The brothers are shocked - Shocked! - that conservative talk radio hosts could have the audacity to suggest Deval Patrick is going to win the race. Deval can't possibly have regained his "pre-LaGuer numbers." Why?Negative ads can backfire, but not when the content of the ad is true.
Case. Point. Match. (Believe it or not, they emphasis isn't mine.)
Really, the Hub's Aaron Margolis went on to explain just how true Kerry Healey's ads are - because the truth can never be distorted. I mean, it's not as if Kerry Healey went over the top, or even flat-out lies. I mean, she'd never stoop so low as to send campaign volunteers to stalk Deval and his campaign manager's house, especially when only a 12 year old boy was home.
Sadly, the Margolis twins have a very strange thought pattern. For example,
No, this is not about shilling for Kerry Healey...by now everyone ought know I am anything but a shill for Kerry Healey.Wait a minute. Ha.. haha... BWAHAHAHAHAHA LOLERS HAHAHA haha ha. Okay, now I'm better. I've never seen anyone "shill" for anyone more than the Margolises. They can't even admit Kerry Healey's losing when even the Herald says she's dead in the water.
Sometimes it can be painful to see candidates we like lose - I guess the Margolises must really like Kerry Healey. I tried to prepare myself with Bonifaz and Dunkelbarger during the primaries - but I knew it was a long shot. I knew the cards were stacked against them. I knew that Deval's army made it harder for guys like Bonifaz to recruit his own army - there are only so many troops available. If the Margolises don't want to look like the shills they are, then they need to stop acting the part. They should apologize for or at least correct their mistakes. They should admit the polls are more likely to be right than wrong (there were three of them out on one day, after all). Of course, the "fat lady hasn't sung," but the Margolis bros. collectively sinking their fingers deep into their eardrums and screaming "LALALALA" at the top of their lungs isn't going to help their candidates cause - but it does bring me intense, schadenfruedic pleasure.
Posts
47 comments:
HubPolitics has officially jumped the shark. Scott Cartman Miller, too.
What do the polls say about the other big race? I assume Ted Chapaquidick Kennedy will win big too. What a state we live in.
Awwww, somebody's mad because Laura "my boyfriend's in the crosswalk, I'm stepping on the gas" Bush cancelled out on KKK Kerry's latest skinhead rally?
"What a state we live in."
Governor?
You should apologize for calling her "KKK Kerry," that's way over the line, and my line is further out there than most.
Yeah, I should apologize, I meant to call her Klandidate KKK Kerry and her Klanpaign (credit to Owen Broadhurst for coming up with that).
Aaron, your concern for your girlfriend is heartwarming, but now that she's got the Skinhead Army, they can defend her just fine.
Aaron, you need to get a grip. Halloween is coming, and gosh for some unknown TOTALLY INEXPLICABLE REASON the white sheet jokes are flowing fast and furious everywhere you look. If you want to police the internet for jokes about Healey's blatant racism, you're going to be a busy guy. Your perrogative, of course, but that's really going to cut into the time you have to write misleading screeds against Deval.
It's all a matter of perspective. Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks, and the reality is there are always going to be some people who look at blatant racism and don't like it. Think it's very, very bad. Serious even. Especially people who are directly affacted by it. For whom it's more than some abstract theorhetical issue.
Then there are going to be people who think, racism, ehhh, I couldn't care less, but oh no, she's being mocked and criticized for her actions? GASP!
On the one hand, you've got people who think sending teams of white supremacists to menace children, why that's awful! On the other, how dare that jerk put his house there just where she wanted to have that important campaign meeting! How vicious!
Diff'rent strokes.
Thing is, though, you can care or don't care, people don't get to tell other people how to feel about things. Like a white guy who doesn't experience racism doesn't get to tell anyone who for all we know may very well face it every day, how to feel about it or how to react to blatant race baiting. That's just wrong.
I'm not saying it warrents an apology, because, well, here's a good old country saying, "You want somebody to apologize? You first."
Since you're having a problem with people's views, if you try really hard betcha even you could probably come up with something to apologize for, and maybe you actualy doing it would be impressive and more likely to gain reciprocation than acting all entitled and unrepentant.
And just to make your life easier, I'll end with another ol' country saying, "Don't invite me to a cross burning and tell me it's a bonfire."
Dude, let's make a deal. Every single person who's ever made a crack at the expense of The Frail Flower of Outraged Confederate Womanhood will apologize for it just as soon as you produce your blistering critique of such things as her using state agencies to discover confidential information about her opponent's family members and slapping it across the tabloid press, etc. etc. etc.
Or since there's zero chance of that happening, just as soon as Kerry herself apologizes for her reprehesible and shameful campaign and drops out of the race, which frankly is more likely.
Just to keep you honest, here are a couple of quotes from you, Aaron, found during a quick perusal of your blog: "At this point, I actually do feel bad for Ryan. He seems to think that politics is all dandelions and butterflies....Sorry Ryan, but politics is a tough business, and there’s bound to be a little hardball in any close race.
The sad irony to all of this is that Ryan, like so many of Mr. Patrick’s supporters, often acts as if someone has insulted his girlfriend every time something less than flattering is said about Mr. Patrick. However, I assure you that Patrick himself is not getting all upset by people saying mean things about him. He’s a big boy, and he can handle criticism. He knew what he was getting into when he entered this race, and he chose to enter it anyway"
Hmmm. Now does that ONLY apply to Patrick? Cuz those are interesting thoughts.
Kinda OT, but I also like this gem from Aaron's blog: First poster, "Would you, Ryan Adams, support Tom Reilly if he wins the nomination? Or are you going to pull a Nader move and give the corner office to Healey?"
Second poster, "I want to make sure that Aaron would also support the nominee no matter who it is..."
Aaron replies: "I would."
Me: *chokes*
a political science student - using this blog as a practice now?
Yes, and if you read my most recent blog you will see that I do intend to vote for Patrick...I'm not really enthusiastic about it, but I'm voting for him.
Hey Johny,
It's my personal outlet... I love writing, politics... and now I just put the two together.
Sure, dude, you'll "probably" or is it "might" this time, vote for him, if only no one can convince you to vote for Healey, and your level of support has been impressive, really. As long as we accept that the definition of "support" varies among cultures there must be one where yours qualifies. Let's all imagine if Reilly had won and how we and Deval would all be working our butts off for him (and not by following your stellar example) and how you'd be complaining that it's just not enough and we're disloyal hypocrites who should be doing more, more, more, evil Naderites! Consistency dude, hobgoblin of little minds and all that. LMAO
I'm not going to ignore things about him that I find unsavory just b/c I find him to be slightly better than his opponent.
If Reilly had won and you were working for him, I'd be happy to have you on board. And I would not be calling anyone a hypocrite or Naderite, but thanks for putting words in my mouth. I never made any sort of pledge to work for Deval, so I couldn't care less that my level of support does not meet your standards.
Get over yourself, dude. Nobody cares about what you do or don't do, believe me. The point is, when you guys were riding high and you thought you were a lock, it was all about the usual "You people had better get on board or else! We don't care how you feel, you owe us your full support or you're scuzzy disloyal traitors." That was the point of the loyalty oath, everybody needed to take it but you forgot to mention if you lost it all bets were off.
The minute things didn't go your way, we discover, to our total lack of shock, that unlike always when we lose but we come back and suport the other guy anyway, party loyalty is often talked about on your side with regard to other people but you're under no obligation. It's a one way street. It's hilarious. Do whatever you want but next time around stop thinking anybody owes you any stops on your one way street.
If Reilly had won and you were working for him, I'd be happy to have you on board
Oh sure Aaron. If I was acting like you and showing my pledged "support" whining and crying about how much I hate Tom Reilly and how personally loathsome I find him and spreading negative not all together accurate stuff all over and calling people up and saying "Hey, Tom's an old school throwback that represents everything I don't like about Mass politics, I'm not even going to vote for him myself, well I might, maybe, maybe not, but I'll never get over how my guy lost and oh can I tell you how much I hate Reilly and why? Deval Patrick thinks Reilly sucks, too. Vote Reilly!" you'd be all psyched about it. It's good that you can say that with a straight face. You'd be whining and crying about that the way you whine and cry about Deval right now. If Deval had lost and his supporters were acting like sore losers and whiners, dude, you'd be ready to have a stroke. It would stir you even more deeply than when people don't see how super cool Kerry the Racist is.
Which is fine, but don't except anyone else to act better or stick to their word more than you in the future, well they will but you shouldn't expect it or demand it, you can only take it to the well so many times.
"when you guys were riding high and you thought you were a lock, it was all about the usual "You people had better get on board or else! We don't care how you feel, you owe us your full support or you're scuzzy disloyal traitors.""
Yeah, except I never said that or felt that way at all. But thanks for putting words in my mouth AGAIN.
Aaron, get off your high horse. You got caught out completely contradicting your own words not once but twice, and your response is to take some kind of umbrage at being expected to fulfill your word? That rings a little hollow from someone who's always calling people out yet always self righteously demanding people apologize with high moral indignation over things he doesn't even appear to minimally comprehend.
You might as well fall back on some of your other greatest hits, maybe suggest that anyone who perceives that you have a double standard for your own behavior spent their first few years in some state 1500 miles away or is a multimillionaire or whatever you can dream up and then deny saying or claim you did say or whatever.
I do, however, think that it needs to be pointed out that almost all of the Reilly supporters who said they'd support the eventual nominee actually meant it, and even most of those who didn't at least aren't doing whatever they can to help Healey smear Patrick further. It's unfortunate that the small number of whiny ass titty babies on BMG happen to be Reilly supporters because that's giving a bad impression overall.
Reilly's a good guy and I'm sure he's more embarassed than anyone by some of his supporters' behavior but as frustrating as it is, again, it doesn't reflect anything like the majority.
No, I don't think I will get off my high horse, but thanks for the suggestion. And I am certainly not helping Healey smear Patrick, if that is what you are implying. If I wanted to help Healey, I would start by voting for her. What I am doing is speaking the truth as I see it. Clearly you see it differently, and that is fine. If the things about Patrick that bother me don't happen to bother you, then good for you.
And I'm not "Always self righteously demanding" that people apologize. I stated that an apology was appropriate once, because I felt that the implication that Kerry Healey is associated with the KKK was way unfair and way off the mark. If someone can prove to me that she is in some way affiliated with the KKK, then I will rescind my request for an apology.
Why remain "Anonymous?"
Not to butt in the conversation, but I do have one thing to input.
A lot of people in the news have been talking about how two particular ads - one by a candidate and one by the RNC - are blatantly racist. There was so much talk about it and wide consensus that it was racist that even Chris Matthews of MSNBC was railing against it (and let's face it, he's not the most liberal guy on the block). They were both against candidate for senator Ford in Tenn.
I saw the commercial and heard the radio ad in question - and I think they pale in comparison to Kerry's attacks in terms of outrageousness. Yet, Johnston of the Democratic Party suggested that Kerry may have been using racist tactics, the whole media began beating up against him and Kerry Healey demanded he step down and that Deval should see to it.
So, my question is if the ads against Ford are racist, aren't Kerry Healey's? And, why did the media in Boston react so differently than the national media and Tennessee media in Ford's case.
Discuss. LOL
Well...first of all, and I actually feel silly even saying this, but I think you have every right to butt in, seeing as we are on your turf here. I heard about those ads as well, though I have not seen them. (Sidenote--I'd say Mathews is pretty liberal, he did used to work for President Carter afterall.) But anyway, wasn't Johnston's accusation way before the attack ads started?
I don't know if the ads against Ford are racist, b/c I haven't seen or heard them. But if they are, that doesn't necessarily mean that Healey's are. You have to look at each case individually. I have looked closely at Healey's ads, and concluded that there is nothing inherently racist about them. She is a Republican, and I'm sure she would be running these ads against a white guy if he had written letters on behalf of LaGeur as DP did.
Chris Matthews really got going with his fairly biased Clinton bashing. And while this isn't damning evidence, it's good circumstancial evidence: his brother either ran for political office or thought of running for political office - and it was as a Republican. I'll agree that Chris Matthews is no O'Rielly or Hannity - and occasionally has his good moments - but he's historically been harder on the Clinton administration and Democrats than he was on Republicans and Bush. Maybe he's just following the lead of the rest of the media.
As for Phil Johnston, I'm pretty sure his comments came right after the Songer ad (Willie Hortonizing) and LaGuer attacks came out (though, I'm not sure if there was a LaGuer ad up yet, but I know there was a Songer one and I know the LaGuer attacks did start at least in rhetoric if not on TV).
In any event, here's where you can find both the radio and TV ad, with a little context.
I agree with Aaron. Life is what you make of it. I can pretend that my hands are made of puppies, and that means my hands are made of puppies. It's so neato to have hands MADE OF PUPPIES!
I can pretend the sky is red, and the sky is red!
I can pretend that I'm not helping Healey to smear Deval when I write highly selective and misleading posts that rehash her bs. Cuz gosh I pledged my support, so therefore whatever I do is support--I can pretend!
I can pretend Chris Matthews is liberal. Remotely liberal (that one's hard but I can do it!) Hey! If you watch, all he ever does is bash liberals, so that means he pledged to support liberals and he doing it just like me! Wow, he is a liberal, I don't even have to pretend!
I can pretend that there's a super special "welcoming committee" just for African Americans that involves skinheads, Confederate flags, and burning crosses and anybody who has a problem with it is really weird!
I can pretend that Johnson made attacks against Kerry for being ract way before she started running ads that everyone but me in the known universe can see are egregiously racist! Why wouldn't he, everyone was just waiting to accuse her of something for no reason, like they've never hired skinheads!
I can pretend that if everyone else in the world can see something I can't it's not because I'm ignorant and need be educated but because I'm the only one who can "really" see.
I can pretend that I can see two feet in front of my face!
I can pretend that the Willie Horton ad wasn't racist either, because even though it used racial imagery to tie black men to rape and crime, it was used against one white candidate by another. It could only be racist if used against a white candidate by a black one, and even then, not! I can't believe people who only have 9 billion times more of a clue than I do have a problem when her narrator says "brutal rapist" and it pulls back to a black man's mugshot followed by a picture of Deval! I can't believe everyone can read her subtle messages but me!
I can pretend that it's weird to imply that a gruesome racist who ran her Latino neighbor out of town and sends skinheads to people's houses finds numerous uses for white sheets! Not that it matters, because I can just pretend that the KKK is a friendly fraternal organization, anyway!
I can pretend that if Kerry Healey hired thugs who ended up not just terrorizing John Walsh's kid but killing him, I'd be upset. I would, of course, but only at that bastard Deval for not thinking it was completely okay, what's his problem?I can pretend there's something she would do I owuldn't approve of! No, probably not the cross burning...
I can pretend whatever I want to! Yippee!
You have a great gift for pretending life is the way you want it to be, those of us who are unforunately constrained by reality are envious.
Sorry for the sarcasm, Ryan, but it's like, knock knock, anybody home. Who doesn't love the utterly clueless white boy racism expert/apologist. Hey! I can pretend somebody is home!
blah, that wasn't the link I meant. However, it has the Matthews rant on it - and the ads are just a google click away.
I can't believe how much time you've wasted on me. Each comment is longer than the last. Shouldn't you be out knocking on doors spreading hope or something? What a sore winner. Your candidate is ahead by 86 points, Kerry Healey is going to lose, everyone knows it. Why are you so bitter??
Hoo boy (rolls eyes)
"No, I don't think I will get off my high horse, but thanks for the suggestion."
You go Aaron, swin against teh tide. remain mounted, that's learn 'em.
"And I am certainly not helping Healey smear Patrick, if that is what you are implying."
I guess people are reading the wrong whiny blog, then. Thanks for clarifying.
"If I wanted to help Healey, I would start by voting for her."
Which we all know you're gonna do, and good on ya, she needs the support.
"And I'm not "Always self righteously demanding" that people apologize. I stated that an apology was appropriate once,"
Not exactly. This isn't the first time you've popped up to defend your girl and demand that anyone who doesn't like KKK Kerry (you wanna T-shirt, btw? I'm thinking of having some made, think they'll sell but you can have a freebee)being a racist cleanse themselves of their venal sins.
"then I will rescind my request for an apology."
No doubt that means a lot to everyone involved.
Why remain "Anonymous?"
Um. Do we know each other? Oh, no, damn, you're not thinking of tracking down everyone who doesn't like KKK Kerry so she can send her special "BFFs" over to visit with us next? Sadly, many of us are white, and though I know you don't understand why, Kerry's special friends often have more pressing appointments than with white people. As Stephen Colbert says, "I don't see color. I only know I'm white because I belong to an all-white country club."
I can't believe how much time you've wasted on me
Are you honestly this stupid?
Let me clue you in, 100 "anonymous" comments does not necessarily equal 100 comments from one person. Jesus!
I have to agree though that any time spent talking to you is a waste.
I'll pass on the t-shirt, but I'm a large if you want to send one anyway. (If you could specify that it's KKK Kerry Healey that would be great, I don;t want anyone to confuse her with our other Kerry, though I'm sure you have some evidence of him being a Jew-hater or something.)
Popping up to defend someone isn't the same as asking for an apology.
And what's a BFF? Big Fat Fuck? Best Friends Forever? You'll have to enlighten me, I'm not quite as well-versed in blog lingo as you are.
"I'm sure you have some evidence of him being a Jew-hater or something.)"
No sweetheart, that's a form of racism and we both know that's all made up. Who would know better than us? Don't be silly.
You're right, but asking for an apology is the same thing as asking for an apology. But if it's you and you asked for an apology and you're claiming that you didn't ask for an apology, well then this must be Earth.
Best Friends Forever! Kerry is going to be wcked mad if you start implying she doesn't love her skinhead crew like her own kin. Which, in Deval's case, would be rapists!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/24/AR2006102401447.html
Here is an article about Deval, the Commonwealth, and race.
Aaron should not read it because it would scare him, but everybody else will get something out of it, good read.
Ryan, thank you for playing host to this nonsense.
Anon, thank you for a lively debate. I'll be expecting my t-shirt in the weeks ahead.
Yeah Ryan, I do want to apologize for my role in hijacking your thread, it probably should have moved over to Aaron's Den of Denial or somewhere.
Oh, comment away! My comments are a free speech zone, so long as there are no threats (or commercial advertisements, those are annoying). Vulgarity, sarcasm, angry ranting, etc. are all allowed =p
A lot of people in the news have been talking about how two particular ads - one by a candidate and one by the RNC - are blatantly racist. There was so much talk about it and wide consensus that it was racist that even Chris Matthews of MSNBC was railing against it (and let's face it, he's not the most liberal guy on the block). They were both against candidate for senator Ford in Tenn.
I actually find that kind of astounding. The racism of the anti-Ford ads is much more subtle. It's clear but it's not hit you over the head and bludgeon you a few times for good measure like Healey's ads.
A lot of it depends on subtext and the specter of lynchings, white rural Southern male fears of miscegenation and so on. They're not in nearly the same category of overtness, even though it's clear the RNC wants to send the signal that if you wouldn't like tha guy to date your daughter you shouldn't be voting for him.
The fact that people like Matthews, who can always be counted on to pretend that don't see it, pooh pooh it and wish it away, keep up the consensus that nothing ever crosses a line, are actually acknowledging it?
They must really be expecting a shift in the political landscape. They're changing horses already.
"The racism of the anti-Ford ads is much more subtle."
Not the jungle drums.
It's a great day for civilization when in 2006 the hot debate topic in the blogosphere has to be whether it's more racist to imply that your opponent is a dangerous criminal you should be afraid of because he's black or to use jungle imagery to make sure that low information rural voters figure out your light skinned opponent is actually black.
I'm getting worried. Racial appeals have pretty much always worked in the past. Ford is in real troube and I hope Patrick isn't suffering from the "Doug Wilder Effect."
The jungle drums is what did it for me. I thought the RNCC you could make an argument one way or the other (and I'd tend towards against the RNCC because they know exactly what they're doing), but the campaign's radio ad is pretty blatant.
Still, I think Kerry Healey's LaGuer and Songer ads were worse.
the "Doug Wilder Effect."
I don't think so. I don't want to get overconfident, but I think things are different in Virginia.
Up here, people are blunt and they enjoy telling callers in no uncertain terms that they're not voting for your guy. :) In VA, they have that polite, genteel image to maintain.
Also, if it's a national polling firm, Virginians have an interest in not living up to their image as part of the South so they'd be more likely to fudge. There are probably not as many people here who realize our image isn't so great either, and they probably don't care.
Still, I think Kerry Healey's LaGuer and Songer ads were worse.
I agree, the RNC are always strong contenders, but the local upstarts take it down in a knockout. I wonder if it's a big contest between them now? Skinheads at 12 paces at dawn?
Stop being mean to Aaron. It's not easy being the guy with the 45 inch skull and no cerebral cortex. Think of how he felt when they'd show the World War II slides and all the other kids in the class would gasp and cry, and he'd be grunting and drooling and insisting he didn't see a thing, the slide was totally blank? Having it pointed out every day by 7 year olds that even with a liquified brain Terry Shiaivo's more sentient than you leaves its mark on a person. Anyway, the fact that you're being mean to him goes right over his head like everything else so quit wasting time. :)
"I'm sure you have some evidence of him being a Jew-hater or something.)"
Nah, all we've got is footage of him jumping up and down screaming I'm a Jew hater while wearing a sign saying I'm a Jew hater and holding a sign saying I'm a Jew hater and pointing to a sign saying I'm a Jew hater while using another sign saying I'm a Jew hater to beat a group of Jews and sending Nazis to attack other Jews. So, no, no evidence that could convince your keen and subtle mind.
The UNCF slogan is actually "A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste" not "It Sucks to Have a Mind So Just Don't Use It, Ever." The consequences of making that common mistake have been tragic.
According to Pensito Review, WallMart has fired the producer of the Ford ad.
http://www.pensitoreview.com/2006/10/28/wal-mart-fires-producer-of-racist-ad-in-tenn-senate-race/
In today's Globe, Jeff Jacoby writes:
"The same litmus test exonerates Kerry Healey's much-maligned TV commercials against Deval Patrick in the Massachusetts governor's fight. In one ad, a woman of indeterminate race is shown walking to her car in a parking garage, while a voiceover reminds viewers that Patrick has "praised a convicted rapist." Another ad shows a picture of Carl Songer, a white cop-killer Patrick represented and saved from death row. Both ads imply that Patrick is too soft on crime; both are harsh and heavy-handed. But neither one makes even a veiled reference to race, and it is disgusting to see them slandered as racist. Patrick may be black, but either ad would be precisely as effective if he were white.
From the moment Patrick won the Democratic primary, partisans angled to lob the race mudball at his Republican opponent. Just two days into the general election campaign, the state's Democratic Party chairman accused Healey of coming "close to race-baiting" by discussing illegal immigration. It was a disgraceful accusation -- and a hint of the racial McCarthyism to come."
LOL Thanks Aaron. I thought you were the only pig ignorant white boy in the world. Now that you prove there's TWO of you, it helps your case.
But Jeff Jacoby--well, if anyone takes racism seriously it's him. I'd say at least 99% of his columns are about the pernicious effects of racism. He's hardly a Republican hack who will pull anything out of his ass to defend the indefensible and hope that there are a few morons stupid enough to fall for it. It would actually help your cae if you could find someone who actually acknowledges and disapproves of racism who doesn't think this is racist. Only you can't because that person doesn't exist. Don't let it worry you, though.
"From the moment Patrick won the Democratic primary, partisans angled to lob the race mudball at his Republican opponent."
Translation: you know what those dark skinned people are like. When they're not committing crimes, raping our women and cutting our throats, they're stealing our tax money so they can live off their lazy checks, those lazy asses. When they're not doing that, they're crying racism so they can persecute us. It's what they do.
"Just two days into the general election campaign, the state's Democratic Party chairman accused Healey of coming "close to race-baiting" by discussing illegal immigration"
Translation: Healey didn't pull this issue out of her ass to appeal to bigots and stupid people who fear other races. Wedge issue? You say the GOP has an issue of using wedge issues to appeal to racism? Oh sure, maybe in Reality. This is the most important issue facing Massachusetts. Anyone who doesn't agree must have a brain cell. Oh sure, just because lunatics are menacing teh Mexican border and threatening immigrants with guns, while doing nothing at the Cnadain border, this is a wedge issue ased on biogtry? HA!
"It was a disgraceful accusation -- and a hint of the racial McCarthyism to come."
Translation: Being a racist is awesome! The entire modern Republican strategy is based on bigotry and associating black men with crime. If people start getting on to that, we got nothing. Let's just hope that there are enough 18 year old white imbeciles who don't know a damn thing about a damn thing but will have no problem thinking they know better than people of color who know this, live this, study this(ie, overly sensitive potential criminals) because they read a six word bumper sticker and understood two words of it and can't even consider the possibility that just because they don't have a freaking clue, they might be wrong.
Aaron, I do have to say though, you have touched my heart. I didn't think anything could be more important to you than spending all your time going all over repeating Healey's ignorant bullshit talking points.
I think, now, however, that your love is truly pure. I have no doubt that you'd stop in the middle of crafting one of the arguments that make hearts flutter with its erudition and command of the subject matter, say, "You said she is invoking race b/c she refers to LeGeur, a black man. But she does not refer to his race. She correctly refers to the fact that he tied up a 59 year old lady and raped her for 8 hours. That’s somebody’s mother, somebody’s grandmother, and Deval Patrick came to this scumbag’s defense b/c he writes nice letters?" and shift gears to explain that Kerry burned a cross on Devals's lawn only to provide warmth and beauty,a dn anybody who doesn't get it is MCCarthyite (if you understood what that means or disapproved of McCarthy, that is).
Your desire to revel in ignorance leads you to want to defend your love against the truth more than to smear Deval with stupidity and lies. *sobs* It's so beautiful, we need to move Election Day to Valentine's Day! It's the most beautiful love story since Taxi Driver.
Ignorance is curable. Learning is not scary. You don't have to be this stupid.
Aaron, I strongly suspect that you're really Michael Berube or the local version of Michael Berube doing a parody, but if you are, you need to start stepping it up. If you're not, you've seriously jumped the shark.
You can do better than this. Jeff Jacoby? Why stop there? I can give you tons of other names who can back you up here.
Okay, sure, they're all either 1) people who benefit from using racist campaign themes to pick off white suburban soccer moms and white working class male "Reagan Democrats" who tend to vote Republican because of racial resentment, like Lee Atwater and about a baziilion Republican politicians (though he did feel massive guilt over Willie Horton on his death bed)
2) People who benefit from minimizing racism, see above
3) People who make really disingenuous arguments full of significant omissions and mischaracterizations to prop up groups 1 and 2 (sound familiar at all? Like when discussing laGuer, which you've done a time or two, an important omission might be, oh,the Constitutional guarantee to a fair trial and the actual circumstances of LaGuer's, just for example)
4) People like, for example, my Great Aunt Elizabeth, who is really upset that that (fill-in-the-blank) is being so mean to that nice white lady. Auntie's a nice enough old lady herself, and there are some black people she actually likes, but she tends to be afraid of any African American or Mexican American she doesn't know and to think they're either criminals or coming here to steal our jobs/get on welfare, depends on the wetaher that day.
But so what? Having 14 shady guys with questionable motives making insipid non arguments is better than just one. If you list a bunch of paragraphs from these guys, it will look a lot more safety-in-numbers impressive, and people might forget that it's Bill O'Reilly, Dick Cheney, David Duke, Rush Limbaugh, George Allen, and so on, and they're not actually saying anything that makes any sense.
Gah, I am so tempted to send you links to some blogs (primarily POC blogs) where there's been some excellent discussion by some brilliant superknowledgeable people, but I can't. I know whatever's said, it's just going to roll right off your 45 inch thick skull and neck without making a dent, and also I know you can't just listen and consider and absorb, you'd have to jump in and burden the bloggers with all your profound insight and tell them how little they understand without you there to explain it to them.
I'm just curious, is there anything that you think is racist? Anything, like, ever, in the history of the world?
And if there were, can you even imagine getting upset about it?
Maybe devoting half as much time and thought to the badness of racism as you do to the alleged epidemic of people who are just as sweet as sugar cream pie being subjected to grossly unfair accusations of racism?
It's not that clear that grossly unfair accusations upset you much in general, considering you do seem to make your share against DP, repeating some of Healey's lowest common denomenator stuff verbatim.
And also--the skinheads? The ones she sent to attack people outside the debate and at their private homes?
How do you and Jacoby feel about those?
Let me guess--they weren't real skinheads, they just looked like them. They were guys with shaved heads, which only indicates something to people determined to read into it, she deserves the benefit of the doubt no matter how it looks. She's not running a racist campaign, period forveer and forveer amen, no matte what she does she CAN'T run a racist campaign, so it would be crazy to assume that guys with skinheads are or are made to represent skinheads? Nobody confronting an angry man with a shaved head should read into it?
She didn't send them, she had nothing to do with it, they're just overzealous volunteers she can't control, because it has nothing to do with the racism or her campaign, there is no racism, it's all an illusion? Or a collective delusion? One more giant coincidence in an unbroken string of giant coincidences?
I'm curious, how does that get spun away?
"But Jeff Jacoby--well, if anyone takes racism seriously it's him. I'd say at least 99% of his columns are about the pernicious effects of racism. He's hardly a Republican hack who will pull anything out of his ass to defend the indefensible and hope that there are a few morons stupid enough to fall for it"
If you're being snarky, that's super unfair. Here's a quote from Jeff from a Sept. '96 column entitled, "Four more years? Here are 40 reasons to say no!"
"46. Deval Patrick, quota king"
Let me go out on a limb, Aar, too subtle for you? I'm pretty sure there's absolutely no racial connotations to "quota king," Jeff is right, and anyone who thinks it was wrong of Healey to push poll voters by asking them if they would be less likely to vote for Deval Patrick if they knew he was a quota king, as voters reported, is, well, "disgusting," "slanderous," "partisans angled to lob the race mudball at his Republican opponent," "a disgraceful accusation -- and a hint of the racial McCarthyism to come."
The way we know that's not racist is, if it were, Jeff would never have said it!
Ya know, Jeff and the other hack apologists get paid to say this stuff, but even they aren't dumb enough to actually believe it. LMAO
Never forget Aar, the number one secret to saying something racist is always start out by saying, "Now I know I'm going to be accused of race baiting or being a racist for this, but I just have to say, and please award me for my bravery..."
Deval Patrick, quota king
OMFG
He gets away with that then whines aboutl McCarthyism.
He dares...that's just...
OMFG
Good for Wal-Mart for firing the producer. I think the tapes of Healey's ads should be sent to all the voice over casting directors to warn them not to hire those announcers ever again.
After hearing those ads 24 hours a day for weeks their voices are permanently burned into my brain and I would not buy any product that hires them to do spots, ever.
Oh and it's hilarious that racist man is blaming his firing on Wal-Mart caving to labor unions.
Yeah, Wal-Mart is really susceptible to pressure from unions, all right.
I'm going to explain this once, so please listen.
You keep saying that Healey would run the same or very similar ads against a white candidate. As if that means anything. As if that proves they're not racist.
It really, doesn't, though.
The Willie Horton ad was racist not because Bush was trying to imply Dukakis was black. Not because Dukakis actually is black. He's not. It was racist because it used images to convey the message that black men are dangerous criminals and should be feared. It deliberately creates negative images associated with persons of a particular race. It's offensive and insulting apart from anything to do with Dukakis.
Dukakis only enters in to it because after tying black men to violence and rape, Bush tried to give the impression that Dukakis cared more about letting the bad men get furloughs than about protecting the non-criminals, ie whites.
Same thing here. These ads are racist regardless of which candidate they're aimed it. If Patrick were white, they would still be racist ads because they use images of black men to represent crime and fear. It's a clear cultural stereotype and it's offensive and wrong.
In this case, though there's an extra layer where she's also implying that one of the reasons Patrick, like Dukakis, would just sit back and let the scary black men come and get us is not just because he loves them more than us like Dukakis, but because he's actually one of them, and he might just be a criminal himself instead of just a coddler of criminal black men.
So yes, there is that extra level of racism involved, but it would be exactly the same message that's targeting and insulting exactly the same group of people regardless of the race of Healey's opponent.
To keep going on about how this would also be run against a white man completely missed the point and reaches a new level of complete obtuseness and disconnect. "Criminals are black and brown and only I can save you from them" is just as offensive and creates the same negative racial stereotype whether Healey is running against a white man or a black man, it doesn't make a damn bit of difference.
Don't bother, it's like talking to a specially inert brick wall. :)
Nice going with that quota king thing, though. :) Now you've given Aaron a new meme with which to unfairly malign our hero. Watch as the charming phrase spreads all over every Leftyblog to every Middlesex city and town. :)
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