I'm not approving of ugly epithets, just emphasizing the comparison between an individual ordinary citizen, who might not be very sane/smart/educated, and a member of Congress, who wields great power. The member of Congress should not pretend he's weak, when he is in fact strong. It's also exceedingly lame — and, frankly, racist — for white people to be so quick to think of powerful black politicians as vulnerable and besieged. I assume the black politicians laugh at them in private. The willingness of black politicians to make power moves in racial terms suggests to me that they know exactly what they are doing: leveraging patronization.
March 22, 2010
I'm getting a lot of flak for saying "So what if some idiot said a bad word?"
I'm not going to link to some of the outrageous anti-Althousiana out there, but you can easily find it by Googling "Althouse" and "So what if some idiot said a bad word?" You'll find some harsh stuff. Did you know I'm "lunatic fringe right-wing blogger Ann Althouse"? Anyway, here's my old post, where I've added this new material:
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They just an Alinksy pivot on you, Ann. They know people don't like this bill, so they need to pivot and find someone to fire on. You're one of them. A couple of other bloggers are in their fire today, too, for on thing or another.
Prediction: Obama-Biden win in all 50 states in 2012. GOP loses the Senate and the House in 2010. It is all over. The health care success will be now everywhere.
Prediction: Althouse dared to say anything negative about black Democrats, so she's a racist targeted for Alinksy-ite destruction.
From what I've seen, pro-administrations supporters are very deeply invested in the idea that Tea Party supporters are subhuman. They do no want any context or critical examination to cut any holes in their blanket condemnations.
"GOP loses the Senate and the House in 2010. It is all over."
OMG you're right! It is all over! Since the GOP lost the Senate and the House in 2006! BARACK OBAMA HAS THE MAGIC POWER TO INFLUENCE THE PAST!!!!
"The health care success will be now everywhere."
Thank you, Yoda!
So, their "supporters" treat black pols like, well, children.
That seems to be a long-term thing by the Dems.
Mental image of Althouse sitting at her computer googling her name and moronic phrases she has written. Its not pretty folks. People of Wisconsin- this is where your tax dollars are going.
Mental image of Althouse sitting at her computer googling her name and moronic phrases she has written. Its not pretty folks. People of Wisconsin- this is where your tax dollars are going.
Hey New. If you're willing to place a bet on your predictions, and you're right, you can make some money. If, on the other hand, you aren't willing to do that...Well, that just makes you a loud-mouthed punk. Cheers.
Glad to see you sticking up for yourself, Professor, but IMHO you need to hit back much harder. Talk to Meade, and I suspect he will give you the same advice.
Mutamen,
There is such a thing as "Google alerts". Google it.
I don't Google my name. Jeez. I have a Google alert on my name.
Fuck em, Professor. The bill is a baby-killer of a bill and that's the truth, but so what, it's also going to kill its share of adults, too.
Besides, Stupak is now pro-choice as far as I can tell which is just as nasty a label to the people who voted for him based on his pro-life principles. You know, the ones he tossed aside at the last minute.
Pencil beat me to it.
We (as a society, not any political group) really do need to start saying "so what" to these sorts of things (not that I'm accepting that anything happened here, without video or arrests).
I've been watching my twitter feed go nuts over the guy who said "baby-killer" to Stupak- same thing. Either it's true, and he should feel bad about it, or it's not and he should therefore rest easy and show it's not true. Politics ain't beanbag; if you're going to enter the fray, you're going to get insulted, sometimes quite rudely. That doesn't make it right, but come on, they're still just words.
- Lyssa
The whole thing was clearly a contrived outrage designed to smear the demonstrators. The fact that you wouldn't go along with the MSM's Two Minutes Hate is to your credit.
I just realized that this was more about the alleged racist/homophobic remarks rather than the baby-killer Stupak one.
The former really don't even need addressing since there is NO proof they even happened. The latter, well, you saw my take on that one.
There was an unconfirmed report that some spat upon a member of Congress. I had to think "so what?" They routinely shit upon us so maybe they deserve something in return.
The Alinsky crowd thinks they're on a roll and really buys the idea screaming, "Ra-a-acist!!!", im[presses people anymore. Their phony outrage is so palpable, they've crossed over into the ludicrous (for them, not hard) .
As to Obama winning all 50 states, lotsa luck on that one.
As to the Republicans losing both houses, that means Boehner and Cantor can go back and repeal the vote by tea time. (God, you're a fool)
You're argument is exactly this:
Black politicians are powerful, so it's no big deal if regular people call them n---ers.
And then you ended it with Shame!
Yup. Shame on you.
Then you said this:
The willingness of black politicians to make power moves in racial terms suggests to me that they know exactly what they are doing: leveraging patronization.
I presume you were talking about Lewis and Clayburn referring to HCR as the Civil Rights Bill of our time. Ted Kennedy -- not a black dude -- said the same thing, as have a number of others. Why are you calling out black people specifically?
The member of Congress should not pretend he's weak, when he is in fact strong..
Correct.
The willingness of black politicians to make power moves in racial terms suggests to me that they know exactly what they are doing: leveraging patronization.
These black politicians know there is a sizable group of brainless, knee jerk liberals incapable of objective thought who will accept anything they say. The whole parade across the street was a set up from the beginning and you're a racist for calling them on it. Those poor little tender Congressmen.
This allegation of racist language is a lie. Don't let them set the narrative. There are now at least four audio-video records of these race-baiting liars' little stroll through the crowd, and there is not one word of racist abuse recorded. Much less the FIFTEEN shouts of "Ni@@er" they are claiming. Liars and racial scab pickers one and all.
John Lewis is a great American hero. Unlike most members of the Black Caucus, he was actually on the front lines during the civil rights days. He faced the Alabama troopers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and started towards a beating. He decided to take the beating and he took it like a man. Most of his cohorts would not have made that decision. Most of his cohorts would have stayed home. All these years later John Lewis has left some of his courage on the far side of the Edmund Pettus Bridge and has substituted his enormous courage with a suit of victimhood. Still a great hero.
"and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;"
I think flak should be directed at the person who said: Let's get Miley Cyrus as a mentor for American Idol
John Lewis may have been heroic fifty years ago.
But I don't consider what lib pols do heroic when they demand wealth be re-distributed to their lazy constituents who would be better off getting kicked in the pants on a daily basis.
Pols like Lewis & Obama & Ted Kennedy help to create a permanent underclass.
There is no question that a permanent underclass is the result of much liberal legislative action over the last 50 years. In the late 60s the black community was at a crossroads: take the MLK integration route or the Malcolm X route which implied that the black community was fine as it was, no further work required. Guess which way most jumped?
Someone is voting to take away your liberty and the fundamental reason for the origin of the US, yet an obscure individual uses a term that exemplifies his frustration at being disenfranchised and he is the bad guy. A politician that is intentionally bankrupting our republic is called a racial epitaph and likely financially benefiting from the vote, and the stressed, robed victim lashes out and becomes the bad guy.
We need to get our priorities staight. I work with a number of blacks and they think that white frustration is very amusing. None of these people, by their own admission, have ever felt the sting of discrimination, but they readily admit that they love Obama and the Democrats as he will give them things and like the fact that we are paying for it.
At some point in this confronation, we are going to have to divide along racial lines as our interest, expectations, and sense of obligation are diametrically opposed. This is a broad statement, but observation does indicate the truth of the matter.
Prediction: Obama-Biden win in all 50 states in 2012.
That'll never happen. You will lose so much money taking that bet.
I'd say it's a pretty bad sign that the first comment mentions an "Alinksy pivot". And, without looking, I'm going to guess that no one has done anything effective against those who made claims about Althouse. I was going to tweet something that would have been effective to a degree, and I can do things that would be even more effective for a price (which of course I'd disclose).
Alternatively, maybe she could get teaparty to wave some loopy signs at her detractors, or have them drool on the detractors.
If there's one thing this bill's politics has shown us its that cries of "racism" energize a core Democratic base, and cries of "abortion" energize a core of the Republican base.
Its sad that neither group appreciates when what is actually being said is "SQUIRREL!"
PS I'm not a racist and I'm pro-life.
You were right. So what...? We do not know if it was said. We do not know who- a provocateur?- said it. But, really, who cares.
I guess some people need to make much ado about nothing. I am surprised the NYT did not have a whole five pages on this- with full historical. sociological, anthropological, and illogical blather.
This is a symptom of a larger problem: the need for political people to say something in response to every attack. Even if what you say is evasive, or outright bullshit, it seems that you've still got to say something. Both Democrats and Republicans do it. And it's mind-numbingly insane.
Michael,
Malcolm X believed in family, religion, and education. By the time he was killed he had abandoned most of the black separatist ideology.
I think he would cringe at the out-of-wedlock birth rate of blacks in the U.S. and welfare entitlements.
He was very much about individual responsibility.
So what if some idiot called you a "lunatic fringe right-wing blogger"? Stop pretending to be weak.
"lunatic fringe right-wing blogger"? Holy moly how deluded would you have to be to write something like that?
We're not really that far away from Great Britain when it comes to restrictions on free speech. The shift seems to be toward "yeah, you have your first amendment rights, but they don't cover 'irresponsible' speech".
Eventually everything that isn't considered polite conversation will fall under the "fire in a crowded theater" exception.
As it turns out, I already have a few posts about one of those who smeared Althouse, namely Digby. I haven't paid as much attention to her as others, but in any case I want to assure all of Althouse's teaparty readers that their way - drooling - is better than my way. No, really, just keep drooling and things will eventually get better for you. You're right, and I'm wrong. Drool on.
I was wondering when you would start flogging your site.
Drool on
Crack, is that you?
"I was wondering when you would start flogging your site."
I was wondering when he'd stop flogging his site.
What, exactly, is "outrageous anti-Althousiana"? (And what kind of ego is required to make a new nominal form out of your own name?) It's easier to demonize your opponents than to engage them, or to link to any sites that might have telling criticisms of your points. Here's mine: http://wordinedgewise.org
Read it, please, and tell me that I'm unfair or acting out of malice towards your guru, whose work I've generally regarded with bemused detachment.
Oh dear God another self-linking whore!
I have aspired to bemused detachment but just can't get the hang of it.
"So what if some idiot called you a "lunatic fringe right-wing blogger"? Stop pretending to be weak."
It's not weak but strong to recognize and use my power: the power to withhold links.
"It's not weak but strong to recognize and use my power: the power to withhold links."
And, of course, it's not weak but strong for black Democrats to use their power: The power to discredit a political movement that harbors racists.
"This is a symptom of a larger problem: the need for political people to say something in response to every attack."
The end result of this is that both sides end up in "defensive mode", where there's bound to be a lot of noise.
Anyone concerned with winning elections, which is in fact "the prize", needs to approach the people from an "offensive mode". Tell us what you are FOR, and why you're for it and why that's good for me and mine.
Oh dear God another self-linking whore!
Worse, one that can't make a real Link!
Wherever Lefty protestors go there's violence and disruption. Anarchists smash store windows with brickbats and hammers. Spit, urine, and bricks are directed at cops. Dumpsters and cars burn.
After this happens, the media generally puts itself on the side of the protestors. At worst, they wail and gnash their teeth about the horrible inequalities that force the oppressed (really upper middle class punks) to utilize such tactics. At best, they make sure to draw a bright line between the violent agitators and the legitimate protestors.
A handful of Right-wing protestors say obnoxious things. One may or may not have spit on somebody. This is front page news that slurs the whole movement.
Members of the New Black Panther Party wave nightsticks and threaten voters in clear violations of electoral and civil rights legislation. It's caught on tape. The day it happens, it becomes a news story. Months later, the Obama Justice Department drops the case and stonewalls a congressional investigation.
Quasi-government agents officially connected to both the mainstream media and Democratic political campaigns start storefront political movements like the coffee party and get front page stories before they even get off the ground.
Start calling this what it is: a concerted psychological operations campaign against the Right. If you don't start doing reading up on psychological operations techniques and informing people that they are in play right now, you're going to be played for saps as you babble foolishly about the "Alinsky playbook".
You should really just apologize for endorsing racial slurs, which is absolutely what you were doing, rather than updating your original post with more self-justifying nonsense.
Now, the smart and effective thing to do would be to try to help Digby's readers see the page linked in my previous comment. I haven't put much into it, but if I started to get a lot of visitors to that page I might. That would reduce her future ability to mislead.
Like I said, that would be the smart and effective thing to do. Instead, well, we see what happened.
Drool on!
Doyle - you're an asshole.
Oh dear God another self-linking whore!
At least they're not as bad as Greenwald, with all his sockpuppetry.
Yesterday Althouse posted a video of a group of black Congressmen walking past some demonstrators. The crowd was hostile but their hostility was demonstrably not racial. It didn't matter. The visual of a few blacks walking through a hostile white crowd evoked potent memories of past civil rights struggles....I think the stunt was purposely contrived, but, again, that doesn't matter. The image will work with the demographic that the Democrats are aiming for....But they should have a care. Everything they say about the harmful effects of stereotyping Muslims should apply to the tea partiers. Most people are opposed to this health care bill. Characterizing them as racists and "teabaggers" is not a way of winning them over.
@ New "Prediction: ... The health care success will be now everywhere."
Yay, I'll live forever!
vw: honstest
Ah, Palladian, you nailed it, as always :)
Your not getting into line on their current narrative....
Yes, thousands protest and perhaps a few said something bad (and perhaps not, as it's not on any tapes I've viewed)... ergo, smear the whole group. :)
Lets not consider for a moment the percent of nuts and socialists at the average lefty protest.. and or that if any 'liberals' do show up the whole event was probably sponsored by a nutty lefty group like ANSWER....
I don't think I like this post-racial world much.
And, of course, it's not weak but strong for black Democrats to use their power: The power to discredit a political movement that harbors racists.
Sounds good. Thus the guys in SEIU teeshirts who beat the crap out of Ken Gladney have now discredited the union movement and the Democrat Party.
Pretty quick, every group is discredited, and people have to depend on what they themselves said, what they themselves think.
Won't that be wonderful?
"You should really just apologize for endorsing racial slurs, which is absolutely what you were doing, rather than updating your original post with more self-justifying nonsense."
Oh, bullshit. This is below the Alinsky level. Raise your game.
Don't get rattled Anne...
They have managed to coerce the discourse past "sticks and stones" and into their territory.
They also lie a lot.
I'm not approving of ugly epithets, just emphasizing the comparison between an individual ordinary citizen, who might not be very sane/smart/educated, and a member of Congress, who wields great power. The member of Congress should not pretend he's weak, when he is in fact strong.
And yet if you offend the dignity of the King or Queen of Thailand, you can be locked up for three-to-fifteen years. Sovereigns wielding ultimate power traditionally smote those who would offend their dignity, going back to the Emperors of Rome (than which no one had more power on earth.)
But I'm happy to see people are alive and well and posting here. I feared a Rumplestilzkin scene after Health Care Reform passed:
the little man cried and in his rage stamped his little foot so with such force that he sank into the ground up to his waist. Then he stamped his left foot into the ground in rage and with both hands tore himself in two
I have a Google alert on my name.
I can see why the professor might want to know what people are saying about her, but why dignify their reactions with a response?
This allegation of racist language is a lie
Vas you dere, Sharlie?
The listener and his nearest neighbors are the best judge of what was said to them. Unless the listener was miked, the idea that individual sounds could be picked out of crowd noise is far-fetched to say the least. If we're walking single-file, my wife cannot even hear what I am saying unless I turn around and face her.
Ken Gladney
Is there any source for the Ken Gladney story other than Breitbart, whose credibility regarding videos posted on his websites took quite a tumble lately?
And yet if you offend the dignity of the King or Queen of Thailand, you can be locked up for three-to-fifteen years. Sovereigns wielding ultimate power traditionally smote those who would offend their dignity, going back to the Emperors of Rome (than which no one had more power on earth.)
What is the "And yet" about this statement? Are you contradicting something?
The powerful want to make it...uncomfortable...to dare criticize them. Isn't that consistent with what is going on here?
I mean...the throngs on Saturday were practically dangerous, the things they said were denigrating! Should we perhaps do something about that?
Michael, thanks for reminding me who John Lewis was.
Trey
There are a large number of people in America obsessed with race, they are called Democrats.
Traditionally great power did not go hand in hand with a big tolerance for insults. Instead, the person wielding great power would squash the ordinary, epithet-shouting citizen like a bug.
Anne,
Of course you are racist. Just look in the mirror. I'm sure that there's a sheet in your closet.
Proves it!
I think the statement in your earlier post that was most obnoxious was "I'm assuming it was a lie." Why should we assume that Congress persons (including John Lewis, a genuine hero of the civil rights movement) would lie about a matter like that? If Rush Limbaugh advanced a comparably serious complaint after passing through a left wing crowd. would you "assume it was a lie?" If not, what's the basis for your different working assumptions?
"I don't Google my name. Jeez. I have a Google alert on my name."
Oh well that's different: Mental image of Althouse reviewing her "Google alerts": The horror! The Horror!
Anne,
As you well know, heros don't lie. Never. Not ever. No way.
You white sheet owning racist you!
Besides Anne, you know in your heart of hearts that those teabaggers from flyover country are really racists to the core. They just put their white sheets away and wear those funny hats the REAL people would not be caught dead wearing … soooo uncool. We don’t need no stinking evidence to know that they shouted racist remarks. They can hardly contain themselves, pretending to be housewives from Millville and retirees from Danville. They aren’t fooling us! Racist to the core and fat to boot. My God, did you see those Wal Mart outfits and their redneck T-shirts? They probably think that shopping at Penney’s is only for church clothes.
They can hardly wait for the first “Black Hero” ™ to pass by to spit and call him the “N” word! Probably cling to their guns and bibles when they’re not attending a Klan rally.
Sessemi=a nice spice
Last summer, around the Dem convention, I was talking online about why if a Dem won, better it were Hillary. When most repubs were still indulgin their dislike of her, my points were that while she was personally a bit more liberal than Bill, she was still a Clinton aka triangulating opportunist, with whom it might be possible to make some deals. At the very least you knew where she was coming from --w/o the deep deceptiveness of Obama -- and, finally, at least you could oppose her without being charged with racism at every turn.
I was basically called a racist for making that last point (thereby proving it.)
"So what if some idiot said a bad word?" You'll find some harsh stuff. Did you know I'm "lunatic fringe right-wing blogger Ann Althouse"?
Your comment did seem out of character having read your blog for 6 or 7 years now. It's not something you usually do. In fact, you seem to steer clear of commenting on the overtly controversial. If you were racist this blog would likely reflect a history of such.
The tone in here yesterday was pretty intense, a lot of people got carried away with emotional comments. No biggy.
why dignify their reactions with a response?
Because it's bloggable!
Breitbart is discredited only in Liberal imagination. And the videos don't lie, no racism at the Capital - only free speech focused on government takeover of free people's choice and independence.
Why should we assume that Congress persons (including John Lewis, a genuine hero of the civil rights movement) would lie about a matter like that?
He may have been a hero in the '60s, but now he's just another race huckster. And that's why he would lie.
I join you in saying "so what." What does the taunts of a few angry dopes have to do with the issue?
Funny how libtards can blithely and openly, on camera, repeatedly and for years call overy conservative (especially Boosh) a Nazi, yet when someone claims w/o evidence that the N-word was used, that's PROOF that all Tea Party people are racists.
John Lewis is a hero? Heh. He's the moron who claimed sharks still patrol the shipping lanes where dead slaves were tossed off slave ships 300 years ago, in hopes of finding something to eat.
John Lewis has been dining out on his Selma days for almost 40 years.
Funny how WWII vets came back battle-scarred, decoratd and having endured REAL combat seeing their friends die, and say NOTHING.
Whereas Lewis brays like a jackass to all within earshot of how much a hero he was. Ditto Jizzy Jackson.
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