Leon H, who is generally the most levelheaded voice in the dying RedState community, has written an atypially bitter, repugnant, and sad post today accusing us all of racism.
http://www.redstate.com/...
Leon's first argument is a link to Michelle Malkin (I'm sure the irony was lost). That argument,
http://www.michellemalkin.com/... , titled "The Vile Bile that we have to put up with" (talk about improving the level of discourse), of course refers to the since factually disproven attacks that at least a few African-American democrats are racist against black, no wait, white, no wait Michael Steele because they threw Oreo cookies at him, which rudely symbolized that Steele has sold out the black community while asking for their votes.
The second, rambling argument by Leon is that Democrats are racist because they....think Republicans are racist! Irony aside (wouldn't that make Leon a racist for thinking Democrats are racist?), that you disagree with these people does not seem like a good basis for either ascribing bad faith, ascribing racism, or even implying that Jane Hamschler, of all people, is "leading the way for the modern left."
His third argument is that supporting abortion rights is racist, because a disproportionate amount of women who seek abortions are minorities. Leon ignores the flip side of the argument, which is that outlawing abortion would obviously negatively impact the choices of a disproportionate amount of women minorities.
Leon's fourth argument is that Affirmative Action is also racist (against African Americans). Yet, much like abortion rights, the African American community disproportionately supports the policy as well. Are they racist? Or is Leon suggesting that African Americans can't make rational decisions about public policy, so white people have to make it for them, at least when it comes to Affirmative Action and abortion?
(On a side note: Leon has chosen two policy areas where I probably am most agnostic to the mainstream liberal position. As such, I do not want to get into the merits of Leon's (obviously self serving) positions on these two arguments. However, my agnosticism has nothing to do with the arguments Leon is making - those arguments are not only petty but also patronizing).
Leon then goes on to say that this is all fair play, because the "left" is on a witch hunt to ascribe to the conservatives that they have racist elements. The party of Trent Lott, Michelle Malkin? The party of ex-segregationists?
Gee, Leon, the party that gets around 93% of the african-american vote are racist, and the party that got 7% are not. I guess blacks are just too dumb as a group to vote their interests. That's not racist or anything, just the end result of your argument.
Never mind the fact that in Florida and Ohio, the Republican party decided to challenge every voter (to stop voter fraud), but only in precincts that were majority African-American. It isn't racist to assume African-Americans are voting illegally, nor to use "legal" means to suppress their votes.
Republicans, for the most part (there are obvious exceptions, such as Malkin) aren't racist. But that doesn't mean they need to condone racism in order to keep their coalition together. Nor does it mean that they need to stifle the African-American community in the name of partisanship. One can be forgiven, after Goldwater's "southern strategy" and what appears to many of us liberals as a corrupt bargain, not to be concerned - especcially when the other side so openly allies themselves with the "Little Green Footballs" and "Michelle Malkin" crowd.
What Leon doesn't explain is why it was an incorrect assumption to label, "Now, wipe that muslim DNA from your face and confess to pre-planning this?" as racist
http://www.firedoglake.com/...
Or whether the Steve Gilliard, an African-American and a civil rights activist, is racist against African American people, or Caucasians, in his (certainly aggressive) criticism of Michael Steele's attempts to use his race, and his race alone, to hide the fact that he advocates policies that are opposed by 93% of African Americans.
I mean, is this invective what Jesus meant when he said "do unto others?" If Leon is concerned that liberals are wrongly ascribing to racism the attacks on Jill Carroll (and accusations that she faked her own kidnapping are certainly attacks) to gender and racial bias, then how about explaining to us the alternative reasons? How about cooling the pot rather than lighting another fire? If not racism, Leon, then why? We're listening. Just don't call us racist for asking the question.