There's Reality, And There Is Reality-Based

Who has seen those drink products blaring on the front label "Based on real fruit juice"?  Careful inspection of the fine print on the back generally reads "Contains 10% fruit juice".  Aren't truth-in-labeling laws great?

It would be a better blogosphere if the "reality-based community" adopted a truth-in-labeling law.  Then  people like Publius and Steve Benen could include a disclaimer reading "Based on 10% reality", highlighting that the rest is just creative fiction.

Yesterday I posted about a school beating incident headlined by Drudge which the police claimed at the time was racially motivated, although they have since decided to back-pedal from that.  (Do I suspect politics was involved?  Please.)

Later the same day Rush Limbaugh used the incident as the basis for a rant against Obama.  Publius, another of the deep thinkers at Obsidian Wings, decided that it was time to tar some of the right, and I got caught up in  the wash, along with the Gateway Pundit:

Let me echo Andrew Sullivan and Rod Dreher and Conor Friedersdorf in condemning the utterly shameful and race-baiting exploitation of yesterday's school bus incident.  I'm not big on writing posts that start "Rush Limbaugh did outrageous thing X today...", but this is an exception.

And it's not just Limbaugh.  It's also Malkin, and Gateway Pundit, and Drudge, and Tom Maguire.  Though Limbaugh takes the cake:

It’s Obama’s America, is it not? Obama’s America, white kids getting beat up on school buses now. You put your kids on a school bus, you expect safety but in Obama’s America the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering[.]

OK, I have zero confidence in an excerpt from Publius, but at face value, making Obama responsible for a school bus assault is daft.  But what did I say?  The first hint was my title:

Is Obama Smart Enough To Duck This?

And I went on:

Yet another racially charged incident - black students beat up a white student on a bus.  Drudge is headlining it, so the story will have legs.  Obama is Commander-in-Chief, not Police Chief or school superintendent - will he be smart enough to duck this, as he should have ducked the Skip Gates debacle?  Or will a simple "I don't have all the facts but it looked like the white kid sat in the wrong seat" suffice?

The Gateway Pundit is waiting for Al Sharpton.

How that equates to my claiming Obama is responsible, or ought to address this, or owes America his thoughts on this, is an utter mystery to me, but I am not smart enough to attempt to contribute to Obsidian Wings.  And how Jim "Gateway" Hoft can be blasted for thinking that professional race-baiter Al Sharpton belongs in the mix yet won't appear also eludes me.  I have no doubt an explanation will be forthcoming.

Steve Benen at the Washington Monthly merely quotes Publius; Benen is reality-based so actual reality would interfere with his broader themes.  My guess is Benen neither knows nor cares what I actually said, and normally the feeling is mutual.  But I do want to give Benen props for delivering the funniest line of the day so far (but my coffee is still warm!).  After a generic denunciation of the racist right, we get this admonishment:

If more conservatives were equally willing to criticize these attempt to stoke racial tensions, we'd all be better off.

Uh huh.  Meanwhile, virtually every lib explains any criticism of Obama by invoking racism (Maureen Dowd is the latest to fall in line; BREAKING - Make that Jimmy Carter).  By way of example, and I am just guessing out loud here, telling critics of health care reform that they are racist might actually create, rather than diminish, racial tension. 

Well, if Benen wants to exhort his side to dial it back a bit, I am sure we would all enjoy another chuckle.

MEANWHILE, BACK ON THE SCHOOL BUS:  The police chief has now decided that the incident was not racially motivated and I am sure that in one sense he is correct - I very much doubt that either of the assailaints got on the bus that morning with the the idea of pummelling a white kid.

On the other hand - if, heaven forbid, the national media got ahold of video of a school bus assault in which two white kids beat up a black student while other white kids laughed and cheered, what would the reactuion be?  Try to picture the number of columns penned linking the incident to the summer of hate and to racist Republicans (Try to guess how many such columns would mention Rosa Parks; OK, I don't want to try and guess either).  Try to imagine the press conferences, the national attention, the attempts to diagnose and heal our national soul.  I take that back - don't try to imagine.

Please - if this had been white on black it would have been the only topic of national conversation, so don't tell me that since it was black on white it is an utter non-story.  I think Obama would be an idiot to get involved, but I thought he was an idiot to get involved with Crowley and Gates.

And I went on:

Yet another racially charged incident - black students beat up a white student on a bus.  Drudge is headlining it, so the story will have legs.  Obama is Commander-in-Chief, not Police Chief or school superintendent - will he be smart enough to duck this, as he should have ducked the Skip Gates debacle?  Or will a simple "I don't have all the facts but it looked like the white kid sat in the wrong seat" suffice?

The Gateway Pundit is waiting for Al Sharpton.

Comments

[Fresh Air]

Good grief. I think the most useful occurrence of the past year has been the unveiling of virtually every prominent liberal/leftist/progressive as either a overt racist himself or a race-baiting chump. What a stack of dopes, all thinking the same rubbish and not even having the good sense to keep it to themselves.

[gmax]

Well if Jimmy Carter wants to be the face of the Democrat Party, I say we let him. Anyone remember fondly off standing long lines to get gasoline for your car, with odd and even rationing ?( with the unintended consequence that folks continually topped off their tanks not wanting to run out while in the back of another long line ).

Bring it, Jimmy. Ask your butt buddy Michael Moore for some speech tips too.

[Fresh Air]

OT--

For those not interested in playing the Race Game this morning. Karl Deninger's got some cheery economic forecasts up today about the national debt. And by "cheery," I mean unbelievably depressing.

[PeterUK]

100% pure beef, chopped and shaped.

[hit and run]

Capitulation or How I Learned to http://twitter.com/jeffdobbs/status/4027551954>Accept Reality-Based:

I oppose Obama. There, I said it. Now, everything I say is racist. Even the "the's" and the"a's". *Especially* the "a's".

[PD]

From Ras: 12% Say Most Opponents of Obama Health Care Plan Are Racist

From the article:

Eighty-eight percent (88%) of Republicans reject the notion that most of the opponents are racist. So do 78% of voters not affiliated with either major party. However, just 39% of Democrats share that view.

[Wouldn't reconize reality if it bit 'em in the base.]

Heh, Benen banned me the first day I posted on climate. Matt Y took a few days.
=====================================

[Thomas Collins]

Prepare for more of this, TM. MSM, conventional Decaying Establishment figures such as Jimmy Carter and the pro-Obama blogs will be playing the race deck again and again. Americans supporting an opportunity society available to all without regard to race will be continually defamed. Don't expect the Decaying Establishment to give up easily. But We Shall Overcome those who cynically use race to prop up views that can't stand the scrutiny of reasoned discourse.

[Fresh Air]

I am only opposed to Zero's white half.

[publius]

What on earth does Obama have to do with any of this? As I noted in comments, the reference to Obama was completely unnecessary and 100% gratuitous. The point was to tie him with the story, albeit in a more indirect way than Malkin, who couldn't even bring herself to write a real correction. Plus, the Al Sharpton reference.

When people say things to my left I disagree with, I ignore them. I certainly don't write sympathetic posts linking to them (which is also what you did in your multiple defenses of birthers a while back). Your post basically stated that this created a political problem for Obama, which it doesn't in the least unless he gets tied to the story.

There's was no reason to put him in -- and that's why I wrote what I did.

[Cecil Turner]

Let me echo Andrew Sullivan and Rod Dreher and Conor Friedersdorf in condemning the utterly shameful and race-baiting exploitation of yesterday's school bus incident.

"Race-baiting exploitation"? Yeah, what could possibly be racial about black kids taking turns beating up the white kid (as onlookers cheered)? As opposed to saying "you lie" when the President is lying, which is obviously racial (at least to every Dem onlooker). And, of course, Prof Blevins' point in this whole mess is that, obviously, Rush must be a racist.

The problem with the "reality based" thing on this incident is that they're gonna need some help getting it up to 10%.

[Go Baby Ice, Go!]

I ran across the term 'Legacy Media' for the MSM over at Watts Up. I like that. I like that well enough to hat tip the one who mentioned it.
=======================================

[Cecil Turner]

One reason Obama won was that he managed to persuade certain types of voters to ignore race.

This, by the way, is not part of that 10%.

[Fresh Air]

Well, whatever. James Madison you ain't.

[clarice]

It will take major restraint for me not to do something untoward when memorial services are held here for that georgia ex-president..(With his penchant for the trivial he has outlined his entire wishes including no cleats on the shoes of the military men bearing his coffin to the rotunda. I guess he doesn't want to interfere with the choking sobs of the millions he imagines will be in attendence.)

[Thomas Collins]

Publius, Obama invited discourse on how these types of incidents would affect him, and how he would react to these types of incidents, by his comments on the Gates-Crowley kerfuffle.

[Pagar]

Those interested in where racial hatred comes from might want to check out this post at American Thinker.

"The racial hate expressed against me all came from the left, people who support President Obama's radial socialist agenda. "

LUN

[matt]

This is the latest Journo List theme and runs all the way through the Democratic Left now. It's all about those white racists.

They are creating a massive divide where there was none. When you have this and Kanye West and Serena's meltdown and a bus beat down, is there any wonder the great middle is just a tad concerned. LUN.

[fdcol63]

As their power and influence wanes, expect Leftists and the MSM to become even more desperate, shrill, belligerant, uncivil, and downright nasty.

Carter is leading the way. What an evil, despicable old has-been.

[Nick]

"Race baiting exploitation" is what Publius accused you and others of.

Okay, if the racial angle of the story isn't why you ran it, then what about the story did you find so important that you added it to your blog?

We've got all kinds of important things happening politically and economically, yet this minor assault finds its way onto your blog.

[Fresh Air]

Matt--

Which one of the Journ-O-List geniuses was first onto the Race Truck? My money's on ersatz intellectual Ezra Klein, though Kevin Drum is always a safe bet to emerge from the shallow end of the gene people with a swimmy of nonsense tied around his neck.

[bolitha]

No matter what Conservatives say, the race card will continue to be played. The Dems think they have a "winning card" and will keep up the "drum beat."

[Cecil Turner]

What on earth does Obama have to do with any of this?

Yeah, what could post-racial Obama have to do with anything like this? It ain't like he campaigned on it, used the bully pulpit to deride policemen (and tacitly accuse them of racism), or support his AG who called Americans "cowards" on race (whilst protecting New Black Panthers from prosecution). Yeah, how could any of that have an impact on race relations in America? Inconceivable!

[PeterUK]

"no cleats on the shoes of the military men bearing his coffin to the rotunda."

He doesn't want any tap dancing on his grave.

[clarice]

Now, that's something I should have thought of MISTER PUK.

[Rob Crawford]

When people say things to my left I disagree with, I ignore them.

We know.

[Climate is reality based.]

OK, I found it. John Stover at 12:23:13 on 9/15 on the first of two Arctic Ice threads yesterday at Watts Up. He was following up a cogent comment by hotrod at 8:14:19. See also Chris y's comment at 7:52:16 linking jeez's words from last year that jump started the 'Baby Ice' meme.

Arctic Sea Ice Extent has hit its minimum this year, 25% higher than the dramatic melt of two years ago. The amount greater this year at minimum compared to then is one and a half times the size of Texas. It's something like 9,000 Manhattan Islands. The Arctic is freezing back up, coincident with the ocean oscillations in their cooling modes and possibly consonant with the sonorant snores of Old Sol.
==============================

[Cecil Turner]

"Race baiting exploitation" is what Publius accused you and others of.

But he can't seem to find that in the MSM's coverage of health care debate (and resistance to Obama in general), or a former president's silly remarks? Risible self-parody.

[Barry]

Publius was probably one of those that linked every transgression of a Republican dog catcher to 'Bush's Culture of Corruption". Remember for 8 years it was Bush's fault for every ill in America. But now Obama, as befits a Messiah, floats above the fray with nary a whiff of the stench of the Dodd, Blago, Rangel, Murtha, Acorn, etc.,etc. scandals reaching his pristine robes.

I suppose the ACORN scandals have nothing to do with Obama even though he lawyered for them, defended them, used them, and covers for them. Like Bill Ayers had nothing to with Obama, or Rev. Wright. When Obama says the police is acting stupidly when they arrest an unruly African American based on the fact the policeman was white and the "victim" was black could that encourage others to defy the police, or does that have nothing to do with Obama?

Obama is now in charge. It's his ship. He gets involved in routine police arrests in Cambridge. When Acorn offers help to prostitution rings and encourages people to bury cash in their backyards are they not feeling empowered by Obama?

[Rob Crawford]

Eighty-eight percent (88%) of Republicans reject the notion that most of the opponents are racist. So do 78% of voters not affiliated with either major party. However, just 39% of Democrats share that view.

I'm no psychologist, but I think the best description of Democrats seeing racism everywhere is "projection".

[Old Dad]

In postmodern, postracial, lefty America anything that obviously has nothing to do with race--say arresting a loud mouthed jerk for disorderly conduct, obviously has everything to do with race, and only racists would ignore such a clear connection. On the other hand, anything that obviously has somethiing to do with race, say black kids beating the crap out of a white kid while other black kids cheer, clearly has nothing to do with race and only racists would make such a charge.

See how that works? Yeah, me neither.

[Thomas Collins]

Via Instapundit, see LUN for a great tweet on the argument of the Race Deck Players.

[PeterUK]

Clarice,
I suddenly had a vision of Marines in full dress uniform doing a Busby Berkeley routine.

[The sun isn't dying, it's just hibernating.]

Big Cycle 24 active region coming around the bend, though. There might be a big fat spot in about a week. If the Cheshire Cat effect is there it might be a big, pale, spot.
=========================

[Ignatz]

I didn't listen to Rush yesterday but think it probable that the context of his comment was, since the left just spent 8 years blaming everything bad that happened in America on Bush and the various climates he and his Republican allies supposedly fostered (fear, corruption, etc), that it was time the goose tasted a bit of sauce.
If not I'll stand corrected, but it should have been the context if it wasn't.

[Dave (in MA)]

We've got all kinds of important things happening politically and economically, yet this minor assault finds its way onto your blog.

We've got all kinds of important things happening politically and economically, yet Maguire's mentioning this minor assault drew you to his blog.

[clarice]

PUK--ROFLMAO

The attack on ACORN is racist, too...and Mario Cuomo is part of that right wing KKK crowd:
"The media may be trying as hard as possible to ignore the series of undercover videos taken at ACORN offices around the nation, but politicians don’t have that luxury. Even in New York, both state and city officials have reacted to voter outrage over the actions of ACORN staffers offering advice on hiding tax evasion and child prostitution, especially since these offices run in part on taxpayer money. The New York Post reports that the city council in NYC have suspended payments to ACORN pending further investigation, and that Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo has launched an investigation (via JWF)"

HOT AIR

[The left isn't dying, it's just suffering a stroke.]

Yes, Rob, very important point there about projection. They are the sort who were susceptible to the guilt anyway, because they actually still hold a lot of prejudice. The mass of America, who've worked intimately with people of all colors, absorbed King's lesson about content of character a long time ago, though not immediately. The military has been in the business of sidelining racism for over sixty years now. It's high time the overseers and the slaves on the Democratic Victimization Plantation get over their pathological brain disease.
========================

[PeterUK]

BTW WTF is Publius?

[Pofarmer]

The problem is, this IS Obama's problem. He's continually drawn the race card, and used it with great abandon. How can this NOT spill over into the Black Culture at large? Hell, they've been agreived for 60 years, now, it would appear, they're acting out on it.

Old Dad nails it.

[Should be held to account. Any takers?]

As someone has already mentioned, whoever is ginning up this meme is really an evil political criminal. Deliberate polarization of the races is a dangerous and desperate step. If there are bad consequences, and there may well be, the ones responsible for this must be held to account.
=================================

[Thomas Collins]

Nick, if the President of the United States sees fit to comment on the arrest of a black Harvard professor who was screaming at a white police officer, it is certainly a fit topic for a public affairs blog to raise as an issue the reaction of that President to an assault on a white student by black students (however "minor" you may consider that assault to be).

By the way, Nick, please direct me to where you have criticized Obama for his "typical white person" comment during the campaign. I'm sure that as one so concerned about "race baiting exploitation," you have made a blog comment somewhere lambasting Obama for that comment.

[ROA]

Thanks to Jimmy Carter we now know that all criticism of President Bush's foreign policy was racially motivated because both Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice were black.

[PeterUK]

On the other hand,the race card is the last throw.The Left are not defending Obama on his record,his policies,his interminable speeches,his growing unpopularity or the fact that he comes across as a used car salesman with about the same amount of gravitas.

The Once and Only Once.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

What on earth does Obama have to do with any of this?

What did he have to do with the Boston cop thing?

[Rob Crawford]

the fact that he comes across as a used car salesman with about the same amount of gravitas

Meh. I've bought used cars. I wouldn't buy ANYTHING from Obama.

[clarice]

Very good,ROA.
The Ras survey shows I think that the race card has been so thinned by overuse that it's now transparent except to those bitter clingers to The Once.

[Beam us Unca Remus.]

uh, Pub, 0:59. We find that Obama interjected himself completely unnecessarily in two previous scholastic arena kerfuffles. Tom, and we, were merely wondering if he were smart enough to avoid such tarbabies in the future?
======================

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Risible self-parody.

Something tells me this phrase is going to be useful in the next several years.

[Porchlight]

Here's some more reality for the reality-based community:

Rasmussen: Opposition to health care reform reaches new high at 55%

[VDS]

Obambi is nalied cold to the wall. Jimmy wants to help.........He should have helped them with forcing the creation of Africom and appinting it's Director.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

I suddenly had a vision of Marines in full dress uniform doing a Busby Berkeley routine.

Dude, put down the pipe.

[Ignatz]

--BTW WTF is Publius?--

It's a modern lefty who expropriated a psuedonym used by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison to argue against everything they believed in.

Unless of course he is expropriating the name of the original Publius.

Either way, brings to mind the opening lines of Ecclesiastes.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Big Cycle 24 active region coming around the bend, though.

I hope the activity picks up some; I've got a trip to AK to visit family coming up, I'd like to see the aurora.

[Nick]

Nick, if the President of the United States sees fit to comment on the arrest of a black Harvard professor who was screaming at a white police officer, it is certainly a fit topic for a public affairs blog to raise as an issue the reaction of that President to an assault on a white student by black students (however "minor" you may consider that assault to be).

Posted by: Thomas Collins
-------------------------

My question is that of all the 'fit topics' for this blog, why choose this small story?

If this story was not chosen because it has a racial angle which is titillating to Mr. Maquire's audience (hence the charge that he is exploiting race baiting), then why did Mr. Maquire choose to include this particular story out of thousands available for discussion?

For example, on Friday a former Marine commandant and another Marine general authored an op-ed denouncing Cheney for promoting torture, and basically calling him a liar for claiming actionable intelligence resulted from torture. That is a lot more important than whether Obama is going to comment on an assault on a high school bus.

So if it isn't because of the racial angle, then why is Maguire blogging about this minor story? What's so important that it supersedes a discussion of war crimes and national honor?

[Porchlight]

I've got a trip to AK to visit family coming up, I'd like to see the aurora.

Charlie, my husband is headed to AK soon too - Sitka, for a Halloween celebration. I am so envious. I had the opportunity to go along, but it seemed unfair to the kids for both parents to skip out for Halloween.

[Ignatz]

--We've got all kinds of important things happening politically and economically, yet this minor assault finds its way onto your blog.--

Should we google "Nick" + "Jena Six" to see how many times little Nicky complained to lefty blog proprietors about their coverage of that fraud?
Probably not.

[Beam us Aunt Sarah.]

Bodyguarding Sarah? Or speechwriting? Good luck with the aurorae. I think they may be more associated with flaring, which is more random than the spot cycle. I've an idea that somehow integrating all the flaring might show a correlation with temperature, and the 'seeming' randomness might constitute a damper on the whole process, such that it isn't so hypersensitive as to have tipping points, or extremes. I'm much intrigued that the recent climate, millions of years recent, has alternated between two relatively stable stages, iced up and not.
=================================

[Captain Hate]

When was Nick made the Blog Czar?

[gmax]

Wow TM the blow must have been heavy and hit home. The great and wonderful Publius shows up to defend his comment. Given how the conservatives in this country are "shrinking" and protesters represent only 1% of America, one has to wonder why it is that he even troubled himself to slum like that.

[A Box of Bloody Red Diapers.]

Nick @ 10:53, how disingenuous. What an overused word 'disingenuous' is, but I can't help myself. It is not the right, nor Tom Maguire who is making this a racist thing; it is the left, and if not from Axelrod, then those close to him. Get real, please.
=====================================

[SWarren]

WOW, Matt.
That is an EXCELLENT piece of writing! I encourage all to read it.

This whole racist meme can only create a very ugly divide. As I said on the previous thread, methinks this is a very dangerous game that is being deployed.

[A Box of Clocks.]

Again, Nick, you are precious. Waterboarding is useful; it should be safe, legal, and as rare as a ticking bomb.
==================================

[peter]

Not to put too wet a blanket on this discussion, the fact is that the race card works. The Dems used it to get back into the white house, to control mayoralties around the nation, and to profit from it through race hustling, i.e., the Jesses, the Sharptons and the Acorns. We have elected an ACORN lawyer as President, and he is going to use the tools that got him into the White House. Yes, it does become diluted in time, but it also has its effectiveness. I am sure Serena Williams would have called the lineswoman a racist too, except, unfortunately, she had yellow skin and excessive fatty tissue around the eyes.

[Precious little birds of paradise gibbering in a gilded cage.]

Would you, Nick, waterboard someone to save your life? How about someone else's life.

[Nick]

By the way, Nick, please direct me to where you have criticized Obama for his "typical white person" comment during the campaign. I'm sure that as one so concerned about "race baiting exploitation," you have made a blog comment somewhere lambasting Obama for that comment.

Posted by: Thomas Collins
----------------------------

I agree with Obama's sentiment that typically, people have prejudices based on their experiences, and that typical white people, typical black people, typical men, typical women, typical Americans, etc., tend to have somewhat predicable responses to various situations.

I live in a city, and I keep aware of who is around me, and part of that is keeping aware of groups of young black males. It's undoubtedly a prejudice. At the same time I consider it a moral duty to stay aware of my prejudices and to limit their harm on other people, particularly people who have been downtrodden. That's the difference between having prejudices (all of us are typical in the sense that we have prejudices--we prejudge) and being a bigot or racist (a bigot being someone who actively discriminates based on race, religion, gender, sexual preference, or any other personal quality over which a person has no control).

It would help if you explained what you found offensive about Obama's comment.

[Special Forces for Special Times.]

peter, the race card is an effective short term tactic. It is bad strategy, because it is a fake maneuver. It can't be used over and over and over. It is fundamentally a desperate maneuver, and now it's being used as a Hail Mary. The momentum of this game is now being drummed by the hammer blows of the ACORN scandal. I just can't believe those two, and their get-up, and their bold, bold, schtick.
===================================

[Jack is Back!]

The best thing, right now, is to let the left and dems find all the rope they need to hang themselves. How dumb a PR move was it to bring out the race card?

Was listening to Boortz this morning on my way back from St. Augustine and there is a report of a white red-neck battering a black woman (military) in front of her 7 year old daughter at a Cracker Barrel in Georgia somewhere. No one stepped in to help this woman. Now refer to DoJ for possible hate crime. I agree with Boortz, that a crime is a crime and it doensn't or shouldn't it more or less the crime because of your color, plumbing or religion.

[bishop]

As I recall, it wasn't a particularly active thread, a dozen posts, which goes to proving
Tom wasn't really hard enough. He knows which buttons to push, consider the last thread, which covered a whole gamut of topics, beginning with an aggregious case of media malpractice, moving on to simple negligence

[Nick]

Nick @ 10:53, how disingenuous. What an overused word 'disingenuous' is, but I can't help myself. It is not the right, nor Tom Maguire who is making this a racist thing; it is the left, and if not from Axelrod, then those close to him. Get real, please.
=====================================

Posted by: A Box of Bloody Red Diapers.
---------------------------------------

What action did Axelrod take that predated Drudge's headline?

[That's supposed to be a 2 X 4. Get it?]

Nick, you are typically predictable.
=====================

[Thomas Collins]

Nick, TM posts frequently on matters of national security, and on many other domestic, international and cultural issues. It has been Obama's supporters and Obama himself, with his "typical white person" comment and his news conference comments on the actions of Officer Crowley, who have brought race to the forefront. It is hardly surprising that TM would post on occasion on matters pertaining to race. By the way, Nick, since you seem to have a penchant to question the subject of TM's blog posts, perhaps it is a fit topic to question why you would attempt to classify as "minor" the assault of a white student by black students.

[Jack is Back!]

Another thing from Boortz. Why do intelligent people keep getting "bigotry" and "racism" mixed up? Good point. Any one out there want to take a stab at that? Jimmy? Al? Sully?

[gmax]

For example, on Friday

Hey Nick, here is a great idea. Get your own blog and you too can decide what topics of the day to discuss. I wont read, wont care what you think but maybe just maybe you will be too busy to come and hurl unsubstantiated charges of racism for a few days, so there is that.

[More cowbell.]

Nick, @ 11:12 Who documents the timing of this evil Meme Machine? You are caught in its cogs. Can you extricate yourself in time? Tune in next week....
=============================

[Nick]

When was Nick made the Blog Czar?

Posted by: Captain Hate
---------------------

Maguire complains that he and others have been accused of exploiting a story that has titillating racial elements.

I ask what it was about a fight on a achool bus, other than the racial elements, that he found so important that he included it on his blog.

That's a fair question in response to his complaint. So far, there is no answer that actually addresses the substance of what is a highly relevant question.

[Old Lurker]

"BTW WTF is Publius?"

PUK, per Ignatz at 10:50, John Jay was the third member (with Hamilton and Madison) of the writers of the Federalist (Papers) published in serial form to explain and build support for the ratification of the US Constitution. As Ignatz said, they borrowed the name from the original Roman.

[Jane the lynchpin]

On the other hand,the race card is the last throw.

My thoughts exactly. It's come to this. Wall to wall presidebt TV while his lackies play the race card.

This presidency is over. And he is taking Congress into the tank with him.

[Captain Hate]

Well if Jimmy Carter wants to be the face of the Democrat Party, I say we let him. Anyone remember fondly off standing long lines to get gasoline for your car, with odd and even rationing ?( with the unintended consequence that folks continually topped off their tanks not wanting to run out while in the back of another long line ).

Gmax, I hate to correct you but I remember the gas lines being worse under Nixon than Dhimmi. Carter's energy policies could be more accurately portrayed as coal strikes on top of malaise.

[Old Lurker]

Let's hope you're right, lynch...

[Jim Ryan]

I ask what it was about a fight on a achool bus, other than the racial elements, that he found so important that he included it on his blog.

Did you read the title of that post? Or the part in this post that beseeches you to read the title of that post? The post was about Obama's lack of intelligence, not about a school bus fight. But you knew that. So, you're just trolling.

Trolling is playing obtuse and slinging red-herring bits of pseudo-evidence at people with whom you disagree. Trolls are a dead-weight burden in the forum. Quit trolling.

[Old Lurker]

"lynchpin", the noun...not the verb.

[Porchlight]

...and that typical white people, typical black people, typical men, typical women, typical Americans, etc., tend to have somewhat predicable responses to various situations.

Nick, you extended "typical" prejudices to other groups. Obama does not do this, in the "typical white person" statement or others. All his examples (c.f. Crowley-Gates) appear to go in one direction.

[Captain Hate]

I ask what it was about a fight on a achool bus, other than the racial elements, that he found so important that he included it on his blog.

That's a fair question in response to his complaint. So far, there is no answer that actually addresses the substance of what is a highly relevant question.

Jim Ryan beat me to the point; you just don't like TM's answer.

[clarice]

Nick:"It's undoubtedly a prejudice"
I think it's undoubtedly a mark of the remaining instinct for self-preservation, one shared by Jesse Jackson, a typical black person.
A prejudice is an unreasoning fear. Yours is not without a rational basis.

Or, you could prove me wrong by walking unarmed thru prog hell with your wallet hanging out and covered in bling.
Report back to us.

[Thomas Collins]

Sure there is an answer, Nick. Obama and his supporters have brought race front and center. That is the answer. You have just chosen to ignore it.

But I have a suggestion, Nick. If you are so obsessed with why TM posts on some items and not others, start your own blog and post on whatever you would like. Let me know the web address, and I promise to visit it from time to time. Thus, you will have an audience of at least one!

[Nick]

Nick, TM posts frequently on matters of national security, and on many other domestic, international and cultural issues. It has been Obama's supporters and Obama himself, with his "typical white person" comment and his news conference comments on the actions of Officer Crowley, who have brought race to the forefront. It is hardly surprising that TM would post on occasion on matters pertaining to race. By the way, Nick, since you seem to have a penchant to question the subject of TM's blog posts, perhaps it is a fit topic to question why you would attempt to classify as "minor" the assault of a white student by black students.

Posted by: Thomas Collins
----------------

Maquire complained that he was unfairly lumped in with others who exploited the story because of its racial component. It naturally follows to ask that what was his purpose in posting the story beyond the racial component. He's complaining about being lumped in with race baiters--well then what other purpose did posting this story have?

Second, I used to get into quite a few scraps when younger, and I think a story about some high school kids getting into a fight, where no major injuries were suffered, is pretty minor. It happens all the time. I've been in fights with white guys and black guys, and it never made the news.

[Janet]

Okay, here are the rules...we can now only hit, curse, murder, and rob those people that have our same pigment, genitalia, religious beliefs, and sexual preferences...otherwise, we are hittin', cursin', murderin' thieves that HATE.

[Cecil Turner]

It would help if you explained what you found offensive about Obama's comment.

Oh, please. Turn it around. If Rush said "typical black person" would you consider that racist? Of course you would, whatever the substance. Goose, meet gander. (Or, "hypocrite, heal thyself" if you prefer.)

[Nick]

A prejudice is an unreasoning fear. Yours is not without a rational basis.

Posted by: clarice
---------------

So Clarice, you believe there is a rational basis for white men to fear groups of black youths.

Would you suggest that is a typical response of white people? Of course it is.

Do you see how that would make a young black man cringe, to hear his grandmother assert that prejudice? That's not hard to understand at all, is it?

[clarice]

Nick sounds like a person whose teachers sucked his brains out and replaced them with PC mush.

[Dave (in MA)]

Nick, why don't you take that question up with The Reverend>/i> Jesse Jackson, who holds the same position?

[Dave (in MA)]

Uh-oh, I stuck the italics on.

[John]

I am so tired of hearing every comment that does not praise the DNC, the Obama administration or some other leftist group is "Racist".
No one is allowed to take exception of any policy (no matter how bad) because the current president happens to be black.
The stupidity of the these comments and the supposed intelligence of the commenters are insane, but the propaganda media continue there slow suicide.

[Original MikeS]

Reality points.
First black president spent 20 years at the Church of Hate Whitey in Chicago. He accused his grandmother of mild to moderate racism in a remark that included all typically white people along with his grandmother.

That same black president took a recent opportunity to accuse a white policeman of acting stupidly, in what the president described as a racial incident, even though he, the black president, admitted to not having all the facts.

Another incident, reported by the police as race based, is prominently featured in the news.

My conclusions:

How the president would react to another racial incident was of interest to me and, I'm glad to see, to some bloggers also.

Based solely on the three pieces of reality I have mentioned it appears that the president may suffer from racial bias himself.

[Nick]

...and that typical white people, typical black people, typical men, typical women, typical Americans, etc., tend to have somewhat predicable responses to various situations.

Nick, you extended "typical" prejudices to other groups. Obama does not do this, in the "typical white person" statement or others. All his examples (c.f. Crowley-Gates) appear to go in one direction.

Posted by: Porchlight
-------------------------

I can comfortably assure you that Obama is intelligent and educated enough to know that it's not just white people who stereotype and prejudice.

[DebinNC]

WaPo quotes the WH war room's new punch-back harder against critics strategy:

""That is really the war. And all of these [criticism of Obama policies] are skirmishes -- some of them flare up into battles -- but the broader war is about the fate of this presidency and the other side's attempts to delegitimize him and to make him into a failure."

Criticism of Obama must be prejudice based; it can't be on principle. Obama missteps aren't due to his bad judgment, but because others made him into a failure. I can't even imagine the reaction if that were a Rove quote to WaPo about GWB.

[caro]

One of my favorite 9•12 signs was something like

It doesn't matter what this sign says, they'll say it's RACIST.

[Fred Beloit]

Here is something of interest as far as I am concerned. Prejudice-free and moralist Benen knows all about racism and those who have this disease but seek to hide it. Benen chooses to live in the state of Vermont. Vermont has a percentage of African-American residents that perfectly mirrors America's diversity. Vermont has an African-American population of less than 1 (one) percent, 0.8% to be exact. Steve should be vetted on this.

[jwest]

It’s hard to understand where the liberals are trying to go with these charges of racism.

A large part of the unwritten contract of the last election was that a vote for Obama would propel the country into the realm of post-racial bliss. Far from ending the baseless racial charges for every misperceived slight, Barack seems to have multiplied the number and intensity of the race baiter’s complaints.

No one with a brain would willingly accept poor policy or socialist programs for the promise of racial harmony, but there are a large number of moderates out there who don’t fall into this category. If they are going to receive high unemployment, inflation and astronomic levels of national debt without eliminating forever the middling racial tension of the Bush years, the social agreement is null and void.

Can the leftist mind be so shallow as to think a momentary accusation of racism hurled at conservatives now be worth the loss of centrist, would-be unicorn riders?