winners and losers
21/7/10 17:42![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
mijopo.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
talkpoliticsThis NAACP vs. Tea Party has been most enlightening. Like turning on a flashlight in a dark kitchen, the NAACP's motion had the effect of allowing us to see the cockroaches scurry. As such, two big losers in this debacle:
1) The Tea Party: After the NAACP motion was passed, two highly prominent players in the Tea Party Movement, Williams and Breitbart, engaged in racial attacks and deeply offensive racist commentary. People may have been unsure about Tea Party racism before the NAACP motion but TP reaction has served to reveal some serious racist rot right at the heart of the movement. Is there anyone in America who is not more inclined today, as compared to two weeks ago, to believe that the TP is a racist organization?
2) The Obama Administration: I won't say this is the nadir of the administration, but this is a very low low. Racism becomes a big issue in the media again and the reaction we get from the Obama administration in the midst of this controversy? Why it's to publicly humiliate and dismiss Sherrod, an African American woman with a profoundly touching and tragic tale of racial victimization and efforts at reconciliation. All this is done without investigation and solely on the basis of evidence concocted by a disreputable loon. Could there be a more bitter disappointment for those still believing in the hope and change they'd promised when they came to office? One hopes they'll pay mightily, but it creates a dilemma. How do we punish the admin. for this despicable behavior without rewarding the Tea Party by voting for crazy Republicans?
The winner in all this is, of course, the NAACP which wins, gold, silver and bronze. Claims that it's now irrelevant have been completely discredited. In fact, the Sherrod incident casts them in the position as being the organization seeking true racial reconciliation and reveals how much further we need to go to achieve it. Masterfully played, NAACP, masterfully played. The NAACP suddenly matters, wait and see how many reporters turn up at your next convention.
1) The Tea Party: After the NAACP motion was passed, two highly prominent players in the Tea Party Movement, Williams and Breitbart, engaged in racial attacks and deeply offensive racist commentary. People may have been unsure about Tea Party racism before the NAACP motion but TP reaction has served to reveal some serious racist rot right at the heart of the movement. Is there anyone in America who is not more inclined today, as compared to two weeks ago, to believe that the TP is a racist organization?
2) The Obama Administration: I won't say this is the nadir of the administration, but this is a very low low. Racism becomes a big issue in the media again and the reaction we get from the Obama administration in the midst of this controversy? Why it's to publicly humiliate and dismiss Sherrod, an African American woman with a profoundly touching and tragic tale of racial victimization and efforts at reconciliation. All this is done without investigation and solely on the basis of evidence concocted by a disreputable loon. Could there be a more bitter disappointment for those still believing in the hope and change they'd promised when they came to office? One hopes they'll pay mightily, but it creates a dilemma. How do we punish the admin. for this despicable behavior without rewarding the Tea Party by voting for crazy Republicans?
The winner in all this is, of course, the NAACP which wins, gold, silver and bronze. Claims that it's now irrelevant have been completely discredited. In fact, the Sherrod incident casts them in the position as being the organization seeking true racial reconciliation and reveals how much further we need to go to achieve it. Masterfully played, NAACP, masterfully played. The NAACP suddenly matters, wait and see how many reporters turn up at your next convention.
