Tonight, he's running to the defense of Geraldine Ferraro (in whom, he sees himself, after his obtuse comments about his experience at Sylvia's restaurant).
I have no sympathy for him, on the topic. He runs around calling others "pinheads", yet he is clearly one on race, so he's out there arguing for a permissive attitude toward what people say, otherwise no one will say anything.
How to think about Ferraro's remarks? There are at least three categories. Racially insensitive remarks, remarks that are constructed in such a way as to be racist, and people who are racist.
- 1. As for insensitive remarks, I don't think that's apt given the context of her remarks, so much, did you?
- 2. What Ferraro (and Bennett before her) doesn't seem to understand is that people who are not racists can still make comments that are poorly constructed, so that they come up as racist-looking. Politically, one apologizes for these remarks and moves on. I suspect this is the category for her comments.
- 3. Now, for folks like Trent Lott, who chose at one time *broadly* to invoke the express beliefs of a known racist, that's not an area where one wants to be vague. Politically, there is almost no amount of fixin' to be done, as apologies are going to ring hollow, mostly.
Last, Bill O's ignorant Sylvia's comments just indicate he's got work to do, not that he needs to clam up (his false conclusion). If he's got those kinds of (generational?) associations in his head, he just needs to hunker down so that what is on the tip of his tongue is not different than what is in the back of his head,
And, to do it by fixing the back of his head, not yelling at everyone to cut him slack or suggesting that everyone else is setting the nation back. Why is that realization so hostile to him?
At least, that's how I stack 'em up. You?
