Enough . . .
I've had it. And -- strangely, perhaps, considering the extreme invective that is being spewed all over the blogosphere -- this post by Ralph E. Luker at Cliopatria was the one that sent me over the edge. Here's the statement that got me: "In 9/11, no race or class was spared. In 8/29, young and old, poor and sick people of color have been left in deteriorating conditions for days, while self-righteous white jerks clucked over their behavior under the circumstances."
It has appeared slightly unseemly to me, when so many are dead and so many more are in such dire circumstances, even to respond to the wildly intemperate name-calling; I have felt that responding in kind would mean descending into the badlands with the rest of the vultures to feed off of the dead. But, in this instance, I thought I'd speak up for those "young and old, poor and sick people of color" who are still alive and being victimized by those whose "behavior under the circumstances" Luker apparently wishes to excuse. Am I a self-righteous jerk to "cluck over" the behavior of those who are shooting, raping, and otherwise victimizing the young, old, sick, and elderly about whom Luker is so concerned? All I can say is, right back atcha, Ralphie baby. Let's amend your little diatribe, shall we? I think it works better like this: In 9/11, no race or class was spared. In 8/29, young and old, poor and sick people of color have been left in deteriorating conditions for days, while self-righteous and condescending white jerks have aplogized for the disgusting behavior of criminals whose main victims are and always have been the very people about whom those condescending white jerks couldn't have cared less until their oppression and victimization afforded an opportunity for rhetorical point-scoring.
We've all heard of the "soft bigotry of low expectations." The kind of bigotry Luker unwittingly expresses in his post is very soft indeed -- it's rotten to the core.
Update: I feel slightly shamed by Hugh Hewitt's wise advice about turning the other cheek. Yes, I let myself get dragged into the muck. I don't apologize to Luker, but I do apologize to those sick, destitute, and needy from whose plight I let myself be distracted.
Here's what Hugh Hewitt has to say:
"There is so much need, and so much to be done, that we should read and reread again the close of Lincoln's First Inaugural:
I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
Lincoln's 1861 appeal was fruitless, but Bush's example should not be, at least among his supporters. Here's the close of Lincoln's Second Inaugural:
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
The temptation to start swinging back at the entertainers, the Jack Cafferty caucus, and the long list of politicians asking for rebuke has been too much to resist completely this week, but I think W's course is the right one. The energy of a political battle is energy not going into rescue and relief support. It is perhaps, in Christian terms, the exact time to turn the other cheek."
It has appeared slightly unseemly to me, when so many are dead and so many more are in such dire circumstances, even to respond to the wildly intemperate name-calling; I have felt that responding in kind would mean descending into the badlands with the rest of the vultures to feed off of the dead. But, in this instance, I thought I'd speak up for those "young and old, poor and sick people of color" who are still alive and being victimized by those whose "behavior under the circumstances" Luker apparently wishes to excuse. Am I a self-righteous jerk to "cluck over" the behavior of those who are shooting, raping, and otherwise victimizing the young, old, sick, and elderly about whom Luker is so concerned? All I can say is, right back atcha, Ralphie baby. Let's amend your little diatribe, shall we? I think it works better like this: In 9/11, no race or class was spared. In 8/29, young and old, poor and sick people of color have been left in deteriorating conditions for days, while self-righteous and condescending white jerks have aplogized for the disgusting behavior of criminals whose main victims are and always have been the very people about whom those condescending white jerks couldn't have cared less until their oppression and victimization afforded an opportunity for rhetorical point-scoring.
We've all heard of the "soft bigotry of low expectations." The kind of bigotry Luker unwittingly expresses in his post is very soft indeed -- it's rotten to the core.
Update: I feel slightly shamed by Hugh Hewitt's wise advice about turning the other cheek. Yes, I let myself get dragged into the muck. I don't apologize to Luker, but I do apologize to those sick, destitute, and needy from whose plight I let myself be distracted.
Here's what Hugh Hewitt has to say:
"There is so much need, and so much to be done, that we should read and reread again the close of Lincoln's First Inaugural:
I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
Lincoln's 1861 appeal was fruitless, but Bush's example should not be, at least among his supporters. Here's the close of Lincoln's Second Inaugural:
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
The temptation to start swinging back at the entertainers, the Jack Cafferty caucus, and the long list of politicians asking for rebuke has been too much to resist completely this week, but I think W's course is the right one. The energy of a political battle is energy not going into rescue and relief support. It is perhaps, in Christian terms, the exact time to turn the other cheek."
posted by Kate Marie | 1:24 PM | Permalink
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2 comments
2 Comments:
KM, I keep telling y'all to turn off the TV. All those idiots are easier to take (or ignore) in print. Photos on the web will give you a flavor of what's happening without overwhelming your senses and making you crazy.
Damn, I forgot to earmark my contribution for the white victims of Katrina. One more screw up and my white hood will be confiscated and my cross burning privledges will be suspended.
I'm glad you let it out Kate Marie. You keep it in too long and the next thing you know, you have a ployp.
The Race Card is simply shameful under these cicumstances. The amount of goodwill and money that has been raised thus far is astouding and the only thought in the minds of these givers is to help fellow HUMAN BEINGS.
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