Shorter Richard Cohen: Beloved Leader is a reg'lar guy who drinks beer and eats hot dogs and loves African Americans. Rich African Americans.
Cohen makes a compelling case that Preznit Trouser Trout really isn't a racist. He trots out a bushel of arguments why Preznit Demographically Dependant is not a racist. He blames LBJ for the hateful bigotry of republicans of Dixie. Cohen has every argument on the planet why Dearly Beloved Leader should not be called a rascist.
I have two problems with all this. The first is not just that it's unfair -- Bush, in this case, was an equal opportunity bungler -- but that it rests on a stereotype: Republicans tend to wear lime green pants in the summer and dislike black people all year round.
...
But Bush is not cut from that cloth. He is a contemporary Republican, a person of another generation who, you may have noticed, has a black woman as secretary of state and had a black man before her. Under him, the GOP began an outreach to black Americans, and unless the Democrats wake up it will ultimately succeed.
Cohen fails to note one thing...Preznit Lazy N. Greedy has never come out and openly disavowed the racists, to the point of removing them from positions of authority in the GOP, and then saying that the contributions of both time and money by those who would be racists are not needed by the GOP now or ever. On the day that that happens, the Democrats will have something to worry about. But it ain't gonna happen. Giving up the racist vote would mean the GOP would be doomed for generations to come, Preznit Subtly Bigoted knows it, and isn't going to piss off that pool of voters anytime soon, nor is Karl Rove or any other GOoPer functinary going to let him no matter how many apologists try and mitigate Preznit Loves Rich People views for public consumption.
posted by Jo Fish on 09.20.05 at 03:52 PM
Comments:
Bush is the first president since Hoover to decline to speak to the NAACP. Bush declined to attend the funeral of James Byrd, Jr of Jasper Texas. Bush makes it a point to speak at Bob Jones University. No, Bush doesn't care about black people, and yes, the f'cker is a racist.
posted by: Mike on 09.20.05 at 04:24 PM [permalink]
I tend to agree with the commentator, that Bush is an equal-opportunity bungler. He did back away from Trent Lott pretty fast, even if he did promise to rebuild his house.
We Dems can't rely on the race thing to get votes. The party has to actively serve African-Americans. Dems can't afford to take anything for granted.
posted by: Tony on 09.20.05 at 04:41 PM [permalink]
Tony, agree with you 100% that we can't take African-Americans or any other Americans for granted. But as Democrats we have a better track record for caring for all Americans, except the "professional political victims" of the right than anyone else, I think.
