The Tao of Amy, Steve and Damon, by Michael Davis – Straight No Chaser #238
October 14, 2011 Michael Davis 2 Comments
As most long time readers of my rants know, I’m a Liberal Democrat…with a twist.
I’m a card-carrying member of the NRA and I’m for less government.
Both of items put me right smack on the right with those views. In fact I’ve said a million times if the GOP stays the fuck out of my bedroom and had a heart I’d gladly be a republican.
It’s no secret that a big part of the GOP is Evangelical Christians. It’s also no secret that Evangelical Christians have a way of looking at moral judgment that they want their lawmakers to share.
I’m OK with all of that.
Really.
I don’t care who you worship.
I don’t care who you sleep with.
I don’t care how you raise your kids.
In short I don’t care how YOU live YOUR life.
My problem is when someone tells me how to live MY life.
But-you knew all that.
What you don’t know is I have a life long friend (Steve) a dear friend (Amy) and a new friend (Damon) who are all Tea Party members.
Yeah, it knocked me the fuck out also.
Steve and I have literally had each other’s back since high school. In fact he wrote in my high school yearbook, “Mike, color does not matter, I’ve got your back and you have mine in any neighborhood.”
Amy is not just my dear friend but she is the wife of my boy Shane. They are a true love story and I was there while it unfolded.
Damon and I have never met but he took me to task over a subject on Facebook and there is little I respect more than someone pointing out when I’ve been wrong about something and doing so in a way that gets me to rethink a position.
And therein lays the rub.
I admit when I’m wrong. Because of Amy, Steve and Damon I see things from a different perspective regarding the Tea party. I need to underscore just how much of a Sea Change that is.
How big of a Sea Change have I had about the Tea Party?
Can you imagine me one day saying, “You know, the Klan has a point?”
THAT’S how big of a Sea Change.
I still don’t agree with a LOT of Tea Party views and most likely never will but I can at least see things from the point of view of my friends and not the point of view of my party.
Our elected officials are no longer acting like ‘fellow Americans.’ They are acting like Democrats or Republicans only. Mitt Romney signed into law a successful health care bill for his state. That bill was the basis of Obama’s health care bill. Because it’s Obama’s Romney wants to repeal the bill that was his idea.
That’s like giving back your Oscar because someone you hate just won one.
That, as they say in the hood, is some ill shit.
Democrats are just as narrow minded on their side of the aisle with some of the shit they have pulled also.
It’s time to stop being a member of a party and start being citizens of this country again.
If I can see the point of view of friends of mine who happen to be Tea Party members surely our elected officials can see the point of view of their fellow Americans who happen to be republican or democrat.
All this said, Steve you’re my boy and I love you but Herman Cain is still a DICK.
What?
Martha Thomases
October 14, 2011 - 6:22 am
MOTU, you say, “Democrats are just as narrow minded on their side of the aisle with some of the shit they have pulled also.”
Can you cite an example of a progressive elected Democrat (not some blogger or commentator) who did such a thing? Off the top of my head, I can’t.
Bill Mulligan
October 14, 2011 - 7:43 am
Well, look at how some Democrats insisted that the Patriot Act was the beginning of fascist rule, tearing up the constitution, tantamount to treason, an impeachable offense…and now that a Democrat is president it’s not worth fussing over. Oh, they may give lip service to still being against it, but the fierce moral urgency that drove them seems to have dissipated. Imagine if Bush had a secret memo on how he could legally target American citizens for assassination in foreign countries. Obama just did it. Sent a missile into a country we are not at war with to deliberately blow up an American citizen who was never even tried in absentia. Except for a few like Glenn Greenwald, not much outrage from the left. Jerry Brown passes a law allowing cops to go through your iphone without a warrant. Deafening silence.
The left hates government intrusion into our lives…unless it’s the “right” people doing the intrusion against the “wrong” people. Should Romney win in 2012 I’m sure they will rediscover the value of basic rights, which will be good for us all.
As for an example of high ranking elected democrats pulling hypocritical shenanigans, look at how fluid they are in judging the value of the filibuster. When they are in the minority it is one of the pillars of our democracy. When they are in the majority and those darn republicans use it to block bills it is tantamount to insurrection.
Illinois Democratic Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. told The Daily Caller on Wednesday that congressional opposition to the American Jobs Act is akin to the Confederate “states in rebellion.”
Jackson called for full government employment of the 15 million unemployed and said that Obama should “declare a national emergency” and take “extra-constitutional” action “administratively”–without the approval of Congress–to tackle unemployment. . . .
“President Obama tends to idealize–and rightfully so–Abraham Lincoln, who looked at states in rebellion and he made a judgment that the government of the United States, while the states are in rebellion, still had an obligation to function,” Jackson told TheDC at his Capitol Hill office on Wednesday.
R. Maheras
October 14, 2011 - 9:29 am
Martha — You simply MUST be kidding.
Every single day a significant number of uber progressives knowingly lie about, vilify and/or willfully misrepresent or otherwise exaggerate the viewpoints of their political opponents. They treat such views, and those who believe them, with total contempt.
To be sure, some uber conservatives do the same.
The way I see it, that’s normal ops in the political world. The trick for the average schmoe is to filter through the hyperbole and propaganda on both extremes, or listen to opinions from the less partisan, to figure out what is REALLY going on.
The fact that you can’t think of one instance where progressives have sinned tells me when examining progressive people and tactics, you apparently do so with the wrong end of the telescope.
I said it before and I’ll say it again, as someone who grew up blue collar in the Democratic bastion of Chicago, I’ve met far more racist, xenophobic, lying and thieving Democrats in my lifetime than Republican.
Martha Thomases
October 14, 2011 - 1:41 pm
Names, please. I had not heard the Jackson quote (and still find it qualitatively different from Mitch McConnell refusing g to cooperate at all so Obama would be a one term president).
R. Maheras
October 14, 2011 - 3:17 pm
Martha — In the case of, say, the Tea Party, why should I knock myself out sifting through all of the progressive alarmist stuff that I’ve read during the past three years when it’s clear you’re not even trying to play fair?
Google the following and you’ll get 51 million hits (that’s not a typo):
“Tea Party” threat to america
Since, from what I’ve seen and read, calling the Tea Party a threat is a silly and absurd notion, why is this “threat” perpetuated by progressives of every stripe? Even worse, after vilifying the Tea Party for the past three years for having rallies and meetings, and for flexing their political muscles, all of a sudden progressives are falling all over themselves supporting “Occupiers” who are doing the exact same thing — all because Occupiers are closer politically to the progressive line.
Hypocrisy? Double standards? Of course.
Personally, I think both groups should be allowed to peacefully gather and air their grievances. But ironically, although Tea Party members are generally older, better-behaved and more benign than Occupiers, who has been portrayed as the bigger “threat” by progressives?
MOTU
October 14, 2011 - 3:35 pm
The back and forth of the comments pretty much makes my case.
However…
NONE of us are on Capital Hill and none of us are elected to get the business of the people done. I’m just as passionate as Martha to the venom of Bitch McConnell and fully understand R’s frustration as to what he sees..BUT…we Know where we stand on the issues how do we get pass our parties for the good of ALL of us?
Herman Cain is still a dick.
Damon
October 14, 2011 - 4:12 pm
Michael, thanks for this article. Glad I made an impression!
Martha, I’m not sure what part of Jess Jackson jr. was not a name exactly . . .
Here’s a couple more examples off the top of my head:
**NC Gov. Bev Purdue calls for the suspension of elections
**Nancy Pelosi just yesterday said “Republicans want women to die on the floor”
**Congresswoman Linda Sanchez saying that the Tea Party “does not love this country”.
It’s absurdly easy to find examples. If you can’t come up with any on your own, you really ought to look into finding a less one sided news source (and I don’t mean that condescendingly. I mean that literally).
Robin
October 14, 2011 - 4:27 pm
Michael, thanks for posting this. I have had continual roundabout discussions with liberal friends of mine, who immediately vilify the actions of a Republican, but will defend or rationalize a Democrat for the same action. The only difference is the R or D next to that person’s name. One of the last straws was the shooting in Arizona and how quickly media and “liberal friends” assumed (ASSUMED, mind you)that the shooter was a crazy conservative because Giffords was a Democrat.
MOTU
October 14, 2011 - 4:51 pm
Damon,
A good point is a good point, period. Just the other day I heard a GOP Governor say he was sick of being ‘humane’ to inhuman criminals.
That’s how I feel.
To disagree with something just because the other guy and I don’t agree on other things is nuts.
But…wait for it…wait for it…Herman Cain is still a dick. 🙂
Bill Mulligan
October 14, 2011 - 4:52 pm
I agree that Jackson and McConnell’s statments being very different. McConnell says he will not coopertae with the president and hopes this will make him a one termer (I’ll assume this is an accurate description of whatever he said). Had a Democrat said something to the effect of “I’m going to do anything I can to stop GW Bush from harming this country any more than he has. I’ll do what i can to block his extremist agenda and I hope it helps to send him back to Texas in 2004!” I’ll bet he or she would have been lauded by progressives for having the guts to fight yadda yadda yadda.
.
Jackson says that the opposing party is made up of traitors and insurgents and that Obama should take a note form Lincoln and treat them as enemies. he says that Obama should suspend the rule of law and usurp power from the legislative branch. It’s insane. The only mitigating factor is that nobody takes him seriously.
MOTU
October 14, 2011 - 4:58 pm
Robin,
I disagree strongly with most GOP positions but not JUST because they are GOP positions.
I know a bit about being vilified.When I publicly stated, I thought the Duke Lacrosse team was being railroaded in that rape case I was attacked by many black people who just assumed those white boys were guilty.
We all know how that turned out.
Oh, also Herman Cain…you know.
Damon
October 14, 2011 - 5:05 pm
“I disagree strongly with most GOP positions but not JUST because they are GOP positions.”
Love this. As a conservative, it drives me nuts when someone suggests I believe what I believe not because I believe it, but because I’m against a black President.
That’s just patently idiotic. Newsflash: If “Obamacare” was “Bidencare” I would still think it sucks.
I hated the liberal policies of very white Nancy Pelosi for years.
Oh, but I guess that’s because I’m against women.
MOTU
October 14, 2011 - 6:12 pm
Damon,
I’m against women also…as many times as I can be!
BLAM! RIMSHOT! I’m here all week! Try the chicken! Herman Cain is a dick!
Vinnie Bartilucci
October 14, 2011 - 7:33 pm
The rule of thumb is simple. If it’s said by one of “our guys”, it makes sense, even if it may need a little parsing and explaining. If it’s said by one of “their” people, it is unabashedly and unreservedly a sin against Man and God, and any attempt to explain, interpret or make the statement more clear is only a sign that it was wrong in the first place, and now they’re just trying to cover for it.
There is often a nugget of rationality at the core of any damn fool idea the Government comes up with. Like when someone wants to pass a pill for stop signs on every other block as opposed to every third block, and someone says “Yeah, and build a bridge in my town too”.
The Hell?
MOTU
October 14, 2011 - 9:00 pm
Vinnie said,
‘Yeah, and build a bridge in my town too”.
Brilliant example.
Rene
October 14, 2011 - 9:11 pm
Russ –
I don’t think most Liberals vilify the Tea Party because they have rallies and meeting and flex their political muscle. They vilify the Tea Party because they abhor the ideas the Tea Party defends.
Actually, I suspect many Liberals envy the Tea Party’s energy and enthusiasm. And that is one of the reasons they’re excited about the Occupiers. Speaking for myself, I always thought the Conservatives were the ones with the biggest balls in the past 20 or 30 years, and I admire you guys for that.
I am mostly with Mike in this whole thing. The reason I will never see eye to eye with most Conservatives is the cultural issue. The notion that the life one should aspire to is the life of a devout rural Christian. That is the one thing that is not negotiable to me, and as long as Conservatives pander to those guys, I will be their opponent.
MOTU
October 14, 2011 - 9:23 pm
Rene said,
‘The reason I will never see eye to eye with most Conservatives is the cultural issue. The notion that the life one should aspire to is the life of a devout rural Christian.’
Yeah-how one lives their life should be nobody’s business.
JosephW
October 15, 2011 - 12:18 am
My main reason for not buying into anything the Tea Party says is the very fact that they waited to “come together” until AFTER Obama took office.
Where the FUCK were these “taxed enough already” people when George Dubya Bush and his right-wing Cheney-led cabal were spending like drunken sailors for more than 6 years? Where were these people when Dubya and his crew were launching attacks on people questioning the GOP’s (often misguided) policies following 9/11 and OPENLY equating “legitimate protest” with “treason?” Where were these people when Dubya and Co were loading the courts with right-wing extremists whose SOLE qualification was their political loyalty to the GOP? Where were these people when the “Department of Homeland Security” was created and inflated the budget of this country?
And yet…….For some *inexplicable* reason, they didn’t seem to come together with any sort of efficacy until AFTER Obama was inauguration. Even more damning of these “grass roots” groups was the way they allowed themselves to be so easily and so quickly co-opted by right-wing MULTI-MILLIONAIRES (not the least of which was the coterie of Fox News).
But, NO Tea Partier will ever acknowledge any of these questions or concerns. (And, I’m sorry, but just because you have 1 or 2 African-Americans showing up at a Tea Party “Rally” does NOT mean there’s no racism involved, especially when the crowd numbers in the hundreds and thousands. When you do find pictures of African-Americans at the various rallies, you’ll notice that they are vastly outnumbered by whites.) I’ve read many “Tea Partiers” who swear that their movement started long before Obama’s inauguration but it remains incredibly strange how their “protests” only became a media event AFTER Jan 29, 2009. Coincidence? Perhaps. But I’m more willing to lend total credence to the literal creation of the Earth in six 24-hour days.
Damon
October 15, 2011 - 6:33 am
Joseph, if you can’t find a tea party person who can explain how the tea party came together you are not looking very hard or only getting your tea party exposure via direct feed from Ed Schultz.
The ideas of the tea party HAVE been around much longer than Obama. I know you would like to think we were all marching along in lock step with W like good little nazis, but the fact is that CONSERVATIVES (not Republicans) were against the bank bailout, were against Medicaire Part D, and generally were screaming that W Bush was spending like a drunken sailor. Your assertion that we all magically became averse to out of control spending when Obama came to be President is simply false.
What changed after Obama came to office was the urgency, since spending, already absurdly high, went even higher (Stimulus 1. . . .stimulus 2 .. . .can we get a stimulus three, and four and five!), and the only policies being advocated by the administration involve spending even more money.
I’m not here to debate the value of Obama’s policy vs. that of someone else, the charge is that myself and my party are racists because we all rallied against Obama. But the fact remains, Obama’s policies are typical “tax and spend” solutions conservatives have always been against. . . it’s just that they are on steroids AND Obamacare (which is what sparked the movement in the first place) got passed. Actions create equal and opposite reactions. How can it be surprising to you that opposition would coalesce against it?
Blacks at tea party’s? Sure, they are there. Are they there in large numbers? Of course not. Obama has a 90% approval rating in the black community. I will say I don’t see scores and scores of blacks at the wall street rallies either.
Steve
October 15, 2011 - 12:26 pm
Good job, Mike! This just shows one more thing we have in common. We’re both crazy, but neither of us is stupid. I wonder…. should I post what YOU wrote in MY yearbook? LMFAO!! Love you, brother!!
MOTU
October 15, 2011 - 4:23 pm
Steve,
I’ll post it for you:
Steve, yes you are my friend and yes you are special but I don’t think we need to be ‘special friends.’ I like girls Steve. I’m doing you a favor really- one day you may want to join a Right Wing Organization that frowns upon ‘special friends.’
On another note, I strongly suggest you keep my reference to being your ‘N’ word only to ultra cool mofos. Trust me- very few people will get that is a high compliment where I grew up. DON’T try using the N word in public it won’t end well.
Later my Nigga.
Bill Mulligan
October 16, 2011 - 9:50 am
JosephW, lots of conservatives were unhappy with Bush–recall how they stayed home in droves for the 2006 elections. And you can find plenty of examples of some of us complaining about how things were going.
But it’s been 900 days since the democrats in the senate (controlled by the democrats) have offered a budget plan. I may not expect the republicans to be much better but I make it a point not to reward failure, cowardice and incompetence.
If you are complaining at the timing of the Tea party people do you also assume racism as a primary motivation of the OWS crowd? I mean, Obama hasn’t gotten any whiter. Neither has Cain who, though he may be a dick, is a black di…hmmm, let me re-think this line of thought. Anyway, it’s a peculiar action for racists to support a black guy over Mitt Romney who is so white he probably eats mayonnaise sandwiches. I know some folks like Jeanine Garafolo have claimed that the fact that they are supporting a black man is PROOF that they are racists but that just shows you, once again, that cocaine is one hell of a drug.
Anyway, the pics from some of the OWS protests look pretty white to me, maybe more of an unwashed beige, and it was certainly no black man who came up with “twinkle fingers down.”
MOTU
October 16, 2011 - 10:47 am
Bill,
“…and it was certainly no black man who came up with “twinkle fingers down.”
Don’t be so sure, my favorite all time film is My Best Friends Wedding and sometimes I’d much rater listen to Bach than Hip Hop.
You should see me in my ride blasting Toccata and Fugue in D minor…gangster.
Rene
October 16, 2011 - 11:30 am
As far as I am concerned, the Tea Party is the enemy. But they’re not racist, by and large, and I always thought it was a cheap shot when Liberals tried to claim they are.
It’s simplistic, faulty logic: Most Tea Partiers are white, so they must be excluding black people porpusefully! Or, the Tea Party came into being to fight the first black President, so they must be racist.
Firstly, Libertarian economics, the ethos of aggressive, Ayn Rand-style self-sufficiency that the Tea Party seems to love, has always appealed almost exclusively to Middle Class white people. Not because it’s racist, I think it’s because other ethnic groups in America, even when they become affluent, still have more of a awareness of how their community struggles together.
Secondly, while blacks and Latinos can be very socially conservative, they’re not the kind of social conservatives that are attracted to the Tea Party. The Tea Party folks look fondly back at traditional small-town deep America. It’s Sarah Palin’s Wasilla, it’s Rick Santorum’s rosy-colored view of the 1950s. It’s a paradise for a certain type of white people and it may look racist to some, but deep down it’s much more about culture than race. Blacks are not excluded, as long as they adopt this culture.
MOTU
October 16, 2011 - 1:32 pm
Rene,
I agree with you… mostly.
I have GOOD friends who are Tea Party members as mentioned in my article and I know for a fact they are as far from racist as I am from becoming a suicide bomber.
BUT…
When a small yet loud part of The Tea Party carries the sort of racist signs at rallies and calls the first black president of the United State’s citizenship a lie and there is NO or little denouncement from the party leaders that leads to the racist label.
Sarah Palin-a Tea Party leader and former Vice Presidential candidate with world wide recognition gave this advise to Dr. Laura when she came under attack for repeatedly saying ‘nigger’ over and over on her radio show “Don’t retreat, Reload.”
Imagine if you will a radio show host with a massive reach coming under attack for repeatedly saying, “Faggot” to describe Gay people and Joe Biden’s advise to the show’s host was, the Hell with those outraged Gays; “Don’t retreat, Reload.”
Also-think of what black people FELT when a part of the Tea Party made Obama produce his birth certificate. It’s easy to think ‘racist’ when the only President in the history of the union’s who’s birthright is called into question is black.
It’s no wonder The vast amount of people who hate the Tea Party think they are racist. Until a Tea Party leader steps up and CLEARLY and LOUDLY denounces those who preach that kind of venom the racist tag will stick and ONLY get bigger.
Bill Mulligan
October 16, 2011 - 1:36 pm
Listening to Bach does not make one a twinkle fingers down kind of guy. Not in the least! Shoot, if I had a motorcycle I’d probably have Toccata and Fugue in D minor on the Ipod, along with “Maybellene”, “Radar Love” “Hush” and “jesus built my hotrod”.
Of course I’ll probably be going about 120 mph when I hit the tree.
Rene
October 16, 2011 - 2:29 pm
I don’t know exactly why I’m bothering to defend a group I dislike so immensely, but here I go again.
There is a fine line between xenophobia and racism. I sincerely don’t think most Tea Partiers are bothered by Obama’s melanin level or his negroid facial features. It’s not Obama’s physical appearance that bothers them and makes them distrustful.
It’s his name, the Muslim-sounding name. It’s the fact that his father and stepfather were not American. That he went to live outside the US when he was young. Again, a matter of culture, not race. If he were called John Something and had three generations of Evangelical Church-going Americans in both sides of his family, he could have been even blacker physically, that it would not bother them.
As for Sarah Palin and “nigger”, it’s more problematic, but I do think it’s more that many Conservatives want to prove how much they’re against Political Correctness, and then they come across as insensitive. It may be borderline racist or not, but I don’t think it’s like Sarah thinks black people are in any way inferior. It’s more like they think pussyfooting around words is special consideration that they’re not willing to give to anyone? (Except maybe when it’s something involving Christianity. Or sex. Then you better watch your words)
And I also agree that a few Tea Partiers ARE racist. And some GOP politicians may be cynical enough to try to appeal to such scum. But I don’t think it’s a major part of the movement.
Damon
October 16, 2011 - 8:27 pm
Michael was not saying that Sarah Palin said “nigger”. She appeared on Dr. Laura’s show. Dr. Laura got some notoriety for having said “nigger” several times . . . her exact words were “turn on HBO and listen to a black comic and all you hear is ‘nigger, nigger, nigger'”. Which, in her defense is essentially true.
Sarah Palin never used that word to my knowledge. Michael is branding her with guilt by association, and then specifically decrying her use of the phrase “Don’t retreat, reload”.
I’m not going to get in to the argument of that, which I am sure Michael and I will disagree over . . ..but I do want to clear up what I think was a poorly worded explanation. Dr. Laura said “nigger”, Sarah Palin did not. Palin appeared on Dr. Laura’s show. (I would assume well before the incident, since she resigned right after it).
Whoever came up with any of these stupid “twinkle” hand signals, ought to be kicked in the balls (or my likely their female counterpart).
Are you cranking the Bach Tocatta and Fugue on the organ, or the Stokowski orchestral arrangement? 🙂
MOTU
October 16, 2011 - 10:12 pm
Rene & Damon,
Just to be crystal clear-Sarah Palin did NOT use the ‘N’ word.
Damon- to Dr. Laura’s ‘point’ about HBO and black comics-VERY true.
The ‘N’ word itself has MANY different meanings in the black community. It all depends on how you use it WITHIN the black community. Outside the black community the word only has ONE meaning to African Americans.
Yes-the word is a staple of Rap music. Rap and hip hop are products of inner city black youths and their experiences. Rap music is not meant to chronicle what’s going on in the suburbs.
The biggest rapper in the world is Eminem. Eminem will NOT use the word in his music.
He knows better.
Dr. Laura didn’t know better or didn’t care. I find it very difficult to believe she didn’t know better. I think she thought she could get away with it.
She was wrong.
George Haberberger
October 17, 2011 - 7:19 am
MIchael,
Thanks for this blog. For the most part it is a refreshing blend of opinions. Maybe I missed something, but what’s your problem with Herman Cain?
Rene,
The notion that the life one should aspire to is the life of a devout rural Christian. That is the one thing that is not negotiable to me, and as long as Conservatives pander to those guys, I will be their opponent.
What exactly is offensive about that life? I only ask because I live in rural Missouri and I have been a member of the parish council at my church and my wife is currently a member of the finance committee.
Rene
October 17, 2011 - 3:47 pm
There is nothing offensive about the life of a devout rural Christian.
There is everything offensive about the notion that EVERYONE should aspire to it.
I’d fight for your right to live your life in any way you choose (as long as you’re not harming other folks), and I’m disappointed to know that not all Christians would fight for my right to live my life any way I choose.
My brother is a Christian, by the way. Though not rural or Evangelical, he is Catholic. Two of my co-workers are devout Evangelical Christian, and I like them fine and I love my brother.
And I like even more that none of those people ever tried to impose their views on me and I never tried to impose on them.
It’s of vital importance that civil society has a climate of freedom of thought and choice, so that Christians and non-Christians can respect each other.
I find that the actions of many “militant” Christians in right-wing groups are a danger to this climate of mutual acceptance.
Vinnie Bartilucci
October 17, 2011 - 3:57 pm
“but what’s your problem with Herman Cain?”
Vinnie Bartilucci
October 17, 2011 - 3:58 pm
I knoew that embedded graphic wasn’t gonna display, but I hadda try…
http://cache.blippitt.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Popcorn-02-Stephen-Colbert.gif
MOTU
October 17, 2011 - 7:29 pm
George,
Thanks so much for your kind words about MDW. The goal has always been to hear ALL views.
Regarding Cain,to me he’s Rush Limbaugh in black face.
He shows NO respect for the struggles OR interests of African Americans past or present.He portrays himself as knowing what’s good for us poor black people who have been ‘brainwashed.’ That works for him in many places I admit but not in the Black Community.
He’s a Black man who has near zero support in the Black community because he clearly feels that the Black community should be led by the hand like children.
Statements like- ‘If you’re not rich it’s your fault’ and ‘Black people have been brainwashed’ send the message that Black people are lazy, stupid, need to be educated and should stop using their LIFE as an excuse for why they are not rich. As if being rich is the only thing to aspire to.
Really?
My sister was not rich. Was that her fault? She was murdered before she finished college but to Cain that’s an excuse I’m sure.
Since I’m one of those people he believes is brainwashed and needs to be educated I guess I should get a SECOND PhD.
George-I could go on but I’m trying to start the week on a good note…and I’m brainwashed.
Again-thanks much for your kind words and we welcome you to the forum.
George Haberberger
October 18, 2011 - 1:32 pm
He shows NO respect for the struggles OR interests of African Americans past or present.He portrays himself as knowing what’s good for us poor black people who have been ‘brainwashed.’ That works for him in many places I admit but not in the Black Community.
I think you might be judging Herman Cain a bit too harshly. He himself has struggled. His father worked as a janitor, barber and chauffeur. He worked his way through school. Got a degree in math from Morehouse College, worked for the Navy in ballastics developing control systems for ships and fighter plans. The facts of his life are well known and they mirror the lives of many people from under-privileged backgrounds.
His comments about blacks being brainwashed was in response to a question about why blacks seem wed to the Democratic Party. It was a fair answer. Most people allow themselves to become complacent and give undue preference to a certain party simply because of inertia. I am guilty of that myself.
I’m not rich either but I don’t take offense at Cain for implying it’s my fault. His point is to be responsible and make wise decisions. No, that won’t guarantee wealth, but it is better advice than the inverse.
My sister was not rich. Was that her fault? She was murdered before she finished college but to Cain that’s an excuse I’m sure.
C’mon, you’re not sure about that. Herman Cain, or anyone else for that matter, wouldn’t find fault with a murder victim for not being rich. And my condolences for your sister.
I know that you are an open-minded individual. If you weren’t you wouldn’t have posted something as relatively outrageous as having friends in the Tea Party, but no one deserves being called “Rush Limbaugh in black face.”
Rene
October 19, 2011 - 4:20 pm
If I were reading a work of fiction with politicians as outrageous as Cain, Palin, Bachmann, Santorum, etc. I would think the writer was spoofing Conservatives.
It’s sad for the GOP that most of the current crop seems more like the creations of some political satirist than real human beings.
Only Perry and Romney look normal, even though Perry is as extremist as some of the others.