*Important Update*
Associated Press has published an article challenging strongly some of the evidence and arguments advanced to refute claims the N-word was used against members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
If the article is correct this is deeply troubling on several levels.
*End Update*
Much has been made of late of the alleged sexism racism homophobia and fondness for the Star Wars prequels among those who would express their disagreement with the actions and attitudes of our current federal government.
For example that within the last few weeks:
- The N-word was hurled against members of the Congressional Black Caucus at least 15 times
- Someone spat upon Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver
- The f-word was hurled against Congressman Barney Frank
Those who (a) assert these things happened and/or (b) argue these incidents demonstrate that opposition to Congress and to the Obama administration is motivated by hate rage sexism racism homophobia and general lack of personal hygiene need to decide right now where they stand:
Are they interested in the truth?
Mark Steyn nails it with “The Democrats’ Fake Hate Crimes” in which he begins:
On March 20th, something truly extraordinary happened. On the eve of the health care vote, a group of black Democrat
Congressmen (eschewing the private tunnels they usually use to cross from their offices to the Capitol) chose to walk en masse through a crowd of protesters, confident that the knuckledragging Tea Party goons they and their media pals have reviled for a year now would respond with racial epithets.
And then, when the crowd didn’t, the black Congressmen made it up anyway.*
Does that sound a little harsh? One would think someone somewhere would like to claim the $10,000 now $100,000 reward Andrew Breitbart is offering to anyone with evidence that someone hurled the N-word against members of the Congressional Black Caucus not 15 times but even once. No one? Not even members of the Caucus who carried one sometimes two recording devices as they walked through the protesters?
Another Black Conservative lays it all out in “The Unraveling of the Tea Party Smear”. With videos links and time-line.
Law professor Ann Althouse called horse manure on the N-word story. With video footage and testimony. By the way she voted for President Obama.
From what I heard — from Meade [her husband], who was there — the people at yesterday’s protest were unusually nice and friendly and well-behaved. Still, the Washington Post uses the term “angry protesters.” That’s a journalistic device to delegitimatize the demonstration by merging everyone into the few persons who said something racist/homophobic. That’s not fair and it’s not accurate, but it has been the stock [mainstream media] treatment of the Tea Party movement all along.
By the way it turns out that Representative Cleaver was not spat upon. It was a case of “say it don’t spray it”. Although now Congressman Cleaver denies he ever made the claim to begin with. Sigh.
But sometimes there really is a wolf. Well sort of. Gay Patriot was able to confirm that someone did use the f-word against Congressman Frank. Although Gay Patriot still has trouble believing the larger narrative. And has several other posts about gay conservatives being treated well and welcomed warmly at several true liberal aka conservative gatherings.
Daniel Foster at National Review has a thoughtful piece “What The Reporters Saw (and Did Not See)” that attempts to figure out exactly how it came to be reported that Tea Party protesters used racial epithets against members of Congress. He went to the trouble of speaking with reporters.
- “No one in the media actually observed the racist taunts; rather, they pieced their stories together from press releases and statements issued by the involved congressmen and their staffers”.
- They felt that these congressmen and staffers appeared credible. They were people with good reputations. Some of them people not known for seeking media attention. And their anger appeared genuine. And some reporters did not use testimony from anyone who was not actually there. Fair enough.
- However none of them could explain why members of the Congressional Black Caucus chose to walk through a group of protesters rather than take the usual underground routes. Or why Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders did the same thing the next day. Or why there is not a single video or audio clip that corroborates the reports of racial epithets.*
Foster concludes by admitting his reluctance to accuse members of Congress of spreading lies. Again fair enough. He concludes by suggesting rather generously that Congressman Lewis and others mistakenly thought they heard what they expected to hear. In other words they were sincerely wrong. And reporters made the mistake of taking their word for it.
By the way Mark Steyn like Daniel Foster respects Congressman Lewis as a genuine hero of the civil rights struggle and would rather not accuse him of lying. Although two other writers at National Review challenge Steyn and argue that Lewis is not above using racial accusations for political gain.
Now why is all this happening? Why all this Sturm und Angst over alleged rage hate and general incivility among true liberals who oppose statism? Especially when we saw far worst coming from the left between 2001-2008 and no one seemed to care?
I think the reason is simple. It all comes down to this.
“We do not have to address the concerns of Americans unhappy with the federal government. We do not have to engage the arguments of the opposition. They just need to shut up and get out of our way. We do not need to listen to them or take them seriously or even give them correct directions to the nearest restroom. Because they are stupid and evil. We know this despite any and all evidence to the contrary they care to present which we will dismiss anyway. Shut up”.
Notice that we are at this point talking about people who are talking about an issue. Rather than talking about the issue itself.
*Rick’s First Principle of Epistemology is worth quoting at this point. “In any given set of data the anomalous elements explain the whole”. In other words in any given situation what does not make sense is precisely where the truth will be found.
On March 20th, something truly extraordinary happened. On the eve of the health care vote, a group of black Democrat Congressmen (eschewing the private tunnels they usually use to cross from their offices to the Capitol) chose to walk en masse through a crowd of protesters, confident that the knuckledragging Tea Party goons they and their media pals have reviled for a year now would respond with racial epithets.
And then, when the crowd didn’t, the black Congressmen made it up anyway.
