Will We Ever Put An End To Racial Politics?

The recent declaration by New York's pathetic governor David Paterson that his low rating is due to his race is just the latest shot in the endless playing of the race card by Democrats. Accusing political opponents of "racism" is certainly easier than developing a rational and intelligent response when one is losing a political argument.

Jonah Goldberg wrote an excellent piece on National Review Online in which he examines the use of the race card by Obama sycophants.

From Day 1, Obama’s supporters have tirelessly cultivated the idea that anything inconvenient for the first black president just might be terribly, terribly racist.

This was always the nasty side of Obama’s implied hope for unity. Obama gave oxygen to the idea that disagreement with him amounted to obstructing his mission to “transcend race.” During the campaign, that meant anyone who got in his way was wittingly or unwittingly abetting racism (just ask Bill Clinton). A writer for Slate insisted journalists must not call attention to the fact that Obama is “skinny.” Such observations fuel racism by highlighting his physical appearance, and that in turn might suddenly alert racist American voters to the fact that Obama is . . . wait for it . . . black.

Now that he’s president, if you question his tax policies, energy plans, or health-care ambitions, you are “hoping he will fail” — and that, with the help of roundabout reasoning, is tantamount to hoping we cannot transcend race.

Loading the deck in such a way is a gift of Obama’s. Time and again, he pre-empts dissent by claiming he’s open-minded, pragmatic, and non-ideological, and therefore if you disagree with him, you must be some sort of zealot.

His shock troops make the same argument about race, sometimes with sophistication, sometimes with the kind of lucid clarity only profound stupidity can provide. For instance, actress Janeane Garofalo summed up the tea parties thusly: “This is about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up.”

Of course, Janeane Garofalo is about as sharp as a bowling ball, so her air-headed opinions cannot be taken seriously. However, seemingly "legitimate" corners also perpetuate the phony racism charges.

A more sophisticated version comes from Princeton professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell, who finds racism in complaints that socialized medicine would result in fewer Americans “taking responsibility” for their own health care. “What we know over the past 25 years,” she told NPR, “is that language of personal responsibility is often a code language used against poor and minority communities.” In an ABC News story about how racist white militias are somehow connected to town-hall protests, Mark Potok of the dismayingly left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center insists Obama has “triggered fears among fairly large numbers of white people in this country that they are somehow losing their country.”

Two weeks ago, town hallers were supposed to be members of the Brooks Brothers brigade, Astroturf division. Now they’re well-armed anti-government militias. At this rate, they’ll soon be android ninjas with laser vision. Wait, strike that. They’ll be really racist android ninjas with laser vision.

I think many of us saw this coming. When Barry Vladimir Hussein Obama first announced his candidacy in 2007, many Black leaders questioned whether or not he was "down with the struggle." After all, he was half-white and his "blackness" came from an African not an "African-American." They supported the "first Black First Lady" which I guess would have made her the first Black female President. Eventually, Obama's clever campaign picked up steam and many of those same folks switched political allegiance.

During the Democrat primaries, the Obama campaign intimated that Bill Clinton was using racism to aid his wife's campaign. Yes, the man author Toni Morrison called "the first Black President" was now Bull Connor trying to destroy a proud African man. Now, Slick Willie was just another angry, racist cracker.

Once the general election campaign was under way, Big Media and an All-Star cast of Leftist pundits, professors and politicians painted racial motives on every argument against Obama or his policy goals. If you questioned his life-long connections with radical socialists and communists, you were a racist. If you questioned his close 20-year relationship with a race-baiting, hate-filled "pastor", you were a racist. If you questioned his lack of experience, you were a racist. If you questioned his extreme views on abortion, you were a racist. If you questioned his big government solutions, you were a racist.

You see, Obama was "post-racial." As best I can tell, "post-racial" means if you disagree with his political ideology you are a racist. Obama is usually subtle, but the community-organizing, race-monger was unleashed when he attacked the Boston police officers involved in the Henry Gates incident. He knows he can stay above the fray because Big Media and his Leftists sycophants will happily cry "racist" when anyone stands up for individual liberty and the Constitution.

Governor Paterson's rants are so blatantly stupid that even Al Sharpton called him out. However, the race mongers are still using "white guilt" and racial intimidation to advance causes such as "cap-and-trade," nationalized health care, government takeovers of industry and other Leftists goals that have absolutely nothing to do with race. Conservatives don't care about the color of Obama's skin, but they are very concerned with the content of his character.