Posted on 01/31/2008 5:58:57 AM PST by Kaslin
WASHINGTON -- In the acrid aftermath of the South Carolina primary, I think it is safe to say that novelist Toni Morrison was dealing in fiction when she pronounced Bill Clinton our first black president. After watching him huff and puff up the issue of race in a way that Americans have not seen since the presidential campaigns of the late George Wallace, the former Boy President, rather than being our first black president, is our second redneck president.
I say Clinton is our second redneck president because first came Jimmy Carter. Jimmy did not play the role of the bigot while in the White House, not exactly. Rather, as the historian Betty Glad demonstrated in her fine biography of him, "Jimmy Carter: In Search of the Great White House," Jimmy played the racial politics at the beginning of his political career, in Georgia while seeking the governorship. That is not to say that as president he did not use race divisively. He frequently was given to transforming policy disagreements into a matter of white voters repressing black voters, that is to say Republicans repressing blacks. He was forever presuming himself to be the champion of black people and Republicans to be anti-black. Any disagreement on domestic issues he was apt to present as part of a Republican "Southern strategy" to win Southern white votes.
Now, after the Clintons' treacherous campaign against Sen. Barack Obama, we see that some Democrats will practice a Southern strategy, too. Yet they do it within their own party, dividing Democrats along racial and even ethnic lines. This is the repellent absurdity to which identity politics has sunk. Why two Southern politicians would play the racial politics -- each in his different way -- is mystifying. Southern politicians, more than any other politicians in this country, should be aware of the racial antagonisms of the past and the potential for racial violence even today. It is especially mystifying to see Clinton play the race card. I do not credit him with many virtues, but the one virtue I thought he had was racial tolerance. Nowhere on his record is there any evidence that he ever sought to benefit from bigotry against blacks. That is no longer the case.
To be sure, as president, he treated race the way President Carter did, interpreting policy differences between him and his Republican opponents as inspired by the Republicans' presumed racism. Now, after his repeated acts of treachery in South Carolina, we see a Bill actively turning whites and blacks in his own party against each other. Moreover, he wants to encourage ill will between Hispanics and blacks within his party. He is making these invidious efforts purely to bring his family back to power. Though I have called him a sociopath, I thought that when it came to the issue of race, he might be more scrupulous.
Race is the cruel burden this country has borne since its inception. We fought a bloody civil war over it. The evil of Jim Crow followed after that war, featuring widespread injustices against blacks and violence between the races. From North to South, race riots have broken out in this country for generations. After the heroism and idealism of the civil rights movement, the country has moved steadily toward racial tolerance and an improvement of the material condition of all minorities. Admittedly, there remain instances of unspeakable cruelty, hate crimes committed by brutes on both sides. Yet with a growing sense of tolerance and a growing economy offering jobs and other opportunities, we have reason to believe that racial harmony is replacing the racial strife of the past.
Now comes the Clinton quest for the Democratic nomination, and what journalists politely call "the race card" is being practiced. It is a dangerous game. Thankfully, racial tolerance is probably too far along for the Clintons to screw it up. The divide between the races will continue to narrow. But perhaps you will understand my astonishment after the Clintons' demagoguery in South Carolina: They are actually worse than I have been saying.
Is there anyone who doubts that before he was a pot smoking draft dodger the Bent One was a garden variety white trash racist?
“I say Clinton is our second redneck president because first came Jimmy Carter.”
Don’t forget LBJ. That makes KKKlinton the 3rd RNP. I don’t think KKKlinton’s treatment of Obama disqualifies him as the first black President. Was it McWorter that made the analogy about some blacks being like crabs in a bushell? As one trys to climb out the others pull it back down. Bubba is just a crab pulling down a brother.
Of course, redneck and cracker are themselves pejoratives used against the poor whites of the South, who were heavily of Scots-Irish ancestry. Clinton, Lyndon Johnson, and Carter are mostly of Scots-Irish ancestry. My favorite Scots-Irish President was Andrew Jackson, a strong leader who also favored limiting governmental power. Woodrow Wilson was Scots-Irish as well, but was this country's first President to espouse modern liberalism.
“Red-neck” is an attitude and philosophy of life. Neither Clinton nor Carter were red-necks. Love of country is at the core of being one, and neither C1 or C2 qualifies.
Bull Clinton apologized for slavery. He forgot to apologize for all the Democrats who were members of the Ku Klux Klan. It just sort of slipped his mind.
Clinton? Crabs? Who knew!
It really jars my a%$ to see so many ‘journalists’ FINALLY - PUBLICLY on record against the most disgracefully malevolent aspect of the Clinton’s (especially Billy Boy’s) behavior.. a behavior which has marred the American political scene for so long and which is truely unique to the Clintons ! No politician of stature in the world would or could get the level and frequency of indulgence on this issue that Billy Boy and Evita have got with their particular kind of ‘race politics’ (or call it what you want).
Why NOW, AT LAST, GRUDGINGLY AND ONLY INCONSISTENTLY does the MSM acknowledge something which has been so glaringly apparent even from the beginning of the Clintons’ careers? WHY don’t ‘journalists’ in this country speak with ONE VOICE and deliver the long overdue death blow to this kind of behavior? Why not NOW take the opportunity to put an end to what has been the single greatest stumbling block to the credibility of Black leaders all over the country????? Why don’t the Clintons and others like them just put this baggage down and walk away from it?
I think that the sooner we get RACE out of American politics the better off we will ALL be. I think that getting RACE out of American Politics will go even further to improving the political system in this country than getting the MONEY out of the process…(also an enormous drag on the proper functioning of the system)
Toni Morrison’s remark was not only ridiculous; it was insulting.
At least blacks, hispanics and all other people of color are altuistic and NEVER think, act or talk about race. I wish I was black.
We are the world. We are the children.
Never before has a person of color been an obstacle to the Clinton's pursuit of happiness. Obama is simply the first black to oppose the Clinton's.
The Clinton's had never been tested on racism before Obama.
I always loved Andrew Jackson, if only for his threatening to hang John Calhoun for advocating secession.
It has been said that the celtic peoples (the Scots, the Irish, the Scots Irish) are more "racist" than others due to their behavior towards minorities and immigrants in the US, Australia, or as soldiers/police in the British Empire. I don't believe this to be true, as such were the intellectual/social currents of the time throughout the world.
We will very likely have a Scots Irish American as our Presidential nominee, btw. Like so many Scots Irish, he has a distinguished service record.
1. Good old boy.
2. Redneck.
3. White Trash.
It seems as though said terms have gotten confused over the years, unfortunately.
I think we can all agree, however, that BillyJeff is basically the trailer trash son of a Barfly made good.
“And for the record this Black man is very incensed and insulted that some one would refer to X42 as the first black president.”
Are you saying that my comment offended you? I didn’t start the first black president nonsense, I just poke fun at it when the opportunity arises.
Inasmuch as he...
1. Claims the unrepentant racist Orval Faubus to have been a mentor of his...
And...
2. Billed himself as a "Rhodes scholar" (the Cecil Rhodes scholarship program was expressly set up for purposes that are inherently racist)...
One can only conclude that William Jefferson Blythe Clinton, is, has always been, and will likley always be, a racist at heart...
the infowarrior
It must be tough to try and be a “respectable” conservative and have to live to finish the sentences of lefty shriekers. So, what else does Emmit expect from identity politics? Perhaps he should start by asking that question and not pining away that he wished he marched with George Romney or whoever.
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