Bigotry Alert
Hey, how’d this sneak in? LA Times: West Virginia could spell trouble for Obama. That’s not supposed to be part of the story line. I thought it was all over, he was anointed.
It’s about West Virginia as the canary in the coal mine of American electorial racism. Hill’s still supposed to go, but now they’re working on the excuse for Obama’s November loss. There’s an odd line in there, by the way:
The concerns of party members who live amid this rolling landscape of soybean fields, poultry plants and retirement cabins mirror those of many white Democrats nationwide: Some fear voters will be turned off by Obama’s black heritage. Others, they say, will find reason to doubt his patriotism or will perceive him to be an elitist.
I’m pretty sure “Some fear voters will be turned off by Obama’s black heritage” is code for “white hillbillies are froth-spitting bigots.” Then there’s “Others, they say, will find reason to doubt his patriotism or will perceive him as an elitist.” All very sensitively and utterly gutlessly couched, gracefully eliding the fact that Obama’s problem that has emerged among rural white voters has been a matter largely of stupid things he’s said, and stupid things those around him have said, which have been insulting to white voters and rural/working class ones in particular when not outright racist. It’s not his “black heritage,” it’s his more recent association with a black liberationist church and its wackjob bigot of a former pastor.
It remains unclear how racial unease will factor into election-day decisions come November. Those hidden impulses are elusively difficult to capture in polling. But seasoned Democratic players here reckon that some racially tinged voting will inevitably occur far beyond Hardy County’s cresting hills.
“There’s a lot of bigotry in the country, not just West Virginia,” See said.
No kidding. You should check on United Trinity Church in Chicago. They’ve got froth-spitting racists there. The LA Times scribbler did a pretty good job, though. Found some cracker farmer who would have more guns that teeth even if he has all his teeth. Then again, how hard could that be among the snake handlers? The president of the ”West Virginia Coon Hunters Association” is in there, too. Any self-respecting race-baiting reporter who doesn’t manage to hunt down the state’s top coon hunter for a quote isn’t trying.
Then again, there is that thing about the dean of the state’s Democratic delegation and the old Klan konnection. How come they didn’t mention that?
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 3:31 pm on Saturday, May 10, 2008
10 Responses to “Bigotry Alert”
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May 10th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
In my opinion, the main difference between rural/working class Democrats and other Democrats is not that they won’t vote for a black man, it’s that they won’t vote for him just because he’s black. Big difference.
May 10th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
The old “some say” and “others say” topped off by the “Others, they say” — the old Katie Couric style of interviewing. Never saying who the some, others and they are. My impression when I read a story like this? The reporter sitting in his room, thinking that since it is what he believes, then surely if he just went out and asked people he would find them saying this. But since he is too lazy to go find out if it is true, he can just make up the story line with “some say” “others say” and have a grand old time.
May 10th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
[...] agree with Dan Collins’s description of this. Assorted Babble: Unelectable Jules Crittenden: Bigotry Alert Atlas Shrugs: Obama is a Songbird Locked in this Cage Called America. Sister Toldjah reports on the [...]
May 10th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
You’re right, Bill. They’re called “weasel words” and they should always be used with caution. Even Wikipedia, that bastion of accuracy, warns against their use. Obviously, “some” will always “say” just about anything you could possibly imagine.
May 10th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
I’d like to see the Times visit some place where there are a lot of black voters and try to find the one in ten who don’t vote for BO and find out why these Uncle Toms aren’t with the program.. But I don’t expect it any time soon.
May 10th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
So there are whites who vote Democrat and are bigoted? How is that possible? I thought code for that was “Republican”.
This whole Democrat primary has the media chasing its own tail. “Operation Chaos” seems to be working better than expected.
May 10th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
[...] Blog reactions are interesting. Conservative Jules Crittenden: “You should check on United Trinity Church in Chicago. They’ve got froth-spitting racists [...]
May 10th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
If anything, most of America was ready to vote for a black man who wasn’t Jesse Jackson, or Al Sharpton, or some other shuck n’ jive hipster. Sure, some whites won’t vote for a black person no matter what, but I seriously doubt there were enough numbers there to matter, since Obama was on his campaign of “putting the past behind us” and “uniting America for the future”. Unfortunately, the reality didn’t measure up to the hype, and if Obama loses in November, he only has himself to blame. But, of course, he won’t.
May 10th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
This was and is a well crafted campaign by Barack and Michelle. Injecting race into the campaign, without admitting we are injecting race, into the campaign.
If you’re with us, you’re one of the ‘hood. Against us, you’re a bigot. Damn cute, I tell ya’.
This is life imitating art in the form of the movie “The Jerk”, in reverse.
May 12th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
I was born a poor white child…