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Erin O'Brien
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30 comments:
Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Mussolini, Ceausescu, Franco, Milosevic, McCarthy, Cheney, Tamany Hall.
Caligula, Tiberius, Domitian, Vlad III (the Impaler), Henry VIII, Oliver Cromwell, the Inquisition(s), Leopold II (special mention for his excellent work in the "Belgian" Congo), the Whiskey Ring, Richard Nixon.
Harry: Henry VIII does not belong on that list.
O'Brien: I will engage in some damning-with-faint-praise. At least Dax has the courage to come right out and say it rather than hiding behind hints that Obama is Muslim, or 'associated' with terrorists, or a crypto-Stalinist.
I was going to add the Grinch to the list, but I can't he's green. Ha. Ha ha ha.
Ha.
That's about how ridiculous it is when you start sorting people by color, but you're right Dean, at least he just comes out and admits that he won't vote for Obama because he's black.
Of course, I wouldn't want to confuse him and note that Obama is white too. I wouldn't want to fall back into that color sorting thing.
And this is just one guy, representative of legions just like him. I'm sad. I'm angry. I'm stunned, but not surprised. Guess I'll use a phrase that Mr. Montana enjoys employing:
Just damn.
Dean: I added Henry VIII because his consolidation of power was ruthless and fairly bloody. I once read that the number of political executions relative to England's population during his reign makes him one of the great monsters of history. But I can't cite the source, so your point is well taken.
I've read that the English consider Oliver Cromwell one of their top ten Brits. The Irish, on the other hand, have an entirely different opinion.
Since Montana's post is about black leadership, I'll offer this.
I'm no global historian, so I have to keep it local. Say what you will about Cleveland's second black mayor, Mike White, who headed up the city from 1990 to 2002, but this town loved him. Plenty of criticism and controversy swarmed around White, but I swear he'd still be mayor today if he'd kept running. He kept the Browns here and fought like hell to keep the beleaguered Cleveland on the map.
We can all point to Nelson Mandela, but I'm sure there's tons of lesser-known black politicians like Mike White who deserve a nod.
Erin, what's the use of giving more traffic to some redneck racist? It's not like he's saying anything new. These fuckers have been spewing the same vitriol and lynching people of color for hundreds of years.
By the by, I'm happy Ceausescu made it on that awesome list up above me. You know I have a special, dark place in my heart for that fucking shoemaker peasant swine.
I won’t credit Mr. Montana with courage. It is useful knowing where he stands, but mouthing a position that is, at best, illogical, fails to pass the courage test. There is nothing brave about promoting disgraceful nonsense.
The bullshit detector snaps on whenever you hear I’m not a racist, but…
You can’t claim having the courage of your convictions unless you’ve applied a little introspection to those convictions, an act Mr. Just Damn clearly hasn’t attempted.
we're off to marbles kids museum this morning to surround ourselves with a bunch of happily screaming kids because it's the only sane place left it seems.
Harry, I think Henry has to stay off the list because while he was brutal from a 21st century standpoint, he was pretty middle-of-the-road by 16th century measures. And he certainly doesn't fit the model of poor government which is the argument you are trying to counter. Henry was brutal, he was a man of his times, and he was a very successful monarch.
As for Montana's courage, well, it's risky to come out and say 'he's (part) black!' because we have (rightly) become so sensitive to issues of race. People of that streak find it much easier to note that his middle name is Hussein. It's every bit as stupid, but you can't point directly at it and say 'that's racism' like you can with 'I won't vote for him because he's black.'
I want to address (s)wine's point: I did think about that, why give attention to this?
To be honest, it's because I don't run into blatant bigotry like this every day. I've forgotten about it.
It's so ugly and ignorant. It's so real.
And right now, it's important to remember it. It's important to react to it. It's important to stand for something right now when the world is so weary and indifferent.
I've done a lot of silly "take a look at the other team" posts, but this really is the enemy, it's not Dax Montana the man, but the decades of bigotry that bubble out around his edges.
Mr. Montana ... meet Mr. Bors
I deposited my 2 cents at that cesspool.
RJ
Mike White? Oh boy, Erin, we'll have to REALLY agree about that. He was about as corrupt as they come, a crook if ever there was one in public office. And he decided not to run for one simple reason: because the PD, then under the semi-crusading editor Doug Clifton, was covering him with real aggressiveness. And no crook holding public office can withstand that.
Sorry, I obviously meant disagree.
Simply sickening.
Mr. Ettorre, I surely concede Mayor Mikey had his share of trouble, but still people loved him in that James Traficant sort of way.
James Traficant!
I am shocked and dismayed about how much racism has come pouring out on many of the blogs I read. I thought these were intelligent people. Their blogs were witty and sometimes insightful, but now this. It is sickening. I thought we had come so much farther than that.
As you would say, "Erf!"
he perfectly demonstrates that ignorance, incompetence and insanity comes in all shapes, sizes, genders and colours. it's comforting in 2008 to see how far civilization has come.
Well, some of us remember it. I still think these people are being done a service if/when spotlighted. They cannot wait for traffic to be directed to their sites, so they can berate and harass visitors who disagree. What's the point? Ask the black community if it has forgotten blatant racism and lynchings. This is the garbage that is still alive and well in this country. I never had a doubt it went away--shit like this gets perpetuated by breeding and instilling these awful ideas into the children. Which, later on become scum to carry on the family name. I beg you to stop spotlighting these sites.
(s)wine: Excellent points, all well taken.
After getting your initial comment on this, I perused the archives of one of these shitbags. It was predictably loaded with racist sexist vitriol.
And all the "ha-ha you said it!" and "LOL" comments came from like-minded shitbags.
I think sometimes it is good to tell these guys this is not okay with me. Its even more powerful when that message comes from a non-anonymous source.
When I posted that racist image a week or so ago, that "James Old Guy" took it down. I have no idea what swayed him, but something did and maybe next time he'll think twice about publicly spewing racism.
So no, I don't like giving attention to a racist. I don't like ignoring them all the time either.
erf!
i reluctantly left some thoughts and used my real name just for you Erin. :) however something occurred to me this morning. i make a habit of depressing myself by scouring these 'right-wing' sites to just sort of stay on top of the latest garbage and have occasionally left my two cents only to be called stupid and a conspiracy theory peddler, but i am noticing that these sites do not get much in the way of comments usually, if any, unless one of us with an opposing view pipes up...mostly they get echoes of their own crass sentiments but no real discussion. yet sites such as yours or savvy, extreme, idealist guys and so on actually spark interesting debate from all sides and from within. i say, let's stick to giving attention and contributing to worthwhile discussion on worthy sites and continue to welcome everyone. but this dax guy is the last site i'm wasting my valuable time and energy on. because sadly it falls on deaf ears. and if my observation is an indication of an overall trend, maybe with no traffic they'll just get bored with themselves and knock it off.
ok, i don't honestly believe that ignoring the problem will make it go away. and of course i will probably continue to pipe up when i stumble on junk whether it does any good or not because there's always a possibility some good can come of it. so. i'll shh. ;) i'm just really cranky from reading all the hatred. time for a break.
I sure know how you feel, moment. Dax sure gave us enough hate to last awhile. I intend to give it a break as well.
I do believe that the haters are fueling an Obama victory.
For the first time ever on my blog I'm starting to receive hateful comments, mainly under the post Babies Don't Lie. They were coming to me last just minutes apart from each other so I'm guessing it was all the same person, just changing their name each time.
I promptly deleted them. My husband disagreed, telling me to say something clever in return but I can't. No .. let me rephrase, I CAN, but I won't. I see too much of it in everyday life. I can at least keep my little corner of the internet the only peaceful retreat in my life right now.
MOC, I tried to read the piece you left on that site but my eyes keep crossing. Dude's font is seriously unreadable!
Was Eisenhower's mother black?
I have never gotten a definitive answer on this question.
She sure did look like a sistah.
Well, if so, and I have no idea; then one of the best presidents we ever had was black.
It is just now coming out how great of a president he was now that stuff is getting declassified. Example: He probably LET the Soviets come out with Sputnik first to set a legal precedent of public domain of space. That's just one example.
I would hate to mention Obama and Eisenhower in the same sentence: There was an interesting Frontline piece: The Democratic elders DELIBERATELY kept Obama off any REMOTELY controversial legislation, shrewdly giving him NO RECORD WHATSOEVER to attack.
So, for the most important job in the world, thanks Daschle, Kerry, and Dodd, et al, , for giving us...A TOTAL FREAKIN' WILD CARD!
It's YOUR ASSES if this guy screws up, in my humble opinion.
Look at the "groundbreaking legislation" Obama sponsored, if you doubt my theory: Public records posted on the Internet? Disposal of nuclear waste? Total feelgooders absolutely nobody could possibly be against.
Don't get me wrong; the other side of the ticket is equally messed up. A dude with a 20% chance of dying in the next four years backed by a lady who won't release her medical records.
We are totally screwed either way.
Time to have some of those "End of the World Parties," like Anthony and Cleopatra.
(Just kidding...we have the 25th Amendment.)
Funny you mention Traficant. I believe he's due to get out of jail in the next year or so. Let's hope he decides to quietly retire, rather than run for office again.
Honestly, John. Let's pray he quietly retires his hair!
(Just kidding...we have the 25th Amendment.)
Not if there's a Congress completely controlled by the Democrats. They wouldn't pull that. And Biden wouldn't be so heinous as to backstab Obama. He doesn't have the temerity.
The other reason for the 25th Amendment, death, I hope never happens. I realize that with the news today of those two Neo-Nazi skinheads, the Secret Service has their work cut out for them and will have the same over the next four years, but I imagine they've become much more advanced since November 22, 1963.
But...
We are totally screwed either way.
And we haven't been these past eight years? I'd rather have Obama in charge.
And you know, I'd rather feel good once again about our country's direction. We're already in the shitcan and I'm looking forward to seeing the rope dropped as indication for us to come on up.
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