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But of course: it’s racist to accuse Obama of lying — 74 Comments

1. From 9/11/09, in MSNBC’s First Thoughts Blog, whose authorship is credited thusly: “From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg”, comes the official beginning of a speculation/whispering campaign/allegation that Southerners oppose Barack and Obamacare b/c Southerners are racist:

   “The Elephant In The Room: At what point do what a bunch of folks in D.C. believe privately become more public – that there is a dramatic divide between how people in the South view Obama versus the rest of the country? Sure, the South has always been more conservative and has been increasingly more Republican, so it shouldn’t be a surprise this region is less open to a Democratic president’s ideas; it’s no different than folks in New York City and San Francisco not being open to a Republican president’s proposals. But is it really the “D” next to Obama’s name that has folks upset in the South? Yes, there was a “coastal” divide when it came to George W. Bush, and the election results of 2004, 2006, and 2008 proved that. But is it ALL just ideological? It’s truly subjective… As defiant as some on the right are about the fact that this has nothing to do with race, there’s an equal group of folks who believe it’s ONLY grounded in race. Bottom line: Whether it’s fair or not, there is a perception growing that race is driving some elements of the opposition to Obama. It probably means this tumult will only grow for the time being.

   I quoted this a few days ago, at the bottom of another comment thread. Commenter “Scottie” responded (my paraphrase): it is racism which will defeat Obamacare – racism of the left which accuses the right of racism.

   Scottie has a funny and good point, if only b/c the left – having relied so long on demonizing it’s opponents – has dulled it’s ability to conduct reasoned debate. Obamacare is losing b/c the proposed healthcare initiatives are vague and unreasonable. The left, led by Barack, is not leaping into the fray with reasoning, but rather with more demonization. When Obamacare polls worse, the left and Barack only step up their demonization efforts. It’s all they know: for good reason, they don’t trust their ability to argue principles and values (either eternal principles and values or American principles and values – which, actually, are the same, imo). When you are a demonizer, everything looks like a demon.

2. It seldom manifests itself publicly, but the amount of casual anti-Southern sentiment here in urban Seattle is just staggering. I have had the good fortune to travel all over this country in government service and in business and have friends all over. And frequent visits have let me see the development of the South over the past 20 years. But I do know people here, including some close to me, who smugly think of Southerners only as snake-handling religious fanatics or characters out “Deliverance.” Of course they have never even been there. And to them, whatever MoDo says about such people they accept without a qualm.

3. Geraldine Feraro nailed it during the election. No white person with Obama’s record and experience would have been considered for president. To that I would add that no white person would get the forbearance and deference from the MSM he gets. If it’s all about race, it’s in his favor.

4. Folks have cried “Wolf” aka “racism” so many times I don’t even think it matters anymore if anyone’s called a racist. Who cares. This is by far the least racist country in the world. Go ahead call me a racist for disagreeing with our President, as if I care at this point.

5. I think Obama is a liar and I also think that Dowd is a fool. This is the worst political class ever.

6. The great pity is that American blacks did not recognize the importance of having the first black President be worthy of the respect of the broad electorate. No; for them, regrettably, blackness was enough.
   The burgeoning anti-Obama backlash will draw them to his defense, at an unavoidable cost of worsening race relations. If that’s what they want….Tolerance of black racism has its limits, too.

7. President Jesse Sharpton.

8. neo, I not sure that one should try to defend oneself from such libel. Trying to get your accuser to accept your defense hands all the power to him, which he can increase by withholding approval or absolution. There is a strong human incentive to do just that.

   And if you can get what you want by crying “Wolf,” a lot of of people will cry “Wolf.” Whole industries committed to Wolf-crying industries will spring up, and people will forget how to earn a living in a way that doesn’t involve crying wolf. It’s a form of Gresham’s Law. That’s how we got in this mess.

   It’s also a form of threat vulnerability. The essence of threat vulnerability is that once exercised, the threat is useless. The way to defuse the threat is to call the bluff and make the adversary follow through on their threats, and make them accept the consequences of the new situation. For example, North Korea can’t actually use its nuclear weapons, because doing so would guarantee the end of the regime, which the existence of nukes is meant to safeguard.

   Collectively, we should defy the race-baiters to do their worst. The more they throw around unjustified accusations at innocent people, the less anyone will care about these accusations. Similarly, if everyone is racist, I don’t think that there is any differential disgrace in being a racist: if everyone is a racist, it doesn’t say anything about your character to be one, too. Using the race card in an undiscriminating way robs it of its power.

   The answer is more sunlight and more publicity.

   So maybe you don’t defend yourself: you just threaten them with a suit for slander. Let’s put the accusers on the defensive.

9. “. . . despite the fact that I think Obama’s race is one of the few pluses about him. ”

   Question for both the trolls and neoneocon: which race? Doesn’t half white count as much as half black? Why should either side be a “plus,” unless character or performance don’t count?

   Or are some of his supporters assuming his detractors are blaming his second-rate performance on the wrong half, and if so, why would they pick that half, shouldn’t it be the other half, if they weren’t suspicious themselves?

   How nice it would be to go back to looking at what an individual does, rather than where he/she/it came from. I’m old enough to remember when that was the argument of liberals, a long, long time ago.

10. Dowd and her limosuine liberal old maid friends may have been genuinely snookered by the Sharptons, et al, but I doubt it. She’s a cynical hag who plays the race card for fun and profit, and for continued membership in the lefty elite.

    Americans, for quite awhile now, have known that Jesse, and Al, and Van Jones, and ad nauseam, have been full of shit, but we’ve remained somewhat silent. Hell, we had day jobs, and our black friends and neighbors did, too.

    Now it’s different. Witness 9/12. The energy there isn’t racist–it’s American and it’s relenteless, fueled by freedom and free markets. There’s a sea change coming. in the next months and years Americans will not want to hear about race, oppression, victimization, or any of the other tired tropes of liberalism. Americans will want to fix the economy, and we will, and God help the hindmost, white black, red yellow, or liberal.

    Dowd, Obama, Reid, Pelosi, et al may not get it, but they’re about to.

11. I have yet to meet a liberal who was not a racist, sexist, or classist.

12. Ozyripus: I’d much prefer that race didn’t matter. But so far, in today’s society, it still does. And although there are certainly major biological elements to race, in the end it is at least partly a (pardon the expression) social construct. So, in America today, although “bi-racial” is actually the correct term for Obama, he is identified for most purposes as black, because that’s the way society looks at him.

13. Shikha Dalmia thinks “The president’s speech was the policy equivalent of the middle finger.”

    http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/10/health-care-speech-obama-economics-opinions-columnists-shikha-dalmia.html

    Funny, I don’t think she’s from South India.

14. Dowd ain’t wrapped tight. But look where she works.

    This race stuff revolving around Obama is beyond old and tiresome. It is time for the children to grow up and take responsibility for themselves. It’s become as senseless as arguing with a tantrum throwing five year old in the middle of the kitchen floor.

    I agree with Julia completely.

    You know, the difference between the condition the mall was left in after the recent protests as compared to the condition it was left in after the latest inauguration, explains more about the differences in groups of people than a week’s worth of blogging could explain.

15. Dowd was just projecting her own racism, like the good liberal she is. She sees a racist every time she looks in the mirror. In this vein, when liberals get together to project their racism (or other anointed and demeaning views) onto conservatives, are they knowingly (or for the more stupid among them, unknowingly) engaging in some sort of morality kabuki dance/play?

16. Being the offpsring of northern and southern parents, and having spent my life in approximately equal parts north and south of the Mason Dixon line, I consider myself to be a North-South hybrid. As I said three decades ago, neither places has a monopoly on racism.

    Last year I had a blog comment discussion with someone who maintained that a certain percentage of people voted against ∅bama because he was black. Given the Demo-Repub splits of the last 8 years, he granted that that percentage was small. I agreed with his assertion, but replied that conversely a certain percentage of people voted for ∅bama because he was black. The commenter found this absurd. My reply was that having grown up a liberal, and having closely observed liberals for decades, I considered this plausible. I did not go into detail regarding my observations.

    From a Boston Review article Stories and Stats: The truth about Obama’s victory wasn’t in the papers:

    “The researchers found that 11 percent of the sample saw Obama’s race as a reason to vote against him, but roughly three times as many saw Obama’s race as a reason to vote for him. This experiment does not provide definitive evidence, but it suggests that the effects of Obama’s race were two-sided. He may have won more votes because of his race than he lost. ”

    The reason that so many white liberals are making the assumption that those who oppose ∅bama’s policies do so because he is black, is because it is for many of those white liberals a primary reason they voted FOR ∅bama was his race. White liberals who see racism in ∅bama’s opponents implicitly make the assumption that race is as important for ∅bama’s opponents as it is for them.

17. What’s the old adage? A racist is someone who is winning an argument against a liberal.

18. Neo, in calling Maureen “Dorian Gray” Dowd deeply shallow you have are brilliantly transcending oxymoronity with a redeconstructolishment of the truly shallowly evaporative.

    And, you know, the biggest problem with people calling everything under the sun “racist” is’t so much that they do it; it’s that people react to it.

    I know it’s a lot of fun. You call me a name, I say that, while I’m not whatever you called me, you are something worse than whatever you called me. You call me a racist. I’ll call you a fascist. You call me a thief, I’ll call you a murderer. You call me a murderer, I’ll call you a racist and then proceed to define racism and then prove that it is worse than murdering. Then I’ll call you a flesh-eating bacteria. There, wise guy, top that one! Then you call me enriched plutonium in the hands of that weird, magenta-haired fourteen-year-old down the block who hates everybody except his reclusive blind great-uncle.

    And, and … where were we? Oh, yeah. And it’s like that reparations stuff. What a joke. that was so long ago. I KNOW that a lot of black people got free boat passage, but there’s no need to pay it back NOW. I mean, I know that a lot of white people had to be indenltured survants to pay for their passages, but, hey, the black people had to be slaves, and eventually the white people got out of their indentured servitude if they lived that long, but now it doesn’t matter, because, if you believe the progressives, we can all enjoy poor health as we sit and eat our thin gruel together thanks to the hard work of people like the Quaker Oats guy.

19. Is anyone really surprized that Dowd is ‘hearing things’?

20. Dowd et.al. are , sadly, degenerates. It is one of spiritual depavity that persons can think as Dowd does. Most Americans, I gather, want to know if the guy/gal is a staight-up person or not. Obama…he is a not.

21. The ruminations of an aging, bitter spinster. How many cats does she have now, anyway?

22. I figured back during the campaign that the use of racist accusations to shut down debate would be a feature of this administration.

    Also, with regard to Mr. Obama’s overt comparisons of himself to Abraham Lincoln: as far as I can tell, the only thing that they have in common is that they are both carbon-based lifeforms who moved to Illinois as adults. Personality-wise, Obama reminds me much more of Jefferson Davis. Bruce Catton observed that Davis regarded his political opponents as being “willfully ignorant” – I see the same mechanism at work here…

23. Maureen Dowd has just advertised her own racism to the world. You can tell how much trouble these folks are in by keeping track of how often and how loudly they play the race card. When it comes out a lot, it’s a sure sign that they are almost out of cards and getting desperate.

    I am fond of the pre-emptive approach that Sgt. Mom reported in a comment on another thread here, from a Tea Party sign over the weekend:

    “It doesn’t Matter What This Sign Says, You’ll Call It Racism Anyway.”

24. I read Dowd’s column today as well. We must both spend our mornings reading RCP.

    It’s funny an a little bit telling by reading the comments that quite a few of Dowd’s fans “heard” the same thing Dowd “heard”. This is how liberals form their facts. From now on, Wilson said “you lie boy!” and not a single shred of evidence to the contary will ever erase it.

25. Ugh.

    – G

26. Brian Swisher: They’re both lawyers, as well. And both married women with strong personalities.

27. But, fair or not, what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy!

    It would appear that both Dowd and Obama – as per the Gates incident – advocate that we don’t need no stinkin facts in order to interpret statements and events, just because they don’t, be it “fair or not”. Far better to follow their subrational, bigoted lead, eh?

28. “… a charge against which it’s virtually impossible to defend oneself.”

    When you are deliberately misread and (mis)interpreted, it’s no waste of space, for the record, to expose that (obvious) agenda.

29. I think Mo Dowd should follow her impluse to become a “cocktail waitress in some Montana militia bar”. She’d bring more joy to more people, be true to herself, and get her ass slapped once in a while.

    I’ll bet she’d be OK if she didn’t have to write and think what she thinks others think she should think.

30. Dorian Gray doesn’t cut it when it comes to Dowd, neo.

    Check out the life of Dorothy Parker for suggestive parallels.

31. An Oldy but a Goody:

    http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/001/741snfel.asp?pg=1

    The Immutable Laws of Dowd.

    Skewered (and not in the good way….)

32. Old Dad,

    “Now it’s different. Witness 9/12. The energy there isn’t racist—it’s American and it’s relenteless, fueled by freedom and free markets.”

    You said it, buddy. Great comment here.

33. As so many on the left proclaim – we still are very much a racist society. But, it is their calculation to use that proclamation as a political tool, and that alone, that makes it so.

34. I’m one Carolina girl who’s fed up to the BACK TEETH with Yankee BIGOTS.

    As my uncle drily remarked, there’s nothing they think about us that’s half as bad as what we think about them.

35. Neo, you said – “he is identified for most purposes as black, because that’s the way society looks at him.”

    I would say he is identified for ALL purposes as black (not most) because that is how he actually LOOKS, combined with (and perhaps far more importantly) that is how HE has identified himself.

    I had no idea that Derek Jeter is half black and half white until I read it somewhere, long after he had become a Yankees star – back in the 90’s. Why? Because A) he doesn’t “look” black like Obama, and B) unlike Obama he hasn’t made it the centerpiece of his personal identity.

    As somebody else pointed out, Gerry Ferraro was courageous enough to speak the un-pc truth that a white guy with Obama’s “qualifications” would never win a nomination, let alone win the presidency.

    I’d take it a step further – not just if he was all-white. I think a half-white/half-black guy, named Barry Dunham, (his mother’s name right?) who inherited straight hair and paler skin from his mother’s side instead of inheriting looks from his Dad’s; and who had the EXACT same education and upbringing and the EXACT same oratorical skills — would never have made it out of the Illinois state senate. Even if he did get himself into the Chicago political machine, and became pals with people like Rezko.

36. BTW, what’s wrong with using Nazi symbols as an insult? The Dimwits keep mentioning (Pelousy, e.g.) that some protesters are carrying “Nazi symbols,” making it sound like the protesters approve of Hitler. When they’re using the images as an INSULT.

    Or perhaps she doesn’t like to see her fellow socialist impugned?

    Hmmmmm….

37. Oh, of course it’s okay to call Bush “Bushitler.” Different rules, no rules, whatever.

38. As they run out of comforting explanations to tell themselves, they will be forced to more and more unlikely hypotheses. To expect that convinced liberals will look at their own explanations for things, step back, and say “Y’know, that’s a little ridiculous. Maybe we should rethink this,” is to deny history.

39. What I find myself becoming very disturbed, and even angry about is a little more than just Maureen Dowd’s blatherings. I post at my own blog, do reviews for a couple of other websites, and also maintain a blog at Open Salon – I don’t have the stomach for the Huff-Post – and my OS stuff is the more literary-oriented material, not the political. I actually have a nice collection of fans and followers there, but it is very close to making me sick to my stomach to read some of the political postings about the Tea Parties, and comments by people whom I thought were sensible, intelligent people. A couple of times I tried to tell the worst offenders that no, the Tea Party I am with is wholly volunteer, not a front for anyone, not paid by any industry or political organization, is pretty diverse … and for that I wound up being called a liar – or totally clueless. And following on that, I saw comments like “Republicans are the next thing American has to Nazis” and how Tea Partiers are all racists, and morons, or puppets of Fox news … and on, and on and on. It’s sickening, and it’s dangerous in a way that the people making those baseless and insulting judgments do not realize. It contributes to a sort of cold civil war: it absolutely wrecks any credibility they might have as regards other issues. And to find out that you are loathed just for having rather mildly conservative political views? It’s really rather horrible, and especially coming from people who pride themselves on being tolerant and accepting! Increasingly, I find myself guarding my tongue, on line and in real life – who wants to set off an angry and unreasoning diatribe from someone you consider a friend, or a co-worker?
    I have an awful feeling that things were like this just immediately before the Civil War – that no one could have an honest discussion about abolition and state’s rights without slinging insults at each other. And that eventually, there could be no discussion at all.

40. Neo, so you don’t agree with Dowd, fine, but to speak of Obama’s “reliance” on “willing minions” is a slur itself…you may assert this without recourse to any facts at all…and to pretend here, as you ever do, that Obama’s race has nothing to do with anything, is disingenuous. Since the beginning of his candidacy you have constantly made snide assertions to Obama’s “hubris”, his “arrogance”, his self-regard, which even if true are hardly unusual qualities in a candidate, and indeed now President of the United States. It would be more fitting to you if he were humble and self-effacing? And your commenters’ references to “Obonga”, “Barry”, “The One”, have of course nothing to do with race, or as Dowd puts it, a view of him as “the Other, a foreigner, socialist, fascist, Marxist, racist, Commie, Nazi”? At the recent 9/12 “teaparty” what exactly was being protested? If these people are truly concerned about the future deficit, or the Constitution, where were they when the deficit was sent soaring under the last president? Or when the Patriot Act was passed enabling surveillance of American citizens?

41. md.
    zero is a jerk. He is not qualified to be POTUS. He is a crypto-marxist who surrounds himself with same–Holdren, Jones, the politicized Holder Ayers, Dohrn, nutcase Rev. Wright–etc.
    None of which has anything to do with his race.
    I agree with the advice offered to Neo earlier in the comment thread:
    Don’t attempt to defend yourself against the–yet another–bogus, manipulative accusation of racism.
    It doesn’t work any longer.

    Just laugh.

    Feeling busted yet?

42. I heard Chairman Zero say: “That white cracker cop acted stupidly”. Even if he didnt say it, he said it anyway.

    Hey. What’s good foir the goose…

43. We no longer have to unserstand them. We no longer have to sit and listen to them, to find something of worth in what they say. We only need to allow them to keep talking, to allow them to keep proving who they are day after day. We only have to defeat them at the pols on each and every election day. And it appears by allowing them to be who they are, they are building a much better case against themselves than we ever could.

    I remember cries against the establishment, against the man, against big brother. I was among that crowd in the late sixties into the very early seventies. These people are the very thing they rallied against, only much worse than they imagined the other side to be. Oh, and they know it. Make no mistake about that.

    What I thought I was believing way back then was hi-jacked a very long time ago.

44. You know, I wondered what “md” stood for last time a comment appeared under those initials. And today the truth is revealed: it’s Maureen Dowd!

45. They (Obama supporters) do not wish to hear the truth about their leader so they put their fingers in their ears and chant racist, racist instead of la, la.

46. So Dowd hears voices? One of her friends should take her aside and explain that this isn’t something to be proud of.

47. “At the recent 9/12 “teaparty” what exactly was being protested?”

    Easy.

    In contrast to both the Bush and Clinton “centrist” eras – protesting what appears to be a tottally out of control Federal government, seemingly hell-bent on wrecking the economy, and seemingly hell bent on RUSHING in a profound change in our economic system – by all intents and appearances (and based on the track record so far (e.g., the stimulus bill nobody had a change to read and debate; the health reform bill which WOULD have passed without it being debated and read IF the Dems has had their way, and BUT FOR the town hall brou ha) intending to do it in a hurry before it is too late.

    Everything is urgent urgent urgent. We get fed half-truth after half truth. Crtitics are slimed and defamed, rather than engaged. Etc.

    “If these people are truly concerned about the future deficit, or the Constitution, where were they when the deficit was sent soaring under the last president?”

    I suppose to some people there can be a distinction made between the size of the deficits that grew in 8 years and what Obama and Nancy and Harry fully INTEND to thrust upon us, just 8 short months into his term. Ever hear of the concept of context?

    You clearly buy into the tea party/town hall MSM “narrative” that we people are all just GOP shills who are upset over the outcome of the election. Which (both conveniently and intentionally) overlooks the fact that protestors are every bit as angry at RINO big government republicans, who go along to get along and keep hold of their perks and benefits of their lifetime positions.

    Oh, but keep on insisting that this is all because Whitey doesn’t like a Black man in the white house. And people who think he is a far left marxist at heart (based on stuffl like, oh I dunno, how about virtually EVERYONE he has associated with his entire life) must simply be “racist.” You and others like you only beclown yourselves.

48. Neo –
    Lincoln actually had a legal practice, though… 😉

49. A couple of times I tried to tell the worst offenders that no, the Tea Party I am with is wholly volunteer, not a front for anyone, not paid by any industry or political organization, is pretty diverse … and for that I wound up being called a liar – or totally clueless.

    I am delighted to see a Tea Party person commenting here.

    I have a theory that is also a hope. It seems the more the Tea Party is ignored or vilified the stronger and bigger it gets. The theory is that the MSM is haplessly and hopelessly driving down a bleak, joyless, ersatz-Marxist based highway that leads further and further away from the true mainstream of America. That the MSM is no longer convincing, indeed, that when folks see the MSM vilifying anything that they immediately though perhaps subconsciously think, “If they don’t like it, it must be good.”

    The MSM has controlled opinion for many years but the time may have finally come when the MSM is perceived as too divorced from the mainstream to deserve the appellation of mainstream. The MSM may have at last become an oxymoron.

    The goodness and strength of the Tea Party may be a function of its grassroots nature. The emphasis is on the group rather than the personality of its individual leaders.

    But a caution: There must be politicians, pundits and celebrities that are observing the Tea Party movement and its growth at this moment and that are salivating over the prospect of using it to ride to their own glory. I hope that the Tea Party does not let that happen because if it does I fear the movement would decline.

50. From the left, I see this comment a lot: Where were tea party/townhall protesters when the deficit was soaring under GWB?

    I agree, with other commenters here, that many left persons who make this comment are not truly interested in an answer. Theirs is not a query, but a club.

    However, the answers are clear:

    1. Conservatives were mightily angered about the Bush era spending. Consider the Congressional elections of 2006 and 2008 as the official conservative protest of Congressional overspending.

    2. Bush era spending and Obama era spending are apples and … GIGANTIC apples. Obama is spending, at minimum, 4 times what the Bush era Congress ever spent(In actuality, given what we know of history, Obama is spending far more than 4 times more than Bush. But, 4 TIMES MORE is sufficient to be alarming).

    3. Conservatives are not protesters, and have never protested before. This includes me: I had never attended a protest before 2009 AD.

    Thus, the proper question is not: “Why weren’t conservatives protesting in 2005?”, but, rather, “WHAT IN THE WORLD is causing conservatives to schlep through pouring rain (in Fort Worth, for instance, where perhaps 10,000 braved an all day downpour on 9/12/09) to attend protests?”

    I must say – though I NEVER thought I would enjoy a protest (attending a protest struck me as being as fun as being on a prison chain gang) – I’ve found protests to be surprisingly fun, and surprisingly heartening. It’s nice to meet and hang out with happy and interesting people.

51. southernjames, “beclown” is a GREAT word, and provided the first real smile of the day.

    We could use more of this kind of vivid language. Describing liberal trolls: “they just beclowning around.” Or, in an attempt at even-handed commentary: “I’ve looked at clowns from both sides now.” And what about that Clown-Piven thing?

52. md
    Neo, so you don’t agree with Dowd, fine, but to speak of Obama’s “reliance” on “willing minions” is a slur itself…you may assert this without recourse to any facts at all…

    IMHO, “willing minions” do not just refer to those who call Obamaa’s opponents “racist.” Examples:
    Harry Reid “evil-mongers”
    Nancy Pelosi : They’re carrying swastikas and symbols like that to a town meeting on healthcare.”

53. The “Reality based community” concludes that, for middle class Americans in their 40’s and 50’s to schelp through rain and/or blistering hot and humid weather, in order to attend their VERY FIRST PROTEST in their entire lives – it must surely be a sign of “racism.”

    While of course, conveniently and intentionally igoring the fact that the GOP was ready to hand Colin Powell (a 100% black man, raised by black parents; versus a half white man raised entirely by white people) the nomination on a silver platter had he wanted it a number of years ago; and conveniently ignoring that the vast majority of the people who voted AGAINST Obama/Biden would have voted for Condi Rice.

    But I suppose the counter argument to that is that “those” sorts of black people are not the “right” sort. You know, Uncle Tom blacks as they’ve been called by the Left.

    And what group of white people are the REAL racists, again?

54. Thanks, Grackle – and yes, indeedy, I am a Tea Partier – and because of my mad media handling skilz I do the old-media relations for the San Antonio Tea Party, and have done ever since and old blogging pal (and fellow Air Force veteran) asked me to come on board in mid-March of this year. So while I wasn’t in at the very, very beginning – I was on the committee when the San Antonio Tea Party started to get huge, and I am pretty well familiar with … well, just about every aspect, since then. But keep in mind, I can’t really speak about any other Tea Party with authority – because they are all different; independent, feisty, and everyone has different ideas – different, but eventually congruent. I’ve been saying for months, that it’s rather like herding cats. Angry, soaking-wet cats, who are going more or less in the same direction … and for the most part, just as angry at the Republicans as at the Democrats.

    “But a caution: There must be politicians, pundits and celebrities that are observing the Tea Party movement and its growth at this moment and that are salivating over the prospect of using it to ride to their own glory. I hope that the Tea Party does not let that happen because if it does I fear the movement would decline.”

    Oh, and we are very well aware that more than usually far-sighted politicians are practically drooling at the thought of co-opting us – “OMG,” I can picture them saying, “There’s a huge crowd of motivated people going in a certain direction! I’d better get out in front of them, ’cause I’m supposed to be their leader!” Our thinking does not tend toward a third party; we’re pretty well agreed on the advisory committee – that way is doomed. Better to search out and support those individual candidates at every level, who uphold our values – strict constitutionalists, fiscal conservatives, more supportive of free enterprise and small businesses, federal government limited to what it was originally designed to do … that sort of thing. Yes, we are thinking ahead strategically and doing more than just events and protests. The old-line media, and the public intellectuals, and commentariat like Maureen Dowd ignore or belittle us at their peril. I would venture to guess that after the 2010 election season, there will be a lot of them picking themselves up of the ground and asking , “Say, did anyone get the license-plate on that 18-wheeler that just ran us over?!”

55. I do the old-media relations for the San Antonio Tea Party, and have done ever since and old blogging pal (and fellow Air Force veteran) asked me to come on board in mid-March of this year.

    Having dealt with veterans and military retirees for years it’s been my observation that as a group they possess organizational skills in abundance, evidently learnt while serving. I’ll wager that they are very significant in their contribution to the movement, especially in a military town like San Antonio.

56. If Obama had been white, he would have been John Edwards-lite (which, I know, is saying something). Because he (apparently) gives a good speech he would have gotten a bit of buzz, but it would have been “next time” type buzz. He wouldn’t have stood a chance at the nomination or in the election. I think it’s quite clear that his racial status helped him way more than it hurt him. That is to say, although it’s certainly true that some people voted against him specifically because of his race, way more people considered voting for him (and did vote for him) who never seriously would have if he had been just another white/liberal/cookie cutter politician.

    There is/was a strong desire in this country to reach a post-racial society and many white people (from what I’ve read and personally experienced) thought voting for Obama would be a good step in that direction. As Neo says, I think that’s one of the few positives to come from the election. It demonstrated that a majority of the American people have no problem voting for a black candidate. But like many others, I believe he was the wrong black candidate because he was the wrong candidate. His ideas are bad and his personal style and view of power is very disquieting. And that’s what the protests are against.

57. I must say – though I NEVER thought I would enjoy a protest (attending a protest struck me as being as fun as being on a prison chain gang) – I’ve found protests to be surprisingly fun, and surprisingly heartening. It’s nice to meet and hang out with happy and interesting people.

    And here is the seed of the turning tide. “Alinsky, you magnificent b*****d! We read your book!”

    I have heard nothing but this from the posts of those who attended. Would you go back? Would you bring a friend?

    Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Watch this grow.

58. Excellent, mezzrow – one of my favorite movie quotes.

59. southernjames: at some point it becomes a fine—and somewhat shifting—line between a mixed-race person identifying as black or white. After all, the majority of black people in this country have some white ancestry. I agree that whether a person is defined as a member of one race or another is a combination of how a person identifies him/herself, and what he/she looks like.

    But wherever that line is usually drawn, Barack Obama would be on the “black” side of it in America, because of the way he looks. This is true even though he is actually biracial, and it is true for some (not all) biracial people.

    As a child, I was very puzzled by one of the earliest trailblazing black politicians in this country, Adam Clayton Powell Jr.. He was the US Representative from Harlem from the 40s till 1970, when he lost the election, weakened by charges that he misused funds (he was succeeded by Charles Rangel, who holds the seat to this day). The following gives you a good idea of the times in which Powell was a member of Congress:

    As one of only two black Congressmen, Powell challenged the informal ban on black representatives using Capitol facilities reserved for white members only. He took black constituents to dine with him in the “whites only” House restaurant. He clashed with the many segregationists in his own party…He passed legislation that made lynching a federal crime, as well as bills that desegregated public schools. He challenged the Southern practice of charging Blacks a poll tax to vote, and stopped racist congressmen from saying the word “nigger” in sessions of Congress.

    Now, that’s real racism that Powell fought, not pretend (maybe I’ll write a post about this, now that I’ve done the research).

    In case your memory doesn’t go back that far, here’s Powell Jr’s bio. Google “Images” to see what Powell looked like. To my eye when I was a young child, Powell looked as white or even whiter than my own father and me, especially as we appeared in summer with suntans. And yet the TV said Powell was black (Negro, at the time).

    It was all so confusing that I actually asked my parents about it and they tried to explain it to me. Powell was from a prominent black family (his father a well-known minister, and Powell succeeded him in that position) with a great many white people in its family tree, but he identified as black, as did his family, and the world agreed.

    Here’s Powell’s son, who has tried to follow in Powell’s political footsteps, challenging Rangel unsuccessfully. He’s been somewhat more successful in following in his father’s more troubled footsteps, since Powell the IVth has gotten in trouble with the law on various issues, including having been cited for misuse of campaign funds. If you look at his bio, you’ll see that his mother was Powell Jr.’s third wife, and she was Puerto Rican. When they split, she got custody, and so Powell the IVth was raised in Puerto Rico, making it possible for him to identify both as black and as Puerto Rican. See how complex it can get?

60. md,

    sometimes words mean things. You prescribe meaning to words that AREN’T there.

    And the meaning of lazy and negligent? It’s you!

61. Hey, MD: so you think disagreeing with Obama’s policies and not admiring him as a human being PROVES that Neo and others here are operating from racist motives?

    Let’s try it from the other side. Clarence Thomas and Thomas Sowell are black men. Their policy recommendations and political stands are part of the common discussion, widely known and freely available online. So, having read some of their work, do you agree with them? If not, YOU are clearly the racist! These are BLACK MEN! Any disagreement with them, any failure to respect them, cannot by your definition be principled or based on politics, economics or morality. Only racism can account for any disagreement with or disrespect of anything a black person says, does or believes.

    Got a problem, don’t we? Since we can find persons of every color, sex, financial status, age, etc,. etc., who advocate for or against every political position there is, then by definition we are all racists, since we all disagree with some person of some other color, somewhere, about something.

    You call out Neo for her less than slavish adoration of Barack Obama. I call you racist if you fail to admit that Thomas Sowell’s takedown of liberal America is anything less than brilliant and 100% correct. He MUST be right – he’s BLACK!. Say he’s a genius and vow to support every one of his ideas, or we will know you are just a closet KKK member, looking for any excuse you can find to justify your subtle, life-corroding hate.

62. md: among other errors of logic you commit (purposely or ignorantly), a leading one is claiming I am saying that Obama’s race “has nothing to do with anything.” That doesn’t even begin to follow from my post.

    Obama’s race has to do with a great deal. There are undoubtedly racist people who would never vote for a black person. But they are a minority of those who oppose Obama. There are also many people who voted for him at least in part because he is black (see this), and who continue to support him despite his lies, and an arrogance and narcissism that exceeds that of any president I’ve seen in my lifetime.

    I was initially predisposed to like Obama and support him because I thought it would be a good thing for the country and race relations as a whole to have a black president. But it was characteristics and actions of Obama’s that have nothing to do with his race, things that came out during the campaign and then his presidency, that have made me think he is not only a bad president, but a dangerous one.

    Just because a minority person’s flaws happen to fit in with a stereotype of certain racial charges towards the group as a whole does not mean those charges are incorrect, or that they are racially motivated.

    Truth is truth. For example, to use a completely different example, it is a bigoted stereotype that Jews are mercenary and greedy. But it would be an absurdity to deny that Bernie Madoff, who is a Jew, is both of those things. And it would be absurd to accuse anyone who says he is mercenary and greedy of being an anti-Semite, unless that person had given other evidence of anti-Semitism—such as saying, for example “what a typical Jew Madoff is.” Short of some statement like that on the part of the speaker/writer (or a history of statements like that in other contexts, and/or actions by that person discriminating against Jews as a group), the mere assertion that Madoff is greedy about money is just the expression of an obvious truth. It is evidence of nothing else, except good judgment on the part of the speaker.

    The same is true of many of the charges against Obama: they are true, and follow from close observation of his behavior and his words.

    By the way, “Obonga” (used by just a couple of commenters here) refers to Obama’s pot use, as in “bong.” It’s not racist—unless you think that accusing someone of smoking pot, even someone who’s written that he’s done just that, is automatically racist; or unless you think that a play on Obama’s last name, which is African, is automatically racist.

    As for objecting to Bush’s deficits, they were smaller than Obama’s, but many did protest them. On this blog and many others, there were lots of comments to that effect. True conservatives detested Bush for it. The fact that it did not rise to the level of demonstrations in DC is merely a reflection of the fact that it takes a great deal for a conservative to protest, as well as the fact that on quite a few other issues conservatives liked Bush.

    Yes, many say that Obama is, as you write, a “foreigner, socialist, fascist, Marxist, racist, Commie, Nazi.” That’s because he actually has given evidence of being all those things. He was raised at least partly in a foreign country as the stepson of a foreigner. Many of his friends and associates are socialists and Marxists and Communists. He has hidden his past, and lied about many of those associations. He has espoused socialist views and followed a socialist agenda. Look up the definition of “facist” in the economic sense, and you’ll see why people call him that. Obama has been racist in that he was a member of a black supremicist church that openly espoused the idea that whitey was the root of all evil, a philosophy he approved of and quoted in his book (“white folks’ greed runs a world in need”) as being exceptionally moving and inspiring.

    But to you it’s about racism on the part of Obama’s opponents. And it is Obama’s supporters—and yes, his minions (take a look at the word’s definition and see how well it describes the situation)—who use the accusation of racism to deflect valid criticism, because it’s hard to counter much of the criticism otherwise.

    You are doing the same here. In this post, I offered evidence (the Obama quote) that they do this with Obama’s encouragement. He set the tone of playing the race card against opponents during the campaign, and they follow. In this, he’s been a true leader.

63. A liberal co-worker tried the racism thing on me recently. I replied that I remember him disagreeing with Sarah Palin on everything, which must mean he’s a misogynist. Same logic. I don’t know what he belives now, but it shut him up.

64. Neo wrote, “I was initially predisposed to like Obama and support him because I thought it would be a good thing for the country and race relations as a whole to have a black president.”

    Me too.

    I was happy on inauguration day. Along with many folks, I watched the proceedings on that monumental day.

    Yes I worried that phrases he used during the campaign would continue to be used, but I HOPED for the centrism that he uttered….

    I haven’t seen it.

    I have seen utter lack of knowledge, experience or any acknowledgment of alternative viewpoints. He dismisses them whenever he addresses them without consideration….

    I’ve now concluded that he is so ignorant yet arrogant that if the opposition fails the next generation will see a LOT OF MISERY. Is that what you want MD?

    The opposition believes in American and wants everyone to succeed and America to succeed. That means Obama must fail. Do you comprehend MD? Reading comprehension doesn’t seem to be your strong suit.

65. I doubt that md will have the courage to come back here after that schooling from Neo at 3:11. But on the off chance, I’ve got a question for md: what is it like to be one of the last people left in America still so preoccupied by skin color that, when you look at our President, it’s all you can see?

66. I pray that ∅bama will have a core belief change as I did in 1991. The only thing he needs to do is respect alternative viewpoints a few times like I did. It caused me to revisit the facts and visit the library 3 times per week during that year (1991).

    I am very compassionate. I want a prosperous and strong America. I love strongly. True love is letting people succeed and realize their dreams.

    Liberalism has been the mental disease that has diluted the safety net for the elderly and the non-able bodied and replaced it with a reward system for making poor decisions and taking from those who make good decisions..

    Take the personality out of the equation MD. Obama’s ideas and policies are bad for America. There are many good ideas that would have better results… Do the due diligence (don’t be lazy) and look for those ideas..

67. “If these people are truly concerned about the future deficit, or the Constitution, where were they when the deficit was sent soaring under the last president?”

    They were complaining. If you didn’t hear it, you weren’t listening. And in terms of a comparision, the deficit under Bush could be said to be climbing slowly upstairs on an arthritic knee compared to the truly breath-taking soaring it’s doing now.

    Deficit graph

    Look at that graph and tell me those two situations are comparable.

    I was somewhat disposed to like Obama (at least I’d heard good things about him), but it ended pretty early for me when I found out about the church he went to for 20 years. It was over for me at that point. Nothing he could say would remove the stench and the hypocrisy of what he did in attending that church for so long. Post-racial? Yeah, sure. His long line of dubious friends and colleagues were just more nails in the coffin of any regard I might have for him. Now he’s turning into a creepy, Big Brother wannabe. No thanks.

68. Questions:
    Am I a racist just because I disagree with the POTUS and his policies?
    Am I a racist if I support the POTUS just because he is an African-American?

69. Also, I need some help. I think md might be the most qualified but the rest of you feel free to chip in.

    Which of the following presidential nicknames are racist?

    a. Tricky Dick
    b. Clintax
    c. Shrub
    d. Bushitler
    e. Slick Willy
    f. Chimperor
    g. Bubba
    h. Ronnie Raygun

    Or am I dreaming and did people just start using unflattering nicknames for the president yesterday?

70. Pingback:Kanye West hates white people « The Western Experience

71. Trying to “explain” the situation, or one’s own position, to md is a waste of time.
    md knows better. He/she is trying the tired, old scam of accusing others of racism in order to get them to shut up.
    Hasn’t gotten the memo that it doesn’t work any more.
    But you have to give him/her credit for soldiering on.
    I repeat that I like the advice given earlier that trying to explain oneself to such an accuser gives the accuser power. Best to just laugh.

72. As I’ve said elsewhere, it’s not that Dowd really thinks Wilson actually did say “You lie, boy!” It’s that she really does believe it doesn’t matter what’s fact or fiction, only feelings and intuition are important. And there is a growing majority, both in the left wing and right wing, that agrees. Just look at how Tina Fey’s SNL performance is repeatedly attributed to Sarah Palin herself… the accusers know it’s not true, they just don’t care.

    This is the perfect environment to create, to begin the process of Denouncement that the Nazis used to begin herding Jews into the camps. Be very careful where you post in the next few months… I’ve already had a post of mine on FARK.com altered by a moderator to replace the word “pro-choicers” with “pro-lifers,” followed up with a sneering comment about what I didn’t actually post and closure of the thread so I couldn’t reply.

73. “As defiant as some on the right are about the fact that this has nothing to do with race, there’s an equal group of folks who believe it’s ONLY grounded in race.”

    Well, of course! I have no doubt that if Dennis Kucinich had won those Good Ol’ Boys in the South would be giving standing ovations to the rapid conversion of the US of America into a clone of the USSR, Cuba, Venezuela, etc. How could they possibly object?

    (After all, what did Kucinich get? 2% of the vote? Obviously everybody is behind his Socialist agenda!)

    The increasing stupidity of the Left is a source of growing amazement to me (and consternation, when I think of how many people buy into their “arguments”).

74. I just got back from a month back home during which I had limited net access. I’m starting to browse my favorite blogs to see what I missed. Dr. Sanity posted the ACORN tapes, which I had seen on FOX, but the juxtaposition with reading this post crystalized my feelings about Obama’s take on race.

    When you see those ACORN workers advising a hooker and pimp on how to scam the system and exploit young girls, you have to ask how Obama’s community organization approach to racial relations really empowers blacks. Have those women ever given thought to the kind of life they want or the kind of society they want to live in? Have they been encouraged by their activism to even think about such things? I don’t think so. They are part of a pattern started in the 60s which told young blacks that learning to read was acting white and thus deprived them of the ability to access the thinking of the world on topics such as morality and the meaning of life. Their world is the pre-Gutenberg, pre-Luther world of accepting as truth whatever the strong guy in your neighborhood says.

    Of course today there is a greater choice of neighborhood strong guys and they range all the way from the lowliest ACORN staffer to Ivy League decorated interpreters of the black experience. What they have in common is their denial of the personal life experience of the people they subdue and their unwillingness to allow others to seek outside the received dogma. They produce frustration and rage and resignment.

    Obama may be encouraging blacks to get an education and be responsible parents, but hasn’t he abetted those who try to deny blacks the intellectual underpinnings to achieve those ends? Hasn’t he added to the credibility of the Jeremiah Wrights with their left brain-right brain theories of racial difference that, in effect, tells young people who may feel a bit of stimulation from the wrong brain half that they are betraying their race?

    I come from a poor rather uneducated family. I was blessed that I never had to choose between my family and my own interests and inclinations. I was given my wings and never had to repudiate my background or be constrained by it. As a result I have been able to live in a wider and deeper and infinitely richer world. I find it tragic that ACORN thinking denies others that possibility.

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