Racism? Really?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nah it's docked in my yard since I will be paying more taxes..oh god how dare me be successful.

It's probably been docked in your yard since 2003, when W invented reasons to spend billions. You remember the war(s), right? The ones you voted for? How can you drive your fancy boat with the blood of our soldiers all over it?

It seems selective memory has not affected your ability to be successful.

[Anonymous]

I can't stand Obama and I can honestly tell you that it has nothing to do with race. If anything, race is the one thing I think is good about him being president. Believe what you want.

Ditto this exactly. I disagree with many of Obama's policies as well but am INCREDIBLY proud that have a black president. I didn't vote for him but I cried like a baby during the inaugural events, etc. when older African Americans, etc. were interviewed and said they never thought they'd live to see this day.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing Wilson has been opposed to govt run healthcare his entire life, and I am guessing he is fanatically opposed to immigration. Two things I disagree with Wilson on by the way. So no, I don't think his remark had anything to do with race, any more than Reid calling bush a moron or saying he hated Bush or the democrats booing Bush in his last state of the union address.

Government run healthcare -- this is not even being discussed so Wilson's position on it is immaterial;

Immigration -- Wilson claims to support it and says he was an immigration lawyer (evidence suggests he was not);

Can you document Reid calling Bush a moron?

Can you document Reid saying he hated Bush?

Given all the things about which you are wrong above, I am not really willing to put much credence in your evaluation of Wilson's motivation. Especially since you willfully ignore evidence to the contrary.

haha. Who is JSteele and how old is he/she? Obviously the healthcare reform being discussed involves more govt action, so silly to quibble over "govt run" and obviously Wilson is fanatically opposed to illegal immigration, so why the snide comments? And why use silly terms like "willfully"? Damn I hate that.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:
haha. Who is JSteele and how old is he/she? Obviously the healthcare reform being discussed involves more govt action, so silly to quibble over "govt run" and obviously Wilson is fanatically opposed to illegal immigration, so why the snide comments? And why use silly terms like "willfully"? Damn I hate that.

In what world is the difference between "government action" and "government run" not important? I'm sorry that I took what you wrote seriously. I won't make that mistake again.

[Anonymous]

The public option is not going to be run by the government?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:The public option is not going to be run by the government?

The public option, if there even is one (and that is far from certain), will be government-administered health insurance. The actual health care will be provided by non-governmental providers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't stand Obama and I can honestly tell you that it has nothing to do with race. If anything, race is the one thing I think is good about him being president. Believe what you want.

Oh, one must be very careful. As you know, it is "essentialist" to value someone based upon their race, gender etc. Don't want to be accused of that!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Getting back to the racism question.

I am a professional woman. It is laughable the sexist encounters I have had, usually with older white men, in office environments. Being assumed to be the secretary, the coffee fetcher, the mailer of letters, etc. If you were to ASK any of these men about their motivations in their interactions with me, I'm sure they'd all deny being sexist. My gender never even crossed their mind when they made their inappropriate comment or request.... it was just a run-of-the-mill, office related need and I "happen" to be female. The fact that they would NEVER make similar demands of my male colleagues is not something they can really wrap their minds around. This is the material point – in their own minds they CANNOT even acknowledge the truth of their sexist behaviors.

Racism is very similar. It's not necessarily about walking through life looking for overt opportunities to be offensive towards black people. It's an ingrained, basic instinct that "naturally" compels the racist to interact with the person of color.... differently. To make different underlying assumptions about others’ behavior, many of which you are not even conscious of.

And it also causes racists to react differently to black people. For example, leading one to react more viscerally, more emotionally, or with more indignance at an “offense” committed by a black person than one would to a similar “offense” committed by a white person. Or maybe racism simply causes us to forget our manners and behave less politely towards some people than we would towards others. Less deferentially. Less respectfully.

I think part of the problem is that when we hear the word “racist” we like to think of the KKK, white hoods, lynchings, Rosa Parks…. The bad old days, another era and a faraway place. Racism is usually more subtle nowadays – and therefore more easily denied. But sorry, like porn, I know it when I see it.

All the above is heartfelt, thoughtful AND SMART. But I am a white woman too. Have had all of the above. But at the end of the day, who cares? If someone grabs your a** - report them. For everything short of that, can we stop imputing motive everyWHERE????????? Men and women are different. People with different backgrounds yes react differently. That's what makes the world FUN. Do we want to be all the same?????? Aldous Huxley??? Brave New World???? Ugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

All the above is heartfelt, thoughtful AND SMART. But I am a white woman too. Have had all of the above. But at the end of the day, who cares? If someone grabs your a** - report them. For everything short of that, can we stop imputing motive everyWHERE????????? Men and women are different. People with different backgrounds yes react differently. That's what makes the world FUN. Do we want to be all the same?????? Aldous Huxley??? Brave New World???? Ugh.

No, of course not. There can be diversity without racism.

We are talking here about a specific incident. We are debating here whether or not race likely influenced that specific incident.

You truly believe that Joe would have shown the same disrespect to a white president?

[Anonymous]

yes. I bet my life he would have said the same thing to a President Hillary. Of course then he would be accused of being sexist .... so absurd.

in my lifetime, I've never heard a president routinely insulted in just normal office-cooler conversations than the last term under President Bush. It was just the norm to hear that all the time. People are entitled to their opinions, so who cares? But even now I never hear those kinds of unsolicited comments about Obama.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:yes. I bet my life he would have said the same thing to a President Hillary. Of course then he would be accused of being sexist .... so absurd.

in my lifetime, I've never heard a president routinely insulted in just normal office-cooler conversations than the last term under President Bush. It was just the norm to hear that all the time. People are entitled to their opinions, so who cares? But even now I never hear those kinds of unsolicited comments about Obama.

There is a difference between bitching about or even mocking a political figure, like the president, around the water cooler and doing so during a formal address to his face.

[Anonymous]

Yes, and Democrats 'boo-ed' President Bush during the State of the Union. Even my grammar school students know that's wrong. Yes, disgraceful. We don't want to be like....England. We should have decorum. But racist? That sounds like a mass hallucination if ever I heard one,

[Anonymous]

the only race issue I'm interested in regarding Obama is whether or not he benefited from affirmative action ... love to see his SATs, LSATs and grades from college and law school. From Michelle as well. If he was accepted b/c of AA, it would further the national debate on the topic, and if his SATs were 1590 and his LSATs were 98th percentile, many skeptics would truly see him as a brilliant intellect.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:the only race issue I'm interested in regarding Obama is whether or not he benefited from affirmative action ... love to see his SATs, LSATs and grades from college and law school. From Michelle as well. If he was accepted b/c of AA, it would further the national debate on the topic, and if his SATs were 1590 and his LSATs were 98th percentile, many skeptics would truly see him as a brilliant intellect.

President Obama graduated from Harvard Law Magna Cum Laude, meaning he was in the top 10%. Michelle Obama graduated Cum Laude from Princeton. Even in grade school she attended gifted classes. But, frankly, I don't know why anyone who has been paying attention to these two would need this information to understand that both are extremely smart.

A clear recipient of university entrance preferences was George W. Bush who gained entry to Yale on the basis of his legacy status. He then proceeded to achieve a "C" average. Not surprisingly, his worst class was economics.

I don't know whether the Obamas were beneficiaries of affirmative action. Regardless, their performances show that they deserved the opportunities. If they did receive special preferences, they were no different than the previous president.

[Anonymous]

why does everything have to be about Bush? obsessed much? guy is retired in Texas, give it up bro.