This time, it's the reaction to my post about the two South Carolina Republican county chairs who used a sterotype of Jews being penny pinchers in a misguided and failed attempt to praise Sen. Jim DeMint's frugal fiscal policies. The comments really made no sense, and the next day the two South Carolinians apologized.
The point of my post was to contrast the criticism of these comments with the warm embrace Democrats gave and still give people like Al Sharpton who never have apologized for much worse comments about Jews. The South Carolinians' comments, and my criticisms, had nothing to do with any racial issues.
Jesse Taylor at Pandagon, however, couldn't help but invoke the race card when attacking my post:
When a Republican says something that’s racist or ethnically offensive, it never actually is, so long as it’s about black people. (Or, really, anyone, but mainly black people.) If they’re in any way affiliated with any form of entertainment, it was a joke. If the slur was in any way based on any perceivable version of reality (i.e., it’s okay to say that Mexicans are lazy baby machines, because many Mexicans own beds, and the only reason you own a bed is to sleep and make Mexican babies), then really, the people being slurred have to explain why anyone would think that way about them.I guess it's easier to play the race card than to deal with the fact -- as pointed out in my prior post -- that the Democratic Party had Al Sharpton speak at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 despite: The Tawana Brawley hoax, the Crown Heights "diamond merchant" incitement, the Freddie's Fashion Mart "white interlopers" slur, and all the other Al Sharpton agitations directed at Jews which predated that invitation.
One of Pandagon's commenters understood my point, even if its proprietor did not get it:
[Bamberg County GOP Chairman Edwin] Merwin’s comments were more recent, to be sure. But the anti-Semitic nature of them had nothing to do with the political point of what he was attempting to make. He was using a blatantly anti-Semitic analogy to make a point that had nothing to do with Jews qua Jews. Sharpton was unambigously playing anti-Semitic politics in a potentially violent way. Huge difference. Jacobson was presumably saying: Yeah, Merwin’s a douche, but there are bigger problems when it comes to prominent figures and anti-Semitism. You can disagree with that, but it’s not ridiculous. It’s best to let people decide for themselves what they are offended by.As usual, the use of the race card reflected poorly on the person playing the game.
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As a small panda from Detroit, I am offended by the moronic comments of Jesse at PANDAgon.
ReplyDeleteHe's not the Rev Jesse is he? I can only wonder what worm in his head created the Mexican slurs which he calls "examples".
But I guess a slur is "okay if it's an example"
P.S. Thanks for the "Blog Of The Day" boost.
Now here's the thing. My American cousins are Mexican-American-Australian by birth. I am not sure whether my uncle John was born in USA or across the border but the fact is, they are part Latino. Yes, it sure is a nasty type slur on Mexicans if people really say that kind of thing.
ReplyDeleteI got your original point about what was said. If I was a Jew I would have been less offended by the comment of the two Republicans because they did not mean to put down Jews in their statement. The comments that came from Sharpton are a very different matter.
As an Australian, and also one born in Melbourne, who lived in East St.Kilda (the area most populated by Jews in Melbourne is St.Kilda, Balaclava, Kew and surrounding areas) for the first 2 years of my life, yes I have an interest in what took place at Crown Heights because one of the 2 men murdered was an Hasidic Jew from Melbourne...... ya know we stand by our own... The fact is that Rosenbaum was murdered because of the inciting comments by Sharpton at the funeral of the child killed because of the car accident.
If ever there was a reason to make claims about incitements that led to death and murder then what comes out of Sharpton's mouth, more than out of Jackson's mouth, definitely fits the bill. Yet the loonies on the left claim all manner of things about people like Limbaugh. The real facts tell a very different story..... Sharpton should be jailed for his inflammatory comments.