In an an excerpt (linked in red on Drudge) from his new book, Family and Freedom: Presidents and African Americans in the White House, US News journalist Kenneth T. Walsh writes:
But Obama, in his most candid moments, acknowledged that race was still a problem. In May 2010, he told guests at a private White House dinner that race was probably a key component in the rising opposition to his presidency from conservatives, especially right-wing activists in the anti-incumbent “Tea Party” movement that was then surging across the country. Many middle-class and working-class whites felt aggrieved and resentful that the federal government was helping other groups, including bankers, automakers, irresponsible people who had defaulted on their mortgages, and the poor, but wasn’t helping them nearly enough, he said.
A guest suggested that when Tea Party activists said they wanted to “take back” their country, their real motivation was to stir up anger and anxiety at having a black president, and Obama didn’t dispute the idea. He agreed that there was a “subterranean agenda” in the anti-Obama movement—a racially biased one—that was unfortunate. But he sadly conceded that there was little he could do about it.
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That was May 2010, according to Walsh. Ironically, only a few days before, on April 29, 2010, your humble scribe wrote the following:
The real reason liberals accuse Tea Partiers of racism is that contemporary America-style liberalism is in rigor mortis. Liberals have nothing else to say or do. Accusations of racism are their last resort.
The European debt crisis — first Greece, then Portugal and now Spain (and Belgium, Ireland and Italy, evidently) — has shown the welfare state to be an unsustainable economic system. The US, UK and Japan, according to the same Financial Times report, are also on similar paths of impoverishment through entitlements.
Many of us have known this for a long time, just from simple math. Entitlements are in essence a Ponzi scheme. Now we have to face that and do something serious about it or our economy (the world economy) will fall apart.
Liberals, leftists or progressives — whatever they choose to call themselves — have a great deal of trouble accepting this. To do so they would have to question a host of positions they have not examined for years, if ever, not to mention have to engage in discussions that could threaten their livelihood and jeopardize their personal and family associations.
Thus the traditional wish to kill the messenger who brings the bad news: the Tea Partiers. And the easiest way to kill them — the most obvious and hoariest of methods – is to accuse them of racism.
When I wrote that, it was a month after Andrew Breitbart issued his as yet unanswered $100,000 challenge for evidence of racism at a Tea Party demonstration. So this is now already a relatively old debate. And the same arguments keep coming up again and again. The left keeps accusing the right of racism and the right keeps denying it, demanding evidence, which is never forthcoming. Not once. But that doesn’t stop the left. They continue the accusations — and the president, at least according to Walsh, believes them.
Roger,
You are a gracious man, a gentleman, and I commend you for it. But your gentility leads you to pull your punches, especially around issues of race. I don’t want to seem overly critical of you in this regard; if this were my blog, I’d do the same. I’d just like to point out to you that there is a perfectly fine word in the English language for “the kind of guy who ends up putting people in tired pigeon-holes.” Meathead would approve.
Yours truly,
ThOR
Racism is broadly accepted as evil and ignorant. Intellectually lazy folks would rather cast the race card thereby demeaning the critic rather than try refuting the criticism. That’s nothing new, but surely we deserve better from our president and his minions. That expectation and the willingness to state it openly in civil discourse may, for many of us, be the most laudable chacteristic of the Tea Party. Party on my friends, party on.
The ignorance that Roger Simon rightly deplores goes way beyond calling Tea Partiers “racist.” The most elementary categories of political belief are unknown to the majority of Americans, and are ignored by better educated pundits. For an introduction to social movements and their competing ideologies, see http://clarespark.com/2009/12/16/perceptions-of-the-enemy-the-left-looks-at-the-right-and-vice-versa/. Also, I don’t care for the term African American, nor did Ralph Bunche: see http://clarespark.com/2011/02/27/remembering-ralph-bunche-american/. The terms was coined by the very left-liberals from whom Roger Simon has separated himself.
I don’t think that most Americans understand that Rev. Jeremiah Wright is not that different than the most prestigious historians teaching in the Ivy League and hence setting the agenda for future leaders, all of whom will find the U.S. entirely racist. See http://clarespark.com/2011/02/20/are-we-still-fighting-the-civil-war/. Hence the President, while condemning the Tea Party as racist, is not acknowledging the underlying racism of his own party and of his supporters in the groves of Academe.
well said CS, intellectually stimulating and well reasoned. Thank you.
I am very pleased that John Me supported my blog. Thank you sir! Here is a related one that continues the examination of the ideologists I described above: http://clarespark.com/2011/03/06/groupiness/. This is crucial material for classical liberals and libertarians to absorb, that is if they value their individuality.
The President prejudiced? The accusations against the Tea Party are projection? How is Gladney doing, btw?
Obama keeps pulling the race card in order to distract, he knows full well that people are upset with his policies.
Mr Obama just because you’re black doesn’t mean you can run the country into the ground.
Well, as we all teeter between evaluating Obama as a crafty Alinskian or an empty incompetent, it’s worth considering the possibility that Obama believes opposition to him is at least partly racist…because doesn’t know much about America outside his sheltered circles. And doesn’t care to. He is the one clinging to his beliefs, because he has led a sheltered, unexamined life and has never had to question his parochial little orthodoxies. The “Tea Party” to Obama is just another label for the great ignorant morass that is America. Bitter clingers who don’t see the deep truths he does. Racism is just a part of that.
It’s racism to give Obama (or anybody else) a free pass to be incompetent, lazy, arrogant, a wastrel, a total screwup, or even seditious, just because of his skin color or ancestry.
In a post-racist society, nobody gets free passes.
The “Let My People Go!” Cards
Go down, Moses,
Way down in Egypt land,
Tell old Pharaoh,
Let my people go.
That old Negro spiritual has taken on new meaning of late. The “people” have evolved into the New Black Panther Party and public labor unions and the new pharaoh has emerged as the Republican Party.
America’s Attorney General or, more precisely, African-Americans’ Attorney General Eric Holder, became mildly incensed–if incensement can ever be mild–over his department’s handling of the New Black Panther Party’s 2008 Philadelphia voter intimidation case. In a nutshell, Holder’s Department of Justice didn’t handle it at all. Rather they abandoned the cut and dried case.
See “That New Black Panther Party Holds AG Holder in its Spell,” http://tiny.cc/rjnko, and earlier articles that exposed the black racist doings at the DoJ.
Mr. Holder all but lost it during a House Appropriations subcommittee this week when Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) accused Holder’s department of doing what sworn congressional testimony by reputable DoJ attorneys has already substantiated as fact, namely that race trumped justice when it came to prosecuting the New Black Panther Party.
Holder, already on record as denouncing white people as cowards–even before his confirmation as the nation’s principal law enforcement authority–reacted as if it were a personal offense when Culberson read a statement by former Democratic activist Bartle Bull calling the NBPP “incident the most serious act of voter intimidation he had witnessed in his career.”
Instead of responding to the charge, Holder said, ”Think about that. When you compare what people endured in the South in the 60s to try to get the right to vote for African Americans, and to compare what people were subjected to there to what happened in Philadelphia–which was inappropriate, certainly that . . . to describe it in those terms I think does a great disservice to people who put their lives on the line, who risked all, for my people.”
The AG then babbled on about his sister, and courage, and history and defensively rejected Culberson’s charge of “overwhelming evidence” of “a double [racial] standard” at the DoJ by saying, “I would disagree very vehemently with the notion that there’s overwhelming evidence that that is in fact true. This Department of Justice does not enforce the law in a race-conscious way:” http://tiny.cc/wquk1
Methinks Holder doth protest too much.
First of all, no comparisons were being drawn between the NBPP travesty and the Civil Rights Movement in the South and therefore no “disservice” was implied or intended. Secondly, that “overwhelming” evidence has already been presented to Congress, even if it has been ignored. Third, what’s this “my people” talk?
The Attorney General of the United States is supposed to represent ALL the people, not some people, not just Eric Holder’s “people.” Holder seems to forget or disregard that mandate all too frequently.
On the other hand, Rep. Charles Rangel (D, NY) forgets little or nothing, except when it comes to ethics and ill-gotten gains. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=3789)
President Obama, through Attorney General Holder, has dropped the New Black Panthers case of threatening voters at polls in Philadelphia. Who is then the “racist”?
According to leftist thought a black man can’t be racist because he has no power.Critical thinking has been abandoned.
Don’t wash if the most powerful man in the world is a black man, does it?
At the rate “the most powerful man in the world” is going, he (and the U.S.) will be about as powerful as Luxembourg.
Luxembourg? At this rate, we’ll be as powerful as Belize if Obama keeps it up.
Yet, in teachers’ workshops and colleges, encoraging students to think in this way is now dubbed “promoting critical thinking.” War is peace, etc.
The thing to understand about this White House and it’s supporters is there never was a Plan B, if their original idea didn’t work. And their original idea of the party’s liberal activists was if we can only find an African-American candidate who is seemingly thoughtful, within the mainstream of political ideology and non-threatening to moderate, swing voters, if that person is elected president we can annoit him with Absolute Moral Authority on all of our pet issues and cut off any opposition to our programs.
So they basically invented the myth of Baack Obama, gave him credit for things he never did and played down any controversial positions he might have had in order to win the White House. And once there, they thought they could easily intimidate any D.C. Republicans into meek silence, while anyone who challenged their positions would be crushed by use of the race card, combined with Obama’s person and his AbMoAut. Again, there never was a Plan B, because they never dreamed of a grassroots movement like the Tea Party rising up and becoming a force of opposition without a clear leadership that could be demonized and destroyed via liberal (in both senses) use of the race card.
That’s where we are today. Obama doesn’t know what to do, because the current situation is above his pay grade. All he was supposed to do was stand in front of TOTUS, give speeches with the proper buzz words, and take credit for whatever Harry and Nancy did in Congress. He was never supposed to have to go out and take the lead on pushing any controversial issues, or have to make compromises with Republican leaders. And he doesn’t have the temperament or the attention span to do those wonkish things that Bill Clinton loved to do, which angers his own supporters, who thought he could campaign as a beta male and turn on a dime into an alpha male once in office.
Obama doesn’t like the dull, hard work part of the presidency, and he can’t turn himself into a fiery, take-no-prisoners orator Richard Trumka or James Carvelle (or Jermiah Wright), because he doesn’t have the stomach to be out in front on that, either. So there’s really not much left than just keep having the underlings tossing out those race cards mixed in with some class warfare schtick, and hope one of those tactics finally catches on with the swing voters before the 2012 election.
Your response is the most coherent and exacting interpretation of the Obama presidency. You hit a home run, sir. Good job and spot one correct. Thanks.
Wow! Thats a great analysis of how the Obama Script was to unfold. I too have come to believe they never had a plan B and are fumbling for ideas. The unscripted Tea Party certainly took them by surprise – even RINOs were shocked by the movement. THAT wasn’t supposed to happen!!! How dare the commoner rise up against The Messiah! Whatta we do – whatta we do? I KNOW – I KNOW – call em a bunch of racists – yeah – that’ll work – it always does. And what the hell – since the prez is (half) black – it’ll work better than ever.
I hear pundits such as Carl Rove and Dr. Charles Krauthammer saying Obama is a near shoo-in to be reelected in 2012. I think they will be proven wrong. Something tells me we will witness a replay of 2010 – Republicans will retake the Whitehouse and Senate – and further their gains from 2010 in the House.
How and why?
We The People are (collectively) beginning to ignore all those talking heads on the MSM telling us what a wonderful turnaround the economy has made. How can you believe that when you or your neighbor or many of your friends and family are without a job? And your 401K is in the toilet. Compare that to the Bush years when everyone was working that wanted a job – and the talking heads of the MSM told us for nearly 8 years how crappy the economy was.
In 1.5 years – or shortly before the next presidential elections – do you think the economy is going to turn around? How about oil? Don’t hold your breath waiting for oil prices to return to sane levels. And what happens if islamo-fascists overrun Saudi Arabia? Think things will get better?
Look for Obama to be handed a situation where he can comfortably call off elections and declare marshal law – and if the situation doesn’t present itself – look for one to be manufactured. His minions are already practicing for that in Wisconsin and Ohio – soon – but not too soon – coming to a city near you. Events are playing out just the way Obama needs them to for a complete takeover.
This is their ‘plan B’. And always was methinks.
The really amazing thing here is if you lived in New York City, or were paying attention to its politics 20 years ago, you’ve seen this all before, with the David Dinkins mayoralty. Elected with the same vapid idea of hope and change as Obama, given the same sort of big media tongue bath as Obama, and having governed in the same weak-willed, unable-to-challenge-anyone sort of style leading to chaos, racial tensions and six-murders-a-day crime rates, even liberal New York City voters were fed up by 1993, and elected Rudy Giuliani in the rematch against Dave. And as bad as Bloomberg has been, New York has refused to elect whomever the Democrats have put up for mayor since then, because enough people are still petrified with terror of returning to the Dinkins era.
That’s what I suspect is going to happen next year, unless the Republicans nominate an absolute train wreck for president, since I can’t believe America is more liberal than New York City. Obama’s got a floor in the 38-42 percent range that he will never fall under, because too many people are still invested in the idea of Barack Obama, and don’t give a damn if the reality is a fustercluck. But enough swing voters will switch unless the president seriously moves towards the center, which would take the leadership and courage he doesn’t have (though if he’s in free-fall next spring, desperation might actually give him the courage to stand up to his far left base for a few months in hopes of saving his own skin).
Could we PLEASE get this straight? It is NOT Marshall Law. It is MARTIAL Law – from Mars, the Roman god of war.
Thank you.
Charging someone with racism is meant to shut down debate on hotly contested issues.If Obama was white the left would still be claiming the right is racist because their programs would hurt the poor.
Until an elected GOP official calls Obama out on this calumny,this garbage will continue. I am not holding my breath.
For someone to protest that accusations of racism are not true, it means they have already lost the argument, because they have already bought into progressive assumptions.
If you are ever able to pin down a progressive long enough to get a definition of racism, it will always involve the emotional content and/or inner motivations of the racist. This is nothing less than an unstated assumption that progressives can read peoples’ minds and know their emotional states. Since telepathy has never been scientifically proven for any individual, much less for any political group, this belief shared by all progressives is unadulterated nonsense. Although that fact should be obvious to anyone who can rub two brain cells together, it is easily lost in the winner-take-all game of semantics, memes, and slick mindless slogans incessantly pounded into the public square by the progressive lapdog media.
Progressives will never lose this narrative. In one sense, they cannot think any other way, because they are completely immersed in a mindset of “how do I feel?”. The more important reason is that it is a wildly successful technique, simply because once you accept the assumptions, they are not verifiable either way, which automatically places an impossible burden of proof on the accused.
The idea that Obama expected to be a post-racial president is simply wishful thinking from a right-wing liberal perspective. He is a leftist ideologue. Short of an epiphany from God, Obama will always think like a leftist, because he is so steeped in leftist narratives that he will never be able to step outside that framework.
This is all very tiresome. I’d suggest that before any conservative is branded a racist, he mentally prepare himself by investigating human biodiversity theory, learning debating techniques for reframing the question, and immersing himself in blogs such as Lawrence Auster’s View From the Right. As I stated at the outset, if you simply sputter and defensively protest, you have already lost.
You just about said it all.
I know from long experience arguing with liberals in my family that it is a fool’s errand. They basically reject rationalism. Of course that’s a problem for human beings in general…we all tend to rationalize our feelings. Admitting that the tribe we cast our lot with has lost its way is a big hurdle as well. Then of course there is the ‘rice bowl’ theory of politics…economic self interest trumps. People are fearful…I know I am. The recent polls showing little appetite for cutting entitlements are very discouraging.
What economic realities have to do with racism is beyond me. But it is a charge to be thrown out there whenever the tide of reason is running against you.
Are you referring, perchance, to the famous Werthefukawee tribe?
Great recommendation Charles Stevens! I frequently read Lawrence Auster’s ‘View From the Right’, http://www.amnation.com/vfr/, as well as numerous other old school Conservative sites….
Auster is a good one to read, for those who seek to examine the many elements of primitive collectivism that core conservatism shares with its purported enemies on the Left.
“But as an agnostic who doesn’t own a gun”
Get a gun and a religion to cling to.
That said, I’m proud to be a racist Tea Bagger, anti-Semite, right-wing nut, which is a long way from my prior thinking – I’ve evolved. I guess all I need to do is to join the white supremacist to complete the picture.
I’m proud to be hated by the Anointed One’s gang of racist thugs and every group that voted for him. Their time will come, elections will have consequences.
I bitterly cling to guns and religion and antipathy to people who aren’t like me and anti-immigrant sentiment and, especially, anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain my frustrations.
Proud to be an American.
Tomorrow morning, Media Matters will notice your comment and run a post that reads “Teabaggers at Pajamas Media: self-described racist anti-Semites…and proud of it!” By the evening, Rachel Maddow will breathlessly — and with just the right doses of feigned “deep concern” and righteous indignation — cite the teabaggers’ new-found openness regarding their racism and anti-Semitism as evidence of the Koch Brothers’ success (thanks to a well-funded plot) at stoking the flames of fear and hate among the right wing. The intent of the Koch Brothers’ plot will be said by Ms. Maddow to be to incite throngs of Aaron Rodgers jersey and Cheesehead hat-clad Wisconsinite rightwingers to commit unmentionable, Tucson-esque acts of violence against the peaceful public sector union demonstrators in Madison, WI (and against the “Madison 14,” provided they can be found).
By the time Paul Krugman cites the Koch Brothers’ plot to parlay the open anti-Semitism and racism at Pajamas Media into a nation-wide spree of profit-ensuring violence in his New York Times column, the verb “Pajama’d” will be a commonly used substitute term for race-baiting and/or Jew-baiting by bien pensant Beltway and Upper West Side sophisticates (it will be used interchangeably with “Breitbarted”).
When the nightly news shows on the Big Three networks interview Marc Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center as an authority on the important and timely issue of the Tea Party’s newly self-professed racism and anti-Semitism, Mr. Potok will characterize Pajamas Media as a Koch Brothers-bankrolled Neoconservative hate group, then point to the well-established fact that everyone knows violence against women committed by the beer and football-loving conservative men in their lives spikes during the Super Bowl (according to NOW, it’s an epidemic that kills an estimated 55 million-plus women per year in America). Potok will then reveal that, in the Wisconsin North Woods alone, the SPLC has identified over 572 Koch Brothers-funded hate groups comprised of illiterate rightwing white male Packers fans with extra chromosomes, who haven’t taken their violent rage out on a helpless woman since they beat their significant others to death during the Super Bowl. Each of these illiterate hate groups will, of course, be said by Mr. Potok to be scouring the postings of Koch Brothers-controlled Pajamas Media for “dog whistle” coded “go” messages instructing them to commit acts of domestic terrorism against peaceful Democrats and union members in Madison and beyond . . . so that elected Republicans and their fat cat cronies — the Koch Brothers — can profit (of course)!
I’m certain somewhere it reads that PM is not responsible for the comments of her readers – hopefully.
Other than that, I am what I am. One more thing, if that madcow cites me as an example of all that is bad for America, I’m going throw a neighborhood party.
Good post, though.
Can’t believe so many people don’t get the point of yours truly’s reply to your post. Maybe they don’t get the references, although how those references would escape the presumed-internet-political-junkies who comment on conservative blogs is a mystery.
So for those who missed the point, here it is: the reply to tim ackerman’s comment is a joke meant to ridicule the industry that (apparently) exists to discredit — and thereby silence — all conservatives, all conservative media (including websites, webzines and blogs), all conservative speech and and all conservative ideas by labeling them racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, angry, violent, hate-filled, resentful, small-penis-wielding, bigoted, white male patriarchal, reactionary, anti-science, toothless, illiterate, extra chromosome-having, lizard brain-dominant, etc.
Just in case some PJM readers haven’t noticed, there exists a finely-tuned machinery of highly-placed professional slanderers who spend their days scouring all media for comments (from conservative politicians, conservative talking heads, conservative talk radio hosts, conservative bloggers, and even people who leave comments on conservative blogs) which, when taken out of context and twisted like silly puddy, can be used to make conservatives look bad.
The industry doesn’t care whether you’re a conservative talk show host who has 20 million listeners per day, or whether you’re a center-left professor with an slight libertarian streak who runs a popular, but still relatively obscure, blog in your spare time. The industry’s mission is to destroy and discredit all outspoken conservatives, and anyone who who, at the very least, disagrees publicly with the current policies of the Democratic party and the Left. Industry professionals look for any little comment they can twist, spin, squeeze, flip, conjure up, brew and roll out as the latest incendiary rightwingnut outrageous outrage of the day — from allegations that Rush Limbaugh equates Barack Obama to a monkey (because he didn’t excoriate a caller who said she thought Obama looked like “Curious George” because of his big ears) and calls Iraq war veterans “phony soldiers” (and is unpatriotic because of it) to allegations that law blogger Ann Althouse is an anti-Semite because she didn’t excoriate a commenter who used the comments section of her blog to make a supposedly “anti-Semitic” joke about a Priest and a Rabbi walking into a bar (slime job courtesy of the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein, proprietor the now-defunct “Journ-o-List,” who boasted about his strategy for portraying Althouse–whose ex-husband and son are Jewish, BTW–as an anti-Semite to his Left wing media compatriots in a Joun-o-List thread).
The reply by yours truly is a tongue-in-cheek send up of the process by which The Industry does its dirty work. Plenty of conservatives (and commenters on conservative blogs) have bemoaned the Industry’s tactics and effectiveness. But rarely have these little pr**ks been subjected to the same kind of ridicule that they dish out at conservatives. Hence, the reply to Tim Ackerman’s comment.
TS sounds like all the Jews who meekly went to the gas chambers in Nazi Germany.
Methinks there’s a whole lot of sarcasm above that’s not being recognized.
TA sounds like a troll.
Steve wrote:
TA sounds like a troll.
And he wrote it RIGHT AFTER Grantman wrote:
Methinks there’s a whole lot of sarcasm above that’s not being recognized.
Steve, meet Grantman. Learn from him.
Just an observation: If I were a leftist troll trying to discredit conservative people I couldn’t have done a better job than Tim Ackerman did in this comment.
Lucky you, you’re not a conservative.
Good point. We should always confront and denounce any putative Tea Partier who publically expresses real racist sentiments. If even a few isolated incidents of Tea Party racism turn out to be true, we will never hear the end of it. And as you stated, the left is quite prepared to plant fake Tea Partiers to express that racist sentiment, then blame us for it. Our only defense is to immediately confront them, and if it is a public rally, videotape the confrontation. If they are a plant, we have exposed their lie, and demnstrated that we do not tolerate racist sentiment. If they are a real racist, we dont want them anyway.
To those who say this is unfair, because the left never denounces their own racists, and never gets called on it by the MSM, I reply that life will never be fair. It also sounds like a bit of self censorship, but its censoring speech, racist sentiments, that is worth censoring. That does not mean we censor any strong statement, that the left may call racist, but in fact is not, there we call them on the lie. On this issue of racism, and any other issue for that matter, we must be BETTER than the left.
So, when your buddies in the left accuse me of being a Tea Party racist, I’d deny it vehemently? Deny something that isn’t true? Go along with their game?
Every time I say something that hurts the feelings of Jews, and am called an anti-Semite, I’d again deny the ‘fact’ as if it were a fact – right?
Are you people nuts?
Great, you managed to ‘out me.’ Feel better now?
I’m very proud what I am, and I’m very proud I’m not one of you.
Note to self: you went along with their asinine game! Quit defending yourself.
Tim A ~
It’s the way you conflate racism with anti-Semitism that looks suspicious. They’re not the same thing, and notwithstanding fringe groups like the KKK, they don’t go hand in hand in American politics. Moreover, while Leftists play fast and loose with accusations of racism against the right in general and the Tea Party in particular, they rarely if ever accuse us of anti-Semitism. Quite the contrary, we’re accused of racism against the Palestinians, or Islamophobia, or that old favorite of anti-Zionists everywhere, being in thrall to the world-wide Jewish lobby. We accuse them of anti-Semitism, and for good reason.
Of course, it’s a free country and you can think whatever you want, but on a more personal note, IMO anyone who visits a Jewish man’s house (or blog) and brags about his anti-Semitism is a lousy guest and owes his host an apology.
@marymci,
Are you serious? You don’t think the Left accuses the Tea Party–or conservatives in general–of being anti-Semites?
Most Leftists believe that racism and anti-Semitism are the DRIVING forces behind conservatism … and especially behind the Tea Party. That conservatives and Tea Partiers generally support Israel is of no consequence.
Don’t forget the popular Leftist narrative, fringe and paranoid though it may seem (be), that conservative support — especially conservative Evangelical Christian support — for Israel is a sophisticated ruse covering for a Nazi-esque plot (conceived by virulently Anti-Semitic, blood lusting American conservatives) to round Jews up in one place so that a genocidal “final solution” can be carried out. It casts conservatives as the aliens in the Twilight Zone episode “To Serve Man,” where the aliens posed as saviors of mankind, but were in fact rounding humans up to be cooked for dinner. Think that sounds too cartoonishly fringe and paranoid to be taken seriously? Well, tell that to mainstream liberal luminaries Paul Krugman, Bill Maher, Richard Dreyfuss and Air America-era Rachel Maddow (IIRC). They’ve all espoused this conspiracy theory, and treated it as though it’s a well-established fact.
Through Olympic gold metal-level mental gymnastics, liberals have recast conservatives into the historically villainous roles of the mobs who carried out the pogroms of Russia and Eastern Europe; the Southern slave-holders who the “liberal Democratic” Lincoln and the Northern abolitionists defeated in the 1860s; the Germans who put Hitler and the Right Wing, conservative Nazis in power to cleanse Europe of Jews; and as the Segregationist Southern Governors and the seething mobs who lynched blacks and Northern Jewish Civil Rights marchers in the 1960s.
What does Frank Rich mean when he says that the Tea Party is the American Kristallnacht? What does Paul Krugman mean when he says that the politics of conservatives in general, and the Tea Party in particular, are “eliminationist” in nature? What does Max Blumenthal mean when he calls Tea Partiers, Sarah Palin and Palin supporters “pogromists?”
Answer: They mean that conservatives and Tea Partiers are anti-Semitic American Nazis who hide their true intentions, but who, deep down, are motivated primarily by their racism and white hot hatred for Jews.
How ’bout if we just laugh and tell them contemptuously that they’re being ridiculous to even think such a thing?
Seriously, it’s time we stopped repeating “We’re not racists, and if we are, we’ll take care of it.”
Let’s just do like the left does and show scorn for the very idea.
Allinsky-them right back.
From what I took from Tim’s post is that he’s going to let the labels “racist Tea Bagger”, “anti-Semite”, “right-wing nut” etc., roll off of him like water off of a duck rather than try and defend himself about something he is NOT and therefore needs not defend.
Sheesh, people. Lighten up! Some of you are just as knee-jerky as the damned Leftist reaction Jacksons! I’ve read quite a few of Tim’s posts and he ain’t no raaaaaaacist.
Apparently some of ya’ll have lost your ability to see a bit of sarcasm and frustration when it’s being used in a certain context regarding dealing with accusatory Leftist bullshit.
Thank you Delia. I’m amazed that so many posters here require /sarc and other explanations a kid ought to comprehend without further underlining.
Yup, I’m done with defending myself to the nebbishes, who are eager to label me anything from a Nazi to right-wing Tea Bagger the second my words don’t comply with their black and white world. This is especially funny when we’re having a discourse on race card being thrown around.
I carried the Magen David for thirty years, lived in Israel for years and regularly donated to the Magen David Adom and other causes. Then I god fed up with the continuous anti-Semite labels from those who deem they own the world and have the golden keys to truth.
I’ve been blamed for racism so many times that I take it as a badge of honor, especially when it comes from the likes of Jesse Jackson and the current POS.
I definitely don’t want to be associated with this bunch of idiot, most of whom probably voted for the Anointed One.
Yup, with those gauges I’m proud to be a racist Tea bagger, Anti-Semite right-winger – proud American clinging to guns and religion.
Tim, ya done good. It’s not your fault our educational system has been so dumbed down.
Some of you folks need to get a clue!
Tim, as someone who jokingly said the same thing as you did and summarily got attacked and called a “racist”, I feel ya, bro. That’s why I had to speak up.
That might describe the “lower frustum” of the left-liberal pyramid, where vestiges of actual comprehension of the human condition can still be found. However, it’s irrelevant to the upper portions of the distribution, where the operative motivations are 1) getting power, 2) holding it, and 3) increasing it over time. They, in Ayn Rand’s words, have chosen to “cash in on guilt.”
Look at all the most potent Leftist shibboleths:
– Racism, sexism, “homophobia”
– Xenophilia / Cultural relativism
– “It’s for the children”
– “You’re killing the planet”
– Unequal distribution of incomes
All of the above incorporate a huge serving of guilt as their principal drivers: the exploitation of the carefully inculcated sense, among ordinary Americans, that our freedom, prosperity, and security comes at someone else’s expense.
As they say in the Navy, once is interesting; twice is coincidence; three times, sound general quarters.
Guilt for one group; envy for another.
The whole “distribution of wealth” thing is (I’m surmising; it’s never been adequately explained) supposed to make me envious of those who have more, or feel guilty for what I have. Except that — in most cases — those who have more than I have gotten it legally and through hard work and enterprise. Perhaps that hard work and enterprise was that of an ancestor (see Kennedy, Rockefeller, and Kerry), but nonetheless, it’s legitimately earned wealth.
Which is also true of mine. And while without a doubt there are people who have had hard luck and a bad time, most people make their own luck. I don’t feel guilty for enjoying the results of years and years of hard work and study, and I don’t see why I should surrender them to benefit someone who preferred slack and leisure to self-improvement.
Even the drumbeat of “racism” plays to the same dynamic. I’m supposed to feel guilty for the acts of people long-dead, and others are supposed to be envious of my “white skin privilege”. Environmentalism? I’m guilty for having a lifestyle that uses energy and resources; the Third-World is supposed to be envious of me and to resent being “robbed” to supply it.
Bah.
The Left defines “racism” as “opposition to Barry Dunham and the Left”. So, yes, we are racists ipso facto.
The interesting — in the Chinese-curse sense — thing will be when the word ceases to sting. What will the little college boys and girls call the New Klansmen coming after them ropes?
Just how bad is a racist supposed to be anyway? Worse than being a jaywalker? Worse than being a thief? Worse than rape? Worse than torture? Worse than mass murder?
I started wondering about this when i was watching a forgettable (anyway, I forgot its name) episode of some crime show with a plot that revolved around a crooked policeman who steals hundreds of thousands of dollars from the local bank and then kills several associates to cover up the crime. In the final action sequence he makes a racial slur against American Indians just before the shootout with the FBI. Right after the slur and just before the bullets start flying, the young, pretty female hostage, who by this point knows all, says something like “I never knew you were a racist. That’s the worst!” as though she had finally lost all sympathy for this thief and murderer. It seemed like the script writers felt this last touch was needed — norwithstanding all the other evil the character was responsible for — in order to have the audience cheer whole-heartedly as he was gunned down. Amazing!
Sounds like an episode of Law & Order. A crime show I stopped watching when it became too overtly Leftist. It’s an NBC program so I understand their reflexive Leftism but it went beyond reality for the situation and characters. The dialog was more of what you’d expect from the Kos Kids.
Whenever this sort of thing comes up, all I can think of is the Russian expression (transliterated) klin klinom vyshibat’ ‘you drive out a (stuck) wedge with (another) wedge’. Although the Russians usually say it when prescribing “hair of the dog” after a bad hangover, I am finding myself thinking it as a prescription to Barack Hussein Obama, namely, the best way to neutralize this racialist identity politics guru is for the Conservatives to put up someone like Herb Cain or Allan West as his challenger. Neutralize, then eliminate.
Lenin: Class-based International Socialism
Hitler: Race-based National Socialism
Obama: Class- and Race-based Post-National Socialism
Obama has nothing left to say EXCEPT that everyone else is a racist. Forget the fact that his fiscal and financial policies have been a disaster and that he’s spent us into bankruptcy. I guess if you disagree with that you ARE a racist. Problem is, that argument won’t work anymore. People are tired and fed up. Calling people names will NOT change what’s happened to our government and the financial disaster we are now facing, and voters understand that now. I’m just surprised that there aren’t people with pitchforks and torches outside the White House yet.
Because people know that the police will kill them.
I used to think the police would stand on the side of the people against tyranny – not anymore. They are union (witness the police refusing to protect the GOP rep when the mob went after him, they are militarized and they will enforce the police state.
Quite honestly, if it came to a head the only thing that might save us would be a military coup removing these thugs from power.
Obama’s thoughts on racism are pure bullshit. He turns out to be the racist- in- chief and has set back race relations two generations. To object to any aspect of Obama’s agenda or policies is to be instantly tarred as a racist. So be it. The epithet doesn’t carry any weight any more. It is seen for what it is; a lame excuse pulled out to obfuscate incompetence, venality and corruption. Obama should go back to community organizing. The only thing he has demonstrated any talent for is stirring up devisiveness, class envy, and a never ending sense of aggrievement and entitlement..
For the true Liberal believers like Barry S., no proof of racism, sexism, “homophobia” or “Islamophobia” is needed, those things are simply articles of faith and so they are and must remain beyond question. The Cambridge policeman must have been “acting stupidly” because Barrys Worldview says it must be so, and once again no proof is needed nor desired.
Mr Holder takes umbrage at suggestions he use the blindfold of lady justice and treat “his people” the same way he would those he considers guilty till proven innocent. No way Jose. “His people” must be caught on camera engaging in illegal activities or those activities never happened. Oh wait, they were caught on camera weilding nightsticks outside a voting station and threatening racially guilty-till-proven-innocent presumed oppressors. No matter. Some people (My people?) are just more equal than others. At least in the race-before-all-else whitehouse of Barry S.
Add to this the blantant bias and careful filtering of the MSM “reports” and you see the true evil of modern Liberalism and its long term effects.
Had enough?
I’ll offer some nuance on this. Perhaps some of the rest of you have similar experiences.
Working as a conservative among liberals (I’m a high school teacher, it was probably in my contract somewhere), I have never, even once, to my knowledge been called a racist. I’ve had frequent political discussions, and no one ever seems to arrive at the conclusion that I am a racist. They seem to understand, in talking to me, that I’m actually intelligent, not prejudiced, and truly worried about overspending, government encroachment, weak foreign policy, etc.
However, they are completely convinced that anyone ELSE who says such things is simply covering for their bigotry. It never, ever, enters my liberal friends’ imaginations that those anonymous conservatives might see things exactly the same way that I, their clearly-not-so-bad colleague does (and ALL other conservatives are anonymous to them, it is shocking to me how provincial most liberals really are).
In another historical context, it kind of remind one of the “good Jews”. My Jewish neighbor ain’t so bad you know, but boy, all those other ones are.
So, at least I get to be the “good conservative”. It’s a small consolation prize.
They think you’re a violent, racist Nazi, ready and able to send them to the gas chambers at a moment’s notice. How could you!
They’re just too cowardly to say it to your face outside of some organized protest where they have their union muscle on-hand. They are NOT your friends and they do NOT respect you.
Don’t assume I’m so naive. The typical mainstream liberals are perfectly nice people who are mostly out to avoid hard choices and hard work. It’s the radicals who are dangerous. Unfortunately, due precisely to the characteristics I just stated, liberals will either stand by or join in when the time comes. Any other course of action would require courage. If they don’t have it now, they won’t have then, either.
Seriously! DBD is spot on! Watch your back!
The Attorney General is an open racist. The president has done nothing about this.
Following the maxim “never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by stupidity,” I will assume TOTUS is just voicing a prejudice he assumes is true without facts when he smears his opposition.
Well, he never had my vote to lose, and I really don’t care what he thinks. His policies are bad for me and mine, and I will work within the system for his overdue retirement.
When engaged in political debate with a socialist, I’m actually finding it’s very easy to counter this socialist, knee-jerk ‘racism’ accusation: I merely say: “Listen asshole, don’t even TRY to deal the race card to me – because I’m not going to play it for you. You’d better come up with something more substantive.”
Amazingly, even the most dyed-in-the wool of liberals appear to understand that message.
Obama is the racist – this man HATES white people. Can you imagine the self loathing he must endure because of his white DNA?
The left are projectionists. Every crime they accuse the right of they are guilty of – and that includes Obama.
The media are also complicit in this. Notice the makeup of those union rallies? Looked pretty white to me – yet no one uses the race card there!
This country needs a president not a cry-baby in chief.
The gross irony is that the widely batted about charge of racism is directed at such a broadly defined demographic-tea partiers, typically identified as white, conservatives. It’s not just the pot calling the kettle black, it’s the pot accusing the glassware of being black.
It would appear the lines are pretty well set. Obama and his minions keep parrotting “racism” and we keep saying “brain dead.” Nobody’s changing sides, nobody’s being convinced. There is little movement anywhere – it’s basically a stalemate with both sides dug in. The scene is set for the next act to begin…. whatever that will be.
Forget the racism charge, I’m stunned by the President’s professed belief that the Tea Party is comprised of people who want the government to do more.
I would like to offer a critical comment. The incident described in Walsh’s book took place 10 months ago. Since then there’s been an election in which many of Obama’s adoring throngs turned against him at the polls. Were they not racist in 2008, but became racist in 2010? Perhaps Obama is recalibrating and has rethought his view of the “subterranean (i.e., racist) agenda of those opposing his policies. I am much more interested in his views now than in his views 10 months ago.
Roger:
I see your point, but frankly I think you give the Left too much credit. I think they more or less know that the Right is not racist. I seriously doubt that Nancy Pelosi actually believes John Boehner is a closet racist. So, why do people like her and Obama continue to say it? Power. Pretty much, pure and simple, they are consciously trying to manipulate their core constituencies (aka. the useful idiots).
Yes, it is a vile strategy, but they see it as the cost of doing business, a sacrifice that has to be made in the service of the “greater good,” which is of course, is defined as having the Left maintain its grip on power.
Yeah – but the thing that gets me is people like that black congress-critter who lied and said he heard the n-word while walking with linked arms with queen Nancy as she held that supersized mallet.
That guy at least LOOKED old enough that he might remember some REAL racism in his life (although most “racism” was a regional and not national condition) and to lie about people and potentially sabatage race relations is just insane to me.
Regarding racism and Obama, I think it is fair to say that more people excuse his gross incompetence because he is black than dislike him because he is black. What has has always characterized liberals is their intellectual laziness and dishonesty. It is my observation that the overwhelming majority of conservatives have moved beyond the race issue.
What liberals do excel at, however, is the ability to start with a conclusion and then manufacture reasons that they believe will support it.
‘What liberals do excel at, however, is the ability to start with a conclusion and then manufacture reasons that they believe will support it.’
So true
And played out on a daily basis. If only the Democrat base could see this for what it is.
Why do we call them leftists? Could it be because they cluster along the left hand side of the Bell Curve?
Thats my reasoning and I’m sticking with it.
So, Obama thinks his problem is a racial one. My only question is since when were dumb-asses considered their own race?
The charge of racism is the strangled war-cry of someone who has run out of arguments. It also has an exculpatory effect. When “progressives” accuse the Team Party specifically (and conservatives generally) of racism they are not only being intellectually lazy but also excusing themselves. The charge of “racism” is used not only to castigate an opponent but to reinforce the moral superiority of the speaker. This has become ever more necessary as evidence continues to pile up that conservatives and Tea Partiers are not obsessed with race.
Yet folks like Mr. Obama and Attorney Genral Eric Holder owe everything to this assumption. It is the organizing principle of their lives. To give it up is like the situation in the 1920′s where fossilized cavalry generals were asked to give up their horses in recognition of the emerging primacy of the tank.
Mr. Simon is right on the money when he says “(T)he left has a kind of a nostalgia for racism, for a simpler time when it was a lot easier to define right and wrong in our society.” Of course they do and this is their most basic mistake. To insist that it is still somehow 1961 is to ignore reality. The Republican governors and congressmen elected last November are truly the “party of change” while the Democrats (and Mr. Obama) remain clinging to a worn-out shibboleth that does nothing more than reinforce their own prejudices.
Except what Mr. Simon and everyone here seems to forget is that it was the old democrat party (prior to the commies we have now) who have been and always were the real racists.
It was democrats that made up the old south during the civil war. It was democrats that enacted the Bull Connors laws. It was democrats that blocked school children from entering schools during the 60s. It was democrats that tried to block the civil rights act.
To have let the left just completely forget their past and claim this issue as their own is the biggest mistake the republicans have evr made.
Right! this should be on a postage stamp and printed on all shopping bags.
Would make a nice vanity tag, too.
It is time to take the gloves off.
The Left is STUPID! Their ideas,plans and policy are all stupid. There is plenty of historical proof that they don’t work, to continue to advocate them is stupid. They call their opponents racist because they are too stupid to come up with anything better. The left is “stuck on stupid”. Leftists are stupid. Your basic leftist considers themselves to be smarter than anyone else and to call them stupid really hits a nerve. When debating a lefty, as soon as they call you racist call them stupid. I like to call them big government pinheads because all their solutions to any problem is more bureaurcracy, their minds are too tiny to consider any other option.
Some info every tea party group needs to know.. If any group is counter-protesting the unions, get this email to them.
http://activistsandairplanes.com/2011/03/02/saul-alinsky-visits-ohio-for-senate-bill-5/#comment-563
Many middle-class and working-class whites felt aggrieved and resentful that the federal government was helping other groups, including bankers, automakers, irresponsible people who had defaulted on their mortgages, and the poor, but wasn’t helping them nearly enough, he said.
Forget about the charges of racism, I think what I quoted above shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the Tea Party. That the root of the problem.
Obama thinks people in the Tea Party are resentful because the government isn’t helping them? How clueless can he, or who ever is feeding him this BS, be? It’s about debt, limited government, and how we can pull this country out of the deep economic, social, and moral hole it is in.
It makes about as much sense as “the people of Massachusetts voted for Scott Brown because they are frustrated the health bill hasn’t passed yet” line all the Dems trotted out after Scott Brown won on his vow to vote AGAINST the health bill.
“Racist” is a word that has pretty much lost all meaning except that the speaker doesn’t like something. And there is, of course, that attempt to redefine it, something like “prejudice plus power.” Hence, blacks cannot by definition be racist–although I’ve pointed out that in cities like Detroit and Atlanta by that definition only blacks could be racist.
But if by “racism” you mean something along the lines of treating people differently on account of race or ascribing certain qualities to them merely on account of race, then it is hard to think of any liberal social policy or proposal that is not racist.
Excellent post Mr. Simon…
Yet another example/exposition of Krauthammer’s Law: Conservatives think liberals are stupid, liberals think conservatives are evil….(even the comments reflect this).
Conservatives used to think liberals were stupid. That they were merely misguided. Now we KNOW they are both stupid and evil. As in they want the entire race of mankind to be wallowing in the mud of human misery evil.
It continues to puzzle me that the “Right”, virtually automatically, rises to the bait of “racism” from illiberal “liberal” commentators, and soi-disant comedians of establishment TV.
It’s a hoary and tired attack ploy. But as long as the constitutionalist commentators and intellectuals give the Left the forum for their risible and slanderous /libelous attacks they’ll continue. As in don’t argue with success. Even the “Mad Men” know that if the product doesn’t sell, it’s profitless to continue with it. ” Commercial boycott” far more effective than complaints to the managers.
In other words do not engage on the terms set by the bullies. Know your own identity and act on that.
Intelligent persons who don’t act assuredly on their own principles and aims, but take the bait of the opponent/s who “don’t play by the rules” and change the meanings of common words to further their strategy, is a surrender to them in their game of “gotcha”.
Neither necessary, wise nor leading to victory in the conflict.
“But it’s time to get over it.” Indeed. I am so tired of our president making excuses for his ignorance and incompetence. The Tea Party was borne of fiscal concerns, not color concerns.
obama is the first occupant of the white house to make and promote racism.
and he calls the non-racists the racists. …but what else can a person expect from a liar but lies.
Roger you are too kind. and that kindness will be the downfall of what once was the greatest nation on the earth.
what is now running the country is a gaggle of lairs, thieves and union thugs.
ya’ think it wont get worse ?
“He seems to accept clichés because they are convenient or because they exonerate him in uncomfortable situations”
Well said and so true.
A ‘racist’ is anyone that claims ‘racism’ and has no intention of alleviating or ameliorating the situation.
This is Obama to a T. And he absolves himself of all guilt and responsibility. What a man!
And all his ‘soldiers’ keep the fires smoldering with their racist accusations meant to shut down intelligent discussion, and generate guilt.
They are succeeding; Discussion is at a standstill. I make it a point not to talk to anyone not of my own race unless I have to. Then I keep it short, and to the point.
If I’m racist, so be it. This crap will never change in my life time. They like it, too much, the way it is.
barack obama – racist in chief
and big-time anti-semite to boot.
dem·a·gogue/ˈdeməˌgäg/Noun
“A leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power.”
TO: All
RE: Schmucks Are ‘Self-Identifying’….
Obama would rather believe that his problems stem from the fact that he’s black, rather than from the fact that he’s proved himself a schmuck. — Glenn Reynolds
….just like the ‘rubes’ the BlogVader keeps referring to.
The currently popular thesis is that Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing.
I suggest an alternate thesis, that Obama knows VERY WELL WHAT HE IS DOING.
He’s not ‘stupid’. That’s a given. So if he isn’t stupid, what IS he?
All you need to do is:
[1] Look at his mentors before he came into the Oval Office: the ‘good’ [God Damn America] Wright and Bill [I Bombed the Pentagon] Ayers.
[2] Look at his actions he’s taken since coming into power with a hammer lock on Congress.
People with more than two synapses to rub together and a modicum of practice with Military Intelligence, recognized his ‘pattern of behavior’ early on.
The ‘schmucks’ are only beginning to ‘catch on’. Or maybe their only beginning to talk about it….albeit in a rather obtuse manner.
Hope that helps….
….however, it’s likely to be nearly too late to do much about it. Even Time Magazine is admitting that US is now in ‘decline’. And the ‘key indicators’ keep piling up. Despite the head-in-the-sand of most people.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[If it's bad for America, Obama will do it.]
#43 Chuck, I can’t help adding on the Time piece that yes, they said America is in decline, but with the usual mental disorder of the left, fault real or possible cuts in government spending. The usual crap, roads, bridges, and barf, public education. You know, more $$ equals better educated kids. If you think of them as insane it helps.
TO: johnt
RE: Actually….
If you think of them as insane it helps. — johnt
….I think of them as having a deep psychosis.
Psychosis, n., a severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so impaired that contact is lost with external reality.
Insanity is a correlating condition. But ‘psychosis’ is more professional.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[Each one of us, ultimately, chooses the high or the low road -- that is, we rise above the madness of our particular culture and discover our true identity and destiny, or else we identify with our insane culture and revel in it. -- David Kupelian]
P.S. If you point out their mental condition to them, they’re likely to react with violence.
Just look at what is going on in Wisconsin.
For years I blindly followed the Democratic Party Line – never letting critical thinking get in the way of a feel-good notion – I let feel-good ideology trump rational thought at every turn. I’m shocked today thinking about that – how could I let it happen? The only answer I can come up with is that some how – some way – there must be a brainwashing technique that humans are susceptible to – and are held under that ‘spell’ – and no amount of persuasion will allow honest and critical debate to take place. Even going so far as to place fingers in the ears and start chanting the Party Line – LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA.
AKA Religion!
Although the leftists/statists/libtards vehemently deny this – it is apparent they have much in common with the one group they dislike as much as any.
Before you start thinking I’ve tossed two rocks with one throw – I haven’t.
Dang!!!
looks like many posters had their wheaties today!!!
Err…oatmeal here.
How many times has Obama declared that America will no longer be a leader in some area of our past domination?
That’s because he, himself, knows he is not capable of leadership.
Anyone that has kids knows, that sometimes children will perform poorly, so they will not be expected to perform above average.
In Obama’s case, below average has been his ability. That’s why he has no vision other than the misery he expects to propagate. He is aware of his true capability.
Anyone really expecting any greatness from Obama, can just go back to Mars and plant another flag.
When you’re the smartest person in the room, and nothing’s going as you’d audaciously hoped, the only possible reason for non-success (what the rest of us would call “failure”) is some other factor. Yeah, it must be redneck racism.
Three years ago, we who didn’t like Obama were bitter clingers: “You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them…And it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.” (Barack Obama,
“Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now and facts and science and argument does not seem to be winning the day all the time is because we’re hardwired not to think clearly when we’re scared.” (Barack Obama, May 2010)
So true, Jack. Yes, Oblamos’ own words pretty much encapsulate just a few of the many, many reasons those of us who distrusted him in 2008 find that distrust growing daily (hourly?), as the evidence of his (at best) general incompetence mounts.
I wouldn’t trust him to run my small business for 24 hours. The thought that he’s the POTUS boggles the mind.
A course in basic logic (critical thinking skills) would help those who confront such arguments and postures. One common logical fallacy is grouping unlike people and claiming a common characteristic (“TEA Party is racist”). It has been a tool for centuries of political ‘divide and conquer’. If you can prevent people from talking to one another across ethnic lines, you can say one thing to one group and another to the next group. This common method of controlling ‘the masses’ has worked for many despots across the centuries. This current display of ‘divide and conquer’ is no different from what the mass-murderers in Russia did in the early-to-mid 20th century. First, class envy, leading to the thousands of deaths of landowners, then, a hatred for religion, ending in mass murders and destruction of beautiful cathedrals. The roots of the collective salvation ideology so prominent in today’s minority churches seem to be a replay of the old Communist method of instigating class envy and dividing Americans into ethnic groups. If the president says a group is racist, it discourages black folks from joining. Since class envy is a form of indoctrination, it’s unlikely anyone with that attitude can change.
Dr. Paul Kengor’s “Dupes” exposes our progress toward the USSR model, starting in the early days of the Russian revolution and going up to the present administration. This book is a life-changing tome for anyone educated in the U.S. It is the exposure of documents long kept private, only available to researchers after the USSR collapsed, then opened its files on the American Communist Party and its leaders in the Communist International headquarters in Moscow, along with FOI laws making FBI files accessible. The book also exposes the many radicals and communists surrounding the current president.
I’m starting to plan what I’ll wear to my not-worthy-to-continue-living-without-leg irons-and-and-handcuffs-trial in that I don’t happen to be one of Eric Holder’s “people”…and he’s asking for a few thousand more enforcers…
let’s see…gotta be warm, gotta be sturdy, gotta be dark (if perchance I escape then I won’t be so easily spotted from the air…)
…wait…we’ll all get prison orange, won’t we?
Dang.
George W Bush, a white christian from Texas, comes into office and with the help of his Republican congress goes on a wild and wacky spending binge on a scale not seen since the Great Society days of LBJ. In just 8 years he piled up as much debt as all the previous presidents combined. The streets over those years were filled with tea party activist decrying the bankrupting of our beloved country- oh wait, no, they kept their mouths shut until a liberal black man was to take charge. Did someone mention critical thinking? Facts? If it quacks like a duck…
In just 8 years he piled up as much debt as all the previous presidents combined.
No no. The democrat congress did that but I’ll gladly conceed the point because bush signed the bills. But your presidente did the same thing in 2 years. Are these the facts and logic you speak of? Nah of course not. You’re absolutely right, Bush is a turd and by my calculations, your president is 4 times the turd. Lemme tell ya, thats one large pile of $hit.
I like your math skills…
“In just 8 years he piled up as much debt as all the previous presidents combined.”
Baloney.
You don’t measure debt in terms of raw dollar values, for a couple of reasons.
1.) Inflation
2.) Debt only has meaning in terms of its relationship to how much wealth you earn or have. If you make a million dollars a year, and you owe a hundred, you’re in fat city. If you make one dollar a year, and you owe a hundred, you’re in deep trouble.
You evaluate debt in terms of debt as a percentage of GDP, not in raw dollars.
The biggest borrower in US history was FDR and the Democrat Congress of his time. And, no one else is even close.
And, whatever you think of LBJ and the Dem Congress of his day (which isn’t much, in my case), the debt/GDP ratio went down when he was POTUS, not up. That’s because growth in the economy was a lot higher than the amount of deficit spending they were engaging in.
As far as spending goes neither Bush nor LBJ had much effect on total levels of US government spending compared to GDP. Under Roosevelt, however US government spending rose from 7.3% of GDP for FY 1932 to 47.9% of GDP in 1945 at the end of WWII. After the war was over, US government spending dropped down to around 20% or so (by 1953 it was at 20%, it was even lower than that in the early post-war period), and has stayed at roughly that level ever since.
Under Bush, federal government expenditures as a percentage of GDP were actually a tad lower than they were under Carter and Reagan (under Bush, expenditures rose from 18% of GDP to 20.7% in 2000-2008)…but, that isn’t going to last. Looks like your boy, Obambi is going to cause the biggest peacetime rise in real federal government expenditures since the socialist in a wheelchair basically drove this country into the ground in the 1930s, and 1940s.
Luckily, in the 1930s we were so strong that we were able to survive the effects of FDR’s serial idiocies. Hopefully, we’ll be able to survive the Great Black Dope, as well.
People can look at debt/spending figures here, if they’re so inclined.
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/
And, be sure to ignore halfwits like Aron, unless you enjoy being bombarded with leftard disinformation, that is.
Not even close to the amount Obama has spent and is still trying to spend.
Interesting that you mentioned he’s a White Christian from Texas, tho’. That seems to have special meaning for you. Wonder what it could be?
There was a time when playing the race card put the fear of God in the hearts of their opponents.It worked so well for a while there, but not so much these days.For one, it just isn’t as applicable today as it once was.
Just like the old parable of crying wolf, over use of this accusation has inured many to it.It is as others have noted here,a fall back position. When all else fails accuse them of racism.
Well, it isn’t doing the trick anymore and it shouldn’t. We should expect verification. Suspicions won’t cut it.Feellings won’t cut it. Racism is a serious thing afterall.
I’m not surprised President Obama would take the easy out offered him. It is preferable, I guess, to having ones policies rejected ? It is a cheap out though, to blame the supposed short-comings and ignorance of your opponents instead of doing some rethinking.
Furthermore, there could be repercussions in time.These sort of ready/facile excuses for repudiation have a way of coming back to bite. Race relations in this nation are already at a new low. Pretty cynical is my thought.
So,this strategy has been sussed for what it is, a ploy in a tedious game where otherwise the stakes are too high to be distracted by it and it is doing serious damage to our nation.
# 44 is valuable – the feeling rather than thinking issue that confounds discussion.
I remember getting stuck arguing with a lib about “compassion” once, big mistake. He defined the term, in such a way that he had lots of it, and naturally I had none and was a bad person. Waste of time to argue.
When people use political constructs to shore up their own egos, we can’t expect rational conversation.
I’m going to shut up on the subject until we define racism.
I called Holder a racist, and I think his words define him that way. The man doesn’t believe in equal treatment for all citizens based on the law.
What Obama means is still open in my mind. The man is a practiced liar, and this could be political expediency. OTOH, he could be for treating people differently based on race. I don’t know. Nor do I care. Like I wrote before, his actions are enough to cause me to oppose him. I don’t need to know his motives.
“But Obama, in his most candid moments, acknowledged that race was still a problem.”
Whatever.
Democrats complaining about racism carries about as much weight as Nazis complaining about anti-semitism.
0bama is the one who wants to make race a problem, even though the only reason he was elected by so many white people was because of his racial make-up. The great “racial healer” has done everything in his power to be the great “racial divider” (not forgetting the “gender” division which purposely pits all women against…you guessed it…”white men”). Apparently brown/black/yellow/red men are a-okay (so long as they are Dems).
Ugh.
Who in the world is more racist then a Man? that threw his mother and her White family under the bus for his father (black) instead of being a PROUD MAN and embracing the Mulatto status his mixed blood falls into. This bastard started out at approximately 12-13 years of age choosing the BLACK side of his heritage knowing full well he was both Black and White not only BLACK
During the presidential campaign, someone asked me if I was against 0bama because he was black. I replied, ‘are you FOR 0bama because he’s black?’
No answer, of course.
I oppose 0bama for the same reasons I opposed Kerry, Gore, Clinton, Dukakis, Mondale, and Carter- because they’re liberal Democrats. I don’t give a f*** what color a candidate is- I care about their political philosophy. If it’s close enough to mine, they get my vote. I will happily vote for a black or female or hispanic or asian candidate- as long as their political beliefs are reasonably in line with mine.
And for the President to assume that I am a racist because I oppose him, is in itself racist. Even though I am, to use the president’s own words, ‘a typical white person’.
A casual perusal of websites aimed at black Americans will find no mention of Holder’s “my people” remark. One can assume that the reason is either that the remark is indefensible or that it is so taken for granted among black Americans that they identify themselves as black before all else that there is no reason to belabor the obvious; perhaps it is a little of both.
One can perhaps reason that the cause of black Americans taking the racialism of white Americans for granted is really a projection of the obsession black Americans themselves have for such things than any real truth about white America. Thus it is simply taken for granted that white folks share the same “my people” attitude as blacks but without the obvious evidence that is so prevalent among black Americans themselves. This is why people have to come up with white privilege, racism 2.0 and call out Hallmark Cards for saying “black ho” instead of “black hole” and see the Tea Party as racist because that racism MUST be there; the racism of black Americans demands it must be.
Black mainstream websites have interviews and stories about all things black in America and beyond with mainstream ads and content that is otherwise the same as just about any general news website.
The thing that stands out is that there are no equivalent white websites – none. The argument among black Americans about how this double standard is okay is that, by default, more general news websites are already entirely dominated by whites. This is true but not in the sense that those sites exclude people by race or are race conscious. The same argument and raison d’etre exists in regard to the Congressional Black Caucus.
My own feeling is that black Americans are caught in a perceptual trap that is monumental in its hypocrisy and is the single biggest reason for black culture in America largely being a culture of failure. Glenn Beck’s comparison of Detroit to Hiroshima is a comparison of value systems and simple observation shows the idea to have traction. Simple observation by black Americans regarding this Beckian analogue is committed to the realm of racism. The great perceptual trap for black Americans is that reality itself is racist as is simple observation; there is always an excuse to do away with what one sees with one’s own eyes.
This is delusion and even rises to the level of a form of madness. President Obama doesn’t observe but sees a world that doesn’t exist and in return churns out political appointments by race in a bewildering display of his own racism and for some reason anyone who calls Obama out is in turn accused of being a racist.
White Americans have reality on their side and black Americans wishful and destructive thinking; which would you rather have? I’ll swallow bitter pills reality doles out as long as it actually is a reflection of reality because it is a learning experience; in this sense, there is no learning curve within the black American community to be seen – none whatsoever.
There is no doubt that one of the many reasons for the success of European American culture is its penchant for recognizing the value or lack of value of an idea on its merits rather than skin color. Obama is a failure and always will be. Simple observation says that the day he took office was a case of bad luck for America.
Excellent post. “My own feeling is that black Americans are caught in a perceptual trap that is monumental in its hypocrisy and is the single biggest reason for black culture in America largely being a culture of failure.”
I would only add that this began during the civil rights ear and with the help of the Great Society. Dems began using and deluding blacks about the evil white American about that time.
It was the white progressives back then who began this indoctrination and enabling of blacks to become de facto racists with impunity. It was the white progressives who killed black independence and family; who killed black’s love of America, and who turned them into failures. They did the same thing to the current poseur Odummy.
The white handlers gave them the Cong BC, affirmative action, welfare benefits, minimized black crime, and legitimized “black” culture. In return the white progressives got the vote. It was and still is a symbiotic relationship.
What race card needs to be played? If you are white they will prosecute you but if your black or latino you get a free pass from Eric Holder and Obama. Both have shown time after time their racism. Check their track record of history and their own words. Asians get left alone because they are not complaining but are getting a good education have family values and taught to respect their elders!They are all so far the most part hard working people.
Mr. Obama and his puppeteers have an agenda to destroy American Exceptionalism and dismantle the progress of over 230 years.
Two pivotal mechanisms in their evil project are economic chaos and class warfare and their actions are becoming both more desperate and equally as obvious.
I think at this point in his disastrous tenure he is fooling no one, not even his most ardent supporters who pray for a miracle to elevate him to what those deluded people were hoping for.
Bulletin…it ain’t gonna happen, Mr. Obama is just not ‘made of the right stuff’!
I for one have had it up to here with this racist administration and the chickenhearted buzzards who refuse to call them out on this despicable stance! From holder to his association over the years with radical hating racists, the President always manages in the end to show his true colors. Slam his Leftist policies, you’re a racist! Disagree with his complete incompetency in foreign policy, you’re a racist. Point out the open faced lies about cutting the deficit in his budget, you’re a racist! In other words, try to have a civil discourse with any radical leftist in this country today using facts and figures, you are a racist!
Debate and civil discourse. It’s where ideas come from! It’s a forum to, if not fix a problem, at least address it and come up with some consensus to at least try! As such, debate or discussion can hurt one’s feelings and/or illicit some rather harsh reactions. My point is until we as a people can discuss stuff without hate, until we can cast aside our own ideologies, our biases, etc. and approach a subject with open minds, there cannot be fixes. As a society we must work together. Listening is a fine art. Learning and changing one’s mind due to constructive criticism, and I want to emphasize that, constructive criticism is a sign of maturity and leadership. Can you even remotely understand this view Mr. President, or is your head stuck so far up your elitist ass that you as most politicians are too far above us mortals to bother worrying about it? From my little part of the world, it sure appears that way! One thing for sure in my view. You and your administration have done more to set back racial relations in this country than any other administration in my lifetime!
Debate is imperative for this country to survive. Criticism is good, provided it is true! As I said, debate must be accompanied by open minds. This must be conducted by using the Truth and Facts! This must be done by educating yourselves! Keep an open mind, but dig up everything you can from both sides. Then make an informed decision. As we go forward, we will be called fear mongers and worse! WEAR IT AS A BADGE OF HONOR. Radicals of any persuasion FEAR the truth and facts, so shout it out as loudly as possible. This is our country. Love for country and the ideals it was founded on IS NOT HATE as the hard left keeps saying. Opposing bad policy IS NOT RACISM as we are charged with! Fight the BIG LIE with the TRUTH! Our country depends on this!
Today I heard a gentleman say something that I totally agreed with. Regarding the racism that Obama
yammers on about. I have nothing against the black side of Obama, he is funny, charming etc. But I really have trouble with his white side, which seems to be very bitter.
I don’t find 0bama funny or charming at all. I find him frighteningly out of touch and oftentimes drunkenly slurring after a night of partying and living large. In fact, I think 0bama is a complete dolt who is far less intelligent than the average SNL actor who has to interact with other comedic actors, know their lines as best they can without reading off the prompter (because it looks so obvious when interacting with other actors) and still manage to pull off a joke good enough to make an audience laugh.
With 0bama…the joke is on us and it is tragically UNfunny.
Just my 2¢
0bama:
Not funny
Not intelligent
Not handsome
Not Good for America
Agree. Have not heard him say anything genuinely humorous, tho’ he does enjoy “sticking it to” other people in a sly sort of way. And his professorial tone and constant bleat of “Let me be clear” (in other words, since I realize you’re all so less intelligent than I am, I must break this down) are completely off-putting. He is pompous and arrogant. He puts himself into every story; he takes credit for events he had nothing to do with; and he will say anything that is expedient at the time. He is blatantlhy rude (“I won,” “The campaign’s over, John,” “You can sit in the back,”) and boastful (“I have a gift.”)
This is not a nice man.
This has been the SOP for the left and especially the Black Community for over 30 years and America is stupid to keep buying into it. If you disagree with a Black you are Racist and if you are black and disgree you are an “Oreo” or “Uncle Tom”. To hell with all of them,call me what you want but as for me I call it like I see it.
Racism is kept alive not by the ‘white folk’ but by the black and democratic party racism machine. Racism by the democrat party is a leverage for votes from the poor black ‘victims’ of racism. Racism by the black folk is a guaranteed lever for special government entitlements from the democrats. Then enter to socialists! Minority racism is a lever for class warfare and a divided nation. The true victims of racism are the white folk and the traditonalist Americans of any race and color….and add to that…America!
Look, here is the deal. It’s coming up on a 2012 Election and Obama has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE TO RUN ON… So, is it any surprise ‘someone’ has decided to re-open this can of WORMS by “pulling out the Race Card”??
Re-Open WHAT Can of “worms”?
There was never a racist “can of worms” to open in the first place and the Lefties knew and didn’t care…it was projection of their faux racialist views they hold themselves coupled with an agenda that has nothing to do with TRUTH.
“Race?” LMAO! That’s a total load of BS! Anyone who’s not half dead can remember just a few short months ago when people of all colors, creeds, religions, and all walks of life shed a tear when Obama was sworn in as President…the first man of color to be allowed into office, and the mass majority of the public was very very happy to be alive to witness history in the making! It was a joyous occasion, even for the most staunch racist in the deepest back woods of the southern United States had to pause and reflect for a moment!
Now, as we started to come down off our media induced dopamine rush over the months that followed we started to notice that this guy was not actually keeping ANY of his campaign promises! Transparency flew IMMEDIATELY out the window as he ran down the street to the White House and sealed all his personal records, almost before he could even take his hand off the bible (Koran)! As a matter of fact, the most important aspects of what he promised…economy, jobs, ending the illegal wars, the unconstitutional and rights erasing patriot act…ALL totally opposite of what was promised! THAT my friends is why he’s not trusted anymore! Sure, race may add to some of that frustration…but seriously, I can remember past last week, as I’m sure most others can too, and totally recall when we were all ecstatic to be rid of the war mongering, economy busting, rights invading, total lying scum bag known as Bush…only to be slowly eased back into reality while realizing this was all just another snow job, and we were all duped by the establishment once again, while the same damn politician, just in different clothing, was there to continue exactly from where the last establishment candidate left off, without a hitch! Maybe even better than the last one! It’s uncanny how easily he’s continued the very same policies, for the most part! This is all one giant sick joke…and the people of America are the punch line!
Many, many, MANY of us shed tears the day of Obama’s inauguration, but it had nothing to do with happiness or pride. Anyone who did not feel anger, fear, or sorrow that day either was not paying attention or could not see past skin color. Countless numbers of us were horrifed that the nation was that concerned about color that they would elect the man.
Roger, Never a good idea to announce to the world that you do not own a gun. Also, I think that shot at Farrakhan could be considered racist. After all, he is black and you criticized him.
When the Race Card is given, this means the Left is out of ideas; they are at the bottom of the barrel. In other words, this is an attempt to shut-up the Tea Party. How well did that work in November 2010?
Obama is making things worse for himself by ignoring the signifigance & truth to power behind the Tea Party. He’d rather play the Race Card like some Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson clone.
Leftists are like creationists. They lie about what they believe, and lie about what their ideological opponents believe. When their claims are challenged and refuted, they retreat into momentary silence, only to emerge again a little later on to repeat these same fraudulent claims once again.
It is tempting to throw up your hands and walk away. If someone is incapable of intellectual honesty then what is the point of talking to them? But to do so would be a mistake because it would cede the stage to them and allow them to deceive others.
The only thing liars need to win is for honest people to remain silent.
Sorry, but I’m one of those “creationists” you mention; raised by flaming leftist socialists/communists who admired the Rosenbergs, Stalin and Castro. I have over the years examined the arguments for differiing views, including the notion put forth by a scientist that the earth was “seeded” by alien beings who happened by on their way to a galaxy far far away.
Yep.
As such, I never “walked away” from argument, nor “lied,” but I don’t bother arguing anymore. Long ago I concluded that people must come to their own dark night of the soul before being willing to investigate the claims of a designer/creator God.
Many people are satisfied with the ‘gods’ they have created in their own images, the gods of anything goes.
I’m okay, you’re okay. All roads lead to…well, I think you get the idea.
So…be happy in your beliefs. Don’t bother slandering those who don’t see it your way, what should you care?
Obama didn’t set back race relations, you righties did. as usual, blame Obama for ALL the country’s woes, even the ones Reagan, Cliton, and the Bushes caused. The right must have an unlimited supply of the denial card. They pretend racism doesn’t exist anymore when in fact it escalated to 1950 levels. to counteract the tea party being accused of racism, the falsely claim that Obama is the racist, and just like fox news, with NO EVIDENCE but to use the black panther case that closed under BUSH! #50 is the only one making any sense (aside from bush). #68 must be stupid. for the last two years, you righties have lied on a daily basis. you lied about Obama, his personal life, his birthplace, his religion, and his policies. Why have 11 percent of ACTUAL tea party members ADMITTED to being racist?
P.S. it’s not called “playing the race card”, it’s called “stating the obvious”, it’s called “calling a spade a spade”.
The common denominator of leftist philosophy is that there’s always an enemy who is plotting to overthrow the benevolent socialism that Marx and Engels created. The general name of the enemy of the left is capitalism.
Even Lenin admitted that socialism wouldn’t be accepted by western nations, that it had to be forced upon society by revolution. The USSR tried in many countries to foment political revolution. In Cuba, it succeeded. In other countries, not so much. North Korea was defeated when it attempted to invade South Korea. North Viet Nam was defeated in 1973 after it attempted to invade the Republic of Viet Nam. Thanks to the Socialist-Democrats in the USA, however, military support was withdrawn from the RVN and North Viet Nam was successful in a second invasion in 1975.
Met with military defeat, the international socialists continue the fight to defeat capitalism. Obama is, and always was, a socialist. He feels the USA under capitalism is an imperialistic agressor nation and as such, must be “fundamentally transformed” into a socialist utopia.
Don’t let the “race card” thing mean anything more than a diversion. Obama and his socialist minions are busy creating a hegemonic socialist federal government. The Tea Party understood that. Many Americans understood it in November 2010. What remains to be seen is the efficacy of the union uprising and Obama’s support of that revolution.
“As I also wrote, the left has a kind of a nostalgia for racism, for a simpler time when it was a lot easier to define right and wrong in our society. As a former sixties civil rights worker, I can empathize with this nostalgia..”
I don’t think, any Black person would make such a statement. I have no nostalgia for “colored” water fountains, sitting in the back of the bus, being discriminated against in employment (last hired first fired), restricted in where you can rent, buy homes, restricted in where you can attend schools, and on and on and on. How can someone who says he’s worked in civil rights…make such an uncivil statement?
Communists can’t tell you what they believe in, but they sure know that their enemies are people who don’t believe in them.
Roger, I think you may be overlooking one facet of racism that does exist.
Part of B. Hussein Obama’s support in his run for the White House was a general enthusiasm for the (now shown to be duplicitous) words he spoke. A big part of his support came from racially motivated supporters. As I recall, the news stories of the time carried lots of reports of “We finally got one of ours in the White House!”.
President Obama is still African American (if not actually African), and that part of his support, much of it, has been silent and unimpressed by any words spoken by anyone.
What has happened to those that are disenchanted with the performance of the Obama administration is that they are voicing their dismay. Thus, much of the opposition actually is about racism, in a round-about way. Much of the rock-solid support he still enjoys is firmly and irrevocably racially oriented, at least what part isn’t paid off union memberships.
President Obama just seems incapable of believing anyone would disagree with him, which means, to him, that opposition must be based solely on race (or maybe jealousy).