Race and Stupidity
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God save me from my friends – I can take care of my enemies.
So President Obama must be muttering today.
Ten days ago, the president played his ace of trumps.
He went before a joint session of Congress to lay out his health care plans, confront the “demagoguery” of critics who had resorted to “distortion,” “misinformation” and “tall tales,” and rally progressives and Blue Dogs to reunite and drive on to victory.
Obama’s speech was savagely partisan, but an undeniable success.
After an awful August of town-hall beatings, he was back on offense. As his congressional troops cheered him on, Republicans sat sullen and glum.
Not only did Obama win the night, his victory was capped by a gauche outburst of “You lie!” from South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson, which stunned a national TV audience and embarrassed his party.
Wilson’s wife, Roxanne, asked him after he left the chamber, “Who’s the nut that hollered out, ‘You lie!’”
Berated by his leadership, Wilson apologized and called Obama.
Rahm Emanuel took the call. The president graciously sent back word: Joe Wilson’s apology is accepted.
Obama was ready to move on, as was Nancy Pelosi. But not a seething Black Caucus. Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, who represents the district next to Wilson’s, demanded that Joe be made to apologize on the floor or be formally rebuked by the House.
When Pelosi and Steny Hoyer buckled to the Black Caucus demand, they, in effect, shifted the argument from, “Did Joe behave badly?” to, “Should Joe have his nose rubbed in it?”
Wilson got up on his hind legs: no more apologies. The town hall-Tea Party irregulars cheered Joe’s defiance and sent checks. His Republican colleagues, saying enough is enough, rose to Wilson’s defense.
But the Black Caucus pushed on.
Hank Johnson of Georgia said Wilson had “instigated” racism and must be rebuked. Or else we will “have folks putting on white hoods and white robes again, riding through the countryside intimidating people. That’s the logical conclusion if this kind of conduct is not rebuked.”
Came then Jimmy Carter to remind us why he sustained the worst beating of any incumbent president in a two-way race in U.S. history.
Wilson’s outburst, said the Great Healer, was an act “based on racism. … There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president.”
The next day, Carter, having reaped reams of publicity, was back at it.
“I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he’s African-American,” Carter told NBC.
“I live in the South, and I’ve seen the South come a long way, and I’ve seen the rest of the country that shares the South’s attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African-Americans.”
Carter’s contribution to the national debate represents a truly rare blend of malevolence, ignorance and moral arrogance.
How does he know what was in Joe Wilson’s heart when he blurted his insult? How does Carter know Wilson was racially motivated?
How does Carter know that an “overwhelming portion” of scores of thousands of agitated Americans who turned out for all those town-hall meetings were motivated by racism, “the fact that (Obama) is a black man, that he’s African-American”?
Six months ago, Obama’s approval rating was 70 percent.
Does Carter think that number has sunk to 50 percent because tens of millions of Americans suddenly discovered Obama was black?
Does it not seem more reasonable to conclude the number cratered because millions who wished Obama well on Jan.
20 have come to conclude this crowd is no more competent than the last one, that Obamacare, up close, seems even worse than the present system?
The stupidity of Carter and the Black Caucus fairly astounds.
As Dana Milbank of The Washington Post writes, “In bringing a House resolution to punish Wilson, Democrats wound up making him a hero and turning the matter into a party-line brawl.” As Obamacare sits in intensive care on Capitol Hill, what is the benefit of having had his team spend 10 days fighting and losing Joe Wilson’s War?
The destructiveness of what Carter has done is hard to exaggerate.
Barack won the African-American vote 24 to 1. But he did better among whites than Al Gore, a Southerner, or John Kerry. One reason, according to pollsters, is that many white folks thought a black president would finally get us out of the cul de sac of race politics. Barack Obama would be a “post-racial president.”
Now, because some folks, in hard economic times, have turned angrily against Obama and health care, Carter calls them a bunch of racists who can’t stand the fact they have a black president.
Well, if we don’t have a black president after 2012, much credit should go to the mean little peanut farmer from Plains.
Patrick Buchanan is the author of the new book Churchill, Hitler, and ‘The Unnecessary War,’ now available in paperback.
COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS.COM
Filed under: Culture, Politics
The Democrats, once again, are striving to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
BUT…..
…I do agree with Carter vis-a-vis the motivations of most Town-Hollers [sic].
I think Buchanan might have indicated that not only did Obama accept Wilson’s apology but to his credit also had his spokesperson say that he did not believe that any racial animosity was behind it.
Not irrelevant I don’t think.
Isn’t there a difference between racism and racial prejudice? A racist is intent on benefiting or harming all members of a racial group through such devices as caste and segregation, and the denial of opportunities to one group while they are available to another. A person who is racially prejudiced is more likely simply to dislike, even hate, members of a particular racial group; would never vote for a member of that group and is likely to support racists politically, sometimes.
There is a third sort who plays racial games. I suspect that was Strom Thurmond and his creature Representative Wilson. Thurmond was a dedicated racist until the voting rights act made the ballot effectively available to African Americans. Since election to office trumped all belief systems, Thurmond suddenly began to love those of darker skin. I suspect that Wilson is similarly empty. They both know where their votes lie. Wilson’s constituency is probably heavily caucasian so his racial sympathies can get more play. Were the black presence substantial in his district, he would probably kept his mouth shut.
“Six months ago, Obama’s approval rating was 70 percent. Does Carter think that number has sunk to 50 percent because tens of millions of Americans suddenly discovered Obama was black?”
I suppose the counterpoint is that the allegedly racist people making the noise were always opposed to Obama, never were willing to give him a chance. And by raising fears about health insurance and spending, they are chipping away at that old 70% rating. But they’re doing it in bad faith, because their animus is really grounded in fear of a black President. And if we can just persuade of those 20% who used to support Obama but have developed doubt over the past eight months that the source of their fear is the racism of the fear-mongerers, then maybe they’ll jettison those fears and returning to the fold.
The Left always instinctively reaches for the race card, and the Right always instinctively reaches for the national security card.
Both cards, when demagogued, end up poisoning the public well, but the Left abuses its card so often and so shamelessly, some might wonder if Obama was thrust to the head of the Democratic Party for this very reason, just like some believe that the elements of the Right allowed 9/11 so they could play the national security card and invade the Mideast.
We are living in paranoid times, and our abysmal Left-Right socialist leadership seems to be doing everything it can to encourage that paranoia.
I have noticed ( i think i have anyway) that the critics of Obama have made it personal- when it was W’s turn the MSM made about his policies: the left leaning blogs made it personal, as did Cindy Sheehan and maybe 1 or 2 elected officials in the House, but W escaped unscathed. Not so Obama- imagine if you will people toting firearms and pistols to W appearance – those individuals would still be in Gitmo- heck W had whole city blocks of people shoved to far reaches of the appearance site. And there is the difference lilberals can take it and dish it, while conservatives can’t take it but love to dish it
If conservative dissent from Obama’s policies are to be attributed to an inherent racism, then liberals likewise heartily approve of Obama because his race acts as a most efficacious shield which can effortlessly deflect all criticism. Rather than having to confront the substance of conservative plaints, the left can dismiss them as so much inchoate racist rage–whether or not their is any merit to this charge–and have their agenda continue apace. We are all racists now. That the race card was going to become a salient and ever-present feature of the Obama administration should have been perceived by all conservatives from the beginning who should have had a refutation of ‘racism’ summarily drafted. A good start would be to point out, as Jack Hunter has, that if anti-Obama dissidents are motivated by racism then by the logic of Carter et al., Carter himself is an anti-Semite for taking the stance he does vis a vis the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Buchanan: “Well, if we don’t have a black president after 2012 …”
Perhaps, the USA will have its first black president in the future as it does not have one now. Why does everyone keeps forgetting that fact? President Obama has one white parent and one black parent and, therefore, should be thoroughly congratulated for being the USA’s first multi-ethnic president. Blue plus yellow equals green, not blue yet again, regardless of what anyone says.
So much of all this racist nonsense would go away if President Obama would emphasize his multi-ethnic background (not just “black or “white,” but both) rather than identifying only with one half of his ancestry and effectively rejecting the other. Doing so boldly would go a long way towards fostering the post-racial political environment he was supposed to usher in but hasn’t.
However, the risk of alienating his most loyal supporters, the African-American community, is probably too great for him to ever be willing to forego the “black” label. And that’s very unfortunate because multi-ethnic individuals tend to render irrelevant the old “us vs. them” rulebook from our country’s more racist past. President Obama should have been the Tiger Woods of the Oval Office.
Politics on both sides can be mean. Republicans were darn mean to democrats during 8 years of Bush.
However, I find RACE backfires for 3 reasons:
1) Obama won the election so people know he was and is black. Its not like they voted for him thinking him white and suddenly found out his policies that he is half black.
2) Unless racism is overt…overt enough to be blatant, then its an empty accusation and looks like an empty accusation.
3) To deflect criticism of a policy because of any reason other than objective criticism of the policy such as Bush questioning patriotism or critics or Dems questioning racism…merely makes the accuser look small and unfit for office. Conversely whether win or lose…battling on the mertis of the policy wins both supporters and critics respect.
The Dems are doing a pure pro-abortion, immigration and union partisan bill at the expensive of disabled and senior citizen-US citizens. A pure bill without abortion, immigration, lawsuit reform, licensing reform and leaving a healthcare competition coverage to states where there is only a single majority provider would be hard to argue.
A bare bones…dental and clinic insurance could have been done for pennies…
The dems have only themselves to blame because they couldnt think simple.
@Chris Moore – hey, you mentioned paranoia.
Ever used “www.whois.com”?
Go to the top of your browser, and type “www.obamalies.com” as the address and see what happens.
Now do the same with “www.bushlies.com”. Notice the difference?
Now use “www.whois.com” to verify that all those sites that deflect criticism away from Obama, like “www.impeachobama.com”, were ALL set up in 2004.
But, you’re probably right, and it was just an accident that Obama got pushed to the front of his party in 2006 and 2007.
Of course there is an element of outrage at the uppity negro. It’s palpable. I think Buchanan forgets what it’s like to live in a working/middle class town. The unhinged anger toward Obama makes me uneasy and I live in so-called liberal New Jersey. I may just be overly sensitive after having encountered a few cops at a neighborhood barbecue who discounted Obama for the simple fact that he is “a N*****.” And as they related: ” Everything goes to Hell when a N***** is in charge.”
And someone please explain to me what the “Obama is not Black” e-mail campaign was all about.
Peter, the town hall idiots would have you believe that your experience just doesn’t happen. and as for chas, my husband is mixed race but because he looks “black” this educated gentle, conservative man wont drive in some areas because he is constantly pulled over and lets his white looking colleagues make the booking at upmarket places or he is constantly rejected. post racial, my arse. Have you not read the chocolate pudding comments in right wing blogs?
BTW my given name sounds asian, and i cant count the number of times that taxis after taking the booking look askanse at picking up a irish/dutch passenger. We all have a lot to learn.
Chad –
“President Obama has one white parent and one black parent and, therefore, should be thoroughly congratulated for being the USA’s first multi-ethnic president. Blue plus yellow equals green, not blue yet again, regardless of what anyone says.” Wrong.
Obama has decided he is black. The fact that he is genetically 50% white has been thrown under the bus, along with his white family that raised him after the black half booked. If he were truly “green”, or bi-racial, he would not have embraced the ghetto creed that the police are automatically wrong when confronting a black belligerent.
I am white. Obama is 50-50 and has decided to ignore my half of his heritage. Here’s a question for my black friends — If 50-50 Obama had self-identified as a white person culturally instead of identifying himself as black, how much of his 95+% support in the black community would evaporate. That is the true unacknowledged racism here.