Finally, Someone Stands Up for the White Guys

More mailbag from the R-G:

Councilor Ralston stands tall

I don’t know about the rest of the folks around the Eugene-Springfield area, but I find it very refreshing that a city councilor can speak his mind and stand by his words even as criticism comes from all sides. Generally, when a story of this nature is reported (Register-Guard, April 23), the first thing a public official will do is to grovel and go on a apology tour.

I support David Ralston, and my respect for him and his position grows the more I see the attacks coming from those who disagree with his stand on illegal aliens. It is nice to see a man willing to stand tall for his principles even as the opposition grows. I will stand proudly with Dave Ralston.

D.W. Northey

Walton

Those of you not blessed to live in the 541 any longer might be wondering what brave stand [Springfield City] Councilor Ralston took that engenders such admiration and man-love from recent Oregon immigrant D.W. Northey. Well, Ralston came out against government funding for Centro Latino Americano, an organization that helps people who speak primarily Spanish access services, because they only cater to "100% illegal immigrants."

You can probably imagine the rest of Ralston's arguments about "invasion," "assimilation," and "dumping their kids in our schools." You can watch here if you'd like, because this asshole is proud enough of himself that he's perfectly happy to be filmed saying stupid shit.

My favorite bit - hell, everybody's favorite bit - is the part where he asserts that he knows that anyone who speaks Spanish is an illegal immigrant because the government would never let someone legally immigrate to the US unless they spoke English.

But D.W. Northey is right. It is surely brave of a white government official to justify voting to cut services to poor brown people on racist grounds. You just don't see it much any more.

Now, if only someone would stand up to the fucking Californians who move here without understanding our culture or values, drive up our housing costs, dump their kids in our schools, and clog up our prisons, that would be truly brave.

Post-Race(/ism)-ism

NWRepublican has long been a consistent, theoretically agile voice of the Northwestern libertarian blogo-tendency, and blogger ZEO12 inaugurates a new era of white, male hero narrative in his recent post about the end of 'racism' discourse as a rhetorical weapon of the Left. ZEO12 provides a great deal of food for thought, discussing how conservatives like Joe Wilson represent a transcendence of PC-inspired white guilt, and a new, redemptive willingness on the part of patriots to endure inconvenient, once-paralyzing charges of 'racism' from what he (and Pat Moynihan) call the "liberal left."

[T]oday a curious thing is happening. The charge of “racism” appears to be losing its power to intimidate. In the past, a charge of racism, no matter how baseless, made opponents give up a fight and shrink back into a corner. However, today average Americans who have lived through the decades of racial ultra-sensitivity, are finally waking up to the fact that no matter what they do, no matter how hard they try to prove that they are not racist, it will never be enough to stop the liberal left from using the charge of “racism” against them. So, they are giving up trying. They are becoming unconcerned if they are called "racist." Since they know the charge will be thrown at them no matter what they do, it doesn’t matter any more. And with that, the charge of “racism” has lost its power to intimidate.

I congratulate ZEO12, and like-minded readers, on this new-found confidence and sense of direction, for it restores my confidence that Obama's (more "multicultural") neoliberalism will remain hegemonic until conservatives abandon these market-friendly Rand-spasms, throwback-y white-identity-politics, and gun-related theatrics, in order to hatch a worldview that endeavors to resemble the world of USA, 2009. There can be no better evidence that the Tea Party movement, however spectacular and provocative, is in some ways a non-economic, pyrrhic cultural campaign to restore a definitively-vanquished (WASP-y) America, than this class of assertion. It is an assertion, not-so-coincidentally, built upon this genre of flag-covered-clothing-wearing, "greatest country in the goddamn world"-intoning, self-congratulation:

And, the truth of the matter is that America today is, by any objective measure, the most racially tolerant and diverse culture on the planet today and undoubtedly in history. Americans, far, far more than any other people, nation, or culture, have gone to great lengths to demonstrate that they are not racist and that their nation is no longer racist.

Despite theoretically dwelling in the same region of the same country on the same planet, the assertions above speak to an equally "objectively measurable" fact: ZEO12 and I live on entirely different rocks. This allows me to enjoy his writing, admire his satirical wiles, and wish him good luck on his home planet: that, after all, is what agreeing to disagree should be all about.

Serious thinking on a sunny day

If we are going to kowtow to minorities to the point of giving up our own language traditions, we should not be surprised that the left wants to destroy not only our traditions and our culture, but also us. And before anyone gets huffy, look at the hundreds of American towns named for places in Europe but pronounced as if they were simply American.

By the way, my surname comes from Belgium and no one outside of my family pronounces it correctly and we have been here since before 1620.

Wall of shame

It's no surprise that social networking sites allow millions of individuals to put their jackassitude on display, but unless you're "friends" with these people (for some odd reason), their stupidity probably goes unnoticed by you.

Fortunately, said social networking sites also provide the tools for public shaming. And this bunch particularly deserves it.

Now, can we put the "post-racial" rhetoric to rest and honestly confront this nation's racial problems?

Fuck you, Ralph Nader

Seriously. Fuck you.

(via LGM)

It's Just Food, Nothing More

[UPDATE TO POST BELOW]: Has McCain denounced this, or is this an example of something that doesn't need to be repudiated?

The latest newsletter by an Inland Republican women's group depicts Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama surrounded by a watermelon, ribs and a bucket of fried chicken, prompting outrage in political circles. [pic at the link]

Diane Fedele, president of the group, said she had no racist intent. "I never connected," she told the newspaper. "It was just food to me. It didn't mean anything else."

Fedele said she had received the illustration in e-mails and decided to reprint it to poke fun at a remark by Obama that he doesn't look like other presidents.

"It was strictly an attempt to point out the outrageousness of his statement. I really don't want to go into it any further," Fedele told the newspaper. "I absolutely apologize to anyone who was offended. That clearly wasn't my attempt."

Clearly.

My fears

I've never seen a campaign like this before. I've seen presidential candidates viciously smeared and savagely attacked by partisans. But I haven't seen people yelling out "kill him," or "terrorist." I've never experienced the bestial morality of the modern presidential campaign taking aim at a person of color. I've never witnessed frightfully racialized gutter politics whipped up in the midst of a radical economic upheaval.

That only a small minority of John McCain's supporters vocally or visually express these sentiments is of little comfort to me. Others think it, and they think that those of us who are voting for Barack Obama are voting for a Muslim socialist communist terrorist Satan-worshipping traitor. In probable defeat, the McCain campaign is salting the earth, poisoning attempts to reach these people to solve common problems after the election. Whether intentional or not, I don't know. All I know is that there are going to be a not insignificant number of people who, already the victims of kleptocratic economic policies, are going to see their cultural and social values either be slowly marginalized (as with their views on same-sex marriage) or actively kicked to the curb (their racism) by a new majority. I don't know what this bodes, but I have an active and sometimes unpleasant imagination, and it does frighten me.

Carolina on my mind

While we're at it, let me toss in a "Me three!" in response to Dave and Wobs.

As most of you know, I recently returned to my home state of North Carolina after more than a decade away. I have a funny relationship with this place. I grew up ashamed to live here and to have been born a Southerner. I remained here as an undergraduate, partly due to a (deeply flawed) assumption/self-delusion that Chapel Hill, being "more liberal" than the surrounding areas, was progressive enough to be tolerable. But I found that experience frustrating and couldn't get out and escape to the left coast for graduate school fast enough. Being in the west was transformative on many levels, including a shift in the way I viewed my "home": Eugene quickly made me realize that Chapel Hill was wishy-washy liberal at best. My Southern shame intensified exponentially in response to assumptions made about me based on my origins and the slight hint of an accent that I still carried--that I was ignorant or a racist, that my education was sub-standard. At times it was a shame mixed with defensiveness, given that Oregon (and later, California and New York) didn't seem to be doing that much better with race relations. Why should those of us born in the South carry the stigma of a problem that seemed to permeate the entire country? But eventually I was able to gain some perspective and distance and see my birthplace for what it was--neither solely responsible for historic or ongoing racism nor innocent enough to merit a defensive from its natives. I was glad to be out and put NC on my mental list of "couldn't force me to live there" states.

But fate is a funny thing...and despite that vow, here I am again. Only, this is not the place I grew up or the place I left. The demographics of the state have shifted profoundly in the last decade. NC has experienced incredible growth, and the new population is considerably less white and more liberal. Changing demographics and the tanking economy (hitting this state is some particularly harsh ways) are just two factors that are changing the political landscape here.

So imagine my surprise to see that my home state is now a pleasing shade of Carolina blue. Obama's chances are looking better by the day and Elizabeth Dole will almost certainly be ousted by her Democratic challenger. It is, in a word, unbelievable.


As if I needed more proof that something profound is happening around me, I found this is my mailbox this morning. Dean Smith might as well be God around these parts (minus the plantation in Durham).

These are amazing times, my friends. I am glad we are all here in this space to witness it and sort it all out together.

Terra incognito

To second dave's sense of wonder, "wow" describes a lot of things I'm seeing right now. Honestly, I'm lacking any sort of historical reference to which I can grab and gain some sort of insight into what might happen. A black man is the odds-on favorite to be president of the United States. An economic catastrophe makes it likely that we will see a fundamental reordering of the premises of the financial world (although like dave, I'm not ready to call it the "end of capitalism"). And most worrying to me, a segment of the population - as a consequence of the two previous points, a decades long diet of eliminationist rhetoric, and candidates for high office willing to light a match - seems on the verge of a very ugly explosion. What does this all mean? Hell if I know, but I have a sense of unease unlike anything before.

And he totally digs Clarence Thomas too

From IHE (second item):

Adam LaDuca, a Kutztown University student, quit his position as executive director of the Pennsylvania Federation of College Republicans last week following criticism of comments he made on his Facebook page about Sen. Barack Obama’s lips, The Allentown Morning Call reported. LaDuca wrote that Obama has “a pair of lips so large he could float half of Cuba to the shores of Miami,” and later followed that up with a posting that said that “if sayin’ someone has large lips is a racial slur, then we’re ALL in trouble.” LaDuca told the Morning Call that he is not a racist, citing his admiration for Thomas Sowell, a conservative black economist, as evidence. “I have eight of his books and I think he’s brilliant and he’s a black man," LaDuca said. "If I were racist, would I be reading this stuff?”

To his credit, LaDuca didn't resort to the some-of-my-best-friends-are-black line because - obviously - they're not. All the same, pretty lame, Milhouse.

Oh, and Adam - you're a fucking racist.

Well, They Did Move on "Up" Afterall

In case you missed it in all the hubbub last night:

Georgia Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland used the racially-tinged term "uppity" to describe Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama Thursday.

Westmoreland was discussing vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's speech with reporters outside the House chamber and was asked to compare her with Michelle Obama.

"Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they're a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they're uppity," Westmoreland said.

Asked to clarify that he used the word “uppity,” Westmoreland said, “Uppity, yeah.”

Not only is the is this cracker a racist pos, but he doesn't make any fucking sense. Try parsing this: "They're a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they're uppity." I count at least three grammar errors and one giant failure of logic.

Stop Hitting Yourself

Dear Editor of the Register Guard,

In his Mailbag letter (September 1), Jack Roberts writes that after Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their black-gloved fists in the air while receiving their Olympic medals in 1968, millions of white Americans took this as a sign that "nothing they did for black people would ever be enough," and they suddenly decided to revert to their racist ways.

Tragically, Roberts informs us, this happened right when we were so close to "uprooting the last remnants of discrimination in America." Roberts concludes his letter by stating that Smith and Carlos are directly responsible for setting back the cause of civil rights in America.

I'd like to posit that it is actually Roberts, and all the people like him, who have always and continue to set back the cause of civil rights in America by arguing that it is actually black people who are responsible for the racism in our society. It's not that Roberts wants to discriminate against black people, he tried to "give" them their civil rights, but they are just so ungrateful that there's nothing he can do but "backlash."

Of course, Roberts writes in a long tradition stretching back to antebellum America of white men finding the source of their racism in the character of black men. Hopefully, we are nearing the end of that tradition, but until that time, it is the responsibility of all who strive for equality in our society to keep raising our fists and fighting men like Jack Roberts.

How low will he go?

apparently, pretty low. I will not link to the ad. but this screenfreeze appears for about a full second (at least 30 frames) and the C has obviously been shaded out. There is no way this is coincidence, no f'in way.

h/t Raw story

A Timely Reminder

I am not having the best of days. This perked me up considerably. Thank God for youtube.

I'm Getting a Little Sick of Josh Hamilton

This man took the cream and the clear, broke several home run records, and is arguably the most hated man in baseball. Or out of baseball, as his crime was apparently so heinous that he is now unemployable in baseball, despite the fact that he had the best OBP in the majors last year. Except that he has not been found guilty of anything (yet) and no one is quite sure he broke any Major League Baseball rules when he took whatever it is that he might have took.

This man took the Mexican Brown and the Columbian White, found Jesus, and is now the most loved man in all of baseball. If one could count the number of times he was called a hero last night, then one would officially qualify as a supercomputer. In interviews he drops so many references to Jesus, you would think he drives for NASCAR and Jesus is the team sponsor. He broke several Major League Baseball rules (in addition to a few federal laws), was suspended for a time, but has been welcomed back with open arms. I imagine there are many Major League teams that would love to have him on their roster.

Now there are many reasons for the disparity in treatment between these two men. Congress has not held hearings on the national tragedy of baseball players using the hard stuff. Josh Hamilton has not broken any records of people revered by Baby Boomers. Bonds famously hates talking to the media. Hamilton never passes up the opportunity to yammer on about how awesome Jesus is. Hamilton has an adorable Southern accent, and baseball is nothing if not romantic about chaw-spitting men with Southern accents. Which brings us to the point, I guess. One major difference between evil Barry and saintly Josh is that one is black and one is white. I am sure, however, that this makes no difference whatsoever.

What frightens them most

Their Zombie Jeezus is no match...

I have to admit, I'm getting an education in the veritable rainbow of American racism this election season. Here's three of those wonderful colors that I've identified:

• Your old school "they're less than human" crowd
• The "it's actually a privilege to be black in the USA!" gang
• And the "Amerikkka: The Blackening" bedwetters

What colors of the racist rainbow have you grasped?

To Go With Your Curious George Shirt

This obviously won't be the worst thing we see this election cycle, but what a way to start us off!

via LGM, Pandagon

Those Pesky Racist Voters

Leave it to some sports blogger who probably hasn't left his mother's basement in quite some time to nail what I've been harping on for some time now.

It's columns like this that make me realize that I have something to say, but won't ever say it as well as others. At least I can be linky.

From Kissing Suzy Kolber:

Chris Matthews: Turning our attention to the general election, Tim, what do you think we can expect over the next five months here? I think it’s gonna be really, really interesting!

Tim Russert: Me too. I think there’s gonna be a lot of healthy debate. We’re gonna find out a great deal about these two candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama. There’s still a LOT we don’t know about Obama. Right now, we only know his entire life story, the names of everyone he’s ever met, his entire political platform, his voting record, what he likes to eat, and this full body CT scan that was taken just 10 minutes ago. But there is still a LOT we just don’t know. And that’s all gonna be revealed. It’s going to be very, very interesting.

Chris Matthews: Well, before we get to that, let’s look back for a moment. Tim, we’ve been through, what was it? 50 states, and 54 primaries, with over 34 million people voting? That’s AMAZING! And this thing was so close the whole time through! How was Hillary Clinton able to keep this thing so close even when Barack Obama was beating her like a Bensonhurst housewife all through March?

Tim Russert: Two words, Chris. RACIST VOTERS. That was the one key segment of the population that Obama, for whatever reason, just could not get through to.

Chris Matthews: That’s amazing.

Tim Russert: It really is. If Obama wants to win this election, he’s going to have to do a better job reaching out to those hardcore racist voters. I want you to look at some of these polling numbers. Now these are FASCINATING. Racist voters alone make up more than 40% of the electorate.

Chris Matthews: Oh, wow!

Tim Russert: And they’re really crucial in swing states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Northern Florida, and pretty much any area more than 5 miles away from any major US city. That’s a big voting bloc that Hillary Clinton was able use as a base. Perhaps they admired her sheer force of will. Who knows. Now, the question is: will those racist voters stay with Obama, or will they vote for John McCain instead?

Follow the link for more advice for how Obama can reach out to these "racist voters," including advice from Pat Buchanan!