No Place Nowadays for Eric Holder’s ‘Nation of Cowards’ Rant
Latter-day Pharisees like the attorney general presume to lecture us about race while doing nothing to address real problems affecting ordinary Americans.
Most Americans over age 30 have little idea how the teaching of history has been perverted by the damaging attitudes Shelby Steele examined in his 2007 bestseller, White Guilt. And because history has been hijacked by grievance mongers and guilt-trippers, most Americans under age 30 have absolutely no idea of what a triumphant tale our nation has to tell, including stories like the one told by the distinguished lady from the Olympic committee.
Every February, America’s children are taught about the fire hoses and police dogs turned upon anti-segregation protesters in Birmingham, Alabama, but no one ever seems to point out that such incidents were the exception rather than the rule, even during the height of the struggle over civil rights in the South. The comparatively peaceful end of Jim Crow in Atlanta and other communities, made possible by cooperative efforts of responsible leaders both black and white — of this, our nation’s children have been taught nothing at all for the past 20 years.
However painful our history has been and whatever our problems of race relations today, our children deserve better than to be deluded by the narratives of guilt and grievance that have come to dominate the teaching of American history. No other nation on earth has done more to advance the cause of liberty and justice, and yet — so far as our children learn during Black History Month — America is nothing but chains and whips and Bull Connor’s police dogs.
What happened? This question has long troubled me. Just a kindergartner during the watershed year of 1964, when passage of the Civil Rights Act wrote the obituary of Jim Crow, I grew up in a time of comparative racial tranquility in the South. No “incidents” disturbed my youth attending the recently integrated schools of Douglas County, Ga., nor did any racial conflict mar my years at Jacksonville (Ala.) State University.
By the 1990s, however, one could scarcely ignore the signs of deteriorating race relations in America. The 1987 Tawana Brawley controversy and the 1991 Crown Heights riots in New York; the 1991 Rodney King beating and the 1992 riots in Los Angeles; the O.J. Simpson trial in 1995 — you could turn on CNN any night and watch racial anger unleashed with hideous consequences.
What went wrong? I put this question to Mrs. Arrington that afternoon in 1996. Our interview had ended; the tape recorder had been put away. This was not a reporter’s question, but rather an earnest hope that someone who had served as a soldier in the civil right revolution might offer insight into the causes of the apparent backsliding. Expecting her to identify a recent source of these woes, I was surprised by her answer.
“It seems to me it was around 1965 or ‘66, when Stokely Carmichael and Rap Brown and that crowd came in,” she said, referring to militants who captured the leadership of SNCC. “They kicked the white people out of the movement and started talking about ‘black power’ — everything was ‘whitey this’ and ‘whitey that.’ … It was never the same after that.”
While Mrs. Arrington was the first to share that historical perspective with me, she was not the last. Over the years, many others who were active in civil rights during that era — including conservative author David Horowitz — have related similar stories. Tragically, because the black-power militants of the late 1960s allied themselves with white radicals who subsequently burrowed into academia to begin their “long march through the institutions,” it is their “whitey this, whitey that” guilt-and-grievance narrative that now dominates what young Americans are taught about our nation’s racial past and present.
Drugs, crime, educational failure, rampant illegitimacy — the real problems affecting millions of black people today — are not the issues the attorney general refers to when he denounces America as a “nation of cowards.” But these issues loom large for Judge Marvin Arrington every day in his Atlanta courtroom, as he faces a sad parade of young black criminals who shun honest opportunity and instead prey upon their own community.
Ideas have consequences, Richard Weaver once famously observed, and the tragedy enveloping so much of black America today might well be viewed as a consequence of the wrong turn that Marilyn Arrington described.
Stokely Carmichael changed his name to Kwame Toure in tribute to two notorious African dictators, and died in 1998 after bizarrely claiming that his fatal prostate cancer was the result of an FBI plot against him. H. Rap Brown changed his name to Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, and ended his career as a “community organizer” by shooting to death a black sheriff’s deputy in 2000. Such are the villainous examples emulated by the violent young criminals who pass through Marvin Arrington’s courtroom.
Our latter-day Pharisees presume to lecture us about race while doing nothing to address real problems affecting ordinary Americans. Like the corrupt leaders of Israel whom Jesus condemned two millennia ago, these Pharisees expect to be praised and admired for displaying their hypocritical self-righteousness as they stand in judgment over a nation they mislead and betray.
Woe unto them and woe unto the nation that follows such wicked leadership.
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Robert Stacy McCain is co-author (with Lynn Vincent) of Donkey Cons: Sex, Crime, and Corruption in the Democratic Party . A frequent contributor to the American Spectator, he blogs at The Other McCain.
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85 Comments
1. David Thomson:“It seems to me it was around 1965 or ‘66, when Stokely Carmichael and Rap Brown and that crowd came in,”
Eric Holder and Barack Obama are today’s race hustlers. They are only bit more subtle and sophisticated than their predecessors of the 1960s. Both of these gentlemen learned how to take advantage of guilt tripped white people. They realized that only “authentic” blacks are rewarded by the elites. Moreover, it is very fair to describe them as Uncle Toms of the left-wing establishment. Neither man has bothered to be well acquainted with the works of scholars like Thomas Sowell and Shelby Steele. They literally could not discuss their ideas if their lives depended on it.
Marilyn Arrington overlooked the considerable damage caused by Martin Luther King, Jr. The only real difference between Stokely Carmichael and Rap Brown and the assassinated civil rights leader is the latter’s commitment to non-violence. Other than that, King advanced a radical agenda that considerably harmed race relations in this country. And I suspect that Robert Stacy McCain has no idea what I’m talking about. It would behoove everybody to read MLK’s own words! You do not need to take my word for anything. It is very easy to obtain a copy of The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., edited by Clayborne Carson. It is imperative that we reexamine the legacy of MLK. We are being held back by the fantasies surrounding this man.
Feb 21, 2009 - 1:44 am 2. Sara for America:This administration is enacting slavery reparations without calling it that.
Beware these “latter day Pharisees”, who call the people
1. Cowards
2. Racists
3. Selfish
4. Irresponsible
5. Childish
6. Greedy
in order to bully them into submission.
Feb 21, 2009 - 4:05 am 3. PAR:If some people expect to be treated differently in the work place or in society, those who must follow the rules will never respect them.
Feb 21, 2009 - 5:16 am 4. Bilgeman:“Our history has demonstrated that the vast majority of Americans are uncomfortable with, and would like to not have to deal with, racial matters and that is why those, black or white, elected or self-appointed, who promise relief in easy, quick solutions, no matter how divisive, are embraced. We are then free to retreat to our race protected cocoons where much is comfortable and where progress is not really made.”
-Eric Holder
Hmmm, did you have a certain former Illinois Senator in mind when you delivered those lines?
Here ya go Mr, Holder…get your mind right with Pastor Manning:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfZqMkdpYi0
Feb 21, 2009 - 5:18 am 5. Lynn:I agree with part of your article to the extent of the shaping of race relations by black militants. At the same time, I made it one of my goals to teach my children that even though there are cultural differences in regard to the many races we have in the US, we are all equal.
Feb 21, 2009 - 5:25 am 6. elvis:I was put to the test by an employer who told me I was not allowed to go to lunch with a fellow employee because she was black. He wanted me to segregate myself from a really lovely person whom I really liked a lot. We had shopped together, taken our kids to the zoo together, and spent time at each other’s homes, but I was forbidden to go to lunch with her by a racist employer. I went anyway, and I was fired. The other employees, also black, were really shocked I would choose to lose a job rather then bow to an unprincipaled racist. But, like I told them, I was “free” from then on to go to lunch with them any time I damned well pleased, and I did. I really needed that job, but I needed my self respect a whole lot more and Jackie needed to know our friendship wasn’t only skin deep.
What Mr. Holder fails to understand is the “nation of cowards”, who haven’t pumped up the race talks, are the very people who have determined their lives would not be built around skin color or race and raised their children and even grandchildren to be color blind.
Brilliant article. We have our rant against Holder. It’s time to become Americans. Holder is doing nothing but continuing what you printed here:
“It seems to me it was around 1965 or ‘66, when Stokely Carmichael and Rap Brown and that crowd came in,” she said, referring to militants who captured the leadership of SNCC. “They kicked the white people out of the movement and started talking about ‘black power’ — everything was ‘whitey this’ and ‘whitey that.’ … It was never the same after that.”
Feb 21, 2009 - 6:00 am 7. AnninCA:Except in a very devious and stupid way.
Most of us have enough manners to get along.
Holder keeps fanning the flames.
Interesting point about the age gap. Over 30 here, and I was shocked this year to see how the mainstream media was so comfortable in making generalizations about racism when states did not support Obama in the primary. On left-leaning blogs, the charge of being a racist was a frequent retort, regardless of whether the topic was even raised or not.
There are many signs of overt racism often, and I have no problem seeing it for what it is: racism. However, when none is expressed and that label is still slapped on, that’s a real problem, too.
Feb 21, 2009 - 6:02 am 8. CFB:I don’t know, David T. I believe that like Malcolm X, MLK would have eventually come to understand that socialism was a dead end.
The value of MLK today and what still makes him a great moral leader is the phrase, “judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” It’s a lesson that neither Eric Holder nor Barack Obama ever learned, and it’s the only lesson that will save us all.
Feb 21, 2009 - 6:13 am 9. Jeff Perren:I’d enjoy having a courageous, face-to-face conversation with Atty Gen Holder about race. I’d tell him that his genetic history is of no interest to me whatever. His philosophy, on the other hand, does. It’s revolting and the sooner he is out of office, the better.
Feb 21, 2009 - 6:46 am 10. Randy:It’s old and tiresome to continue to hear the rants of some on race relations. I think Mr McCain’s article is right on the mark. We can’t change the past we need to stop dwelling on it and relise we have laws now days that protect all of us in the regards of race sex etc.. I believe the real cowards are the people that continue to hide behind excuses as to why their lot in life is so terrible.
Feb 21, 2009 - 6:58 am 11. Maggie:Good piece. The hyphenated Americans should just drop the “-” and become Americans. It would help if media would give attention to the facts as you stated, “No other nation on earth has done more to advance the cause of liberty and justice.” I would add both at home and abroad.
Feb 21, 2009 - 7:21 am 12. Saltherring:It is Holder who is the coward, for using his position as Attorney General to falsely indict caucasian Americans for racism. After all, 96% of whites did not vote for McCain, but 96% of blacks reportedly voted for Obama. Pull the plank from your own eye, Mr. Holder, before pointing out the sliver in mine.
Feb 21, 2009 - 7:31 am 13. James:The Attorney General is an idiot. Racism works both ways. Your report that black people are too blame for a lot of racism is essentially correct. I grew up surrounded by black people and a lot of them do not like white people, simple as that. Black racism against white people regardless, is a very scary thing to witness first hand. One thing I always noticed was that where white men could care less about black women, black men do have an obsession with white women, while black women are overly jealous of white women and their influence over their black men. Does my observation matter? Maybe- if you consider that Hussein Obama is promoting men who resemble himself to positions of authority- half-white products of black men with white women, we are going to be seeing a lot more idiotic statements from maladjusted angry half-white black men; a group of men who are insecure.
Feb 21, 2009 - 8:18 am 14. David Thomson:“I don’t know, David T. I believe that like Malcolm X, MLK would have eventually come to understand that socialism was a dead end.”
You might be right—but we will never know. At the time of his death, however, Martin Luther King, Jr. was a convinced radical socialist. He also was a self-hating American who believed our country was conducting a racist war in Vietnam. It is also my belief that MLK was worth more to the leftist establishment as a martyr. He was already becoming something of a marginalized figure in 1968.
Feb 21, 2009 - 8:22 am 15. caphoward:It remains to be seen if our “Profile in Courage” attorney general will prosecute the likes of Charles Rangell, William Jefferson Blyth Clinton, James Earl Carter, Barney Frank, Christofer Dodd, et. al., for their parts in the current economic crisis.
Feb 21, 2009 - 8:32 am 16. Leatherneck:In the Marine Corp,(the old Corp), we were all green. Some of us were light green, and some were dark green.
I did not see to many cowards in the Corp. Most stood a post, or were part of Victor units to make sure Momma’s babys like Holder can run their suck.
BZO, or Die!
Feb 21, 2009 - 8:32 am 17. Chuck Pelto:TO: All
RE: Holder on ‘Cowards’
It is my considered and personal opinion that Holder is projecting HIS cowardice on the rest of US. And in so doing demonstrates another miserable aspect of the Obama ‘administration’. Gutless wonders that they all are.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Feb 21, 2009 - 9:01 am 18. Chuck Pelto:[Show US the birth certificate!]
P.S. In agreement wth Leatherneck in item #15….
…there is a story in the US Army about a famous First Sergeant…
When I look at that formation, I don’t see red, brown, yellow, black or white. All I see is GREEN. — Army First Sergeant, being ‘grilled’ by the Annual General Inspection’s Equal Employment Opportunity ‘inquisitor’
Feb 21, 2009 - 9:04 am 19. Rick:Amen.
Feb 21, 2009 - 9:13 am 20. Michael Canzano:Well said!
I see Holder has joined the major majority of Blacks and has “Victim Cards” printed wholesale at Kinkos. There will be no race reparations until Blacks toss their “Race Cards” and choose to live as Americans .
Feb 21, 2009 - 9:43 am 21. David M. in Eurabia (former Europe):The truth is per capita substantially more Blacks hate Whites than whites hate Blacks.
They claim to want to be treated as equals yet as soon as equality becomes a part of their lives they choose to function as a separate entity. Black only colleges , Black caucus , Black Entertainment Television ,Ebonics , Kwanzaa , etc.
I am in my 70s . The America I grew up in has been murdered by “Political Correctness” . We have been reduced to using letters instead of the real words . The new racism on the Planet is now “Anti- Racism.
American Christian Infidel
Michael Canzano
This is only the beginning. It is reasonable to call guilt-ridden white liberals as a “nation of cowards” who have given everything these grievance mongers and charlatans have demanded. You can get your comfort by ridiculing and laughing at these race merchants.
My friends: Liberalism is a mental disorder.
Feb 21, 2009 - 10:02 am 22. Marc Rich:Hey, Holder: thanks for the pardon — thucka!
Feb 21, 2009 - 10:03 am 23. Morton Doodslag:Eric Holder:
Race Pimp Plenipotentiary? YES
Attorney General? No.
Feb 21, 2009 - 10:10 am 24. john from cinncinatti:i didn’t quite hear you, please remove the silver spoon. American blacks have it so much better than their brethren in Africa. the slaves were freed, civil rights were endowed and opportunities are just an effort away. Cowards are those that don’t reach for the opportunities, and insist on their own mental slavery.
Feb 21, 2009 - 11:05 am 25. vb:Don’t forget that when Bill Cosby produced a TV program showing a black professional pair who had attended black colleges and were raising their children responsibly and giving attention to black culture, the show was trashed by radicals as inauthentic. The radicals claimed the right to define all blacks. Judging by the reactions to Cosby’s speech a few years ago, the they still haven’t forgiven him for being his own person.
Feb 21, 2009 - 11:30 am 26. Marc Malone:I admit to a certain amount of racism. I hate the black sub-culture. I hate any sub-culture in America which tries to hold itself apart from integrating. I don’t hate their skin color, just the self-imposed separatism. Well, I guess that’s not really racism, then, is it? The racists are actually those who do the segregation.
Feb 21, 2009 - 11:35 am 27. Delia:Holder is such a TOOL.
“Black History Month, when America’s school children are annually immersed in the subject of race.”
~
One more reason I’m so glad I Home Schooled my daughter. The Liberal sewage in the education system is just one more insidious process of grooming more Democrats from the cradle to the grave.
Feb 21, 2009 - 11:41 am 28. Paparon:I am insulted and enraged by his remark; we have elected a black afirmative action president, what’s his problem with us? He wants us to talk more with them; If we don’t talk race we are cowards and if we do we are racists. This man should resign.
Feb 21, 2009 - 12:43 pm 29. J. PINKERTON SNOOPINGTON:SALTHERRING
Feb 21, 2009 - 12:52 pm 30. ridgerunner:#12
Once again, I’m in total agreement with you…properly observed and quite well stated !!
The cowards are those who hide the fact that black-on-white crime is more than 30 times more frequent than white-on-black crime. Blacks have been getting their reparations every day since the ratio of per capita inter-racial violence shifted in their favor.
Feb 21, 2009 - 1:55 pm 31. Scotty:American exceptionalism is no longer in vogue. But Jonah Goldberg is exactly right: we will never see a French premier of North African ancestry or a German chancellor who is a Turk. Re. ‘cowards,’ Dr. Bill Cosby had the courage to mention that pathological behavior might be a large part of the problem. What was cowardly was how he was demeaned & vilified.
Feb 21, 2009 - 2:09 pm 32. whyyeseyec:Politicians usually say stupid things like Holder when they want to distract the public for a few days from some horrible thing the administration is doing behind our backs.
Bill Clinton did this too. Whenever he wanted to change the national subject he would proclaim we need a national discussion on race relations. Democrats are obsessed with race. It dominates their entire life.
I have no doubt liberal guilt-ridden whites are feeling bad about themselves again this week. Their answer? Quick, more taxes for social programs.
Follow the money………
If whites would just stop opening businesses, providing jobs, inventing things and go back where they came from, everything will be fine.
P.S. Obama, thanks for the $65 tax break! I need the money to pay for the tax increase just signed into law by Gov Schwarzen-Kennedy. Now maybe Maria will give him some `sexes`
Abel Maldonado: EAT ****
Feb 21, 2009 - 2:10 pm 33. fireyourguns:Saw this today! Check it out!!!
A woman’s view of America’s future
Anne Wortham is Black, an Associate Professor
of Sociology at Illinois State University and continuing
Visiting Scholar at Stanford University ’s Hoover Institution.
She is a member of the American Sociological Association and the
American Philosophical Association. She has been a John M. Olin
Foundation Faculty Fellow, and honored as a Distinguished Alumni
of the Year by the National Association for Equal Opportunity in
Higher Education.
In Fall 1988 she was one of a select group of
intellectuals who were featured in Bill Moyer’s television
series, “A World of Ideas.” The transcript of her conversation
with Moyers has been published in his book, A World of Ideas.
Dr. Wortham is author of The Other Side of Racism: A
Philosophical Study of Black Race Consciousness which analyzes
how race consciousness is transformed into political strategies
and policy issues. She has published numerous articles on the
implications of individual rights for civil rights policy, and
is currently writing a book on theories of social and cultural
marginality. Recently, she has published articles on the
significance of multiculturalism and Afrocentricism in
education, the politics of victimization and the social and
political impact of political correctness. Shortly after an
interview in 2004 she was awarded tenure.
————————————–
No He Can’t
by Anne Wortham
Fellow Americans,
Please know: I am Black; I grew up in the
segregated South. I did not vote for Barack Obama; I wrote in
Ron Paul’s name as my choice for President. Most importantly, I
am not race conscious. I do not require a Black president to
know that I am a person of worth, and that life is worth living.
I do not require a Black president to love the ideal of America
.
I cannot join you in your celebration. I feel
no elation. There is no smile on my face. I am not jumping
with joy. There are no tears of triumph in my eyes. For such
emotions and behavior to come from me, I would have to deny all
that I know about the requirements of human flourishing and
survival – all that I know about the history of the United
States of America , all that I know about American race
relations, and all that I know about Barack Obama as a
politician. I would have to deny the nature of the “change”
that Obama asserts has come to America . Most importantly, I
would have to abnegate my certain understanding that you have
chosen to sprint down the road to serfdom that we have been on
for over a century. I would have to pretend that individual
liberty has no value for the success of a human life. I would
have to evade your rejection of the slender reed of capitalism
on which your success and mine depend. I would have to think it
somehow rational that 94 percent of the 12 million Blacks in
this country voted for a man because he looks like them (that
Blacks are permitted to play the race card), and that they were
joined by self-declared “progressive” whites who voted for him
because he doesn’t look like them. I would have to wipe my mind
clean of all that I know about the kind of people who have
advised and taught Barack Obama and will fill posts in his
administration – political intellectuals like my former
colleagues at Harvard University ’s Kennedy School of
Government.
I would have to believe that “fairness” is the
equivalent of justice. I would have to believe that man who
asks me to “go forward in a new spirit of service, in a new
service of sacrifice” is speaking in my interest. I would have
to accept the premise of a man that economic prosperity comes
from the “bottom up,” and who arrogantly believes that he can
will it into existence by the use of government force. I would
have to admire a man who thinks the standard of living of the
masses can be improved by destroying the most productive and the
generators of wealth.
Finally, Americans, I would have to erase from
my consciousness the scene of 125,000 screaming, crying,
cheering people in Grant Park, Chicago irrationally chanting
“Yes We Can!” Finally, I would have to wipe all memory of all
the times I have heard politicians, pundits, journalists,
editorialists, bloggers and intellectuals declare that
capitalism is dead – and no one, including especially Alan
Greenspan, objected to their assumption that the particular
version of the anti-capitalistic mentality that they want to
replace with their own version of anti-capitalism is anything
remotely equivalent to capitalism.
So you have made history, Americans. You and
Feb 21, 2009 - 2:11 pm 34. fred:your children have elected a Black man to the office of the
President of the United States , the wounded giant of the world.
The battle between John Wayne and Jane Fonda is over – and that
Fonda won. Eugene McCarthy and George McGovern must be very
happy men. Jimmie Carter, too. And the Kennedys have at last
gotten their Kennedy look-a-like. The self-righteous welfare
statists in the suburbs can feel warm moments of satisfaction
for having elected a Black person. So, toast yourselves: 60s
countercultural radicals, 80s yuppies and 90s bourgeois
bohemians.. Toast yourselves, Black America . Shout your glee
Harvard, Princeton , Yale, Duke, Stanford, and Berkeley. You
have elected not an individual who is qualified to be President,
but a Black man who, like the pragmatist Franklin Roosevelt,
promises to – Do Something! You now have someone who has picked
up the baton of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. But you have
also foolishly traded your freedom and mine – what little there
is left – for the chance to feel good. There is nothing in me
that can share your happy obliviousness!
Eric Holder is yet another example of the great damage that Harvard graduates are doing to this country – and have been for a long, long time. Holder’s comments mark him as a man with enough brains to get his Harvard creds, but not enough to truly understand what his job is supposed to be.
I don’t grind this ax about Ivy League grads just because I’m not one. Honestly, I don’t mind it at all. But when I was growing up I was told that the Ivies got the nation’s best and brightest. I’m not so sure about that now. Even back when I was in college I heard stories about grade inflation at the Ivies and how their education was not necessarily better than ours.
Holder’s is a mediocre mind. Like Obama’s. I don’t and never did buy into the line that Obama is brilliant. I have not seen evidence of it. Funny how he won’t let the public see his transcripts from Punahou Prep School, Occidental College, Columbia University, and Harvard University. He and Holder are just big time hustlers tryin’ to shake us down, hoping to bully us into thinking things about ourselves that just aren’t true.
An Italian Communist by the name of Antonio Gramsci provided the blueprint by which the capitalist world would be subdued. Holder and Obama are playing their part in the grand design.
Feb 21, 2009 - 2:11 pm 35. whyyeseyec:Response to #33
Yes, but has she ever had a real job?
Feb 21, 2009 - 2:20 pm 36. Retep:#34 Fred
Feb 21, 2009 - 2:47 pm 37. fireyourguns:I’m losing respect for the Harvard education too. It’s on full display now in DC….these guys have all the answers but none of the solutions.
whyyeseyec:
Response to #33
Yes, but has she ever had a real job?
LOL, writing pieces like that, my guess is she doesn’t need one!
Feb 21, 2009 - 2:55 pm 38. Ben Franklin:McCain voters were closet racists; people that complimented Obama’s poetic speaking style were subconscious racists (”what did you exect a black man to sound like?”); The Duke lacrosse team were open racists; Don Imus was racist; anyone questioning Illinois senator Burris’ qualifications might be racist. People questioning ebonics were called racists.
Every white knows the safest way to avoid being tagged as a racist is to make a wide –real wide –detour around any racial issue. Coward? Try common sense and a desire not to gratuitously offend anyone that has shown a pronounced sense of touchiness: (I don’t propose a frank discussion of General Sherman in Georgia, or wear fur coats walking by a PETA meeting either).
Any white foolish enough to factually discuss street crime, absent fathers, or kids in school that think studying in uncool might be tarred as racist. 42 years ago Moynihan noted the rise in fatherless black families after the enactment of welfare and was called a racist.
I never discuss racial issues with anyone including black friends. We have enough to discuss as it is. Holder must be clueless about the source of this so-called cowardice.
Feb 21, 2009 - 3:09 pm 39. HalifaxCB:This is actually so funny…Now that the Dems are in power, and people are beginning to see what they r4eally stand for (or rather how little they really stand for, someone needs to get a Barack BackTrack-O-Meter going), they’ve got to put up smoke as fast as possible to escape scrutiny. But they’ve only got one smoke machine – the Victimization Generator – and it’s wearing a little thin…
Feb 21, 2009 - 3:16 pm 40. BigLarry:Holder should be fired.
Feb 21, 2009 - 4:28 pm 41. The Historian:Remove Eric Holder immediately.
http://greensrealworld.blogspot.com/2009/02/remove-eric-holder.html
Feb 21, 2009 - 4:31 pm 42. CAUTION:you discuss race in this country at your risk.
this happened to me.
me to a black co-worker election night (in a bar, not on the job.): “well you people should be proud of taking north carolina. first time i think”.
black co-worker: “What do you mean you people”.
me: “i mean black americans voted 95% for obama, and this block swayed the election”.
next day i was called into HR and warned about using racial slurs. it was explained that “you people” was racist. i stated that this was news to me and could he please tell me what other common words were racist. at this point the conversation was “documented” and i was told that i would be terminated if it happened again. this mister holder, is race relations in the US.
Feb 21, 2009 - 4:37 pm 43. Delia:42. CAUTION,
The irony is that if it had been the other way around nobody would have batted an eye or got pissy over it.
Racial harmony is a pipe dream.
Segregation was considered tyranny. -But, hold up! They ’self-segregate’ anyway [black mags, caucus, television et al] and on top of it they spew racial hate towards whites and that’s “OKAY”. Because the ‘man’ who has been paying their welfare check has been keepin’ them DOWN. *gag*
Feb 21, 2009 - 5:20 pm 44. HalifaxCB:Maybe it’s time to start a little red book of famous quotes from Barack and friends…Maybe call it “Change has come to America.”
Title page -
“We are the ones we have been waiting for”,
followed by
“God Damn America”
Feb 21, 2009 - 6:28 pm 45. Wiredog:“For the first time in my life I feel proud…”
“…they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy towards people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment …”
“…she is a typical white person…”
“…a nation of cowards….”
I think that racism is for the lazy. After all why put effort into deciding if one individual is good or bad when you can paint with a board brush an entire race. Its much more rewarding to put time to really know a person its easy to find reasons to dislike him.
Feb 21, 2009 - 7:19 pm 46. fred:“a nation of cowards”
That, from a man who admits under oath that he caved in to Bill Clinton, and from a man who never served in the Armed Forces. What the hell does this chump know about courage? The more I ponder his words, the angrier I get.
Yes, HalifaxCB, we need to keep a book of gaffes and insults from these unseemly people. Question is, will people remember or listen?
Feb 21, 2009 - 7:20 pm 47. Delia:44. HalifaxCB,
Mind if I steal your quotations put so succinctly in order? Frickin’ Amen!
What’s this? I felt something wet trickle down my cheek. ???
Feb 21, 2009 - 7:35 pm 48. Sgt. Mom:Speaking as a person of decided pallor, I agree wholeheartedly with Ben Franklin #38 – discretion is the better part of valor. Speak honestly – and you are tagged as a racist, keep your mouth shut – and you are a coward.
Yeah – I would like to talk honestly about race, but not with a POS like SG Holder and his ilk. My take here – “On the Fear of Open Discussion” (http://www.ncobrief.com/index.php/archives/memo-on-the-fear-of-open-discussion/)
Feb 21, 2009 - 8:26 pm 49. JMH:The true indication that we have moved beyond racism will not be when a black man is elected President or appointed as Attorney General, but rather when a black President or Attorney General is fired for being an idiot and nobody cares that he’s black, only that he’s an idiot.
Feb 21, 2009 - 9:47 pm 50. HalifaxCB:Delia – be my guest! (as long as it’s a trickle going down your cheek and not a thrill up your leg, lol…). I hope others can dig up more – maybe it should be a community organization thing!
But seriously, I don’t think I’ve seen a powerful US political cabal more devoid of a sense of moral compass than Obama and his acolytes, from George Soros down to Bill Ayers and (further down) the op-ed staff at the NYT (especially now Mexican plutocrat Carlos Slim owns the Sulzbergers), so there should be lots more over the next four years, and laughing sure beats crying as a way to get through it.
Feb 21, 2009 - 9:48 pm 51. John Burke:I think it’s a shame that Holder would use his first major speech as AG to throw out a line that Jesse Jackson might have employed 20 years ago, rather than to make the obvious point that with a black president, a black AG and a large number of other high-level appointments of African-Americans, we’ve pretty much put racism behind us.
http://thepurplecenter.blogspot.com/
Feb 21, 2009 - 11:01 pm 52. WestGuard:“…and though there remain many unresolved racial issues in this nation..”
Um, what “unresolved” racial issues is this annoying race baiter refering to???
Why is he taking a break from his job to lecture on race anyhow? Get back to work Holder, there are aready people like Wright and Sharpton who feel it’s their job to stir this overcooked pot. You have more important things to do.
Feb 21, 2009 - 11:03 pm 53. Rachel Peepers:As a result of his cowardly, crazy talk, Barack’s new dipstick Attorney General is succeeding in doing nothing other than making a monkey out of himself.
He’s tripping over his tongue with the frequency of a circus clown slipping on a banana peal to make kids laugh.
But, Eric, you’re laughable, only up to a point.
When Eric the terrible calls me, an American, a coward, I consider the source and go on about my life. Obviously, he wouldn’t do it to my face, or anybody else’s because there would be consequences, and Barack’s boy wonder AG, the one with the little Hitler-in-drag-mustache, doesn’t have the courage to face conseqences. Eric the feckless is fearless only when the only thing he faces is a microphone.
But Holder’s name calling shouldn’t be totally laughed off.
By not denouncing Holder’s racist blather, Barack is condoning the calling, in effect, of America’s 170,000 thousand or more fighting troops cowards.
That’s the danger of painting America with such a broad brush.
All of which just confirms the fact that Barack, by deduction, agrees our troops, as Americans, are cowards, too.
I always believed Barack and his merry men hated the American military. Well, a little deductive reasoning just convinced me.
Eric, you should resign before the American people put you in a cage filled with one banana, ten hungry chimps and you.
Feb 22, 2009 - 12:31 am 54. Chuck Pelto:TO: Sgt Mom
RE: These Days….
….it has been my experience that those who throw the ‘racist’ allegation first are the REAL racists.
It’s called ‘projection’.
Yes. There ARE racists out there. Conscious and unconscious. BUT, these overly ’sensitive’ ones are racists themselves, as demonstrated in the report in item #42 of this thread.
I’ve seen it happen to others I know. And it’s not just ‘racism’. It’s also sexism. It’s done by ANYONE how hates other people, for whatever reason. And when such people see an opportunity to make the life of someone else miserable….they’ll jump on it/them.
Holder is attempting such a think now.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Feb 22, 2009 - 2:31 am 55. david:[If the human race wishes to have a prolonged and indefinite period of material prosperity, they have only got to behave in a peaceful and helpful way toward one another. -- Winston Churchill]
maybe calling us a nation of cowards (when it comes to race) is true, however. if we were not cowards, we would speak openly about the things that really hurt the black community – black on black violence, astronomical illegitimacy rates, social mocking of education, celebration of misogyny and lack of accountability.. we would talk about those openly. but we do not. maybe holder has a point.
Feb 22, 2009 - 5:56 am 56. John Brown:Oh McCain, you still running around posting blogs to support your lousy book? How does the shoe-tapper from Idaho fit into your BS?
Feb 22, 2009 - 7:01 am 57. John Brown:McCain, you are a JOKE. You have writtten for blatantly racist publications in the past, and you can write this drivel with a straight face?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Renaissance_(magazine)
Feb 22, 2009 - 7:17 am 58. Chuck Pelto:TO: John Brown
RE: He’s Written a Book?
I hadn’t noticed that, as I usually don’t read the comments about authors.
THANKS!!!!!
The title sounds appropriate to what I know of the Democrat Party people. I’ll have to look into it.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Feb 22, 2009 - 9:01 am 59. one of your own:P.S. You must feel a nerve has been hit by that book, as you seem to be rather upset about it.
44. HalifaxCB:
Hey, I got a few more for you list:
“Things would be a hole lot easier if it was a dictator ship, just so long as I’m the dictator.”
“I gotta keep catapulting the propaganda.”
interviewer: “Vice President Cheney, 70% of Americans say the Iraq War was a terrible idea.”
Cheney: “So.”
“We know where (the WMDs) They’re in the are north, south, east and west of Bagdahd.”
How many you want? I got a million of ‘em.
Feb 22, 2009 - 10:15 am 60. Nine-of-Diamonds:Great job, “one of your own”! You’ve mastered the fine art of not addressing the subject of the discussion!
“B-but Iraq! Waah!”
Feb 22, 2009 - 11:16 am 61. one of your own:#60 9 o dimonds . . . and you a masterful job of missing the point . . . We all hear things we take issue with. Now, you seem to think what Michelle Obama said was of more consequence than the War in Iraq. That’s your choice, but I gotta tell you, that’s working pretty hard to find something to be offended about. Me, I prefer the bigger view.
Feb 22, 2009 - 12:16 pm 62. Chuck Pelto:TO: one of your own
RE: Heh
““We know where (the WMDs) They’re in the are north, south, east and west of Bagdahd.”” — one of your own
You remind me of my sister. She’s something of a slow-learner too. But at least she has an excuse. She’s married to an Iranian and cannot afford to ‘break faith’.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Feb 22, 2009 - 2:11 pm 63. Robert Stacy McCain:John Brown: What you know, and what you think you know, are two distinct things. Believe what you want to believe, but beware of believing yourself omniscient based on what you read on the Internet. I have enemies, and if you were important enough to matter, you’d have enemies, too.
Feb 22, 2009 - 3:13 pm 64. deguello:Holder’s position,and cretinous,race baiting,proves that all the affirmative action in the world, will not cure a demagogue of his visceral racial hatreds. Holder is a human sewer of corruption whose accession to the post of attorney general will inaugurate a regime of persecution of euro-americans.
Feb 22, 2009 - 3:37 pm 65. Rubicon:Perhaps Mr. Holder just wanted to distract our attention away from other issues? Seems to me, deflection & distraction are key Alinsky tactics. The comments by Mrs. Arrington were remarkable. Today we have numerous “causes” that have been co-opted by others whose goals have little or nothing to do with the initial purpose of the cause. Worse is that many cause leaders today use hyperbole, fear, crisis, anger, hatred, & name calling, to converse on any subject.
Feb 22, 2009 - 4:36 pm 66. Chris:As it stands today, many of us simply ignore issues the minute someone comes out with the age old over-used phrase, “racist.” It is so over-used that it is now abused. Those using it do not debate facts, they attack to discredit so no conversation goes on. Other international groups have been using this method for quite some time now. Of course the result is continued unrest, no solution, & support for their cause from those easily misled.
Causing acrimony & division by assigning blame & name calling, is not what America needs in an Attorney General. Obtaining justice in America is already difficult enough to obtain. Creating anger will only cause justice to be deferred.
Holder and Obama are holdovers of a bygone age, which is amazing when you consider the fact that Obama is so young. Racism and those that spew it will never go away so long as there are double-standards based on it. Such ideas as affirmative action no longer have any meaning. AA is meant to give youths that do not have the chances that more priviledged children the same chance, this has been perverted. Today the vast majority of those that get into college through affirmative action find themselves in one of two camps. The first is that they find the material to difficult and are forced to drop out or flunk. The second is one of bitterness as the student is never sure of whether he succeeded on his own merits or not. After college it can get even more damning as if the student was passed due to affirmative action they find that they cannot work well in their chosen profession.
What needs to be done is a total color-blindness on the part of people in all ideas. If one looks at American history there are alot of times where the country has done despicable things to ethnic groups. Native-Americans, Japanese, Filippinos, Hawaiians, and the list goes on. These groups have been accepted as they are and not treated differently then caucasains when it comes to life or treatment. This has to happen to the ethnicities that demand their differences be seen too. To recognize the differences is good, to rub it in other people’s faces is not.
Feb 22, 2009 - 7:12 pm 67. Paul -Indiana:BTW has anyone seen an employment ad for a ‘Black Studies’ major?
Feb 23, 2009 - 5:39 am 68. Rob:Black Americans have always had such a difficult time reconciling themselves to the fact that their African ancestors sold their American ancestors into slavery. It’s understandable that they would blame the white slave owners vs. their ancestral African slave traders, but that misplaced anger is really what African Americans need to deal with if they are ever going to reconcile themselves to the fact that their own ancestral flesh and blood initiated their slavery. Blaming the purchaser vs. the salesmen is the where Holder can start his investigation into those he labels “cowards”.
Feb 23, 2009 - 6:28 am 69. James:If a white man had said what Holder said all hell would break loose. This whole thing is BS and I for one am getting sick and tired of it.
Feb 23, 2009 - 6:40 am 70. Len:Historically, many of America’s citizens have been cowardly regarding race (white and black). It surfaces when we consider what our parents/grandparents believed during the period of segregation/slavery. We (Americans) are attempting to recover from that period. If you feel discomfort because of Holder’s comments, then you might need to work a little harder on your cultural courage.
Feb 23, 2009 - 8:37 am 71. Paul -Indiana:Response to #35. Has Obama ever had a real job, either?
Feb 23, 2009 - 8:41 am 72. Ohioan:Robert Stacy McCain must cater to arrogant, greedy racist type people. These people are not Asian, Black, Native Americans or Hispanic. Get over it, or you might stress yourself into a heart attack, not that I would miss you.
Feb 23, 2009 - 10:24 am 73. Paul -Indiana:see #71. I didn’t make it very clear, sorry. I was referring to Obambi’s lack of a real work record.
Feb 23, 2009 - 10:55 am 74. David M. in Eurabia (former Europe):In response to the infuriating remarks of Attorney General Eric Holder calling America a “nation of cowards” Lt. Col. (R) Allen B. West, issued the following statement calling for the immediate resignation of AG Holder:
The PC Club
Sun, 22 Feb 2009
LTC(R) Allen West
Greetings readers, I have held my peace long enough to allow Attorney General Eric Holder an opportunity to rectify his faux pas from last week. I am now compelled to offer my insights into Attorney General Holder’s epidemic of diarrhea of the mouth when he called our Country a “Nation of Cowards”.
Whenever I think of fools speaking unwisely I am drawn to the writings of one who is considered the wisest man the world has ever known, not you Bill Clinton. Rather, I speak of King Solomon and his words from the Book of Proverbs.
Solomon certainly has some advice which Eric Holder may wish to take to heart. I shall use The Soldiers New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs, Holman Christian Standard Bible
Proverbs 15:7 “The lips of the wise broadcast knowledge, but not so the heart of fools”
Proverbs 15:14 “The discerning mind seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feed on foolishness”
For Eric Holder to castigate our America as a “nation of cowards”, being someone who has capitalized on every opportunity this Country could afford, is pure foolishness. It also represents a malicious narcissism and hypocrisy from someone purported to be of great education.
I am a West Man, third of four generations of military servicemen; Dad World War II combat wounded veteran, older Brother Vietnam Marine combat wounded veteran, my serving 22 years active duty in 13 different countries and three combat zones, and my young nephew, Captain Herman Bernard West, commanding an artillery unit serving his second tour in Afghanistan. We are proud American black Men who certainly are not indicative of a “nation of cowards”. Holder’s comments are offensive to the legacy my Dad established for our family.
Perhaps also Attorney General Holder forgot about the many white Americans, and Jewish persons, who marched during the civil rights movement, some cowards huh?
Attorney General Holder, do not ever refer to my Country with such manner of disrespect. I have stood with Americans in many foreign lands, seen them everyday across this Nation, and we are not cowards!
Proverbs 17:28 “Even a fool is considered wise when he keeps silent, discerning when he seals his lips”
Attorney General Holder has certainly lost respect as the enforcer of our Nation’s laws. It would have bided him best to have kept his comment to himself, even though it must be in his heart. It has to be evident to the American people that this person cannot be trusted to protect a County which he holds in such disdain.
What could have persuaded Holder to make such an insidious comment and believe he would not be challenged? And anyone defending his comment or ignoring it is complicit in this terrible offense against our great Nation.
If Holder had any honor, which I doubt, he would have apologized. Since an apology seems to not be an option, Attorney General Holder MUST resign.
If Holder does not resign then President Obama MUST dismiss Eric Holder from his Cabinet, or perhaps Obama and his cabinet hold the same contempt for America?
Proverbs 18:6 “A fools lips lead to strife, and his mouth provokes a beating”
My recommendation to Holder is to stay away from places where we cowards congregate; military bases, NASCAR races, around law enforcement officers, first responders, Southeast Conference college football and basketball games, Boy Scout meetings, biker bars, VFW and American Legion Posts, youth soccer games, anywhere true Americans exist.
Remain in those places where the bravest victims in America exist; your office, the White House, Ivy League schools, Hollywood, NAACP offices, Oprah Winfrey Show, and MSNBC. Cowardice is voting for an inexperienced usurper and charlatan just because he is black, do not be confused.
Yes, I am angry and therefore Attorney General Eric Holder you have earned a lifetime membership in The Phallus Cranium Club.
Sir, you are not there alone, Speaker Pelosi, Barney Frank, and Rod Blagojevich are members, and Congressman Clyburn of South Carolina membership is being processed as well.
Steadfast and Loyal!
Feb 23, 2009 - 11:53 am 75. richard:The post I’ve read are the reason there need s to be a frank and honest conversation about race. If your are unwilling to acknowledge a problem, you can’t fix it. But I guesss since none of you have ever experienced racism you don’t have a problem. Thank God there are those black folks who’ve never experienced any racist acts so they can speck for everyone else. Please people, when you look at the incareration rates, the lack of education and economic opportunities, the arguements that racism is not a factor in America are just ill-founded. I’d like to continue to argue with all that post on this site but there are none so blind as those who refuse to see.
Feb 23, 2009 - 1:01 pm 76. fred:Eric Holder’s next job assignment: Our delegate to the Durban, South Africa Conference. He’s got the kind of stuff that crowd likes. His stemwinder would bring the house down.
Feb 23, 2009 - 1:11 pm 77. Oakley:I am already sick of this socialist administration pointing their bony fingers at Americans accusing us of greed, irresponsibility, childishness, racism, lack of volunteering, and every other imaginable social crime.
This isn’t leadership. This is dictatorship-light, soon to be heavy.
Feb 23, 2009 - 6:20 pm 78. ked5:not that many years ago, my daughter was in elementary school. We live in a “very diverse” school district. A girl came up to her, and in a-not-very-nice-way asked her how she liked being white. My daughter was quite upset. She came home and told me about this. *SHE DIDN’T KNOW WHAT WAS MEAN’T BY IT*. I asked her what race the girl was? she didn’t know. I asked her what the girl looked like? she had dark hair.
Who’s the racist? a little girl who didn’t know (or care about) the difference? or one who FOCUSED on it, and used it to make someone else uncomfortable?
(her best friend from the time she was 11 is Korean, and her best friend from college is Indian)
Feb 23, 2009 - 7:42 pm 79. ked5:@38 Ben Franklin
(I don’t propose wearing fur coats walking by a PETA meeting either).
~~~~~
If you take some leather clad Hell’s Angles along, you’d be perfectly safe.
Honestly, Have you EVER heard of PETA protesting Hell’s Angles to their faces? No? they’d get their heads handed to them. It’s much safer to attack little old ladies.
Feb 23, 2009 - 7:53 pm 80. Raeven:My goodness, what is happening to America, and we four years of this kind of garbage to look forward to.
Feb 23, 2009 - 7:54 pm 81. ked5:67. Paul -Indiana:
BTW has anyone seen an employment ad for a ‘Black Studies’ major?
~~~~~~
It’s right next to the ad for the “women’s studies” major.
Feb 23, 2009 - 8:07 pm 82. Bilgeman:#75 richard:
“I’d like to continue to argue with all that post on this site but there are none so blind as those who refuse to see.”
There are plenty of sites that you can visit where you can interface with people who do nothing OTHER than talk about race.
Google for White Supremacist and Christian Identity sites.
You don’t get it, do you?
You and Holder may have an obsession about melanin, but that doesn’t in any way mean that we have to share your hang-ups.
Again, how often did you see the Huxtables sitting around discussing their Blackness and what it meant to be Black in America, and haranguing their friends and co-workers about past injustices done to Black people?
Not very often, if at all. Their characters just got on with their lives.
What did Lovie Smith say when he was asked about his feelings oon being the first African-American to coach a Super Bowl team?
W2TEO:
“It’ll be a big deal when it’s no big deal.”
Get over it, man.
I’ll tell you a little “White secret”…usually as soon as a Black man opens his mouth and starts talking about race, White folks,(of all political suasions),mentally roll their eyes.
And I suspect that there’s more than a few Black folks who do the EXACT SAME THING.
Yes, there’s a lot of ugliness in the past, but you’re living in the present, and are going to inhabit the future.
How can you change the ugliness of the past, except by adding ugliness to the present so that the past seems a more desirable place to have lived?
” Please people, when you look at the incareration rates,”
Young Black men are most at risk of getting murdered by OTHER young Black men.
We should decriminalize same-race homicide?
Feb 23, 2009 - 8:25 pm 83. Ben Blankenship:They make things worse: President Obama says we face disaster, or at least a grave crisis. And now here comes his new Attorney General to call us cowards.
Never mind that Roosevelt, our sainted leader in the depths of the Great Depression, claimed we had nothing to fear but fear itself. But then, what did he know? He was a rich white guy.
Uh, oh. I’ve stumbled again into the briar patch of our black and white world.
Feb 24, 2009 - 7:37 am 84. Judy, NYC:holder is an ass and as dumb as the guy who appointed him. my apologies to asses everywhere.
Feb 24, 2009 - 3:08 pm 85. Dutch:How DARE a man who has never served in the military, much less fought in a war to defend our nation from terrorist agression, call the proud men and women of this country cowards. This is what happens to people, regardless of race, color or creed, that are so removed from the plight of the “common” man they begin to believe they are above the people they have sworn to serve.
In a time when everyone in the limelight is held accountable for what they say and do (just ask Imus, Michael Vic, Michael Phelps, Glenn Beck) Eric Holder should apologize for calling the nation cowards. Or are a new set of rules for what is acceptible being written for those in office, both appointed and elected, even as we speak?
Mar 7, 2009 - 8:19 pm