I have seen this before, during military survival training, its called brain washing-and believe me there is nothing worse than being caught in a double spin cycle.

Except he’s not a Republican. Damnit, how could I forget that?

BKennedy on January 17, 2008 at 3:24 PM

I love it when writing makes me feel as if someone’s brain just spilled their thoughts onto my monitor. Nice writing.

While I agree in varying degrees about most of what you’ve said, I find this statement to be the most interesting:

My definition of racism is injecting race into matters where it does not belong.

I think that’s a very functional definition. Some people might see it as limited in that it does not take emotion or motivation into consideration. But I think it works because racism is illogical independent of the emotions behind it. Emotion does not increase logic, so it’s an unnecessary modifier and therefore superfluous to the definition.

I think a lot of people claim to think like you do. But a lot of those same people have their own way of injecting race into situations where it was not a factor. They use sarcasm or irony as a mask, but the byproduct is the same.

I also think that a lot of people who profess to be so evolved as you, engage in racially provocative and sometimes antogonistic language thinking their credo cloaks their indecency.

***

He is the one who played the race card, address your distaste of racism to him.

Wade on January 17, 2008 at 4:22 PM

???

I have less disgust for racism than I do for the creeps who deny their own bigotry.

I know many people who are friends despite the racism or prejudice by one or both. Being a racist does not disqualify one from being my friend; being a wife-beater does; being a criminal does.

Growing up, I was enough of a minority in many places where I lived that if I turned my back on every friend who may have been a little racist, then I would have been a pretty bored kid.

We all know people and have friends with flaws, big flaws. But people have support groups and empathy for a range of moral failings — alcoholism, gambling, violence, sex abuse, etc. The first step is admitting there is a problem. Most people in that enduring that much pain or anger could use a good friend. Not all…most.

The Race Card on January 17, 2008 at 2:26 PM

He is the one who played the race card, address your distaste of racism to him.

The Race Card on January 17, 2008 at 2:39 PM

Aside: I don’t know about Ron Paul, but David Duke ran as a Democrat before he ran as a Republican. Racists are amorphous on what values they hold other than hatred of whatever their preferred object of hate is. If more of their racist fellow travelers are Marxists, they lean left. If they move somewhere else and they are surrounded by anarchist militiamen, they become anarchists.

No party can be right on “race” because identity politics is inherently idiotic. The Democrats believe nearly all black people are alike so they make affirmative action part of their platform because it gives a blanket advantage to black people. The Republicans believe nearly all black people are individuals so they focus on policies that tend to benefit individuals regardless of race.

As a general rule, Democratic policies are going to “lift up” blacks because they have been designed specifically to affect someone of a certain skin color or ethnic background. That’s the logic anyway. Most of them inspire laziness, doubt, and dependence though. Republican policies are going to “lift up” whoever has the most ambition and drive to succeed. Since there are numerically more whites and whites tend to get a better start in life, it appears to favor whites, even in the face of the many brilliant black homeowners, businessmen, politicians, accountants, lawyers, etc who benefitted from the incentives the program put in place.

My definition of racism is injecting race into matters where it does not belong.

This means that the Duke Lacrosse Case isn’t about race, it’s about a scummy DA who used racial animus to get re-elected. Then racial demagogues, feminists, ancient academia hippies (some even at Duke), and other left-wing kooks took over and used it as a springboard to get on their “hate white heterosexual males” soapbox, gambling that the allegations were real. Since Nifong was a dirtbag through and through and spun a web of lies, the kooks were forced to eat crow.

That’s what happens when you get involved in identity politics. Your brain turns off and your militant biases often lead you into very compromised positions. Democrats spin this off as “getting carried away seeking legitimate justice,” I just call it what it is: Dispicaple, disgusting, thoroughly racist idiocy. Justice is blind, and black people don’t need advocates who make it their life’s work to pile on whitey in pursuit of racial justice. What they need is people to respect their individual competence, ability, and contribution to society. In other words, to be treated like everyone else.

While plenty of people have made millions tearing other people down, great societies are never built on the backs of those people.

I think that mantra needs some recalibrating. It might be said that Republicans appreciates people for their contributions regardless of race. Democrats tend to appreciate people because of their race, ethnicity and/or gender.

These over-generalized differences are a pea under our collective mattress. Republicans and Democrats have differing scales for what they will respond to as “racist.” Both partites are racially-retarded, while they believe that they racially-more-righteous than the rest.

No party has a monopoly on racist individuals.

You go far enough to the left and far enough to the right and you end up at a BBQ with Ron Paul and David Duke.

Dude’s still an Uncle Tom.

Mark V. on January 17, 2008 at 2:13 PM

That’s still a racially charged pejorative. And you’re still an idiot.

***

Johnson is just another pissed off black man and has no idea why he is pissed off. He is a “2k racist”

Wade on January 17, 2008 at 2:15 PM

I thought he was a billionaire and a business tycoon with an opinion. Alas, you’ve shown me the light.

If a black man reaches the pinnacle of his industry and attains enough clout to be sought out for a presidential endorsement, he is “just another pissed off black man” with no clue about his own station in life.

You have set yourself apart as a stalwart purveyor of the American dream. Good show.

I’m still unclear on what Johnson’s apologizing for.

Or was he apologizing for that stuff about Sidney Poitier?

BKennedy on January 17, 2008 at 1:55 PM

I look forward to the day when we stop pretending there are two seperate Americas, again.

TX Mom on January 17, 2008 at 1:19 PM

Bull’s eye.

I especially love it when the pretend their objection is his lack of qualification but they’re the same people that support “‘[Reverend]‘” Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and, oh, Hillary (I was sorta married to a President) Clinton.

It’s an ugly election but I love how much it is revealing about America The Democrat Party.

12thman on January 17, 2008 at 1:52 PM

FTFY.

Johnson then follows up his obvious swipe at Obama’s adolescent drug use by implying that black Americans are so stupid that they will fall for his spinning.

It’s an ugly election but I love how much it is revealing about America.

It was the Tillie-esque derision that he threw in moments later

What’s fascinating to me is the way the Clinton old-guard Civil Rights leaders are biting at Obama. (Not surprising, but still interesting) Shouldn’t they see Obama as the fulfillment of all that they’ve worked for? A black man is running for president and might actually get the nomination. But of course, they don’t see that as the fulfullment of the dream. If the dream is ever fulfilled, they would be out of their jobs. It is in their best interest to keep black Americans in pursuit of the dream rather than in basking in the glory of having accomplished it.

Bryan on January 17, 2008 at 1:03 PM

Okay. I see what you are saying, essentially you question the timing. Myself, I thought it was just clean-up after the debate where everyone kissed and made-up.

Spirit of 1776 on January 17, 2008 at 12:55 PM

No, but I was unclear. Johnson said what he said, tried to spin it for days, and then apologized once the spin collapsed. If the spin hadn’t collapsed, there would have been no apology.

Will you now not allow Robert Johnson to participate in any of your campaign events because of that conduct?

CLINTON: Well, Bob has put out a statement saying what he was trying to say and what he thought he had said. We accept him on his word on that.

Meaning, he will stay, and she is dishonest about disowning.
I guess it depends on what the meaning of “trying” is. I think if elected, the democrats are going to print a new book. This book will explain all of the “nuances” of their and their supporters speech, it will correct all of the misconceptions…and it will be edited to be kept up to date.
THE BOOK of HILLARY: Another testament of Bill Clinton

What is “it”?

Johnson’s comments.