Closing The Door On Victimhood

Here is a good piece from the Boston Globe. How many years did we wait for these things to be said by those who are now saying them.

Read this:

Some black leaders say Obama’s political success means it’s time to shift away from the dialogue of victimhood. “Racism is no longer the primary obstacle to black progress. With the election of a black man whose middle name is Hussein, the rhetoric of white racism is off the table,” declared the Rev. Eugene Rivers, a Boston-based minister with a national agenda and a history of taking controversial stands. “Black people don’t want to hear it. White people don’t want to hear it. . . . The old school is over.” By “old school,” Rivers is referring to what he calls the “professional protest leadership” represented by civil rights activists like Jackson. That worldview, said Rivers, calls for “decrying inequality” and blaming white racism for all the problems of African-Americans. Kevin Peterson, a Boston community activist who runs the Ella J. Baker House in Dorchester, also calls for a new brand of black leadership. “Obama’s success this political cycle represents a new style,” Peterson said. “The notion that black people need to employ racially polarizing stances is now extinct. There are more effective ways to get things done for our communities than being accusatory.”

Looks like someone finally grasped the meaning of “not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

You can access the complete column on-line here:

Closing The Door On Victimhood
Joan Vennochi
The Boston Globe
November 6, 2008

Fox News Goes Tabloid Trash With Sarah Palin Rumors

Normally, Fox News is a quality news outlet that has more integrity and balance than any other news outlet. Not so, today. Somehow, Fox let itself slide to the level of the National Enquirer when it ran with some wild rumors about Sarah Palin that originated from “unnamed” sources.

Kerri Houston Toloczko wrote a nice column for Regular Folks United in which she identifies the sources and has some choice words for them. From her column:

News has been circulating around GOP insiders for weeks that McCain campaign honchos Rick Davis and Steve Schmidt were planning to blame Sarah Palin for McCain’s loss. This was expected to be an effort to punt the blame for their own failures to the side of the ticket that was most popular with the base, attracted the largest rally crowds, and scared the living bejeepers out of the opposing party. The slander was projected, and appeared immediately after the election. What was not anticipated was the disgraceful level of venom-laden vitriolic drool that dribbled from their camp, and their use of a respected Fox News reporter as their personal tool for deflecting their own accountability. Last night on the O’Reilly Factor, McCain campaign embed Carl Cameron laid out Davis and Schmidt’s case against Palin with glee that channeled junior high mean girls, and details only worthy of the National Enquirer on its darkest day.

If these were real charges and real concerns, Schmidt and Davis would not have hidden behind the cloak of anonimity and would instead have put their names out for all to see right from the very start. This is clearly a sour grapes response to the election loss. Further, I doubt that Schmidt and Davis would have started such idiotic rumors about any male candidate.

The slanders included idiotic notions that Governor Palin didn’t know Africa was a continent or that she didn’t know the three nations that made up NAFTA. Only the most gullible and naive (or the most die-hard Democrat) would believe such nonsense slanders. These slanders are right up there with Barack Obama claiming there are 57 states, or Joe Biden claiming that President Franklin Roosevelt got on TV after the market crash in 1929. Hell, even the bit about Biden telling a man confined to a wheelchair to “stand up and take a bow” didn’t reach this level.

Given that Sarah Palin was reared by two school teachers, owned a business and rose up to become the Governor of Alaska, it is pretty easy to see how idiotic Davis and Schmidt are for starting such rumors.

Toloczko goes on:

As a human person, I was shocked. As I woman, I was disgusted. As a conservative who understands how important this new fresh face has been to our political renewal; I was incensed. As a Republican, I was ashamed. … Senior campaign officials should stand up like grownups and take responsibility for the outcome of the campaign instead of throwing the girl under the bus. Fox News’ Carl Cameron should go to rehab for his apparent case of Stockholm Syndrome after spending months on McCain campaign planes and buses. And Bill O’Reilly should designate all of them as “pinheads” and apologize to Governor Palin for showing such personally damaging and politically counterproductive rumors and innuendos the light of day. Ironically, as the head honchos of McCain’s failed campaign attempt to deflect their own inadequacies in such a disgusting and defamatory manner, they have ensured that they will never be hired again. What they have demonstrated without question is that they cannot be trusted.

I would have expected something like this from, say, Kathleen Parker or Christopher Buckley or even Peggy Noonan. But for Bill O’Reilly to consciously participate in this kind of slander was unthinkable up until now.

You can access the complete article on-line here:

Im-Palin Sarah: Fox Joins Weasels In Post Campaign Rumor Game
Kerri Houston Toloczko
Regular Folks United
November 6, 2008

Race-Baiting At The Obama Celebration In Chicago’s Grant Park

I’ll let this story speak for itself. If what happened in Chicago at the corner of 69th Street and Western Avenue is a portent of things to come, we should all be very concerned.

From Chicago’s WGN Channel 9 News:

At least five people were arrested across the city after Barack Obama’s rally in Grant Park, including a woman who slapped a Chicago police officer, saying police couldn’t arrest her anymore, prosecutors said today. Most of the others celebrated the historic occasion with gunfire. Celita Hart, 19, stood silently in court today when she appeared for a bond hearing. Prosecutors said Hart, who is black, yelled ” ‘White [expletive], [expletive] McCain–you white police can’t do nothing anymore.’” With that, she reached through the window of a squad car and slapped a white male officer in the face, according to Assistant State’s Atty. Lorraine Scaduto.

I know we can’t judge an entire community by the actions of one individual, but I have yet to see any outrage from the black community about the conduct of Celita Hart. Mainly this goes to show that racism exists in other communites and not just white ones.

Anyone want to post some comments about what would have happened if the police officer were black, the assailent were white and the racial epithets were reversed? I bet if that were the case, this story would be front-page news for the next month.

As for the part about celebrating with gunfire, aren’t handguns illegal in Chicago? Why are residents of Chicago deliberately violating the law?

You can access the complete article on-line here:

Some Mayhem, Arrests After Obama Rally
Matthew Walberg
Chicago Breaking News
November 5, 2008