The random political thoughts thread (Part Deux)

[JWBear]

Originally Posted by Betty

Shameful!

Which; the video, or that we're 37th?

[Prudence]

So, today I got to drive by the usual weekend brunch crowd of people flag-waving on the corner by the library. I realize this particular faction is all about going it alone, with no structured societal support of any kind, but really, the signs need work. If it's in small print - and bad penmanship, no less - people in cars can't read it. All I could read on one guy's sign, because the letters were big enough and it was underlined, was "NO HEALTH CARE". Since I'm pretty sure the group wasn't in favor of government involvement in anything, I'm confident he wasn't protesting any lack of personal health care.

Also, I'm predisposed to turn against any group that encourages honking.

[Tref]

Originally Posted by Prudence

Also, I'm predisposed to turn against any group that encourages honking.

What about geese?

[Gemini Cricket]

The normally nonchalant Barack Obama looked nonplussed, as Nancy Pelosi glowered behind.

Surrounded by middle-aged white guys — a sepia snapshot of the days when such pols ran Washington like their own men’s club — Joe Wilson yelled “You lie!” at a president who didn’t.

But, fair or not, what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy!
The outburst was unexpected from a milquetoast Republican backbencher from South Carolina who had attracted little media attention. Now it has made him an overnight right-wing hero, inspiring “You lie!” bumper stickers and T-shirts.

The congressman, we learned, belonged to the Sons of Confederate Veterans, led a 2000 campaign to keep the Confederate flag waving above South Carolina’s state Capitol and denounced as a “smear” the true claim of a black woman that she was the daughter of Strom Thurmond, the ’48 segregationist candidate for president. Wilson clearly did not like being lectured and even rebuked by the brainy black president presiding over the majestic chamber.

I’ve been loath to admit that the shrieking lunacy of the summer — the frantic efforts to paint our first black president as the Other, a foreigner, socialist, fascist, Marxist, racist, Commie, Nazi; a cad who would snuff old people; a snake who would indoctrinate kids — had much to do with race.
I tended to agree with some Obama advisers that Democratic presidents typically have provoked a frothing response from paranoids — from Father Coughlin against F.D.R. to Joe McCarthy against Truman to the John Birchers against J.F.K. and the vast right-wing conspiracy against Bill Clinton.

But Wilson’s shocking disrespect for the office of the president — no Democrat ever shouted “liar” at W. when he was hawking a fake case for war in Iraq — convinced me: Some people just can’t believe a black man is president and will never accept it.

Source
I think Dowd nails it in this op-ed.

[Betty]

Originally Posted by JWBear

Which; the video, or that we're 37th?

That we're 37th! And rather ironic when everyone is always putting France down and look who's #1.

[scaeagles]

Good Lord, GC....all criticism of Obama is NOT racism, and while that was not the appropriate place to yell it out, it is getting incredibly tiresome.

[JWBear]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

Good Lord, GC....all criticism of Obama is NOT racism, and while that was not the appropriate place to yell it out, it is getting incredibly tiresome.

No, not all... But a large majority of it. That is to say, the people marching and disrupting town halls; the birthers; the pundants on Fox... You know, the nuts.

[Alex]

I would say there is definitely criticism of racism that is fueled or augmented by outright racism or simple disquiet (that is, they'd never overtly do anything particularly racist but have some unconscious tendencies) with having a black president.

Saying that, though, I further say that while it may be true, unless an individual instance of criticism or disrespect can clearly be tied to a racist idea it is politically disadvantageous to bring it up.

[flippyshark]

I also think the racist card is being played far too often by those criticizing the conservatives. Sure, it's justified in some cases, particularly with some of the more virulent protesters, but I think it's best to respond to the challenges that can actually be addressed with facts. Slinging a charge of racism is always a conversation ender, and the person who plays that card is essentially saying, eh, you're not even worth talking to. (that is true in the case of some of the most virulent protesters, of course.) But it's a lot more useful to keep the conversation focused on facts, especially since both sides appear to have their own sets of facts.

Just for starters, I think an awful lot of the tea party faction need to consult some good dictionaries and history books. Judging from their signs, they don't have very good working definitions of fascism, socialism, communism or nazism, and seem to find them all interchangeable.

I know a few libertarians who are part of these protests, all educated and very smart. I'm surprised that they seem to be cool with the nonsense, jingoism and sometimes threatening rhetoric coming from the more (*ahem*) rural participants in these events. ("We didn't bring guns ... THIS TIME") Strange bedfellows.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by JWBear

No, not all... But a large majority of it.

I completely disagree that a vast majority is racially motivated.