August 4, 2008

Andrew Sullivan reflects on whether he's "delusional" to say that Obama "had an 'objectively miraculous' fortnight."

Fortnight. That's already funny. Imagine if a candidate said "fortnight." He'd lose.

Anyway, "objectively miraculous." Even if you think that, shouldn't you quit offering up the raw material for this kind of mockery?



It's nice that Sullivan is reflecting on the possibility that he's overgushed. But he stands by his position:
What I meant is simply that it's remarkable that a first-term senator's proposals on Iraq, having been decried as defeat and surrender by McCain and Bush, came to be endorsed by the Iraqi "government," and that McCain and Bush had to adjust their own views accordingly. It's rare that any American politician who is not president would bring hundreds of thousands of foreigners into the streets of Berlin. It's rare that a Democratic nominee would be endorsed by the most successful young right-of-center politician in Britain, and be hailed by the conservative president of France. It's rare that such a newbie could pull off a complicated and pitfall-laden foreign tour without any noticeable gaffes or blunders.
Remarkable ≠ miraculous. And it would be a hell of a miracle to do all that and lose ground in the polls, which is what happened.
McCain is attacking Obama as a celebrity because Obama gave him no opening to attack him as an incompetent or unready on the world stage.
But the celebrity ad is very much an attack on Obama as unready — as is the follow-on "miracle" ad embedded above. McCain turned Obama's European success against him — and closed up the gap in the polls. Why not call that "objectively miraculous"?

I think by "objectively," Sullivan means "subjectively."

95 comments:

reader_iam said...

Delusional? Who knows.

Embarrassingly gush-y, on the other hand ... .

Anonymous said...

Troop withdraw today is a point on which reasonable people can disagree.

But it wasn’t when Obama first said we should withdraw.

Sullivan and all Obama supporters that think like Sullivan, are fixated on who was saying we should take an umbrella and who was saying that we shouldn't, without even referencing the actual state of the weather.

Anonymous said...

Sullivan is just another liberal suckup looking for any excuse to praise the object of his adoration. It's not a pretty sight.

Substance

McCain 1
Obama 0

Automatic_Wing said...

The Euro-tour was great stuff for believers like Andrew, but he only gets to vote once no matter how excited he is about Obama.

"Fortnight" is just Andrew gently reminding us that he was British once.

reader_iam said...

'objectively miraculous'

Yep, I'm a skeptic. I am indeed going with my initial reaction: that's an oxymoron.

Randy said...

Embarrassingly gush-y

In other words, standard fare from Sullivan.

J Scott said...

It seems that today whenever a writer states that something is "objectively" true it usually means it's not.

J said...

"hundreds of thousands of foreigners into the streets of Berlin...endorsed by the most successful young right-of-center politician in Britain...hailed by the conservative president of France"


I'm puzzled by this belief among reporters/pundits that popularity in Europe creates some sort of advantage with voters in the US. If anything, I suspect the opposite is true.

Icepick said...

It's rare that any American politician who is not president would bring hundreds of thousands of foreigners into the streets of Berlin.

Which reminds me of Krautheimer's crack that having tens of thousands of Germans chanting one's name doesn't always have a positive connotation....

Icepick said...

Sullivan really misses the mark with this: It's rare that such a newbie could pull off a complicated and pitfall-laden foreign tour without any noticeable gaffes or blunders.

There WERE noticable gaffes and blunders. Everything from the seemingly ignored gaffe of Obama stating that he is one the Senate Banking Committee (he isn't) to not visting wounded troops would seem to be major gaffes. Not to mention holding a campaign rally in front of 200,000 people who are not voting citizens and then coming home and complaining of injuries related to playing basketball, which just looks clueless after skipping a visit with wounded troops.

But yeah, other than that (and pissing off the press corps that has been Obama's biggest fans) Obama made no gaffes whatsoever.

Methadras said...

Hmmm. Once again Sullivan gets on bended knees upon his gold-plated knee-pads with hands clasped, his face in a rictus of nirvanic adoration for his blessed black boy, while he esteems to folly and fumble through his own thought processes as to whether or not he's being delusional about his messianic savior.

Huh, sounds like another one of Sullivans epiphanies when he discovers a piece of fresh meat somewhere in Castro or Polk. Hah! Gushing adoration from Sullivan? Is that something you really want?

Simon said...

"Fortnight" is about as uncommon as a cup of tea in Britain. It's the ordinary idiomatic way to refer to two weeks, much as "month" is an ordinary way to refer to four weeks both there and here.

Randy said...

You really are a racist bastard, Methadras.

Trooper York said...

I thought Fortnight was the new Batman movie.

I have to get out more.

I was busy making sandwiches all night.

reader_iam said...

I confess I quite like the word "fortnight," but I do try to refrain from indulging in public.

Randy said...

I was busy making sandwiches all night.

Having at party at Lee Lee's Valise? (Gratuitous link provided without compensation) Is everyone invited? Are the sandwiches properly made? Any pastrami on rye?

reader_iam said...

It's best to flash one's peccadillos sparingly, don't y'know.

reader_iam said...

Whether "fortnights" or all-night "sandwich-making."

paul a'barge said...

Andrew Sullivan would not know objectivity if it showed him it's camel toe.

Bissage said...

I once had a woman flash her peccadillos at me. They were beauties; nice and round and firm and they looked like this: link.

reader_iam said...

I used to blog at a friend's place, where for a while he had most of his blogroll divided in the liberal-conservative-moderate style. There was a list of blogs under each category. Then there was the category "Who The Hell knows?" There was just one blog under that title.

Anyone care to guess which one it was?

Sofa King said...

Andrew Sullivan: he puts the "suck" in "sucking up."

Original Mike said...

I always specify velocity in units of furlongs/fortnight. Doesn't everbody?

Methadras said...

Randy said...

You really are a racist bastard, Methadras.


Do you even know the meaning of the word, or do you just like to throw it out there because it sounds cool when someone says something you don't like? Get a grip on yourself. Better yet, get Sullivan to help you out. I'm sure he'll grip anything you throw at him.

William said...

On the occasion of Solzhenitsyn's death, I would like to post the following observation. During the twenties throughout Europe there were huge demonstrations in support of Sacco-Vanzetti. There were no demonstrations against any of the various offenses the Bolshies were perpetrating at the time....For whatever reason it has always been easier for the left, both in Europe and America, to gather a crowd in support of its cherished causes. I give the huge crowd in Germany in support of Obama the same weight (no pun intended) as Michael Moore's support of him. The crowd simply reveals that he is beloved of leftists. The objectivity of Andrew Sullivan is a greater oxymoron than "objectively miraculous". That moron is goring the wrong ox.

TitusSantaClaraVanguard said...

I have seen Sullivan on the cape this summer. His dogs are not nearly as fabulous as mine.

I am going back down this week so if I see him I will be sure and say hi.

the wolf said...

"What I meant is simply that it's remarkable that a first-term senator's proposals on Iraq, having been decried as defeat and surrender by McCain and Bush, came to be endorsed by the Iraqi 'government,' and that McCain and Bush had to adjust their own views accordingly."

All it means is that Obama shifted his position enough times to finally fit with what McCain and Bush have been saying all along: the timetable for exiting Iraq would have to fit conditions on the ground. Simply because Obama's sixteen months (or whatever it was) finally fit the current reality doesn't mean he was "right" about anything. If Obama had his way, our troops would have been out way before the surge had established itself. Does Sully think the Iraqi government would have endorsed that?

Love the scare quotes around "government" also.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

The Democrats are in danger of letting fantasy take over.

Obama is not President.

This campaign will turn into a season of West Wing, ending in cancellation, if they don't concentrate on winning. Right now they are putting on a show where Obama acts like he's President without actually doing anything.

Europeans don't vote for President. While liberals may have gotten warm fuzzies from the trip, a lot of other people saw him pandering to foreigners and acting as if he'd already won the election.

He hasn't. He's in the worst position any Democrat has been in the polls at this point in the election since 1984. McCain is running a half-assed underfunded campaign but is somehow tied.

Obama can win this but it is not inevitable. He needs to spend time here, not overseas, and he needs to keep the change mantra up. That works. Acting like a typical liberal (see how the Europeans love me!) won't.

Most Americans don't have much respect for Europe as a guide to our own future. He was playing to his liberal base, and he needs to be playing to the American public. What liberals think of the trip doesn't matter--they will vote for him anyway.

AlphaLiberal said...

uh, sure, a bit of an overstatement by Sully.

But, Ann, dear, you really have a thing for picking nits.

J said...

"You really are a racist bastard, Methadras"

Randy, I am curious exactly why you found Meth's remark racist.

FWIW, I have two friends who are avid O supporters who will admit they're voting for him, and did so in the primary, because he is black. They also, in my view, regard him more as a symbol than an individual.

Randy said...

J., When someone refers to a 46-year-old United States Senator as a "black boy," it's a good bet that there is a racist lurking behind the words.

Randy said...

FWIW, I have two friends who are avid O supporters who will admit they're voting for him, and did so in the primary, because he is black. They also, in my view, regard him more as a symbol than an individual.

I know a quite a few who did that as well. As the election year unfolded and Obama the individual attracted more close scrutiny, many of those have grown disillusioned.

TitusSantaClaraVanguard said...

Sullivan has your typical, run of the mill, average, beagles. Now that a beagle won Westminster this year they are even more popular.

I, on the other hand, have 2 rare clumbers. They're are only 270 rare clumbers registered in the United States. They are an elusive breed and its hard to spot one roaming your hood. If you do happen to be fortunate enough to spot one you can be rest assured the owner spent an arm and a leg and has discerning taste.

Also, when the pinch a loaf it smells like flowers.

TitusSantaClaraVanguard said...

There are, not They're are-sorry.

TitusSantaClaraVanguard said...

Also, my rare clumbers snubbed his beagles when we were walking on Commercial Street in Ptown. His beagles (of course) wanted to smell my rare clumbers asses but my rare clumbers would have none of that. They are true gentlemen, who have manners-just like their owner.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

I'm reminded of Hugh Hewitt's "it's objectively a good day for Romney."

TitusSantaClaraVanguard said...

There is quite a few bears in Ptown. There are also bull dykes and artists and poets and famous people. Also, many breeder families are in Ptown.

The town is 3000 in the winter months and over 100,000 in the summer months.

The whale watching trips are a big hit with the lezzies. They love whale watching.

TitusSantaClaraVanguard said...

Ptown in the winter is depressing and creepy. Everything closes except a couple of restaurants and one gay bar and a couple of other businesses.

I call Ptown, in the winter, the land of misfit toys.

TitusSantaClaraVanguard said...

The fall is pretty in Ptown. The lezzies also like fall. They tend to like foliage and the colors of fall. Brown, gold, etc. Also, gords, pumpkins, pressed leaves, apple picking and pilgrims are popular with lesbians.

Fall is a lesbian season.

What season are you?

TitusSantaClaraVanguard said...

I am a summer season gal.

I used to be fall for many years but just recently changed to summer.

J said...

"When someone refers to a 46-year-old United States Senator as a "black boy," it's a good bet that there is a racist lurking behind the words"

You may be right, but, as my FWIW remark was meant to imply, I would characterize it as an accurate (if undiplomatic) description of the attitude of many O supporters, who seem to have an attitude almost of condescension toward the man even as they worship the symbol - that is, I read it as Sully having that attitude, not necessarily Meth.

AlphaLiberal said...

Well, well, well. It appears oil company executives are laundering money to the McCain campaign.

So much for Mr. Campaign Finance Reform!

"A Hess "office manager" and her husband, an Amtrak worker, both chipped in $28,500 apiece on the same day that all those Hess execs did."

Link to story on McCain's rewards from oil industry.

Methadras said...

Randy said...

J., When someone refers to a 46-year-old United States Senator as a "black boy," it's a good bet that there is a racist lurking behind the words.


Oh, I see. So you gone from the surety of your proclamation that I am a racist bastard because I called Mr. Barely, Andrew Sullivan's blessed black boy to now being a good bet that I have an inner racist lurking behind what I say. Are you really this stupid or haven't you looked up the word racist yet? Are this unfathomably stupid as to think that you pinning racism label on me because I called Mr. Barely, a blessed black boy?

Let me break it down for you. Firstly, the blessed refers to the fawning that is heaped on Mr. Barely for his messianic characterizations. Secondly, is the obvious, he's black. Shocking. Thirdly, the boy reference is to his complete lack of experience in the Senate and probably in most things, doddering around his life going from one thing to the next with no real zest or zeal. He can't even stay in the Senate long enough to think that he can now run for president.

Do you get it now, you unmitigated moron. Blessed black boy. Understand it now? Only someone looking for racism will find it even though they have no idea what it means much less how it is applied. Now if I had called Mr. Barely, A sub-human, big-eared African, shit-monkey that deserves to be culled like the rest of his darkened sub-human species, that would be racist, but I didn't do that did I other than just now, but only to illustrate to your sense of faux indignation what real racism is. Do you understand the difference now, ignoramus?

Ann Althouse said...

Simon said...""Fortnight" is about as uncommon as a cup of tea in Britain. It's the ordinary idiomatic way to refer to two weeks, much as "month" is an ordinary way to refer to four weeks both there and here."

I know. My point remains.

Randy said...

Methadras, as you are obviously quite comfortable calling a 46-year-old black man a boy, and enjoy emphasizing the color of his skin, I see no reason to change my opinion of you.

AlphaLiberal said...

Turns out the office manager and Amtrak track foreman who each gave $28,500 to the McCain/RNC fund (right after he flip flopped on offshore drilling) are renters.

Wouldn't you think a family that can pop for $57k for a political candidate could afford to buy their own home?

Unless it's just plain old time money laundering.

Their rental unit is in Flushing, Queens. Is that an upscale neighborhood?

I smell a scandal brewing! Can't wait: "Senator McCain, will you return the funds donated to your campaign and laundered from the oil company?"

Oh, wait. He's all mavericky and everything. This must be GOOD FOR MCCAIN! The press just knows it!

KCFleming said...

"enjoy emphasizing the color of his skin"

At least this point can be said of Obama himself, though, can it not?

It's the core problem of balkanization by race. It tends to heighten race issues, not reduce them. But is racial identity the goal, rather than racial harmony?

AlphaLiberal said...

Pogo, see the Bob Herbert column from yesterday. Bringing up race does not, net, help Obama. It helps McCain.

That makes sense to me. Many whites are yet fearful or distrustful or prejudiced toward African Americans.

That's why McCain juxtaposed the black guy against two white women in the "celebrity" ad. You'll notice they didn't show Denzel or Brett Favre. "funny" choice there.

Automatic_Wing said...

You'll notice they didn't show Denzel or Brett Favre. "funny" choice there.

Not funny at all. The point is to remind people that Obama hasn't accomplished anything. Denzel and Brett Favre have accomplishments: Academy awards, NFL MVP, etc. Paris and Britney don't, therefore they're in the ad.

KCFleming said...

"Many whites are yet fearful or distrustful or prejudiced toward African Americans."

No, not really.
Many whites are yet fearful or distrustful or prejudiced toward those who practice identity politics, especially race hustlers.

"Bringing up race does not, net, help Obama. It helps McCain."
Yet another reason to question BHO's judgement.

AlphaLiberal said...

Nice try at a rationalization, Maguro. But people who earn millions and gain fame are said to have "accomplished something" in the entertainment field.

There are many struggling entertainers who would love to accomplish nothing like that.

That ad was blatantly racist. Putting a black guy up alongside white women sends a strong racist message.

AlphaLiberal said...

Yeah, Pogo. Maybe you're right. Maybe there is no/little racism in America.

Or maybe it's alive and well.

Roger J. said...

Putting a black guy up against a white woman etc....Damn; thats going to really shock a lot of the interracial couples I see here in Memphis.

Is that the way a liberal's mind works Alpha? You and the rest of you twits who see everything in terms of race--You really didn't get Dr. Kings message did you..you and the rest of the racist, liberal trash that crawled out from under the rock throughout the democratic primary, and are now peddling it for the general election.

blake said...

roger j--they see it with their own "ugly eyes" and ascribe it to you.

blake said...

I disagree, however, that there is no such thing as "objectively miraculous".

Parting the Red Sea with a wave of one's arms was (or would be) objectively miraculous.

Sometimes a person will be cured instantly for no known reason, and that could be considered objectively miraculous, though obviously in a different way.

Convincing one's self that one's idol has done idol-worthy things is not only not miraculous on any level, it's mundane.

And I guess we're going to keep repeating the 200,000 number until it's gospel? I don't think it's true; and I also don't think it helps BHO.

AlphaLiberal said...

Roger, are you trying to be disingenuous, or is it effortless? People who choose to marry each other is a whole different thing than running a commercial for TeeVee.

Can you grasp the difference? Wedding versus commercial.

There are 100s of celebrities to chose from in making that ad. But the McCain campaign chose to feature two white women with the black guy.

Black guys and white women have been a hot button issue for some time. That's the same theme they ran on Harold Ford.

Hell, the Republican Southern Strategy has been based on coded appeals to racism for decades now.

Even Ken Mehlman admitted it.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Only Alpha Liberal could equate the achievements of truly talented individuals like Brett Favre and Denzel Washington to lesser lights like Paris & Britney.

Roger J. said...

Alpha--spare me your racist clap-trap--you see racism because you are one and you understand it. You're an idiot, and racist idiot at that. Like most of the liberals that emerged in the democratic primary. h

garage mahal said...

Christ. McCain has the same guy who started a whisper campaign he fathered an illegitimate black baby on his payroll. There's integrity.

AlphaLiberal said...

Typical meaningless bile from McCain's resident apologists, devoid of substance. That's the best you can do? Empty insults?

So when Ken Mehlman, head of the RNC, admitted that the Republicans used appeals to racism, is he also an idiot, roger j?

McCain is returning to the
Republican Party's racist playbook
.

I know the term "racist" is not politically correct among Republicans. it makes them uncomfortable when they can nurture the fiction that racism is dead even while their party employs it to win elections.

p.s. Good point from Mahal.

Unknown said...

Roger: just in case you were tempted to assume that AlphaLiberal is arguing in good faith, note that the Ken Mehlman story he linked to is from 2005. Pre Corker/Ford, pre Obama/McCain.

Besides, if juxtaposing Paris Hilton and Barack Obama makes one racist, then I guess Barack Obama is himself a racist, 'cuz he did just that back in 2004.

KCFleming said...

So, AL, an undated picture of 8 yahoos at a KKK rally is evidence of...what, exactly?

That's pathetic.
There are more racists in a square block of Japan, Germany, or France than in an entire city of the US.

The Scrutinator said...

Putting a black guy up alongside white women sends a strong racist message.

So putting Obama next to Hillary Clinton sends a strong racist message?

Revenant said...

But the McCain campaign chose to feature two white women with the black guy.

And the sight of a black man near white women terrifies you, does it?

SPImmortal said...

"So when Ken Mehlman, head of the RNC, admitted that the Republicans used appeals to racism, is he also an idiot, roger j? "

Ken Mehlman never said that Republicans used appeals to racism, you're lying:

"Some Republicans gave up on winning the African American vote, looking the other way or trying to benefit politically from racial polarization. I am here today as the Republican Chairman to tell you we were wrong.But if my party benefited from racial polarization in the past, it is the Democratic Party that benefits from it today."

There's the quote. Sounds like he's saying the Democratic party of today is the one taking advantage of racial polarization. Like, trying to use it as a shield to protect their candidate from the democratic process of having to take legitimate criticism. Authoritarian and piggish to say the least.

And also, people that look for "code words" in speeches probably believe they can see the code behind the matrix after taking bong hits. Their idiots whose minds do not work properly.

garage mahal said...

And also, people that look for "code words" in speeches probably believe they can see the code behind the matrix after taking bong hits. Their idiots whose minds do not work properly.

Lee "Jumper Cables" Atwater, former chairman of the RNC, in an interview with Bob Herbert in 1981 disagrees with you:

"You start out in 1954 by saying, "Nigger, nigger, nigger." By 1968 you can't say "nigger" - that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now [that] you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites.

And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me - because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "Nigger, nigger."

Dust Bunny Queen said...

"Putting a black guy up alongside white women sends a strong racist message"

Oh. Baloney. Spears and Hilton are the poster children for the overblown, untalented, empty headed, cult of personality celebrities. Their careers are based on public relations, advertising and hot air. This is the perfect example of what Obama is in the Presidential game he is playing. It has nothing to do with race and everything with the phoniness and lack of substance of Spears, Hilton and Obama.

People who see racism in this are like little looking in the closet for the boogeyman.

Revenant said...

Lee "Jumper Cables" Atwater, former chairman of the RNC, in an interview with Bob Herbert in 1981 disagrees with you:

First of all, spimmortal was writing in the present tense and you're quoting a political analyst from 27 years ago. He didn't say "racial code words were *never* used", he said the people who see them *today* are hallucinating.

Secondly, if you'd bothered to read the quote before posting it, you might have noticed the bit at the beginning of paragraph two where he denies that coded racist language is being used.

Finally, you either lifted the quote from someone dishonest or engaged in a bit of dishonesty yourself. Atwater was distinguishing between Nixon's Southern Strategy (of coded appeals to racism) and Reagan's strategy, which was simply to stick to his conservative principles. The point of the above passage is that the "racist code" had gotten so abstract that it was indistinguishable from legitimate political platforms that had a side effect of being bad for black people. But no sane person thinks Reagan's support for tax cuts was an appeal to racism, even IF it on balance hurt black people.

Unknown said...

Listen, anyone arguing that putting the Messiah alongside of two wayward vacuum head white bimbos is racist are certainly arguing in bad faith.

Take OmegaLiberal here. He links to Ken Mehlman's quote, and like all good Socialists he thinks he's smarter than everyone in the room. But guess what? Very likely he is at or near the bottom, that is the only way possible he can't learn his history lessons.

Going back to my memory, which is confirmed by his/her link, Mehlman is arguing that any Republican who practiced racial politics in the past was wrong and now the main practitioners of the art of political racism are Democrats.

So thanks for linkng to that. Unlike your Socialist brethren we conservatives can read.

By the way Omega and the rest of you running dogs, how does it feel to be used by the Messiah? I mean, really really used? There is nothing he is saying at this point in time that would have earned him the Dem nomination back in January is there?

How does it make you feel knowing he can't be elected dog catcher unless he shifts his stances to a Republicans? That you lackeys have been thrown under the bus.

IF he can fool enough people to get elected maybe he will attempt to force his Socialist agenda on America. But you will always know deep in your heart he used you and that your positions in America are intolerable to most Americans.

Have a nice day, fellow travelers.

dualdiagnosis said...

Imagine the uproar if the McCain team had used two black women.

The cries of racism would be non stop.

KCFleming said...

In 2007, Bob Herbert wrote:
"In 1981, during the first year of Mr. Reagan’s presidency, the late Lee Atwater gave an interview to a political science professor at Case Western Reserve University, explaining the evolution of the Southern strategy."

But Google the text.

Wikipedia says it was "published in [the book] "Southern Politics in the 1990s" by Prof. Alexander P. Lamis", but uses the footnote [Branch, Taylor (1999). Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years 1963-65.]
That's crap.

Instead it appears that the quote originally came from an anonymous interview to historian Alexander P. Lamis and part of this interview was printed in Lamis' book The Two-Party South [the quote on page 26; Oxford University Press, USA 1984, 1988, ], then reprinted in Southern Politics in the 1990s, supposedly with Atwater's name revealed.

So I call bullshit.
Show me evidence Atwater actually said this, and that it refers to anything other than the Southern strategy, which makes sense only for the 1960s-1970s, the time referred to in the 1981 interview.

I cannot find the proof linking Atwater to the quote, and Atwater isn't named in the book. Instead it identifies someone only as "Official" as the respondent.

Prove it.
Since Atwater died in 1991, I find it curious that this quote came to be identified with him only after he died, unable to verify or refute it.

Methadras said...

Randy said...

Methadras, as you are obviously quite comfortable calling a 46-year-old black man a boy,


Are you seriously retarded or just chronically stupid? How do you know I'm obviously quite comfortable calling Mr. Barely a boy? Were you in my head? Did you oversee the formulation of the contexts and connotations that I created in my mind? Are you a psychic now? I've already explained the reference and it seems you are to moronic to understand it.

and enjoy emphasizing the color of his skin, I see no reason to change my opinion of you.

Enjoy? What the fuck does that mean? I don't see the color of peoples skin you insipid fool, I see the contents of their characters. I see how they are in terms of what they do, what they say, how they do and say it. What actions do they take or not take to formulate ideas and solve problems. Who supports them and why. It's context and content, not color. Color is irrelevant. If roles were reversed and John McCain was the junior senator that Sullivan was gushing about, I would have called him his blessed white boy. Would that have made me a racist as well?

You don't know what the fuck you are talking about. You have zero clue about what racism really is? Your opinion is about worthwhile as a zit on the back of Sullivan's ass. You can't fathom, much less admit it, so don't go around trying to make a stand on a foundation of wet sand. Happy sinking.

Randy said...

Whatever you say, Methadras.

Methadras said...

Pogo said...

It's the core problem of balkanization by race. It tends to heighten race issues, not reduce them. But is racial identity the goal, rather than racial harmony?


You can't be Mr. Barely and call yourself a Global citizen of the world and run on a campaign of racial identity. Those two concepts are anathema to each other. It's also apparent he has no interest in promoting racial harmony, otherwise he wouldn't have subscribed to Black Liberation Theology for over 20 years either.

William said...

Just as a question: if the ad featured Puff Diddy (or whatever his name is) and Naomi Campbell, wouldn't it have generated even more outrage--i.e. the subliminal message is that black people are incompetent airheads....Bill Buckley asked that if crime is a code word for racism, what is the code word for crime? Can someone here enlighten us on the non-racist way to criticize Obama. Should McCain get Nelson Mandela to do voice-overs on his commercials?

blake said...

Imagine the uproar if the McCain team had used two black women.

You know, there's a racial divide nobody is exploring: How come a vacuous, talentless white women are so much more able to achieve celebrity than their darker skinned sisters?

Oh, wait. Nicole Ritchie is sort-of black, isn't she? I mean, her dad is, I think. She looks pretty pale, though. In any event, she's second fiddle to Paris, which is due to the white male patri--maybe she's adopted?

Crap, perfectly good point shot to heck due to an inconvenient amiguity.

Anil Petra said...

Obama wanted to withdraw on a timetable because you thought we were losing and the war was "unwinnable".

Now, after vigorously pursuing the opposite policy, others are prepared to start talking timetables because we are winning in Iraq.

To say, these others are now coming around to his point of view completely misunderstands the dangerous policy of withdrawal under fire in defeat that Obama has advocated for years.

Trooper York said...

"Only Alpha Liberal could equate the achievements of truly talented individuals like Brett Favre and Denzel Washington to lesser lights like Paris & Britney."

Well I agree that Denzel is a great actor but Alpha Liberal is right that Brett Favre played like a little girl.

You know when they lost to the WORLD CHAMPION GIANTS.

Did I tell you lately that the Giants won the superbowl.

Charlie Martin said...

Yeah yeah. So in the name of racial equality, we're being told we've got to keep dem big black bucks away from de white women.

Jeff Faria said...

"I know the term "racist" is not politically correct among Republicans. it makes them uncomfortable when they can nurture the fiction that racism is dead even while their party employs it to win elections."

Whereas by contrast, Democrats LOVE being so accused, and don't have a scintilla of racism amongst them. (At least, as long as Jesse Jackson's mike is REALLY off, and you don't mention Tawana Brawley to Reverend Al, and...)

ZZMike said...

Looks like Sullivan had one of those "tingly feelings in my legs" moments.

Peter Blogdanovich said...

If McCain runs an ad with Obama climbing the Empire State building while gripping a white woman like a bic pen, I'm going to be very disappointed in him.

Thorley Winston said...

The Euro-tour was great stuff for believers like Andrew, but he only gets to vote once no matter how excited he is about Obama.

Yes and fortunately since he’s not an American citizen, Andrew Sullivan won’t be casting his vote in our election.

Charlie Martin said...

I think by "objectively" Sullivan means "I like multi-syllabic adjectives and I don't care if they make any sense."

Obama bin Jesus said...

So, Alphalib, if McCain showed a picture of Obama with his mother, would that be racist?

JM Hanes said...

Maguro:

"The Euro-tour was great stuff for believers like Andrew, but he only gets to vote once no matter how excited he is about Obama."

Actually, I'm not sure he can even vote once. Has he actually become a U.S. citizen yet?

Don M said...

So, when Obama said that he was as overexposed as Paris Hilton, he was a racist?

So, when Obama said that the Muslims would like America better when we had a president with middle name "Hussain", was he trying to scare Americans?

Ernst Stavro Blofeld said...

A few more "miraculous" fortnights like that and Obama will be back to being a junior state senator.

Anonymous said...

The McCain ad is spot on. Obimbo is being compared to the two other bimbos who are famous for being famous. Actually Paris Hilton has managed to earn far more money on her own than what she received from her inheritance which in terms of real experience and competence makes her far more qualified the affirmative action man.

Methadras said...

ZZMike said...

Looks like Sullivan had one of those "tingly feelings in my third leg" moments.


I corrected it for you.

Roger J. said...

Nice to know this thread got linked by Glen Reynolds so all the 2 billion on the web will forever know that Alpha Libera is flaming racist: Anyone one who says that putting a black guy up against a white woman is racist is a f**king racist themselves, because thats what THEY see. Tell that to janet jackson and justin timberlake. or Pdiddy and J Lo; Liberals--and mostly from the Obama camp, started this racist bile, smeared even Bill Clinton, and now are protesting like the kids who murder their parents and are asking for mercy because they are orphas. I for one am sick of it--Dr. King's message obviously did not reach the white liberal democratic establishment. Racists all.

Dewave said...

When someone refers to a 46-year-old United States Senator as a "black boy," it's a good bet that there is a racist lurking behind the words.

When someone says that pointing out Obama's complete lack of qualifications and experience is racist, it's a good bet there is a dangerous idiot lurking behind the words.

Obama is black. Many people are voting for him specifically because of this. Pointing this out is not racist.

Obama is very inexperienced. He has no discernible qualifications or experience for the presidency. Pointing this out is not racist.

Randy is simply contributing to continual devaluing of the word 'racist'. At this point, it's ceased to mean anything much at all. It's simply a word liberals deploy against Conservatives when conservatives poke holes in your argument and has no real meaning or impact other than underlining you've gotten under the liberal's skin.

At this point, a liberal calling you a racist carries about as much weight as a child on the playground calling you a poopy-head - it says nothing about you, and everything about them.

Dewave said...

But people who earn millions and gain fame are said to have "accomplished something" in the entertainment field.

So what? Real people don't care about the 'accomplishments' of those in the entertainment field, and snigger uncontrollably when actors put on their serious face and try to lecture us on serious issues.

Being famous for being famous is not an accomplishment, and is only considered so by those equally without any accomplishments to their name.

Anyway, it should hardly be necessary to remind you that Obama isn't running as an entertainer, he's running for the presidency. I don't think Obama should be basing his decisions on what makes sense in the 'entertainment world'.


That ad was blatantly racist. Putting a black guy up alongside white women sends a strong racist message.

Not at all. There is inherently nothing whatsoever racist with showing people of different races and genders in close proximity. It is 100% impossible for that to send a racist message of any kind. Otherwise, every college campus calendar would be guilty of rank racism on just about every other page.

Your assertion is, however, racist, as you indicate that women are to be treated differently based on their skin color. It's also dumb and paranoid, but that's par for the course for you.

Dewave said...

Oh, as far as McCains Ads, they were the first effective ads he's made, and all the angst and uproar they've caused among the usual suspects shows just how close to home they hit.

The best part is it tricked the Obama campaign into playing the race card and laughably trying to claim the ads were racist, which attempt has largely backfired.

It won't be too long now before the entire American public wises up to the fact that when a liberal calls someone a racist, what they really mean is "you are someone who dares to criticize a black liberal". And thus, racism charges from liberals should be ignored 100% of the time.

Democrats apparently never read the story about the boy who cried wolf.

Anonymous said...

Dewave! Such language!

I think you meant 'snegro'.

(Yes, it's a terrible joke, but an old favorite...)