I must be in the big leagues now! According to this post at Huffpo (basically cribbed from Media Matters) I am part of a vast right-wing conspiracy to umm…ask to see the whole Sherrod tape.
Regular readers know, because I have probably said it scores of times, that I don’t watch the mud-wrestling babes on Fox News; I don’t watch any news that’s not breaking–as in real disasters, not political theater, and I’m no fan of Bill O’ Reilly or Glenn Beck or Hannity. I’m sure they are all very nice men, I just can’t stand listening to any of them for more than five minutes. I have never been to a tea party; I barely write about them unless they’re part of a larger story.
I’m telling you this because the Huffpo piece struck me as so bizarre that I dropped an email to the likewise-indicted Ace, Allahpundit and Ed Morrissey, asking them “am I crazy or is this just absurd?” I also made it clear to the gents that I was not in any way shape or form looking to conspire with them, about the piece or develop any sort of “Blog-o-list.”
None of them responded to me.
Ace, however, promptly debriefed himself, and now that he has I feel compelled to–with regret, since my original intent was to ignore this–debrief myself as well.
That email was probably the second time I have ever written to Ace, the first being when I nearly choked to death laughing at some thread–likely the very profane Dick Cheney Badass one–and wrote to say that I found him and his site smart but vulgar. He never responded, so perhaps I had offended him; I’d thought he’d rather like being called vulgar.
I can be naive, like that, sometimes.
My email contact with Allahpundit, who until recently sort of terrified me, has been limited to his inviting me to guest-blog at Hot Air two weeks ago and, prior to that, a few pathetic attempts to get him to link to me. Ed Morrissey, I have actually spoken with on the phone, twice, once about said guest-blogging–because I am a techno-idiot and once for an radio show interview (which he’s never been tempted to repeat as I am rather dull); the extent of our email is generally along the, “hi, I just wrote this, hope your wife is well”/”she’s good, I’m busy, cheers!” variety.
Although Jim Hoft from Gateway Pundit is mentioned in this timeline, I had not thought to include him in my little conspiratorial email, because…well…that’s how often I think of Jim Hoft (and how often he thinks of me, I’m sure). Although we both have blogs at First Things, we don’t correspond. I once emailed him asking how to do something technical and he emailed back saying he didn’t know. Oh, and way before that–while he was at his old site–he asked me to pray for his mother while she was dying. I did, and sent condolences when she passed. That’s…about…it.
Actually, you know, that’s one of the things that has amazed me about the journolist: where did these people find the time to sit around gassing away in long strings of emails. Look at the amount of content that I, Allah, Ace and Ed (and Hoft) put out each day. Does that suggest there is a lot of time for this sort of hysterical reacting, brainstorming and message-building?
On the 19th, I was busy launching the Future of Catholicism Week on Patheos and tapping out this blog in between countless emails from the writers I’ve been corralling for the project, and my Patheos co-workers; I also had Adoration between 5-6, too. During this Huffpo “conspiracy” I watched the Breitbart tape, and posted my thoughts at 3:31.
Then I spend sent out precisely two emails on the subject.
I sent one to Instapundit, saying, “Not sure I’m buying Breitbart; that tape ends too abruptly for me…” (Glenn did not respond, but linked) and one to Ed Morrissey saying the same; Ed wrote back that he’d have Breitbart on his radio show later, and if there was time he’d ask about the abrupt ending.
End of communication. I didn’t listen to the broadcast, because I almost never listen to anything while I’m working.
Continuing the debriefing: I do not attend conservative conferences. I am not currently in Vegas at some gathering that many bloggers seem to be at. I am not sure what C-Pac is. My only MSM contact works for NPR, and as he is a dyspeptic sort so our correspondence is pretty one-sided; I taunt him and he ignores.
Far from being some grand conspirator, Lizzie is a social moron; it follows that she remains pretty much a lone wolf.
Now, to be fair to Media Matters, when I first saw their timeline I didn’t think of it as anything more than that: an informational breakdown. But as I said, I am naive, sometimes, and besides my dog has been very sick, and that has trumped my interest in much else (to those of you who have kindly asked or prayed, she seems a little better today, thanks, though she’s still very subdued); I was distracted. It was only after seeing this strange Huffpo piece–and realizing that the the timeline seemed to emphasize the right-wing response to the Sherrod-Breitbart story, but not many reactions from elsewhere–that I wondered what the point was?
What is this writer trying to prove, that bloggers read other blogs and say, “hey, so-and-so is saying this, while thus-and-such is saying that, and here is what I think?”
Um. Isn’t that precisely what this writer has done–taken material from one site and included it in a post, with his own thoughts added?
Damn! Conspirators everywhere!
I like this comment from the tail-end of Ace’s piece:
Soooo… the next earthquake, explosion, whatever… I can claim NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, etc coordinated their stories? right?
11:55 AM – Earthquake in California
12:01 PM – ABC interrupts broadcast to break story
12:02 PM – OMG NBC JUST DID IT TOO, COORDINATION!!!!!!!
12:03 PM – CBS shows a map with circles
12:09 PM – CNN also shows larger map, female host points out Galapagos Islands west of California.
Well, that last bit’s not nice; why pick on women when we know Rich Sanchez would be the one doing that.
Seriously, I don’t get it. I haven’t read much the last two days: is there some center-right blog, somewhere making a timeline of left-wing mistakes in this repellent story which has covered no one with glory? Is someone writing:
“TIMESTAMP: NAACP puts out statement condemning Sherrod, even though they possess full, context-clarifying video, and have not spoken with her?”
Perspective is everything, I guess. If someone were creating such a timeline, wouldn’t it begin, then with:
“TIMESTAMP: NAACP indulges in needless political theater by playing un-necessary card with statement condemning Tea Partiers as having racist “elements” within it, and calling on organizers to denounce racism, which Tea Party has already explicitly done back in March, after nebulous congressional accusations…”
Or, you know, something like that.
Dueling timelines could go on and on, of course. People with a lot of time on their hands, or with someone paying them more than I am making, could zap all the way back…
TIMESTAMP 2010: Mel Gibson demonstrates real racism
TIMESTAMP 2008: Barack Obama elected first African American President by wide margin
TIMESTAMP 2005: Kanye West: “George Bush hates black people”
TIMESTAMP 2004: Bush appoints Condoleeza Rice second black Secretary of State
TIMESTAMP 2001: Bush appoints Colin Powell first black Secretary of State;
TIMESTAMP 1995: 1995: Al Sharpton, Freddie’s Fashion Mart, “white interloper”; violence, flames and death; Sharpton expresses regret for racial rhetoric
TIMESTAMP 1991: Clarence Thomas survives “high-tech lynching”
TIMESTAMP 1968: Martin Luther King Assassinated; RFK eloquent
TIMESTAMP 1965: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, initiates Selma march; Charlton Heston joins in support
TIMESTAMP 1963: Birmingham Bombings (child Condoleeza Rice loses friends); Bull Connor opens hoses, releases dogs; MLK Jailed; JFK declares himself “sickened” by “shameful” response of white authorities. Nation begins to awaken to evils of segregation
TIMESTAMP 1955: Rose Parks does not stand up for the man
You can put anything into a timeline, and suddenly it seems relevant. And yes, someone with a lot of time on their hands could spiral this down all the way to William Wilberforce, or even further, to Africa and the first slave traders…or further back, to the Egyptians and the Jews. I am not sure what would be accomplished by that, beyond demonstrating that hate is easy, and that viewing people as “others” who are undeserving of human decency is an ego-riddled choice one makes; getting beyond it is also a choice.
Looking at just that brief timeline I’ve thrown up there, though, should give us all pause. Important things happened during the civil rights era; they were real events, organic and dynamic and up from the ground–not unlike the Tea Party, actually–and not political theater. Before the assassination of Dr. King, it looked like we were headed to a good place, of races working together, to get beyond the hate, beyond the “other-ness.” The nation was making the right choice; perhaps that is why he was assassinated – he was succeeding. Somehow, after Dr. King’s death, “race” became just one more politically expedient, and very destructive, card to play.
I still believe people of good will, of all races, respond with repugnance to episodes of genuine racism, and they are quick to denounce it. We know when something is really racist, as with Mel Gibson’s stomach-turning rant, and when a charge is made for expediency, or to distract, or to defame, or because the one crying “racist!” knows that you can’t prove a negative; no one can “prove” they are nor racist.
Which reminds me, has anyone on the left yet denounced this journolist nugget:
“take one of them — Fred Barnes, Karl Rove, who cares — and call them racists.”
What about this White House Operative participating? Condemnation?
I suspect not. Perhaps they’re too busy crying “conspiracy,” because bloggers did what bloggers do. Like right now, I’m going to link you to Ed Morrissey exhibiting the efficacy of framing narratives.
Perhaps it is time for everyone–on the right and on the left–to revisit Richard Hofstadter The Paranoid Style in American Politics, and read it not with an aim to identify the “other” within the opposition, but the “other” within the self.
Related:
Peggy Noonan on the Teachable Moment we already risk losing
Jennifer Rubin on the Journolist
Neo is heartily sick of it all
More questions…
Breaking the Rules as they are pronounced
You were sympathetic to Sherrod and urged caution from the beginning. You didn’t and haven’t cooridinated with others and have exchanged only a handful of e-mails with political bloggers your entire life.
So?
So what?
You. Are. A. Racist.
So what if Sherrod resigned BEFORE Fox News ran the tape? So what if their execs urged caution to get the facts before running the story? It’s Fox’s fault. They are racist. They only want to hold black people down.
And Breitbart only wants America to be stuck back in the time of slavery. He knew what effect the speech excerpt would have on the conservative, racist people he’s dealing with.
You played fair? SO WHAT? You are a racist in the vast right-wing conspiracy. Your so-called “fairness” only proves how devious you are.
The only reason you opposed ObamaCare is because he’s black. And you ran with the tape story didn’t you? Breitbart knew the effect it would have on the conservative, racist people he’s dealing with, like you. You are more or less conservative. Ergo, ipso facto, you are racist. Period. A racist conspiring with other racists.
Don’t take my word for it. Take the word of Shirley Sherrod. Take the word of the NAACP. Take the word of Eric Holder, you racist.
[I am not going to jump on Shirley Sherrod. I put myself in my position, and I'm not surprised that she's going to where she feels safest right now. -admin]
My point is –
They don’t care if you or any of us are fair. They don’t care about the truth concerning conservatives. They don’t care if you or we don’t have a racial bone in our body. And “they” includes Sherrod.
What they care about is smashing any and all conservatives. They care about engaging in any and every smear they can, no matter how unreasonable or irrational. They care about race so that they can use it as a weapon, to ratchet up racial tensions, to cause strife, to rile people up against you and other conservatives.
They don’t care about actually reaching racial harmony in America. They are in the grievance business. They are in the fanning the flames business.
It is time for us all to know who we are dealing with.
[You know what, Bender, with all due respect, I think all this "they" talk--from all sides--is murdering this nation. It has to stop. I know, people get frustrated. I know there is unfairness, distortion, all of it. I know that sometimes I've gotten angry at leftist stuff and shaken an angry fist of "they," myself. It's difficult not to, sometimes. But it's GOT to stop. Read your own words back; look at how bitter you have become. That's not the guy who started out here. I begin to think we Christians are spending FAR too much time online and not enough time with the Gospel. And for too many of us, our political allegiance is overshadowing our faith, and that might be idolatry. This is GOT to stop. -admin]
Read your own words back; look at how bitter you have become
Yes, I am bitter.
I am bitter that a person like Sherrod — whom I have never met, who I said we need to get more information about before making any judgments, especially given my oft-repeated refusal to jump on the outrage-of-the-day bandwagon that goes around every day — should with such a broad brush smear me — yes, me — as a racist for no reason other than I am conservative.
I agree. ENOUGH.
But your posts being sympathetic to her were, even if proper and fair, incredibly naive. And in your naivete, you improperly cut Sherrod and the NAACP and all the other race hucksters too much slack. The full tape did NOT fully exculpatate her, as is corroborated by her subsequent hostile and malicious remarks. No, she does not get a pass for them.
[Yes I am bitter. I am bitter that a person like Sherrod — whom I have never met, who I said we need to get more information about before making any judgments, especially given my oft-repeated refusal to jump on the outrage-of-the-day bandwagon that goes around every day — should with such a broad brush smear me — yes, me — as a racist for no reason other than I am conservative. . . . your posts being sympathetic to her were, even if proper and fair, incredibly naive. And in your naivete, you improperly cut Sherrod and the NAACP and all the other race hucksters too much slack.
The bitterness is going to turn back on you; it always does, so as a friend, I wish you would get a handle on it. We all need to. As to my naivete, well, I don't think I gave anyone "slack" - even here I again repeat what I see as the impetus for all of this, which was the NAACP's needless bit of theater. That said, I am trying to put myself in Ms. Sherrod's shoes, and if I had seen my beloved father murdered by white men who never were charged, and then if I'd worked my whole life to reconcile my feelings about that to the larger society, and THEN I'd had this game played with a tape of my speech--by a white man, again--I think I'd be a little less inclined to trust, and a l think I might give over to feelings of suspicion and bitterness. After all, Bender...no one has murdered your father and distorted your meaning...and look how bitter you admit to being. Again...everyone needs to take a freaking break, and all of us (from Sherrod to you and me) who profess to be Christians, need to pray and be silent a little before the Lord, and listen. -admin]
You are able to perceive your opponents as individual souls rather than dehumanized partisan constructs.
There are forces afoot in the world of men that seek to destroy and absorb unto themselves as much power as they can accumulate. Consequently, one can do one of two things: One can go willingly to the cross or one can fight.
I, like so many, have chosen to fight. For now, this is a bloodless sort of warfare, but war nonetheless.
Sometimes, my dear Elizabeth, our Christian spirit and our underlying civility is our undoing. When we turn the other cheek, it gets slapped, too. Where we forgive, someone else gets even. Where we love, someone else introduces hatred.
If all you seek is peace, that is, the end of the conflict, you can have it now. It’s called unilateral surrender. You announce that from now on this blog will not talk politics, only the spiritual.
We stand at a crossroads at this very moment. Decisions need to be made.
When my four children look at me and wonder what happened to their American Dream, I do not wish to make the “Good German” defense. I’m old. I’m going to die trying.
[All I can do is look to the Crucifix and consider how Jesus achieved victory. He did not do it by finger 'the other' - admin]
The most compelling thread I have ever read!
Sherrod is saying she’s going to start suing people.
I know this blog has nothing to worry about, but just be advised anyway.
Seems kinda strange to do so.
By the way, I’ve clearly underestimated the complexity of your views (I mean that in a nice way).
There’s one issue: get this serious stuff in context, or at least try, before throwing it out there. Seems like a good rule for Breitbart or anyone.
there’s a totally different issue: Sherrod’s got a problem, even in the context, that I think at minimum makes it ok to strongly criticize her. This idea that she’s now a saint is disgusting, and if a white senior leader had said ‘I got into this for whites only’, and reconsidered later, it would still be a huge point against them.
I found the comments to the HuffPo post surprisingly sane. Some individual posts were as clueless as usual, but they were a smaller than usual percentage of the total.
[That said, I am trying to put myself in Ms. Sherrod's shoes, and if I had seen my beloved father murdered by white men who never were charged, and then if I'd worked my whole life to reconcile my feelings about that to the larger society, and THEN I'd had this game played with a tape of my speech--by a white man, again--I think I'd be a little less inclined to trust, and a l think I might give over to feelings of suspicion and bitterness. After all, Bender...no one has murdered your father and distorted your meaning...and look how bitter you admit to being. Again...everyone needs to take a freaking break, and all of us (from Sherrod to you and me) who profess to be Christians, need to pray and be silent a little before the Lord, and listen. -admin]
Achoress please consider the possibility that you are not only embracing Mrs Sherrod’s brokeness- you’re actually advancing it.
(I’m not saying this from a bitter heart and I know you have a lot on your plate right now. But when I look at the crucifix- this is what the Spirit whispers to me- “be gentle- but be firm”.
And yes, I know, I struggle with the “gentleness”. But when the Lord told us to turn the other cheek- it was an act of immovable defiance against evil as much it was a willingness to forgive.)
I still think the world of you Anchoress- even if we disagree on this.
Anchoress—
I admire your take on things as a rule. Being a theologian, I wrestle with many of the same issues you do when trying to scope an event.
However, the Sherrod affair is both over the edge, and of little consequence. My suspicions behind it all are numerous . . . I see nothing but ruse.
It is of little more importance than the Al Gore news that he does not need Viagra.
It affects nothing. It is the race card getting tossed back and forth over the table, and little more, and to give it the kind of attention it has received thus far is idiocity.
Let it go. No one is right in this kind of conundrum.
I think I might give over to feelings of suspicion and bitterness
Fine, she can go be suspicious and bitter in her private life, but not as a government official, and not as a now-public figure preaching to the rest of us.
As for me, you’re right. Sometimes I can rage a bit too much. I’m sorry for my distemperate remarks, especially as they might be seen as directed toward you.
But . . . (of course there is a but) . . . maybe this big blow-up (meaning the entire explosion of tension since the election of our post-racial president) will end up being an occasion for good. Let’s get it all out in the open. Let’s expose it all, hear everyone’s attitudes and feelings.
Me and many others want a colorblind society, and we live colorblind lives, at least to the extent that we are allowed to live in such peace. There are some (including the “they” I alluded to earlier) who push the absurd argument that a colorblind mindset is racist, that in order to overcome race, one must obsess about it.
But maybe getting it all out in the open will have a postive effect and ultimately work for good.
jb, ‘let it go’?
Ignoring this accusation would have been pretty foolish, in my opinion. For one thing, it’s simply obvious that it’s not truthful to say she coordinated. This listing of all coverage of an event as if it’s coordinated if ridiculous and dishonest and everyone has the right to say ‘you are lying about me’.
Second, not sure who would benefit from this ruse. All I can see is that Breitbart lost some credibility (I don’t think he should, but oh well), and the ‘racism’ screams at the right are looking far more difficult to make at this point.
(jb wrote – “It affects nothing. It is the race card getting tossed back and forth over the table, and little more, and to give it the kind of attention it has received thus far is idiocity.
Let it go. No one is right in this kind of conundrum.”)
With all due respect- the fact that this issue has fired the passions that it has, is indicative in and of itself that this issue is long overdue for an honest discussion.
And if no one is right in this diametrically opposed matter- then justice and morality have no meaning.
The more I read about anything and everything about the Sherrod story, the more thankful I am at having been too busy and/or preoccupied with other matters this week to write about it.
As a sidenote, if the Alahpundits et al of this world don’t answer your e-mails, no wonder no one ever answers mine. Or my tweets, for that matter.
I could mention that regardless of how busy someone is, even if it’s days or weeks later, a legitimate e-mail deserves a response. To not do so is just plain rude, and there is no excuse for doing so.
Or is that just me?
[I think it depends on how much email you get. When you're getting 500+ a day, even the best intentioned person can just get to the point where some slip by -admin]
Brietbart lost 0% credibility, since he merely broadcast what he had–someone else edited it.
Sherrod said what she said, and as the full transcript shows, this whole matter is even emblematic of the Obama/Alinsky schematic.
That all of America is focused on this affair and a crook like Rangel, while Congress and the CoC run roughshod over us all . . .
Says much. Or . . . little. Billy Beck has it right.
The Endarkenment.
I was the victim of a violent crime when I was young. The criminal was black. I never developed this idea that I should be a racist against blacks because of it.
I think it’s sweet that Anchoress can put herself in someone’s shoes who has such a problem. It makes it easier for me to see the humanity is someone as angry as Sherrod seems to be (she thinks people like Breitbart or me want a return to slavery? That’s one of the nastiest attacks I’ve ever heard!).
Still, if I said i was motivated to help only whites, and later mitigated, I would be a lot sorrier about it, a lot more apologetic, and a lot less likely to accuse people of racism because they criticized me on personal grounds.
I don’t hate sherrod. I don’t really care about Sherrod specifically. I care about this double standard we apply to black victims of white racism from generations ago. This is clearly a double standard that wouldn’t have earned a white person in Bush’s administration this kind of understanding, even probably from reasonable people like Anchoress (perhaps I’m wrong, and I’m sorry if I am).
No double standards.
Dustin–
I would prefer a discussion NOT in the comments section, but e-mail . . .
That being said, I am really not sure of what it is you are trying to say.
The Sherrod issue is a tempest in a teapot. It is out there just to piss people off. That is simple horse-hockey, and to assign any more attention to it is, simply put, stupid. The life of a single human being would not be affected were the whole issue to die a merciful death like yesterday.
We are squaring off against N. Korea; threatening Iran again (remember 1953?), trying to keep Turkey as an ally after a high-seas hijacking (shades of the American Revolution), trying very hard not to invade Africa, sending warships off Costa Rica, and fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Do you really think that a low-level political hire like Sherrod should be getting all this attention?
The domination political events take over all else is beyond belief, and to give credence to any of the crap that freely spews out of DC is to admit one is a slave to such crap.
Anyone employed by gummint is compromised.
Simply put. This has nothing to do with “racism”—it is merely an attempt to make “racism” an issue.
It is a lie.
(“No double standards.”)
Excellent post Dustin.
I’ve been making that very same post on another thread.
The problem here, is that too many white people are walking around with “white guilt”.
The Left has done a very effective job of turning Civil Rights into an issue of revenge and financial compensation. And as such, they use those as a societal sledgehammer in an effort to advance their political agenda.
How is this country supposed to “let it go” and just get over it when the race-baiting activist groups are constantly telling the rest of us that we are insufferable racists simply because we oppose their radical political agenda?
Perhaps we should ask the guy in the White House.
You know the one. The guy who can’t stop using the race card to push his statist agenda.
Last Sphere
Read what I wrote, not what you thought I wrote.
That is a good part of what goes wrong when this stupid stuff happens. Understand it.
No criticism—but . . . be properly critical.
jb, I don’t really disagree with anything you’re saying.
However, people are going to talk about things out of the most rational order of importance.
Just the way it is.
Oh, and racism is not really an issue, I completely agree. However, it’s pretty clear to me that pretend racism, this race baiting hustle where all conservatives are accused of racism, is a significant issue. It’s coloring any discussion of Obama and it’s affecting the opinions of a lot of dupes.
I wish we weren’t a ‘slave to this crap’ as you put it. I wish we didn’t give this any attention. I wish no one was hungry and my hair wasn’t turning gray and my car was a Ferrari and it rained Skittles.
jb
I understood your point the first time.
Thank you.
“All I can do is look to the Crucifix and consider how Jesus achieved victory. He did not do it by finger ‘the other’”
I cannot equate my surrender to Jesus’. My struggle is of and for this world, not the next. I am a child of God, not the Son. My life is not monastic.
Any time you begin a sentence that starts, “Perhaps it is time for everyone–on the right and on the left–to…” it says, I am about to surrender. I am going to be above you and show you the high road. But your enemies never follow you, do they? It only encourages the wicked to fight harder and dirtier because they sense the blood, the weariness and the fear.
As I said, there is a time for choosing. As that speech, made so famous in 1964 ended, so shall I:
“You and I have a rendezvous with destiny.
“We’ll preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we’ll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness.
…You and I have the ability and the dignity and the right to make our own decisions and determine our own destiny.”
[Funny, whenever I write "time for right and left" my MEANING is that it's time to take a damn breath and get a little introspective, which is the EXACT OPPOSITE of surrender...our biggest battles are ultimately interior. If all are not willing to engage in that battle, though...well...I don't think things will get any better, then.-admin]
Anchoress – Ace was lamenting yesterday that he e-mails folks and no one returns his emails…..
-admin]
[Such is life!
While you are conducting a battle against your “interior,” your enemies are still waging their war against you. That means you’re outnumbered from the get go.
That’s the terrible thing about war, Elizabeth. The righteous always seem to get tired. And it is war. Now, gird your lines, sharpen your pen and get to work. Never give up, never give up, never, never, never give up!
[I may be outnumbered, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to be victorious. OT/NT that story is the same! And I never said I was tired. Just not in love with the tactics I'm seeing. I don't think they will win anything good. -admin]
Unfortunately, I have seen nothing lo these many years to alter my prior assessment made in these pages back on May 15, 2007, when I was “barking mad” –
“Now if the Dems win, they will still continue their policy of attacking Republicans, doing nothing — absolutely nothing at all — to solve any problems, and doing little more than continuing to blame all the woes of the world on those evil Republicans. . . . either way, whoever wins, like drug addicts, we are not going to see improvement from the left side of the aisle until we hit bottom. It is all too clear that we are all going to have to crash and burn and then — maybe — the Dems will wake up and realize what they have wrought and — maybe — they will then change. Or not.”
Those and further comments were deemed “hot,” and they were, and yet, as I continued –
“Yes, my prior comments were a little hot —a little hotter than I too liked — but true all the same, I believe. I wish it were not so, but it appears that politically and socially things will get worse — much worse — before they get better, if they get better. . . . Hot, yes, but it will get a lot hotter before it gets better.”
–A Billion for Hillary & her cabinet, 5/14/07
Things have indeed gotten worse, much worse, and they have gotten a lot hotter.
And we’re not done yet. The Age of Obama has more pain in store for us.
You were correct then Bender, and you are correct now.
Liberal ideology is a relentless war waged in the name of progress.
The Democrats will do whatever it takes to force their agenda down this country’s collective throat.
They operate from the delusion that this country has always been fundamentally corrupt in all of it’s traditions. And as such- it doesn’t matter if their actions are dishonest and deceptive, because as far as they are concerned the means justifies the end.
They will keep pushing until the good people of this country have had enough. I don’t think we’re there yet. And yes, it’s going to have to get worse before it gets better.
Journolist: that is all I would say to the Huff Po. Left always trying to discredit/destroy the right. The Journolist scandal has legs and should be examined till the proverbial cows come home. The so called scandalous collusion of the right concerning Sharrod, is silliness in a serious time.
One of Alinsky tactics say pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. You are the target de jour.
Anchoress,
I really enjoy your writing and I can appreciate your views on the Sherrod business. I don’t think her transformative moment was as transformative as was implied based on things said later in the speech, but baby steps, baby steps…
You do a bit of disservice to FOX News in your comment about “mud-wrestling babes”. Admittedly most of the women on FNC are easy on the eyes but that should not be held against them. The overwhelming majority of them are also excellent at what they do. I don’t doubt that early in Fox News’s existence an “attractiveness quotient” was important for being hired (probably on both sides of the gender divide), but I think competence has long since taken over (even if they are also good-looking). There are some anchors (male and female) that I prefer over others, but for the most part, I find them a vast improvement over the liberal cant that spews from just about every other outlet. You might want to give them another try.
In any event keep fighting (in the Pauline sense).
[If you read the link you see I was referencing a much older article quote that was rather tongue in cheek...written during a time when every reader on fox was a vavavavoom blond with pink bubblegum colored lip gloss. I don't watch fox - or anything - anymore...has that changed? -admin]
…Allahpundit, who until recently sort of terrified me…
Anchoress, this made me smile. He sort of terrifies me too, but I do remember that he’s linked to your posts more than once, so at least he listens to what you say – and given his feelings about religion, I think that says a lot.
May I ask what changed “recently” to de-terrify you?
In the words of Ace -
“Allahpundit’s a Candy-A$$ Rhino”
Don’t get me wrong now,
for the most part I like Eeyore and I respect his work. I’ve just learned to view him in his proper perspective.
[Funny, whenever I write "time for right and left" my MEANING is that it's time to take a damn breath and get a little introspective, which is the EXACT OPPOSITE of surrender...our biggest battles are ultimately interior. If all are not willing to engage in that battle, though...well...I don't think things will get any better, then.-admin]
Yes! Yes! Yes!! This is something germinating in my mind on which I intend to write. Perhaps the most significant difference between Left and Right is that the Left looks within for its moral code (whatever my “heart” tells me is right) and then looks without to explain its failings (“society” or “poverty” or “racist conservatives” are to blame). The Right does the opposite (God and the Bible for moral standards; Original Sin or fallen nature to explain moral failings). I know, I know – these are generalizations, but I think the observation I’m making is still very significant if we on the Right are to battle Leftist ideology. We need to understand this because it explains why we are *somewhat* more tolerant of the moral failings of our opposition (e.g., the Anchoress toward Sherrod), while the Left tends to hate us viscerally as the source of most if not all suffering and evil. The Left doesn’t believe the biggest battle is interior. *WE* are the enemy of their progress toward Utopia.
Ultimately, I think I’m agreeing with everyone here. The Anchoress is right to recognize Sherrod’s humanity and that things aren’t going to get better soon because so many are unwilling to engage in the interior struggle with our fallen nature. Bender, LS and others are right that the Left will forever demonize us and make us their mortal enemy and therefore turn our struggle to the exterior.
I have two answers to this problem: 1) always speak the truth with love; 2) pray for conversions to Christ. The two are really one, as I’m pretty sure this whole mess will only be sorted out with the Second Coming.
WC you are basically correct in your assessment.
But as a former Liberal I can condense the problem with the Left in simple blunt terms:
Liberals refuse personal responsibility.
They see themselves as permanent victims.
And the perpetrator of all their ills and the worlds ills in general is always two or more of the following:
Rich, White, Male, Powerful, Military-Loving, Moral, and Religious.
My path back to Catholicism could never have happened if I had not first converted over to the commonsense of Conservatism. Because in truth- Liberalism IS it’s own religion.
“Liberalism IS it’s own religion.”
Correct, LS. That is one truth I haven’t figured out how to say with love to the liberal Catholics I know. Any suggestions?
(Western Chauvinist – “Any suggestions?’)
Yes.
Start by asking them: “What exactly is the definition of Roman Catholic?”
Your love will be tested.
But no conversion worthwhile is without it’s pain.
LS – excellent post.
There is no vast right-wing conspiracy. There are individuals who occasionally make contact with each other, but I’ve never seen marching orders from anyone.
Unlike the left-wing conspiracies of journolist, ACORN, labor unions and of George Soros’ funded organizations like Media Matters.
I don’t see what’s wrong in like-minded people associating and working together for their own interests as long as they do it legally and ethically and don’t unfairly impugn others. Just use of the word conspiracy in describing these is pejorative.
Regardless, this coincidence (not conspiracy) clearly shows the concern of the various bloggers whether the reported story was accurate – something that Media Matters, HuffPo, CBS, journolist and the White House don’t seem to care about at all.
The BEST thing I ever heard from Glen Beck, calling for 40 days and 40 nights of prayer. There are several other Christian and a couple Catholic bloggers with the message. I found it on Defining Beauty, a woman’s Catholic journey.
I am doing the Novena to the Holy Spirit in the Mornings, and the Immaculate Mary and St. Michael Prayers after nightfall. I will try to follow the guidelines for the next 38 days as well.
I can’t stop the ‘hating’ by all people, but I can try starting with one, and pray for my country.
As others have written, we are in a war, with what appears to be many enemies, but in reality is the one eternal enemy, that has already been defeated.
As a native Presbyterian so thoroughly backslid that to call me an atheist would not be fighting words, I find myself here in very unfamiliar company, having been attracted to the site by the mention of it in the Media Matters timeline. You are news to me.
A couple of observations:
You (Elizabeth) say, “You can put anything into a timeline and suddenly it seems relevant.” Of course a timeline can serve a tendentious purpose, but only a naive reader has to fall for it. I was interested in the Media Matters timeline because I was aware of most of the content, but not of the exact order of events. When I reached the mention of the Anchoress blog, I was brought up short by your perspicacity, intelligence, humanity and skepticism appearing so early in the debate, well before anyone else had noticed the ambiguity of what Sherrod seemed to be saying. The fact that you appear in a timeline that tracks commentary by right-wingers doesn’t mean to me that you’ve been identified with a conspiracy — only that you were in that company of commentators. The test of relevance is your content, not your company.
On first impression, I’m gratified by your remarkable judiciousness in seeing past the extreme agitation of many of your posters, so that you can reply with a degree of balance and serenity that’s very, very rare in these forums. And I’m appalled at the naked paranoia of people like Bender, who can make entirely wrong declarations about what I, for example, as a liberal/progressive/left-wing/free-thinking/skeptical/humanitarian/materialist citizen am thinking in principle and intending in practice. No wonder he’s scared. He thinks I don’t know he’s human.
If you and I were to sit down and swap our takes on the world, I imagine we’d find almost nothing matching, except love. And the recognition that you and Bender and Sherrod and I are all in this together.
In re: Fox News. Well, the blond quotient is still pretty high the news desk is safe for brunettes and redheads as well.
In re: Fox News. Well, the blond quotient is still pretty high but the news desk is safe for brunettes and redheads as well.
Actually, of all the comments out there, Jeff Goldstein noted how this sort of debate erodes language further. His posts on the subject are well worth reading and thinking about.
Such as this.
And this.
And the Morgan Freeman clip is priceless. With all due respect. We focus on race way too much.
Well, if we have love, then we are almost all the way there.
But if I, with my paranoia, am going to sit down with you and swap our takes on the world, do I have to be naked?
Don’t feel bad Anchoress, Ace does not link Jeff Goldstein either.
Let me go slightly off topic (it’s called “thread stealing”).
If you go into any black church and ask if anyone there is willing to die for Jesus, you’ll probably get a large show of hands. But ask how many are willing to help end his grief at the death of unborn children, and you’ll often get indifference or even hostility.
Where did the black church, as apart from the black culture in general, go wrong? Where did it decide to take up so many of the causes of this world, that it forgot to draw lines?
If I had Sherrod before me, I would ask, “How do you stand on abortion? On same-sex marriage?”
Am I to give her a pass because of some past wrongs? Should I refrain from criticizing because of my own (different) color?
Sad to say, today’s black culture is filled with religious cant (listen to any NAACP speaker); but much of that religion is only an inherited part of ethnic identity, to be guarded as part of that identity.
I do not believe “the Lord” guides anyone to support abortion, nor gay rights. And the incongruity of a culture which outwardly proclaims its religiousness and yet eagerly endorses what the church(es) with unanimity have rejected through all the centuries, is another aspect of these matters which needs to be addressed (yes, even criticized).
For Bender:
If we have love, you won’t be afraid to be naked.
Andrew Breitbart, three conservative bloggers, the Anchoress, Drudge and FNS. My goodness, that’s quite the diabolical cabal! I’ll be more careful when I’m around (so to speak) any of you from now on.
Ace’s facts-previously-not-known-about-Dick-Cheney thread was one of the all-time greats (I’m proud to say I contributed a few). And, yes, it can get very vulgar and profane over there. I guess that’s one of the reasons I like it. I laugh often and hard.
Best of luck with your dog. I hope she feels better and is back to her sweet and joyful self very soon.
If we have love, you won’t be afraid to be naked.
Whoa, dude. I didn’t know you meant that kind of love!
I don’t. “Naked” in this context is the same metaphor as in my original post.
Update : See Riehl world video (hosted on youtube) of Charles Sherrod. It speaks for itself.
Ace doesn’t respond to any one’s emails. Maybe its time we realized that the drunk lazy apathetic image isn’t just an image? That’s part of Ace’s appeal.
The New Black Panther Case and the Sherrod affair are just additional indicators that the Left, led by the Obama administration, are determined to refuse to permit Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream to emerge victorious. For men to be judged by their character, rather than by their skin color, race-baiting leftists would suffer because there is too much power and money on the table and in the federal trough, as the Sherrod affair exposed so nicely. Peggy Noonan is a fool for urging the entire Sherrod video be inflicted on school children. As if school kids need more instruction that white people in general and conservatives in particular are racists. One more reason to homeschool.