Jimmy Carter meets exiled Hamas leader in 2008
About a month ago, my conservative bro MacGregor posted a piece dissecting Democrats playing the race card in order to win the Health Care debate. This week, that opinion has become more prominent based on a few national news articles and interviews. Generally, the conservative media believes the use of racism by the left is mostly a tactic to distract from the sagging support for the Health Care reform bill. However, we see it less as a gimmick and more as a glimpse into the psyche of the liberal thought process. Those promoting the racial aspects of dissent see the world through a different prism then the majority of Americans. This world is defined by race, gender, and class before morals, integrity, and facts. So does the re-institution of this argument help the Left in anyway?
The news cycle week began with coverage of the 9/12 rallies in Washington D.C. over the weekend. Now there were definite moments of racism displayed at this event. It’s sad to know America can’t seem to shake its past. But the media coverage goes to the extreme to promote the protesters as the mainstream conservative Republicans. Instead of the fringe minority of the party and the Libertarians that they represent – the liberal media wants to take events such as these as use them to turn independent Americans against the party. Debating the morality and plausibility of Health Care reform is hard – calling your opponent racist is easy.
Then, a critical op-ed of the “You Lie” Congressman was penned by Pulitzer Prize winning Maureen Dowd. On Sunday in the New York Times, Dowd wrote what can only be regarded as a hit piece against Rep. Joe Wilson from South Carolina. Dowd used her Sunday pulpit to paint Wilson as nothing more than a run-of-the-mill ol’ Southern white racist. Dowd says:
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.
I have heard many use the “no one has ever done this to a White President” argument – which I would doubt is true, but have not researched – how does that confirm that because now that one jackass representative has, it confirms racism is afoot? There is no denying this was a huge mistake by the congressman. But because he didn’t follow Congressional decorum, he is blatantly a racist? The fact remains, he apologized, the President accepted, Speaker Pelosi said they needed to move on, then 5 days later the House (and Pelosi) deemed it necessary to spend time to pass a resolution “rebuking” his actions. I’m sure this will have a negative effect on his resume when he looks for a new job.
Finally, on Tuesday former President Jimmy Carter gave an interview to NBC News claiming that the events of the past week stem from the racism that still presides in our nation. Whenever a former President speaks, people listen. Carter, liberal-proclaimed race expert, said:
“I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man,” Carter said. “I live in the South, and I’ve seen the South come a long way, and I’ve seen the rest of the country that share the South’s attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African Americans.”
Carter continued, “And that racism inclination still exists. And I think it’s bubbled up to the surface because of the belief among many white people, not just in the South but around the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It’s an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply.”
You’d assume all this effort portraying your political opponent as a bunch of crackpot racists, they be doing it because it was gaining them cheap points. But according to this Rasmussen poll it has dramatically had a negative impact on the liberal agenda. Only 12% of the population say that most of the opponents of Obama’s Health Care Plan are racists. Within that percentage, 88% of Republicans disagree with the statement, 78% of Independents, and 39% of Democrats. Essentially what this poll is saying is rather than convincing Republicans or Independents to disown conservative views, they are pampering to their base.
The White House, to their credit, has distanced themselves from the racial undertone of dissent being thrown around by their political allies. I appreciate Obama being quick to respond to Jimmy Carter and trying to keep his policy debate the in the forefront. Politically they understand this is the smart thing…but hopefully they also understand it is the right thing. The fact the media wants to focus on the minority of racist Americans that voice their opinion over the much larger conservative opinion defeats the purpose of the media – to present two sides of the story and allow the American people to determine which ideas will better serve the nation.
For a good, fair debate between the two sides of the race debate watch this clip from Morning Joe featuring Prof. Michael Eric Dyson and Joe Scarborough: Morning Joe
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MacGregor
Johnny M
Timmy K
Johhny this is a great article that people need to read. These are just more documented attempts to vilify anyone who disagrees with the left. People were warned that if obama wins, dissent will be labeled as racist by the left, and in obvious typical fashion, anyone who has disagreed has been labeled a racist, repeatedly. It really makes me question whether this is a tactic at all.
I think you may have hit it on the mark when you described it as the way the left views the world. The liberal elitist left truly does see the world and other conservative americans as not people who are wrong, but people who are evil, incapable of having legitimate disagreements, and not worthy of being at the table in these types of discussions.
Sooner or later if they dont back off these “tactics” or realize that the rest of the country does not agree with them, it will come to a breaking point as people do not like to be labeled, marginalized and treated as second class citizens. Obviously there is racism in this country on both sides, as their is even moreso in almost every other country in the world, but to incessantly demonize their political opponents as racists only works to marginalize their own position and create a more divisive political environment.
[…] 11, 2010 by Johnny M A few months ago, I wrote a post about the hypocritical nature of the dreaded “race card” and how it is be…. More recently another example was the revelation in a new book in which Harry Reid is […]
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