Wednesday, October 31, 2012

"Sorry, dealer's all out of race cards "

Kathleen Parker:

Predictable as rain, the race card has surfaced just in time to stir up electoral passions, justify outcomes and explain away inconvenient truths.

Just days from Election Day, the zeitgeist belched up one of its least attractive — and least defensible — memes. (Was it the weather?)

Preemptive theories, in no particular order, include: Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama because they are both black (according to Romney surrogate John Sununu); if Obama loses Florida, North Carolina and Virginia, all of which voted for him in 2008, the old Confederacy will be restored (Daily Beast commentator Andrew Sullivan); Americans still harbor racial bias even if they don’t know it (recent online poll, Associated Press).

Anyone reading headlines related to the poll might infer that white Americans are biased against black Americans. Extrapolating, given the current election season, it follows that if some voters prefer Romney, it is because Obama is African American.

But a review of the poll reveals something not quite so definitive or sinister. Overall, the findings suggest that most Americans are moderate, fair-minded and, for the most part, don’t see things one way or the other based on race.

Some of the questions themselves, on the other hand, were unnecessarily provocative and biased. That is, their design was based on an assumption of racial bias.

For example, the AP poll asked people whether they agree or disagree with the following statements: “Irish, Italians, Jewish, and other minorities overcame prejudice and worked their way up. Blacks should do the same without special favors.”

What kind of question is this? Who doesn’t believe that everyone should work his or her way up? The underlying assumption is blatantly racist, implying as it does that blacks don’t work and do expect special favors.

It is heartening that the majority, perhaps perceiving the trap, neither strongly agreed nor disagreed.

Another statement read: “It’s really a matter of some people just not trying hard enough; if blacks would only try harder, they could just be as well off as whites.”

Why not just ask people when they stopped beating their children?...
[E]ven the netherworld of politics should have standards. To preemptively label people racist for favoring a candidate who happens to be white, and otherwise advancing a narrative that will create only racial animus should Obama lose, is implicitly biased, unfair and a breach of good faith. Stop it.
The bizarre allegations of racism against people who don't support Obama-- a president who was elected because of his race (what were his other qualifications?)-- are a measure of the desperation and amorality of the Democrat Left. They are willing to incite racial violence, which is a real possiblity if Obama loses, just to advance their political agenda.


Democrats change constituencies, but not tactics.

17 comments:

  1. I thought the essence of racism was that one group gets special treatment. Now we've turned out around so that it's racist to OPPOSE one group getting special treatment.

    America is moving past race and that makes "liberals" upset. They need that race card up their sleeve.

    TRISH

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    1. That's what it used to mean. Now it means not voting for Barack Obama and not excusing bad behavior when carried out by blacks.

      --Francisca S.

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  2. So now they deserve special favors? Just say it. You're for special favors.

    TRISH

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  3. I had no idea John Sununu was a leftist.

    Hahahaha!

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  4. Yeah, he's for special favors. Unless he's not, in which he would have to check strongly agree to the question, which happens to be the "racist" answer.

    Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first black on the court once said: "You guys have been practicing discrimination for years. Now it’s our turn.”

    That about sums it up. Equal treatment for blacks is racial justice. Special favors for blacks is racial vengeance.

    The Torch

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  5. Catholics are subjected to legal discrimination right now. How about some "special favors" for us? Naw, I don't want any. Just stop discriminating against us. Allow us to exercise our 1st amendment rights and I'll be happy.

    --Francisca S.

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  6. Obama-- a president who was elected because of his race (what were his other qualifications?)

    Oh, I dunno, maybe he had some policy proposals that appealed to voters. Silly things like making health insurance available to more people.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah! And draining the oceans!

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    2. There's a liberal Democrat in my neighborhood who wants the same thing, but nobody's electing him president. I think what Egnor meant was, what's in his resume? When he started running for office, he'd been a senator for a little more than two years. He joked that being a freshman senator meant that he'd be sharpening pencils. Up until January 2005 he was a state senator in Illinois. Before that he was a community organizer and taught some college class on racism, go figure. He got into Harvard Law and Columbia on affirmative action.

      The man's credentials are slim. He wants to expand healthcare by partial government takeover doesn't cut it. They all do. No, Obama became a rock star over night because he was a good looking black guy who could deliver a decent speech when he had his teleprompter nearby. Black and white alike were enthralled with a black man running for president, especially one who wasn't as angry as Jesse or Al.

      Being black hasn't handicapped this man one iota. Without it, he'd probably be a midlevel civil servant somewhere in county government.

      The Torch

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    3. I think what Egnor meant was, what's in his resume?

      As opposed to the resume of McCain? What was in his resume that qualified him for president? Being a reckless pilot? Choosing a moron for VP?

      Or as opposed to the resume of Romney? A leveraged-buyout asset-stripper who engineered government bail-outs of plundered pension funds, government bail-outs of a corrupt Olympic games, government bail-out of his own company? That Romney?

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  7. You mean Catholics have to abide by the law like everyone else. Such awful discrimination.

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  8. Here's my question on race:
    Why is Mr Obama called a 'black' president when his mother was a white woman?
    Does she not count?
    If so, why? Is because she is the mother or a woman?
    Is it the 'one drop' rule in reverse?
    I ask these questions in all honesty.
    I mean really now, wouldn't it make more sense to call him the first Hawaiian president? That is where he is from, after all.

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    1. Really? Do you think he wouldn't be called black if his mother was black and his father white? Most US citizens probably don't even know the color of Obama's parents. Most "blacks" in the US have white ancestors.

      Geez.

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    2. My guess is he is called black because he looks kind of black.

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  9. Yes, when those laws are discriminatory being forced to follow them is discrimination. I don't want to disobey the law. I want my government to adhere to the highest law in the land, the US Constitution, and its protections of free exercise. That protection doesn't fall by the wayside just because it impedes the policy goals of lawmakers.

    --Francisca S.

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  10. Well said, Francisca S. Let's not forget that the law is on our side. The lawless president is on theirs.

    JQ

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