Well, take note of this moment in history. I'm coming down on the side of Hillary Clinton. I do not like her federalist views, her pro-death politics, or her anti-family rhetoric, and we don't need another foul-mouthed president, which she is.
But she is not a racist. Anyone who can take her references to Martin Luther King and LBJ and somehow misinterpret them as racism is an idiot. An idiot. Did I say it loudly enough? An idiot!! Interestingly, this morning, I saw that the general concensus has always been what she said. I am also an English teacher, and this morning, I was playing an introductory video for Martin Luther King's valedictory speech, "I have seen the Promised Land." The intro video makes note of the role that President Johnson made in signing civil rights legislation into effect. It even shows the same pictures that ABC and CNN did this morning.
There is nothing racist about what she said. Does anyone really think it's racist to include LBJ in a history of the civil rights movement? She didn't say what she's accused of saying: that a white male was needed to bring about civil rights legislation. She didn't say that, but it's the truth anyway. In 1964, even a charismatic figure like MLK couldn't have done it alone. It was the consciences of those white males whose hearts he pricked, that realized that the stupidity had to stop. Martin Luther King was a master at touching the hearts of "those in control." There's nothing racist about that. There's a lot heroic about it.
I wonder what history would have been like for the last 40 years if Dr. King had not died. It would have been different. Like many great leaders, he left no great men to take his place. Jesse Jackson was a cheap counterfeit of all that MLK stood for. This morning my students watching the video said, "Dr. King sounds like Jesse Jackson." I, in as simple, non-offensive terms as possible, told them, "No, Jesse Jackson sounds a little like Dr. King. He came first." What I wanted to tell them was that Rev. Jackson is a buffoon who has spent his whole life doing a substandard impersonation of a great man, much as Rich Little used to do of Richard Nixon. Al Sharpton is a joke as well. I can't see King approving of their self-centered ego trips.
And I think King would be disappointed with the turn that the so-called "civil rights" movement has taken. The hypersensitivity of it does more damage than the klan ever thought to inflict. A sportscaster, in an idle moment, makes a comment on Tiger Woods' greatness, and gets suspended. Al Sharpton calls for everything but her execution. Woods says it's all okay; she's a friend, but Know-It-Al says that there's a price to pay. It's called the scrapping of the first amendment guarantee of freedom of speech.
I don't mind saying it again. Anyone who thinks Hillary's comment was racist, or even racially insensitive, is an IDIOT. With zeroes on it. Even the president of BET has acknowledged the stupidity of such a conclusion, and it does my heart good to know that there are wise people in all races, political persuasions, and parties.
But it's sad to know that the loudest people of all are the hair-brained idiots that can take a politically neutral statement of historical fact and accuse someone of being racially insensitive. And get noticed by the media.
Don't gloat at Hillary on this one. She was correct. She's innocent of any wrongdoing, and like any American public figure, she deserves to be respected for what she said. She says some stupid things sometimes, in my opinion, but this was not one of those times. Give her a break on this one.
But she is not a racist. Anyone who can take her references to Martin Luther King and LBJ and somehow misinterpret them as racism is an idiot. An idiot. Did I say it loudly enough? An idiot!! Interestingly, this morning, I saw that the general concensus has always been what she said. I am also an English teacher, and this morning, I was playing an introductory video for Martin Luther King's valedictory speech, "I have seen the Promised Land." The intro video makes note of the role that President Johnson made in signing civil rights legislation into effect. It even shows the same pictures that ABC and CNN did this morning.
There is nothing racist about what she said. Does anyone really think it's racist to include LBJ in a history of the civil rights movement? She didn't say what she's accused of saying: that a white male was needed to bring about civil rights legislation. She didn't say that, but it's the truth anyway. In 1964, even a charismatic figure like MLK couldn't have done it alone. It was the consciences of those white males whose hearts he pricked, that realized that the stupidity had to stop. Martin Luther King was a master at touching the hearts of "those in control." There's nothing racist about that. There's a lot heroic about it.
I wonder what history would have been like for the last 40 years if Dr. King had not died. It would have been different. Like many great leaders, he left no great men to take his place. Jesse Jackson was a cheap counterfeit of all that MLK stood for. This morning my students watching the video said, "Dr. King sounds like Jesse Jackson." I, in as simple, non-offensive terms as possible, told them, "No, Jesse Jackson sounds a little like Dr. King. He came first." What I wanted to tell them was that Rev. Jackson is a buffoon who has spent his whole life doing a substandard impersonation of a great man, much as Rich Little used to do of Richard Nixon. Al Sharpton is a joke as well. I can't see King approving of their self-centered ego trips.
And I think King would be disappointed with the turn that the so-called "civil rights" movement has taken. The hypersensitivity of it does more damage than the klan ever thought to inflict. A sportscaster, in an idle moment, makes a comment on Tiger Woods' greatness, and gets suspended. Al Sharpton calls for everything but her execution. Woods says it's all okay; she's a friend, but Know-It-Al says that there's a price to pay. It's called the scrapping of the first amendment guarantee of freedom of speech.
I don't mind saying it again. Anyone who thinks Hillary's comment was racist, or even racially insensitive, is an IDIOT. With zeroes on it. Even the president of BET has acknowledged the stupidity of such a conclusion, and it does my heart good to know that there are wise people in all races, political persuasions, and parties.
But it's sad to know that the loudest people of all are the hair-brained idiots that can take a politically neutral statement of historical fact and accuse someone of being racially insensitive. And get noticed by the media.
Don't gloat at Hillary on this one. She was correct. She's innocent of any wrongdoing, and like any American public figure, she deserves to be respected for what she said. She says some stupid things sometimes, in my opinion, but this was not one of those times. Give her a break on this one.
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