Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The state of American discourse

1980: "Every word she writes is a lie, including 'and' and 'the'." – Mary McCarthy on Lillian Hellman.

2008: "Every word anyone utters against The One is racist."

8 comments:

Brian said...

You are a racist for posting this and using the word "2008." The Constitution allowed slaves to be imported untl 1808, and by referencing the 200-year anniversary of this, you are saying that blacks should be slaves again.

Anonymous said...

OH HO HO HO HO! Conservative comedy strikes again!

Anonymous said...

"Republican racism? Being encouraged from the top of the ticket on down?

Hey! What about this one guy over here who said something dopey?

One guy! Let's all debunk one guy! First things first!"

Eric said...

You have no evidence that McCain is guilty of racism. None.

But I like your "one guy" theory since the Republicans have been tainted by the mainstream media with one guy who allegedly yelled "Kill him" about Obama. Problem is that nobody can find this guy, the reporter who originally cited this can't describe him, and the Secret Service never heard it.

There's only one guy in this election playing the race card. Hint: he doesn't look like those guys on the dollar bills.

Anonymous said...

Ah, so intensely attuned to every messianic eye twitch of "The One." But not so keen on dog whistles.

If you ever find the mysterious "kill him" man, he'll complete the tea set with "treason" man, "terrorist" man, and "sit down, boy" man. Sadly, those guys are confirmed. In some cases, on tape. All puking back that "not one of us/un-American/terrorist pal" red meat. So let's ignore them. Instead, let's dispute the entire subject by swerving to its edges and focusing on the shakiest outlier.

Eric said...

Huh, still no evidence of racism "from the top of the ticket down." As for the rabble in the crowd, I'll leave you with Charles Krauthammer:

"Let me get this straight. A couple of agitated yahoos in a rally of thousands yell something offensive and incendiary, and John McCain and Sarah Palin are not just guilty by association -- with total strangers, mind you -- but worse: guilty according to the New York Times of "race-baiting and xenophobia."

But should you bring up Barack Obama's real associations -- 20 years with Jeremiah Wright, working on two foundations and distributing money with William Ayers, citing the raving Michael Pfleger as one who helps him keep his moral compass (Chicago Sun-Times, April 2004) and the long-standing relationship with the left-wing vote-fraud specialist ACORN -- you have crossed the line into illegitimate guilt by association. Moreover, it is tinged with racism.

The fact that, when John McCain actually heard one of those nasty things said about Obama, he incurred the boos of his own crowd by insisting that Obama is "a decent person . . . that you do not have to be scared [of] as president" makes no difference. It surely did not stop John Lewis from comparing McCain to George Wallace."

Dog whistles, indeed.

Anonymous said...

Resolved: the dog whistles of the McCain/Palin campaign aren't anything like a fullblown 1950s Klan rally. Therefore, they do not exist.

There's a thing that's so rare in American politics that it's almost impossible to picture: the candidate who pretends to stay above the fray, while his running mate and his staff and his surrogates and his supporters tote the sleaze on his behalf. May it never come to pass in our lifetime.

Thankfully, John McCain is a good man who runs a clean and honorable campaign, and who has earned the benefit of the doubt.... and who totally coincidentally and unknowingly hired the same people who directed and enacted the "McCain's secret black bastard" push polls.

Charles Krauthammer's comparison is moronic. Obama is accountable for Bill Ayers' life, says Krauthammer, but John McCain isn't responsible for the conduct at his own events (or even aware of it). Yet, despite having no obligation to do so, McCain jumped right in at the very first sign of trouble that he "actually heard." Sure, the media had been reporting the same kind of trouble for days and days, but they are such liars.

Anyway, the "agitated yahoos" are total strangers to McCain. Unlike, say, the ACORN Mickey Mouse recruiters who have a "real association" with Obama, according to Krauthammer's flowchart.

The only remaining question is what McCain's agitated yahoos could possibly have been agitated BY. Well, we'll never ever know, so why think about it?

Anonymous said...

The backwards "B" carved into that girl's face stands for "brotherhood."