Irony Alert: Republicans Play the Race Card

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:I think you guys are missing the OP's point. The issue is not that McConnell shouldn't have complained about the tweet, it's that this shows that there are legitimate times to "play the race card" because frequently individuals and groups act out of race. However, when liberal groups react to equally legitimate cases of racism or prejudice, they get derided for "playing the race card."

For example, just a few days ago in one of the Michelle Obama threads, I mentioned that MO was once criticized for being an angry black woman. Now, she is criticized for being a celebrity and having too much fun. The criticism has gone from one end of the spectrum to the other. One of DCUM's conservatives replied to me saying, "Yeah, it's about her blackness." That same conservative is likely in agreement with McConnell. Maybe that is hypocrisy rather than irony, but otherwise the OP is exactly right.

I think there's a difference between saying every criticism about Obama is about race (which some liberals do, in fact, do -- sometimes with justification, but often without) and addressing hate speech directed at one's spouse. McConnell didn't "play the race card" here -- he wasn't trying to worm out of legitimate criticism. One often "plays the race card" when one doesn't have anything else to play.

I don't understand what hair you are trying to split. If someone makes a racially-based criticism of Obama, can a liberal complain about it? If so, how is that different than McConnell complaining about racially-based criticism of his wife? In my mind, it is correct and legitimate to criticize racially-based attacks regardless of the attacker and the target. I am quite happy to condemn the tweets about McConnell's wife. I am also quite happy to condemn racially-based attacks on Obama. That is what I would consider being consistent. Do you have a markedly different position then me?

As for the other poster, I don't know if you are the one replying with something about Alinksy (sic, it's actually Alinsky) every thread, but I've never read anything by him and don't know much about him. You would be better off understanding my tactics by reading my own writing. Unlike, you apparently, I do my own thinking.

No, we generally see eye to eye on things. What I object to here is the suggestion that McConnell is being inconsistent or ironic. He didn't play the race card, so the premise of the thread is flawed. The "race card" is usually played as a logical fallacy. When people raise legitimate objections to racial comments, that's not playing a "race card." Usually just playing the race card is injecting a racial angle to a discussion where previously there wasn't (explicitly) one. In this case, the tweet in question was about as blatant as it could be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:I think you guys are missing the OP's point. The issue is not that McConnell shouldn't have complained about the tweet, it's that this shows that there are legitimate times to "play the race card" because frequently individuals and groups act out of race. However, when liberal groups react to equally legitimate cases of racism or prejudice, they get derided for "playing the race card."

For example, just a few days ago in one of the Michelle Obama threads, I mentioned that MO was once criticized for being an angry black woman. Now, she is criticized for being a celebrity and having too much fun. The criticism has gone from one end of the spectrum to the other. One of DCUM's conservatives replied to me saying, "Yeah, it's about her blackness." That same conservative is likely in agreement with McConnell. Maybe that is hypocrisy rather than irony, but otherwise the OP is exactly right.

I think there's a difference between saying every criticism about Obama is about race (which some liberals do, in fact, do -- sometimes with justification, but often without) and addressing hate speech directed at one's spouse. McConnell didn't "play the race card" here -- he wasn't trying to worm out of legitimate criticism. One often "plays the race card" when one doesn't have anything else to play.

I don't understand what hair you are trying to split. If someone makes a racially-based criticism of Obama, can a liberal complain about it? If so, how is that different than McConnell complaining about racially-based criticism of his wife? In my mind, it is correct and legitimate to criticize racially-based attacks regardless of the attacker and the target. I am quite happy to condemn the tweets about McConnell's wife. I am also quite happy to condemn racially-based attacks on Obama. That is what I would consider being consistent. Do you have a markedly different position then me?

As for the other poster, I don't know if you are the one replying with something about Alinksy (sic, it's actually Alinsky) every thread, but I've never read anything by him and don't know much about him. You would be better off understanding my tactics by reading my own writing. Unlike, you apparently, I do my own thinking.

No, we generally see eye to eye on things. What I object to here is the suggestion that McConnell is being inconsistent or ironic. He didn't play the race card, so the premise of the thread is flawed. The "race card" is usually played as a logical fallacy. When people raise legitimate objections to racial comments, that's not playing a "race card." Usually just playing the race card is injecting a racial angle to a discussion where previously there wasn't (explicitly) one. In this case, the tweet in question was about as blatant as it could be.

I think that many posters are missing something. The tweet didn't say disparaging things about Chinese people or refer to racist stereotypes. It implied that, due to her national heritage, she might advocate some policy that is not in America's interest.

If it is offensive to question the loyalty of a Chinese-American (and I think it is offensive), is it not equally offensive to question the loyalty of a President because of his Kenyan Father, or his time in Indonesia? It it equally unacceptable to attack one of Clinton's staff aides, Huma Abedin, merely because of her religion? Michele Bachmann and several other conservative members accused her of being part of a Muslim Brotherhood conspiracy to penetrate our government. Thankfully Sen. McCain made a loud protest, but I don't think anyone really called this for what it is - racism. Does anyone remember when John Sununu dismissed Colin Powell because as a black man he's obviously in the tank for Obama?

I am glad to see that all posters are willing to call the incident racism. But let's be clear for the future: questioning an American's loyalty because of their heritage is bigotry. Let's stick with that on this board.