The Race Card

I did not want to write about this. I find it angering and dismal and a sad display of stupidity.

Obama has not played the card. His people have not played the card. He has been attacked, and race has come up. He has responded in a way that rises so far above race as an issue people find it difficult to believe. In fact, it seems they find it so difficult they would rather believe nonsense.

A politician makes a comment involving race and it’s racist. Some people believe it, some people don’t. Obama criticizes the statement, never once bringing up race, and he’s sneakily bringing up race. Apparently he orchestrated Geraldine Ferraro’s statement, using some kind of nigger magic to compel her to say what she said and when she said it, and then dig a deeper hole. That boy’s got the voodoo. If he were not playing the race card, he would wait until his deathbed to comment on anything anyone else ever said involving race.

Then, there’s the Reverend Wright. He said some stuff a few years ago that many other people said before and many have said since. Nothing unusual or surprising. Very little was actually “bad,” even if it was historically inaccurate. But we can’t be bothered top talk about that, let’s just bash the guy, his congregation, and the guy he supports for president. An opportunity to bring up history and fight about that would be a waste.

This is the politics of psychological association. It doesn’t have to be true. It doesn’t even have to have the appearance of truth. Tap into people’s fears and resentments and equate them with whatever you hope to bring down. Obama doesn’t have to be a Muslim, he just has to have worn a turban. He can be as accomplished as anyone at his age can be and it won’t be enough if you keep bringing up that he’s younger and call it inexperience. When you’ve got nothing left, give it all you’ve got. Admirable in it‘s sentiment, but potentially diabolical in application.

Obama has made a point of running as who he is without making race an issue. The fact is it is an issue people are concerned with, and at times with good reason. At other times, fear and evil take hold. Fear got us into this mess, and it is fear alone that will keep us here.

It is difficult to combat the associations of the ignorant and simpleminded with reason. Reason requires desire for wisdom. Americans want to know without learning. They need to believe in magic. They need to believe they intrinsically know all that really matters and it is the rest that is hubris.