, or why he latched on to it. Or do you? If you know that he plays it repeatedly, why don't you also know why?
As for Dowd and Carter, their aim is to make the opposition shut up by calling them racists. They are actually doing civil rights a dis-service my making the term meaningless.
Carter, of, "that black boy" when referring to Obama has a lot of nerve.
...that Carter and Dowd "equate opposition to Obama's policies as racist". They said no such thing... ~ Bruce
Right, they did the most cowardly thing in any debate and simply isolated this as a Black race v. White race issue leaving out Obama's highly controversial(and soon to fail) policies altogether as you readily admit. For a proclaimed post-racial candidate, Obama's proving his political skin is pretty thin. The result of being pampered throughout his time in the party of "identity politics".
This is simply a scorched earth policy enacted by Obama's supporters to put the president "too big to fail" in a protective cocoon and placing the dreaded "R" label on anyone that dare criticize his actions. I would suggest Obama address the anti-semite Carter's comments and denounce them for what they are, "Old habits and stale thinking", as he likes to say.
It's the ploy of cowards and reprobates, but one that the left has regularly rolled out for the past 30 years or so. I, for one, am sick and tired of it.
Posted by: Rick D. on September 17, 2009 06:11 AMHere's a clue for the likes of Maureen Dowd: minorities in this country are racist, too. Blacks and Hispanics don't get along all that well, in case you hadn't noticed, Maureen. You can not particularly care ofr one group or another, yet you can still exist with that group.
Posted by: Politically Incorrect on September 17, 2009 06:12 AMWh... what??? What exactly is "logical" about that?
Good thing they rebuked otherwise I would have had to buy a horse.
Posted by: Gary on September 17, 2009 06:13 AMHe had a 70% approval rating. Now it's 50%. So, did all of those people who used to approve of him suddenly turn into racists?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism
It's headed with this caveat:
"This article contains weasel words, vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information. Such statements should be clarified or removed."
"When a radical fringe element of demonstrators and others begin to attack the president of the United States as an animal or as a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler or when they wave signs in the air that said we should have buried Obama with Kennedy, those kinds of things are beyond the bounds," the Democrat who served from 1977-1981 told students at Emory University.
"I think people who are guilty of that kind of personal attack against Obama have been influenced to a major degree by a belief that he should not be president because he happens to be African American."
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So... Obama=Hitler signs is racist? Why? That makes ZERO sense.
Posted by: Gary on September 17, 2009 07:04 AMI know.... maybe that empty-suited, anti-American racist bigot they so rabidly support could put "treatment for delusion" into his health care plan!
For example, take Bluce:
"Your post is based on a falsehood -- that Carter and Dowd "equate opposition to Obama's policies as racist". They said no such thing; did you read the sources that you linked to? They did say that they think some of the opposition to Obama is based on racism. That's very different, and while it's arguable, they presented significant arguments to support their claims."
That's a crock, of course.
Here is, for example, Carter's quote:
"When a radical fringe element of demonstrators and others begin to attack the president of the United States as an animal or as a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler or when they wave signs in the air that said we should have buried Obama with Kennedy, those kinds of things are beyond the bounds," the Democrat who served from 1977-1981 told students at Emory University.
"I think people who are guilty of that kind of personal attack against Obama have been influenced to a major degree by a belief that he should not be president because he happens to be African American.
"It's a racist attitude, and my hope is and my expectation is that in the future both Democratic leaders and Republican leaders will take the initiative in condemning that kind of unprecedented attack on the president of the United States," Carter said.
Of course, attacks against Bush doing PRECISELY the same thing (Equating Bush with Hitler) elicited no objection from that leftist whack job, or OUR two leftist whack jobs here, Bruce and Ken.
As for that nutberger Dowd:
"Surrounded by middle-aged white guys � a sepia snapshot of the days when such pols ran Washington like their own men�s club � Joe Wilson yelled �You lie!� at a president who didn�t.
But, fair or not, what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy!"
Like most fringe leftist nutbergers (Bruce and Ken included) she hears things that are not said, and sees things that are not there.... this, another proof that self-delusion is the hallmark of the leftist.... a requirement to hold the title.
You are a flaming racist.
Don't even pretend you are on the same intellectual level as taxpayers of all colors and creeds who object to being robbed at gunpoint by their government.
Posted by: Andy on September 17, 2009 09:18 AMMy original point still stands, however, and for that matter I still think Rush Limbaugh is a racist blowhard.
Posted by: Bruce on September 17, 2009 09:26 AMOh, well that settles it then. Nice summation. You listen to him every day? That's good.
Posted by: Gary on September 17, 2009 09:37 AMMy original point still stands, however, and for that matter I still think Rush Limbaugh is a racist blowhard.
Actually Bruce, you didn't make a point at all. And accusing Limbaugh of being a "racist blowhard" without backing that up with citations merely shows that the left doesn't use common sense when arriving at their conclusions, they use their "feelings"- See intellectually bankrupt. But then, some choose simply to parrot the hate sites like Kos, HuffPo and HA, as opposed to thinking independently.
Posted by: Rick D on September 17, 2009 09:59 AMThe lady gave birth to a fourth child, and with that birth the family had an "anchor baby"�an American citizen by birth, who provided the entire family with a free pass to remain in the United States permanently and collect government, subsides. Unfortunately the baby was born prematurely, spent three months in the neonatal incubator, and cost the San Joaquin Hospital more than $300,000. Meanwhile, the oldest daughter married an illegal alien and gave birth to her own anchor baby, and then Cristobal�s wife gave birth to yet another baby. ALL PAID FOR BY�YOU!
This is just one taxpayer example of the 'Rule of law' that has cost taxpayers billions of dollars. A nurse admitted last weekend, according to Review-Journal reported that cash-strapped UMC hospital in Nevada is providing more than $20 million a year in emergency dialysis care for uninsured, illegal immigrants. Is American society insane when poverty stricken Americans are turned away, go bankrupt and sometimes die? TAXPAYERS ARE TAXED FOR THIS, BUT NOT FOR OUR OWN PEOPLE? We must insist that a Birthright Citizenship lawsuit be filed with the federal court and its original intent revisited? That E-Verify should be fully funded and a highly skilled MIT team, building on the original Immigration enforcement database to a highest level of security that cannot be compromised by the use of fraudulent documents.
The PC oriented application must be installed permanently on every business computer across this country? ICE should have the manpower to audit every workplace, with the power to arrest and detain employers who snub immigration laws? Repeat offenders should be dealt with harshly, including prison and confiscation of business assets. There should be no mitigating excuses because illegal immigrants are�STEALING JOBS-- on any rung of the employment ladder? These employers for years have been an intended magnet for destitute labor in many cases, but have left the burden of paying for schooling for the children, health care and a veiled miscellaneous core of government handouts to US taxpayers. THIS IS NOT ABOUT RACISM, BUT AN ULTIMATE FINANCIAL MATTER OF SURVIVAL FOR US ALL!
Posted by: Brittancus on September 17, 2009 10:11 AMhttp://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200703200012
Posted by: leftcoastjunkie on September 17, 2009 11:27 AMNow in 2009, the pendulum may be swinging back the other way. People like Juan Williams have criticized race-baiting Democrat partisans. They employ a racist strategy--not the overt racism of a Wilson, but racism nonetheless. It is a strategy that seeks to intensify racial hostility and then take advantage.
More and more people are starting to realize this. Obama's poll numbers tumbled after he piled on a white cop who was falsely accused as a racist by Obama pal HL Gates.
Posted by: travis t on September 17, 2009 05:43 PMYou don't, Jim. We're expected to just fall in line. I, for one, refuse. They can call me whatever the hell they want.
Tone deaf. You think people are opposed to the health care thing now... just wait until this sinks in. He is going to kill amnesty with health care.
Cap and trade will not happen either. I think he's lame before the year is out.
"I'm counting on other decisions to follow this correct and brave decision, including the complete elimination of restrictions on cooperation with Russia and on transfers of high technology to Russia as well as an intensification of World Trade Organization expansion to include Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan," Putin said at a business forum in Sochi today.
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We are doomed. Obama bends over for our enemies and kicks our allies in the teeth.