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The Making of a Racism Charge

Frankly, I haven’t commented on the charges of Bill O’Reilly’s “racism” because I’m quite certain that no one — not even those who pretend to be most outraged at O’Reilly, or those most delighted to seize upon this “story” (and here I include the Washington Post, CNN’s Rick Sanchez, and Media Matters’ Oliver Willis, an ever-expanding pit of hatred, racial animus, and double sausage calzones) — believes that what O’Reilly said, understood in its complete context, was remotely “racist.”

Instead, it’s just another example of how “racism” as a charge has become nearly meaningless, a way to put an ideological opponent on the defensive, or to shame him into silence, without any concern that such cynical and opportunistic accusations weaken the force of the charge when it is applied to actual racists (or instances of actual racism).

It is character assassination for the purpose of character assassination — and as such, it is as every bit as vile as the history of racism it uses as a pre-made slur.

Still, for those of you who are interested in a fine defense of O’Reilly (from one of his biggest critics), Cathy Young provides it.

Coincidentally, it turns out that Juan Williams plays no small part in the story. Seems NPR isn’t the only one of Williams’ employers or former employers who has taken to treating him like a “happy negro” pariah.

Ironic, isn’t it? The fact that Williams is seen as having wandered off the plantation has resulted in his being pointedly excluded from two stories centering on race and racism — and in this case, his exclusion is necessary for the charges of “racism” against O’Reilly to carry any kind of media force.

Which, don’t you just hate it when they say the wrong things, or defend the wrong kinds of people?

129 Replies to “The Making of a Racism Charge”

  1. Karl says:

    Oliver Willis, the very same half-man, half-donut who fixates on Michelle Malkin’s ethnicity and whose first adjective for a Joo he doesn’t like is “filthy.” He would know something about racism…

  2. keninnorcal says:

    One of my favorite takes on racism was in an early “King of the Hill” episode where Hank was told he couldn’t hate his new next door neighbor because Hank would look racist. “I hate the man because he’s a jerk!” was deemed irrelevant.

  3. daleyrocks says:

    It’s tougher out there for a happy negro than a race pimp.

  4. Major John says:

    I really hate having to take Bill O’Reilly’s side on much…but this is too much. For cryin’ out loud – O’Reilly will give you enough ammunition to dislike or disdain him if you are so inclined – and show a little patience. You don’t have to go spinning something out of whole cloth. I am starting to think the Willises of the world aren’t so much hateful as really lazy.

  5. Karl says:

    Major:
    1. As you know, lazy and racist aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive;
    2. If O-Dub finds out you suggested he’s lazy… well, you know…

  6. happyfeet says:

    I just don’t watch tv news ever at all except sometimes in hotels. All the people involved are expendable, ask me.

  7. upyernoz says:

    on the contrary, o’reilly’s remarks pretty clearly show that the guy was racist. though the remarks themselves weren’t racist in the sense of being a slur or insult, they revealed quite clearly o’reilly’s own racist attitudes.

    thus, he expressed surprise that the restaurant was “normal”, people weren’t running amok and cursing. his surprise only makes sense if o’reilly were a bigot–believing all the worst stereotypes about black people.

    to claim that no one could believe that o’reilly’s remarks were “even remotely racist” is to close your eyes to what o’reilly’s critics are saying. i’ve read his remarks in context, in fact, i’ve read the whole transcript. and i think there’s really no doubt that he expected a black run restaurant to be some kind of chaotic monkey-show.

  8. happyfeet says:

    If Bill were to get fired for this it would be lamentable. Sort of. Mostly I just wanted to use that word.

  9. Hoodlumman says:

    “…chaotic monkey-show.”

    upyernoz… you, sir, are a racist.

  10. Merovign says:

    upyernoz:

    You’re just plain wrong. The transcript makes it EXCRUCIATINGLY clear that O’Reilly was objecting to media (particularly hip-hip culture-driven) stereotypes, not expressing his own.

    Effectively, he was TELLING the audience that the hip-hop stereotype is wrong, and in The Real World there isn’t such a vast gulf between a fine Black restaurant and a fine Italian restaurant, because We’re All Just Folk.

    And if you think there’s “no doubt” that your interpretation is the correct one, please consider that it may be because it’s what YOU brought to the party.

    Because, as you can see from this thread, some of the links, and much of the discussion swirling around the blogosphere, there are a lot of people who have a great deal of doubt that you and Media Matters have a solid grasp of the situation.

    Your reaction does help highlight how vast the gulf of language is between the “left” and the “right,” despite the fact that the vocabulary is the same.

  11. Aldo says:

    I usually give Oliver Willis the benefit of the doubt: I assume he says the stupid shit he does because Soros pays to, not because he actually believes it.

  12. Randy Rager says:

    The first rule of Oliver Willis is: You don’t talk about Oliver Willis. Or link him. Don’t you people read Ace of Spades, for crying out loud? Hell, InstaHeh doesn’t even link the little twit anymore.

  13. topsecretk9 says:

    I am starting to think the Willises of the world aren’t so much hateful as really lazy.

    Trumped up fake controversies are the only thing the nutroots have been able to accomplish. Campaigns? Ned Lamont. The War? 2013. etc. etc. — it’s sinking in.

  14. Blitz says:

    Hey now, there nothing wrong with a good double sausage calzone Of corse, I don’t treat them as a condiment…

  15. Blitz says:

    AARGH!!!!….I want my preview button back

  16. SteveG says:

    “chaotic monkey show”… hey, no need to bring Code Pink into it.

  17. The Monkeys says:

    Freakin’ A Steve, will you stop that! We may hurl our own feces and occasionally eat our young, but we’re not Code Pink for cryin’ out loud!

  18. FYI, I think the rest of you are filthy too, if that makes you feel better about yourselves.

  19. Rob Crawford says:

    OK, folks, it’s NOT right to sock-puppet someone who could plausibly comment here. Particularly not with a link to their site.

  20. Dewclaw says:

    This is the lefts coordinated response to the “General Betray-us” kerfluffel.

    They are trying to divert attention with O’Rielly, and Limbaugh’s “phony soldier” comment.

    Is that the best that Soros’ hard earned (Ha!) cash can buy?

  21. tanstaafl says:

    In the hugely trumped up charge against Bill O’Reilly (based on the actual event, the lunch in Harlem) I see a new level of crass desperation from those individuals who can’t make it in the “marketplace of ideas” and can only seize on marshmallows and try to make them into something resembling worth eating.

    And, apparently, a whole lot of other people dumb enough to want to be convinced it’s a meal.

  22. Merovign says:

    Okay, for the record, I was the Monkeys, but I didn’t do the Willis one.

  23. Big Bang (Pumping you up) says:

    – Yes. They are getting more and more desperate, and with things as they are tending, i.e Iraq, the border, sanctuary cities, socialized health care, progressive activism in schools, the anti-militarism, undermining the WOT, the whole panalope of base efforts to destroy all the symbols and principles of the Republic, I feel the very beginnings of a backlash on the horizon.

    – And it will get a lot worse before it gets better with the looming 2008 election cycle. The movement knows this time its for all the marbles for another 8 years or more, so I think they won’t be able to control their intense, inpulsive, ideological fanaticism.

    – Thats a dangerous mix that bodes no good, and
    I quite honestly do not see any way for the moderate side of things to stop this mad headlong rush to disaster.

    – The last time it was a few attacks on GOP voting offices, slashed tires, thrown objects, rigged polls, biased media presentations, efforts to game a national election, and general civil disorder.

    – Chicago was bad enough, but over the years the Left has managed to horse the rules/laws to gain cover, some of it for the better, but most just to be able to ratchet up the reactionary violence. What can we expect this time?

  24. Merovign says:

    BB – Every election cycle the predictions for Dem behavior have been worse.

    Mind you, their actual behavior has been worse each time, but thankfully not quite as bad as predicted.

    I realistically expect a few violent incidents, a LOT of vandalism, and an almost intolerable constant shrieking.

  25. qrstuv says:

    “…a way to put an ideological opponent on the defensive”

    I think that doing this is all the Left is capable of anymore.

  26. Slartibartfast says:

    Oliver Willis, the very same half-man, half-donut

    FATIST!

  27. happyfeet says:

    Juan Williams put the imprimatur of his blackness on his interview with Bush about race, and NPR couldn’t abide that. That’s actual racism, and it has passed largely without notice.

  28. Big Bang (Pumping you up) says:

    “….and it has passed largely without notice.”

    – Erm…no not really feets….O’Reilly and Juan, along with several of the other usual FOX suspects, have been riding the story like a Siberian midget whore, and since FOX cable news runs about 8 to 1 over all the others combined, its a fair bet that a few people are aware.

  29. Pablo says:

    FYI, I think the rest of you are filthy too, if that makes you feel better about yourselves.

    No Smirky, looking at your picture does it for me. And you’re still the dumbest blogger on the internet, no matter what Soros’ underlings tell you.

  30. happyfeet says:

    oh. I forgot about the tv. Good point. Not much in print though. But I guess what I’m saying is the O’Reilly thing is a way bigger story and he actually respects black people while NPR’s plantation mentality is for the most part not being called out for what it is.

  31. alppuccino says:

    You know – you watch T.V. and all the white people are so beautiful and nice and smart and beautiful. So then I pull up to the drivethru at Arby’s (this particular Arby’s was run by white people) and the white guy who gave me my change looked like someone lit his face on fire and put it out with a tractor tire. Not to mention the lady on fries who had a mole on her face so big she could hang her apron from it. So I’m like, “Wow, the media force-feeds you these stereotypes about white people, but then when you get out and meet them, they’re just like you and me – except for the mole.

    And the permanent smell of slow-roasted beef, maybe.

  32. happyfeet says:

    in this day and age i am amazed at the lack of respect there is for racial groups – how the stereo-types are played to on the tv and in advertising in general – for me, the latest is the new arby’s tv ad… – the one where monkey’s preform a traditional irish step dance to traditional irish music.

    […]

    for some, the response was one of “surprise” that any irish person would have contacted them and thought it was insulting – the assumption was that the irish are a “humorous group” and “good natured” so they were confused that i would even take the time to call.

    well, you eat where you desire – as for me and my irish-self – i think arby’s is not even on my list.*

  33. alppuccino says:

    “We’ll take the n—ers and the ch-nks…….but no Irish!”

    Great link happyfeet.

  34. McGehee says:

    the one where monkey’s preform a traditional irish step dance to traditional irish music.

    Wait — those weren’t real Irish people?

    I need to get to more family reunions.

  35. andy says:

    “It is character assassination for the purpose of character assassination — and as such, it is as every bit as vile as the history of racism it uses as a pre-made slur.”

    Every bit.

  36. Big Bang (Pumping you up) says:

    – Yes andy, a sad time in our history, pulmagated for the most part by Southern Democrats, and corrected for the most part by Congressional Republicans, and a Republican President. Trust me andy. You really don’t want to go there. That terrible story really highlights your parties warts and makes you look bad.

    – Now lets talk about the 100 million bodies that have piled up around the Socialist/Communist/Marxist/Fascist regimes over the past century+, shall we. Just Google any one of your beloved cult figures names andy. I know you can do it.

  37. andy says:

    “Just Google any one of your beloved cult figures names andy”

    Ok.

  38. Big Bang (Pumping you up) says:

    – Oh and andy. You might want to try to remember that some of us are not as young and inexperienced as yourself. Some of us actually lived during that sad period, and more. Some of us actually know where Selma is, actually were there to see Wallace make his stand to protect Democratic apartheid in the South.

    – The next time you feel the urge to get all snarky and erudite with the cherry-picked nonsense and Leftwing lies your poly-sci prof. filled your immature little noggin with, you might try to remember you won’t always by in a group of your fellow brainwashed classmates.

    – Might save you the embarassment of making such a complete ass of yourself. Your choice.

  39. SeanH says:

    I agree with Major John to a point. Even if I imagine myself way out on the Soros fringe I don’t get this. Legitimately criticizing O’Reilly’s like shooting fish in a barrel so why bother with this?

    On the other hand, I don’t understand why anyone would be taking O’Reilly’s side or bothering to defend him either. O’Reilly gets paid damn well for taking parts of stories out of context, twisting them to fit his preconceptions, and using the resulting BS to launch unfair attacks on people. It’s hard for me to care if he’s hoist by his own petard.

  40. The Ouroboros says:

    alppuccino:

    I don’t know what white America you’re living in but mine is totally just like what the networks show on Dr 90210 and The OC.. People are every bit as beautiful.. and vapid, selfish, shallow, banal, pedestrian, ignorant.. (I could go on..)Except the Arby’s people of course.. They’re a motley crew but they hold the keys to the Horsey Sauce cabinet… and that’s a helluva lot of power to wield.. I love that shit on slow roasted pseudo-meats.. They’ve transcended the earthly beauty of perfectly straight noses, overly plump plastic boobies and reduced labia minora and reached the perfection of Fast-Food Nirvana..

  41. andy says:

    “Some of us actually lived during that sad period, and more”

    Baltimore is really rough. I’m telling ya.

    “Some of us actually know where Selma is, actually were there to see Wallace make his stand to protect Democratic apartheid in the South.”

    Do you know where philadelphia Mississippi is?

  42. Big Bang (Pumping you up) says:

    – Give it up andy. You’re standing in a very deep hole, with nothing but a sore ass, a quarter in your hand, and a shovel.

  43. BJTexs says:

    andy, we want to help you son! Let go of your pasty white Democrat guilt! Believe me when I tell you that the freedom of spirit will allow you to focus on more satisfying things, like income redistribution and the surrender of Western liberal values radical theologians.

    You’ll thank us, I promise!

  44. andy says:

    “You’re standing in a very deep hole”

    Every bit as vile, Mr. Selma.

    “andy, we want to help you son! Let go of your pasty white Democrat guilt!”

    Every bit.

  45. Big Bang (Pumping you up) says:

    Yes. We understand andy. People who follow the attraction of the cult, only to discover they’ve been had, are always filled with self-doubt and bitterness. It seems once a person slides into that Socialism black hole promising a free lunch, and responsibilty avoidence, its almost impossible to escape the gravitational pull of the Nannystate.

    – The good news andy is somewhere in your mid-life that black hole of lies may simply dissipate, and you’ll finally know who you are. More importantly, you’ll finally think for yourself. The epithany is not always a pretty process to watch, but the results are personally gratifying.

  46. andy says:

    “We understand andy. People who follow the attraction of the cult, only to discover they’ve been had, are always filled with self-doubt and bitterness.”

    John Waters has not let me down. Maybe later in life he will. Was he responsible for this Hairspray remake? He is getting closer.

  47. BJTexs says:

    It seems once a person slides into that Socialism black hole

    Quit race baiting andy’s deep, deep hole.

  48. Tomas says:

    happyfeet wrote: “Juan Williams put the imprimatur of his blackness on his interview with Bush about race, and NPR couldn’t abide that. That’s actual racism, and it has passed largely without notice.”

    I’m confused. What are you referring to here? I take it Williams interviewed Bush at some point, and he did WHAT with his blackness? Endorsed his own blackness, and “put it on” the interview? And then NPR — is this where the interview took place? — did not tolerate this situation, whatever it was? And then whatever it was you just tried to describe has passed without notice, despite its being actual racism?

    Eh?

  49. BJTexs says:

    Tomas:

    You misunderstand the elated bi-pedal.

    Juan Williams, by the content of his previous writings on race brings a certain credibility to the future, proposed interview with the President. By rejecting the interview NPR would like the world to assume that they made a jounalistic decision not to allow the White House to propose (not dictate) the interviewer. They also should have to deal with the perception that Juan was found wanting in some way to conduct the interview on race relations, even though he is one of their regular reporters, has written extensively about race and is African American. It’s certainly reasonable (in a NPR left leaning kind of way) to suggest the appearance of racism in NPR’s decision.

    I would be the first to say that racism did not play any role in NPR’s decision but the free ride of “journalistic integrity” that NPR’s getting from several commentators is also based purely on opinion. I’d imagine that Williams, with his credentials, is wondering about many things, including the respect that his employer may or may not have for him.

  50. NinoBrown says:

    Andy your a racist. How many black friends do you have and how many black people do you know? I bet you say the N word 100 times a day.

  51. Big Bang (Pumping you up) says:

    – Let me make it easy for you Tomas. The Left absolutely OWNS the black/race/victim card. Absolutely NO dialog with Conservatives is allowed! Any such effort by a Black American immediately brands them as a “happy negro”, and probably “unauthentic” as well, for such blasphamies. Get it.

    – Gotta control the NARRATIVE baby!

  52. RiverC says:

    I never knew Nincompoop was such a racially charged word these days!

  53. Jeff G. says:

    On the other hand, I don’t understand why anyone would be taking O’Reilly’s side or bothering to defend him either. O’Reilly gets paid damn well for taking parts of stories out of context, twisting them to fit his preconceptions, and using the resulting BS to launch unfair attacks on people. It’s hard for me to care if he’s hoist by his own petard.

    It’s not about O’Reilly. It’s about tacitly accepting the maneuver by which he’s being smeared.

    I’ve criticized O’Reilly nearly as much as Cathy Young has. But it MATTERS when we let this kind of charge — specifically, the mechanisms by which it is being leveled and gaining legitimacy — go uncommented upon.

  54. Jeff G. says:

    I bought the John Waters DVD Box Set, and I have to say, I’m not as thrilled with it as I’d hoped.

    Being from Baltimore myself, I have a bizarre kind of pride in Waters (as I do for Barry Levinson, at least until, say, 1992 or so); but you can only do so much with his particular aesthetic. And I think he tapped out several years back.

    Trivia: a couple friends of mine were hairspray extras, and one of them made the final cut — he can be seen twisting behind Ricki Lake at some point.

  55. happyfeet says:

    I can’t help but kind of rally like it though when tv news people get viciously and unfairly kicked in the nads.

    I think I have issues.

  56. happyfeet says:

    really

  57. Jeff G. says:

    Andy —

    I equated the vileness of racism with the vileness of knowingly calling someone racist you know not to be so.

    I didn’t equate the latter to lynching.

    Interestingly, though, you’ve just followed the same maneuver I was criticizing.

    And yeah, your style? Pure Monkeyboy.

  58. happyfeet says:

    I mean, no one’s ever accused Bill O’Reilly of being part of the solution.

  59. andy says:

    “Andy your a racist. How many black friends do you have and how many black people do you know? ”

    It could be everyone in my family. But then maybe my handle would be unsurprisingly, Mutherfuckin Andy.

    “I equated the vileness of racism with the vileness of knowingly calling someone racist you know not to be so.I didn’t equate the latter to lynching. ”

    you said:

    “every bit as vile as the history of racism”

    Lynching is part of the history of racism. So is Big Bang’s precious Selma. That don’t make neither of you racist.

  60. ushie says:

    And so, too, andy, is the Democrats’ historic position with regard to racism in the south. I’m sure you can google it.

  61. SteveG says:

    Infant mortality amongst blacks due to “racism”
    by some guy named Halimah Abdullah of McClatchy News

    http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation/story/295812.html

    Not just the usual race related factors like poverty, illiteracy, because rich well educated black women suffer high rates of infant mortality.

    Conclusion: Stress is a risk factor and the idea of giving birth into such a racist culture is a cause.
    Money quote:

    “The prenancy scares the life out of me because I am pregnant with a baby boy, and I know how black boys are treated in this society.”

    I think she meant American society at large and not black society…. since we seem to have to provide context now for every general statement involving race.

    So the stress of potential racism is so overwhaelming to even well educated, financially secure blacks that their baies die?

    If a black woman is pregnant and she sees a blond haired blue eyed male should she avert her eyes lest the fetus get bathed in the horror?

  62. eLarson says:

    I’m still puzzled at andy’s Outrage Game. I fear the point is buried under the dudgeon.

    If I had to guess, I suspect he was trying to express that Oliver Willis is NOT as vile as the two men who killed Emmitt Till.

    But is he along the same lines as the all-white jury that acquitted those two men?

    To ask another way; is this all just a matter of degrees?

  63. happyfeet says:

    That is a whole post all by itself. These are the same people who say the Bush Administration politicizes science.

  64. Big Bang (Pumping you up) says:

    – andy, lets cut the shit. You and I, and precticaly everyone with a working brain cell knows that the best thing that could happen for the Black community, is to finally refuse to take the chocolate anymore. Of course thats the worst thing that could happen for the Democrats. Knowing that, and knowing it will happen sonner or later since it is enevitable, where is the real compassion. Or is that just one more example of “collateral damage” that must be accepted for the greater good of “teh cause”.

    – Put another way, when is your party going to begin to realize that “they just can’t cut it on their own, the poor dears” is simply racist patronization masquerading as compassion for political reasons, and worse, more and more people are becoming aware of this canard.

    – Because. you know, narrative cannot just go on forever based on faux agenda and caring.

  65. McGehee says:

    I’m still puzzled at andy’s Outrage Game.

    I’ve never understood how anyone can live his, her or its entire life in a chronic state of outrage, even over things that actually happened to them. I’ve had a few outrages perpetrated on me personally, but by some fundamental character flaw I got over them.

    But maybe I can count on good old andy to be outraged on my behalf. Whaddaya say, ol’ stooge? Wanna be my surrogate?

  66. eLarson says:

    Which, interestingly, is the name of a program at the Soros Foundation.

  67. klrtz1 says:

    “Niggers*” said Bob Byrd, the Dean of the U.S. Senate. He’s been reelected (twice?) since then. No wonder some people of color believe America is irredeemably** racist.

    *Taken out of context but what he meant was even more racist than this quote.

    Actually, Jeff, I agree with Andy that you’re incorrect to compare race baiting character assassination with the history of racism in America. I think different things get equated far too often. Vileness is a subjective quantity anyway so I’ll just say I don’t see it that way.

    **If America is irredeemably racist then we might as well all just relax and enjoy it. Words mean things, do they?

  68. klrtz1 says:

    Oops, I meant quality, not quantity. Sorry.

  69. andy says:

    “I’m still puzzled at andy’s Outrage Game.”

    Its really not that outrageous. Its just stupid hyperbolics to think that calling someone racist is as vile as the history of racism. It makes you sound like you don’t know that history, or you’re just a peddler of outrage yourself. Nothing to get that worked up about. But it is worth correcting.

    “And so, too, andy, is the Democrats’ historic position with regard to racism in the south.”

    Yes. Above we talked about Selma. Ridiculous what conservatives did back then to stop liberal progress uh?

    “- andy, lets cut the shit. You and I, and precticaly everyone with a working brain cell knows that the best thing that could happen for the Black community, is to finally refuse to take the chocolate anymore.”

    The chocolate? You kill me bro. I tell you what. I am starting to come over to your view: Hairspray’s remake was a disaster.

  70. Merovign says:

    Y’all are over-analyzing andy. He’s a micro-metaphor for the left as a whole on this issue. They (and he) are like a baby with a toy hammer. They’ve been using this toy hammer to hit other babies, and their cries of distress has given the baby with a hammer much pleasure.

    Now the grown-ups are trying to take the hammer away, and andy is lashing out wildly, because without that hammer, what will he hit the other babies with?

    “MINE!” he cries, “MINE! NO!”

  71. eLarson says:

    Its really not that outrageous. Its just stupid hyperbolics to think that calling someone racist is as vile as the history of racism.

    There. Very succinctly stated.

  72. Jeff G. says:

    . Its just stupid hyperbolics to think that calling someone racist is as vile as the history of racism.

    Let me see if I can spell this out so that you can’t, yet again, misinterpret what I’m saying.

    Calling someone a racist — making a charge that someone is racist who you know not to be so in order to denigrate their character and put them on the defensive, particular given the history of racism in this country (which should give gravitas to such charges) — is a vile as the history of racism in this country.

    In one instance, ignorance and fear are the driving forces; in the other, it is mere cynicism and opportunism.

    You can pretend not to understand — or you can keep trying to make distinctions to prove me hyperbolic — but please, at least get the terms of the equation correct.

  73. Big Bang (Pumping you up) says:

    “Ridiculous what conservatives did back then to stop liberal progress uh?”

    – Yeh. Eisenhower having to send in the trrops to escort the Little Rock nine to class…Simply rediculous. Georgie “the crusader”, flying the Southern Democrats flag proud that “No person of color would ever eat in the same cafeteria, or attend the same school with good White folk”, until a Republican President introduced him to the National guard. Just rediculous. The Republicans leading the civil rights Legislation in Congress because the feckless Democrats were cowering under their desks, afraid to face their bigoted supporters back home.

    – I see you point. How rediculous was that.

    – You can’t say I didn’t give you a heads up andy, but you just keep digging. I think you might do better with this nonsense among people with a more limited education and less real world experience.

  74. andy says:

    “You can pretend not to understand — or you can keep trying to make distinctions to prove me hyperbolic — but please, at least get the terms of the equation correct.”

    I understand exactly what the history of racism is, and its vileness. I linked to it.

    Maybe what you want to say is that calling someone racist — someone one knows not to be so — is as vile as being racist. Which is different than being as vile as the history of racism. Because that was some fucked up shit. It is time for some motherfuckin tea, and some finger-lickin bbq ribs.

  75. andy says:

    “Georgie “the crusader”, flying the Southern Democrats flag proud that “No person of color would ever eat in the same cafeteria, or attend the same school with good White folk”, until a Republican President introduced him to the National guard”

    Exactly. It was a battle between liberal progress and conservative stubbornness. Not between party labels.

  76. Big Bang (Pumping you up) says:

    “Exactly. It was a battle between liberal progress and conservative stubbornness. Not between party labels.”

    – One could parse this passage in any number of ways, most of which would make no decernible sense. But lets go at it this way.

    – So then you are finally stating, without reservation, that the so-called “Secular Progressive” movement is not really aligned with the Democratic party or its policies, but rather just using the only available vehical to National viability and recoginition as a political force. Is that about it?

  77. mishu says:

    Except the Arby’s people of course.. They’re a motley crew but they hold the keys to the Horsey Sauce cabinet… and that’s a helluva lot of power to wield..

    ROTFL

  78. Mikey NTH says:

    BB: Eisenhower nationalized the Arkansas National Guard and introduced them to the 101st Airborne Division. It’s like euchre – laying your ace of trump down on the other guy’s nine of trump and the other guy’s partner puts down the right bower, the left bower, the king, the queen, and the ten of trump.

    And andy – where are the regressives these days? Who cannot let go of race when judging the people they meet? Which side is acting like the French General Staff in 1940? The answer to all three? The Left. Strange, really…Not.

  79. Rob Crawford says:

    Exactly. It was a battle between liberal progress and conservative stubbornness. Not between party labels.

    Odd, then, how the Democrat party’s history is an unending parade of racial preferences, threats of violence (often carried out), and playing off racial divisions.

    And how the Republicans have consistently been the ones doing their best to move past racial divides.

  80. Pablo says:

    I understand exactly what the history of racism is, and its vileness. I linked to it.

    It has a link? Well, I’ll be damned.

  81. Big Bang (Pumping you up) says:

    – Mikey – Yes. In point of fact it was the 101st AB that actually moved in and forced the situation to proceed in the proper direction. I was trying to keep it simple, owing to andy’s limited education on the matter.

  82. mishu says:

    I understand exactly what the history of racism is, and its vileness. I linked to it.

  83. Spies, Brigands, and Pirates says:

    Poor andy. Sooner or later he’s going to realize that screaming “racist” doesn’t work as well any more. I’m sure there were people who were disappointed when “witch”, “heretic” and “Jooooo!” stopped working, too.

  84. eLarson says:

    Oh, I get it. Looking at #74, Andy must be riffing on “Amos & …” I’m not sure how he thinks that helps his point, but there it is in all its minstrelsy.

  85. SteveG says:

    “I understand exactly what the history of racism is, and its vileness. I linked to it. ”

    Exactly.
    So yeah, calling someone racist for reasons of opportunism and political thuggery is as vile as the history of racism…. because calling someone racist invokes all of its history.
    Duh
    If there was no vile history of racism then wtf kind of smear would the charge of racism exactly be?
    I guess I could try to smear Jeff by calling him “Thai food lover

    The other day I saw Stephen A. Smith going on about the role of ones personal feelings in charging racism and how someone can experience work related incidents as racist or bigoted and how those feelings need to be validated.
    But validating the feelings and the internal experience validates the charge of racism. If a black feels a work related action (or inaction) was discriminatory and then leaps to the charge of racism, he/she is invoking poll taxes, back of the bus, whites only bathrooms, german shepherds, lynchings, beatings and all the rest of history. Or maybe their attitude just sucks.

    Racism is a vile and gross injustice. The use of racism as a charge should be commeasurate with the vileness of the injustice… in fact, it’d be nice by me if there was even a tangible injustice suffered before charging “racist” just so things don’t get confused.

  86. happyfeet says:

    Actually, I think you’re making a category error, SteveG. Racism that doesn’t rise to the level of a hate crime is less vile and gross, isn’t it?

  87. Big Bang (Pumping you up) says:

    “But certainly the idea that progressivism isn’t tied to one party isn’t new to you, is it?”

    – No, not at all, although it would come as news to a few that inhabit your movement that the Demos are just handy as a front. But anyone really involved in politics on a serious level knows the truth of things.

    “One really doesn’t have to say anything about O’reilly being racist. All you have to do is put his transcript up on your website.”

    – Well of course if you bother to read what he was saying and attempting to do in this case, you wouldn’t be able to say that hes rascist without getting laughed at.

    – The Left is just going to have to suck it up and accept that they no longer have a monopoly in the area of race relations. All the old stereotypes have lost their luster, so before they go ballistic in the old Marxist way, they need to understand they just look rediculous now that the cat is out of the bag. Such is the power of global high speed communications. Deal with it.

  88. andy says:

    “because calling someone racist invokes all of its history.
    Duh”

    Not really. They could be accused of being racists that just talk, rather than racist murderers. Not all racists are lynchers. We should punish people that use bad words (such as “racist”) differently than people who commit lynchings. Because these are different things.

  89. happyfeet says:

    Some people are more racistier than others.

  90. Big Bang (Pumping you up) says:

    “We should punish people that use bad words (such as “racist”) differently than people who commit lynchings.

    – No.Punishing people for using words is the way Marxists and Fascists operate. More slippage of the mask andy?

  91. Vani says:

    I am an African-Latina American. I am not in the country and missed the show. However if O’Reilly actually used the “N” word and expressed surprise that Black American frequent a restaurant without acting like animal, I think his behavior is extremely reprehnsible. It seems that whites are becoming more hostile towards balcks, less tolerant of them, more judgemental and pugnacious about maintaining their hostile views. How would you like it if I expressed surprise that you could behave in a civilized manner? It is tiresome to be continually insulted in this manner. Why do whites continue to despise us??? What can/will change this supercilious attitude to humanity and fraternity?

  92. happyfeet says:

    Pie?

  93. andy says:

    “No.Punishing people for using words is the way Marxists and Fascists operate. ”

    Exactly. Differently. Lynchers go to jail. Users of bad words? ridicule and social ostracism.

  94. happyfeet says:

    and NO pie.

  95. sherlock says:

    I am an African-Latina American. I am not in the country and missed the show.

    I think you were able to get there in time for several big glasses of the free Kool-aid afterwards, though. O’Reilly said nothing of the sort. You should at least try to get somewhat informed about what is even being unfairly alleged before making such accusatory statements, even hypothetically, and then using them as a pretense for a hateful rant. Because of your prejudices, you obviously won’t credit what any white person says, so you might try to look up what Juan Williams said on O’Reilly’s show a few days ago. Then I suggest you rinse your mind out – it is filled with hate.

  96. Merovign says:

    Shorter Vani:

    “I have no idea what I’m talking about, but I’m going to hurl invective anyway.”

    You didn’t even bother to follow the links and read the quotes before you passed judgment, or whatever passes for judgment in your world.

    You did very kindly share your ethnicity with us, which you apparently feel is an adequate proxy for actually knowing anything about the subject upon which you invect.

    How would you like it if I expressed surprise that you could behave in a civilized manner?

    We’re Americans, we’re used to it by now.

  97. Big Bang (Pumping you up) says:

    – feets – Did you run out of pie again? Keeping you in pie is getting really tiresome. Ok. Here’s some pie:

    Person #1: “How do you feel when someone brands you a racist juat for trying to discuss race issues?”

    Person #2: “Well at first I’m suprised, because I know its not true. then I start to ask myself why they are doing it, what is it they are afraid I’ll say, or do they have some agenda for trying to use slurs to shut me up….that sort of thing.”

    Person #1: “Isn’t that a bit paranoid?”

    Person #2: “When you see a consistant pattern in your oppositions behavior, it isn’t paranoid if its true.”

    Person #1: “How do you deal with those sort of efforts to manipulate things?”

    Person #2: “You don’t really have to do anything. Truth, like oil, always rises to the surface of the political pond.”

    ….pie anyone?

  98. happyfeet says:

    Is it pugnacious?

  99. Big Bang (Pumping you up) says:

    – No. More like thespian. Maggie would love it….

  100. SteveG says:

    Lynching at one extreme of racism and sitting on the proch muttering n****** to oneself at the other.
    Sure
    But raising the charge in a public setting carries along all the historical baggage. One commenter here just assumed OReilly must have said n****** without a bass track booming in the background

  101. Merovign says:

    I was going to make a clever and obscure joke about blackbird pie, but it turns out that the song has no particular connection to any historical king.

    Darn history, always screwin’ with a good jape!

  102. Mikey NTH says:

    “I was going to make a clever and obscure joke about blackbird pie, but it turns out that the song has no particular connection to any historical king.”

    Why would that stop anyone Merovign? And I bet your still cheesed about Pipin the Short.

  103. Mikey NTH says:

    And I’m kidding, kidding…

  104. Pablo says:

    “How do you feel when someone brands you a racist just for trying to discuss race issues?”

    I feel like I’m talking to a leftist.

  105. Pablo says:

    Vani,

    I am not in the country and missed the show.

    Through the magic of the intertubes, you can correct that deficiency. You’ll find a link to the relevant section of the show, so you can listen to it, on this page.

    You should at least try to get somewhat informed about what is even being unfairly alleged before making such accusatory statements, even hypothetically, and then using them as a pretense for a hateful rant.

    Yes, you should. And perhaps, once you’ve done that, you’ll come back and we can chat.

  106. A. Pendragon says:

    Why did actus change his screen name to “Andy”? Because I’d much sooner think that than believe that someone actually thought it a good idea to steal his passive-aggressive, point-evading schtick.

  107. Merovign says:

    Mikey:

    Why would that stop anyone Merovign? And I bet your still cheesed about Pipin the Short.

    Oh, sure, they called him that AFTER his little murderous treason. We called him Pepin the Fat.

    Should have called him Pepin the Dead, but thanks for bringing up that painful memory. Why don’t you just give me a paper cut and pour lemon juice in it!

    :)

  108. andy says:

    “You’ll find a link to the relevant section of the show, so you can listen to it, on this page.”

    The dark side. Darkness! its spreading!

  109. tanstaafl says:

    I’m not following this too closely.

    Is anybody mentioning CNN in all this ?

    That’s where I just happened to see (I hardly ever watch CNN) some other black guy (not Juan Williams) doing the first complete distortion and allusion to O’Reilly’s “racism” over comments he made at the Harlem lunch.

    I knew CNN could go bad (like not fessing up to what it knew about Saddam atrocities so he wouldn’t kick their news organization out of the country)…but this was the most over the top “news” distortion I’ve ever personally witnessed.

    A new low in reportage, really shocking.

    It was, I think, sept 24, Monday.

  110. Pablo says:

    tanstaafl, are you thinking of this?

  111. cynn says:

    Now that you’ve run off the lefty counterpoint, pretty dull here. For what it’s worth, I give Imus and O’Rotty the same pass: big mouth, asshole persona, stupid utterance, deal with it.

  112. McGehee says:

    Now that you’ve run off the lefty counterpoint, pretty dull here.

    There you go again, accusing the gang of running someone off who absolutely refuses to leave.

    But it’s a Saturday night, so I guess we have to expect it. Or if you’d like we can just ignore you until the hangover morning.

  113. SteveG says:

    OK
    Blowhard blunders and babbles his way through a clumsy attempt to describe the black experience as seen through a very milky white lens.
    But Edwards won’t win the nomination anyway so who cares.

  114. cynn says:

    McGehee: True intellectuals are on the clock 24/7. We’re only nominally drunk. Still, a big snooze, but it’s good to know the righty schmos aren’t causing too much damage right now.

  115. Big Bang (Pumping you up) says:

    “True intellectuals” … people that have convinced themselves they are smart.

  116. […] the boss touched on the O’Reilly ‘racist’ kerfuffle. There’s also another “controversy” over Rush Limbaugh, in a segment […]

  117. McGehee says:

    McGehee: True intellectuals are on the clock 24/7.

    Or until we figure out there’s no overtime. And no paycheck at any rate. Then we become entrepreneurs and set our own hours.

  118. Big Bang (Pumping you up) says:

    “Virtual intellectuals”…. people that have convinced others that they are smart. (ibid. See Kerry, John)

  119. Big Bang (Pumping you up) says:

    “Psuedo intellectuals”….people that are smart until they get elected. (ibid. See Bush , George)

  120. Big Bang (Pumping you up) says:

    – addendum to #116 – (ibid. See Progressives, Secular)

  121. Jeff G. says:

    Now that you’ve run off the lefty counterpoint, pretty dull here.

    Sorry. I’ll work harder at entertaining cynn.

    Really. I’ve put it on my list of things to do. Right after, “tell cynn she can blow me.”

    Blow me.

  122. N. O'Brain says:

    “Comment by andy on 9/29 @ 12:22 pm #

    “I’m still puzzled at andy’s Outrage Game.”

    Its really not that outrageous. Its just stupid hyperbolics to think that calling someone racist is as vile as the history of racism. It makes you sound like you don’t know that history, or you’re just a peddler of outrage yourself. Nothing to get that worked up about. But it is worth correcting.

    “And so, too, andy, is the Democrats’ historic position with regard to racism in the south.”

    Yes. Above we talked about Selma. Ridiculous what conservatives did back then to stop liberal progress uh?”

    andy, andy, andy, you ignorant slut, try learning some history.

    To wit (or in andy’s case, half-wit):

    “it wasn’t the GOP that opposed the Emancipation Proclamation. Nor was it the GOP that opposed the Thirteenth Amendment prohibiting slavery, the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteeing equal protection, or the Fifteenth Amendment guaranteeing voting rights. (In fact, Republicans voted for the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act in greater percentages than did Democrats.)
    Moreover, it wasn’t the Republican party that opposed Teddy Roosevelt’s anti-lynching legislation or that filibustered or otherwise opposed more than a dozen other anti-lynching provisions during the 20th century.
    Republicans didn’t institutionalize Jim Crow, implement school segregation, or establish poll taxes and literacy tests to keep non-whites from voting. Bull Connor, George Wallace, Lester Maddox, and Orval Faubus weren’t Republicans.
    It wasn’t a Republican who ordered the internment of Japanese-American citizens (or Italians or Germans) during World War II. Nor were Republicans behind the Chinese exclusion acts or licensing requirements that discriminated against non-white businesses and tradesmen.”
    -Peter Kirsanow

  123. N. O'Brain says:

    “The definition of a Racist is anybody winning an argument with a liberal.”

    -Bill Whittle

  124. Merovign says:

    WRT to N. O’Brain’s post about the GOP, and to prespond to the inevitable lefty excuse that the GOP and Dems “reversed” positions… it ain’t true.

    The Dems themselves “reversed positions” on race, but didn’t really reverse their core beliefs, they just refocused their disdain from open contempt to patronizing pats on the head and cynical manipulation.

    Obviously individuals in both parties (and neither) had a variety of beliefs and positions, but the “marketing campaign” of the left has been far more comprehensive than any policy changes since their slaver days.

  125. Rob Crawford says:

    The Dems themselves “reversed positions” on race, but didn’t really reverse their core beliefs, they just refocused their disdain from open contempt to patronizing pats on the head and cynical manipulation.

    I submit their behavior has not changed — they’ve simply reversed the targets. They’ve become a bit more subtle — it’s rare they actually condone violence, but they’re quite often on record threatening or excusing it.

  126. SGT Ted says:

    heehee I love the part in this thread where the progressive pretends to care about civil rights.

  127. Mr B says:

    How ironic.

    The local newspaper has an expose today on a local artist. She is painting depictions of lynchings showing just the torso and noose on a soft background.

    She’s doing this to lend “dignity” to those affected. WTF?

    She also said we need to face the reality of racism in order to “solve it”. I’d like to know how we do that when we can’t even discuss it in todays reality (let alone the ugly past).

    I can’t figure these people out.

  128. McGehee says:

    I can’t figure these people out.

    EEG flatline, is my best guess.

  129. ccoffer says:

    “Its funny how pop culture simply assumes that a brown colored man has practically nothing in common with a white colored man. You and me are all but fucking twins. Same wife, same kids, same job, same worries, same aspirations, same taste in cars, same EVERYTHING.
    Thing is, when some douchebag reporter gets to talking, we are portrayed as absolutely alien to one another. Me be whitey, and you are some mirror image of a one-legged, Ethiopian lesbian.

    So long, dude, been nice to know ya. I thought we had something in common. O well.

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