One of the things that really bugs me about my former party is how they try to have it both ways when it comes to...well...pretty much everything. One of the alleged party planks is keeping government out of your life. Theoretically that is accomplished by making government smaller. Ask Pat Buchanan how
that's going.
Republicans pretend to prefer the adage, "that government is best which governs the least." But what they practice is "that government is best which does what I say." But as I said in my previous diary, the number one overriding principle of conservatism is `personal responsibility.' You are the Alpha and the Omega of the problems in your life. Others have accurately and ironically described this as `Social Darwinism.' To modern day conservatives, government should just get out of the way and let the private sector take care of those who fall between the cracks. Ask the Worldcom retirees how
that's going.
Personal responsibility is the most sacred of core dittiot principles. Stop laughing! I'm serious! Republicans believe in holding people accountable for their actions, but it's a slow developing process. Right now they're only willing to hold Democrats responsible. But once the Democrats are gone in a few years, I'm sure they'll start holding Republicans accountable. Don't think Olympia and Arlen haven't made huge deposits in the dittiot accountability bank.
Now here's where the average dittiot really makes a leap of faith--Personal Responsibility is the reason why they aren't racist. They believe in the primacy of the individual's ability to overcome any obstacle. To a Republican, saying that anything else could be responsible is racist. Therefore if there's nothing you can't overcome on your own, racism can't exist. Post hoc ergo propter hoc. This is why dittiots bristle when people call them racists. It's not because they're embarassed that someone's called them out. It's because they think 'racism' is really 'excuse-ism.'
Famously Rush has described this belief as the "soft racism of low expectations." We have to expect people to be able to overcome racism if it does exist, or quit blaming other people for your own failures if it doesn't. Like many Republican beliefs, it's a neatly closed circle. And best of all, they don't have to feel an obligation to anybody!
Bush like the "soft racism" comment so much he even repeated it correctly! Think of the hours of practice that went into that! "We have to soft the stop racism...no...hmm...We have a saying in Texas....Low, of racism expects soft...no...dammit! Dick, this would be easier if you didn't have your hand up my back! I GOT MY MBA FROM HARVARD!!!"
This belief about racism is as deeply felt as it is charmingly naive. One of the (Oh God so many) disconnects comes from how we define `racism,' versus how your average Republican defines it. Dittiots will say "I'm not racist! I like Condi! HA! In your FACE, commie!" And once upon a time that probably would have been enough. Like, say, 1865 for example. But here in the post-machine age I think of racism a little differently.
See, I think it's racist when you spend hours of a daily radio program stereotyping virtually all aspects of modern-day black culture, society, and leadership. Every time someone says rap music is devoid of socially redeeming features, a racist stereotype has been made. Every time it's said that the number of children born out of wedlock is endemic of black culture in general, a racist stereotype has been made. Every time Rush calls NBA players `NBA Thugs,' a racist stereotype has been made. In the modern world, these are things I consider racist. Oddly enough, you'll find that most dittoheads will say, "but it's not a stereotype if it's true!" Guess what just happened? The hate has been passed on to the next generation. And our job just became that much harder.
Maybe you disagree. Maybe racism really does mean that the lowliest of whites is still better than the highest of `x' (where x = any non-white minority). And if you like any black people then you're not racist. Maybe I'm overly sensitive to racial issues because I live in Memphis, and race issues tend to be predominant. Maybe conservatives really are serious about racism. Maybe...but then Ann Coulter opens her mouth and I'm reminded of the title to Charles Barkley's autobiography--"I May Be Wrong...But I Doubt It."
Still furious about the election, liberals are lashing out at blacks. First it was Condoleezza Rice. But calling a Ph.D. who advised a sitting president during war "Aunt Jemima" apparently hasn't satiated the Democrats' rage. Even the racist cartoons didn't help.
[snip]
Most recently - at least as we go to press - last Sunday Harry Reid, the Democratic leader in the Senate, had this to say about Justice Clarence Thomas: "I think that he has been an embarrassment to the Supreme Court. I think that his opinions are poorly written." You'd think Thomas' opinions were written in ebonics.
[snip]
Curiously, of all the liberals launching racist attacks on black conservatives I've quoted above, only two are themselves black: the two who write for the New York Times. So I guess there are still a couple of blacks taking orders from the Democrats. Isn't there an expression for that? I think it begins with "Uncle" and ends with "Tom."
Okay, everybody...remember to breathe. Seriously though, who called Condoleezza an Aunt Jemima? No, I point to Ann's article not to make you dizzy with laughter, even though she
is funny. I bring this to your attention because she's the one on point for the Republicans. Clearly this is a piece designed to provoke outrage, not laughter. And she took the requisite, though steadily diminishing criticism for it. Cut her some slack. Her columns can only be as long as her audience's attention span. That doesn't leave a lot of room for `evidence' or `fact checking.' Hell, she's admitted that she pulls most stuff out of her emaciated ass!
Try to remember, Ann's kind of like a `heel' wrestler. At first everyone boos her and throws stuff in the ring. That's called `heel heat.' It's the equivalent of applause for the bad guy. But if the `heel' keeps doing the same stuff month after month, people stop caring. The `boos' diminish, and the heel has to do more and more outrageous stuff to keep getting heat--like slap people in the audience and hit old ladies with chairs. Eventually the crowd decides the heel is just an asshole and they don't care anymore. They don't boo. They don't react. They just go get a coke, or take a leak, or otherwise patiently wait for the heel to go away so the show can continue. That's where we are with Ann.
But remember Ann's purpose wasn't to change minds, it was to say something outrageous (Democrats are racist) and get all of the outrage out of the way. Dems flock to the piece and say "This is absurd! We demand an apology." (What we should do is take a page from wrestling and start an "Ass...hole" chant whenever we see Ann, but I digress) Instead we get all flustered, and then the RWCM says "wow...Democrats can dish it out, but I guess they can't take it." And the average Joe is left confused wondering "maybe Democrats are racist?"
Once Ann opened the door, the rest of the right-wing media charged through, having had the way before them cleared by a 98 pound girl. Rush and Sean picked up on it right away saying "you have to be the right kind of black to exist in the Democratic party! That's racist!" This argument is rendered immediately silly by the fact that you would also have to be the right kind of black to be a Republican. I don't hear the fanfare sounding for Al Sharpton on the Rush Limbaugh show.
You can almost see Rush flinching when he uses the `r' word. Like he knows there's no way in Hell he's gonna get away with it. Not after Donovan! But he uses it, and nobody gets bent out of shape (again, I say because Ann's already taken the heat for the piece) Finally able to use the term `racist' in something OTHER than a public apology , Rush settled into it like it was his own personal bean-bag chair. "You don't think Condi's doing her job!? That's Racist! You think we're failing in Iraq!? That's Racist! You're opposing two Hispanic Bush nominees!? That's Racist! You want to keep Social Security the way it is!? That's Racist!"
Never mind the fact that Condi was at the helm when the Unites States suffered the worst attack ever on it's soil, and then got us involved in a war for reasons that proved false. And never mind that Iraq is making the terrorists stronger not weaker. "Better over there then on U.S. soil," comes the dittohead response. Really? Do you think they think that over there!? Oh...you don't care what they think over there? So...what does that make you again?
Never mind that 12 other Hispanic nominees were appointed without incident. Never mind that the reason Social Security is allegedly unfair to blacks is due to a shorter life expectancy, and that the answer should be to improve African-American health, not let them spend their money faster. Nope. None of that matters, because if we repeat `racist' enough, it'll lose its meaning. And then the average Joe will just throw up his hands and say "I guess both sides are racist." Just like they did during the debates when the average Joe threw up his hands and said, "I guess both sides are lying."
This is how Republicans are approaching racism. If they repeat it enough, and take away its meaning, then they won't have to worry about anyone accusing them of it. Remember, Republicans don't subscribe to the same notion of racism as the rest of us. If the individual can overcome any obstacle, then it's the individuals fault when they fail. African-Americans make less money than their white counterparts because they fail as individuals. Hispanics working for less than minimum wage failed because they won't take responsibility for themselves. The ADA is unnecessary, because if wheelchair-ridden people really wanted that job they'd find a way to get up those stairs.
Okay, okay...hating the ADA has nothing to do with race. I just thought it was funny, and still true of what I hear Republicans saying even if they never said it. But it seems to me that most Republicans would say African-Americans earn less because of their culture. "Show me a successful African-American who speaks ebonics?" They still use what many Hispanics believe to be a racist term, `illegal alien', to describe undocumented workers. And they resist efforts to provide basic humanitarian aid for people we know are coming into this country anyway. Instead of trying to improve the economy in Mexico and promote a living wage, Republicans would rather see immigrants die in the Arizona desert. And I'm supposed to be the one that's racist!?
We have to resist this, and I'm not exactly sure how you do that. If we act all outraged at their use of the term, then it looks like we're just trying to get `heel heat.' The really bad thing is that racism exists today, and it's affecting people's lives. I'm not talking about existing in the "I don't like rap" kind of way, I mean in the "I ain't hirin' no blacks or Mexicans" kind of way. In my 16+ years in this town I have seen and heard dozens of instances of racism. They range from a white guy with his crew dropping the `n-bomb' on a lone African American, to a Shipping & Receiving manager saying "I'd rather have one Mexican than 10 blacks."
Republicans don't want to think that racism exists anymore. Why? Maybe because it reflects unfavorably on them. After all, they substantially grew their base by courting segregationist Democrats during the Civil Rights era. Or maybe they really don't think it exists, and they don't realize the damage they're doing to people who really are downtrodden. For us to stand by and allow the right-wing to strip the term of its meaning is about as bad as them doing it in the first place.
And that ain't gonna happen...not on my watch.