POWIP Piece of Work In Progress

Adding fuel to the Outrage! or beginning the race card’s swan song?

For some time now I’ve been noting the gratuitous use of the race card by the Presidents supporters against any who might dare to oppose his legislative agenda.  That practice, as well as the whole comic opera that is identity politics in America may have reached a crescendo yesterday, with the same pronouncement by Jimmy Carter; a former President who has rehabilitated his personal reputation with the American people over the years, but not necessarily his reputation for political acumen, or leadership skills.  Carter, who essentially called Congressman Wilson out as a racist, southerner-to-southerner, went on say that racism plays an important role in the opposition Mr. Obama has faced.

"I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's African-American," Carter told NBC News. "I live in the South, and I've seen the South come a long way, and I've seen the rest of the country that shares the South's attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African-Americans."

"That racism inclination still exists, and I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of belief among many white people -- not just in the South but around the country -- that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply."

Indeed, following Wilson’s admittedly boorish behavior during the Presidents address, for which he quickly apologized-an apology accepted by Mr. Obama, Speaker Pelosi wished to steer the house debate back toward health care; but some house members would have none of it.  Of course, we all know that Wilson was censured in the well of the House chamber, and deservedly so; but it was not unprecedented and perhaps if Bush critics had been held to a similar standard the Wilson censure wouldn’t seem so hypocritical.

The problem is that the public, especially the independent voters, is becoming increasingly skeptical to these breathless charges, as this latest Rasmussen poll indicates.  And well they should be, regardless of what the punditry or the political elite maintain; unless of course this is the national conversation on race that Mr. Obama thought we should be having.  If this exchange with Eric Dyson on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” is any indication, then the over-arching meta-narrative may indeed be in trouble.  If you can’t spare, or stomach, the entire 9 minutes then may I suggest that the real meat is around the three minute mark where Maria Bartiromo refutes Dyson’s risible assertion that no one ever called a President a monkey using one of her own colleagues, Erin Burnett, as an example.  Then, fast forward to 7:45 and listen to the last two minutes; here Maria scores a direct hit as she ask Dr. Dyson if the 20-odd percent of folks who have come to disapprove of Obama since February have suddenly become racists!

James Boswell, in his book, “The Life of Samuel Johnson”, states that Johnson was referring to false patriotism when he made his often quoted statement; “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel!”   The Krauthammer twist on that same theme is, “The Racism accusation is the last refuge of a liberal scoundrel”.  And the more people realize the gratuitous way it’s applied in our country, the closer we will come to realizing Dr. King’s dream of a colorblind society.  Let’s all hope that this is the signal of the coming swan song for the race card and identity politics in America.

UPDATE: Well, maybe I spoke too soon.  According to ACE, Maxine Waters wants the legacy media to intimidate investigate the ordinary citizens RAAAAACIST Teabaggers! who aren't down with Obama's agenda.  She wants the MSM to "vet" them, like they "vetted" Joe the Plumber, but, you know, not Obama or Van Jones...

UPDATE II: Jules Crittenden and Legal Insurrection have more on why the left should quit taking refuge behind the race card.

UPDATE III: Darleen Quick at Protein Wisdom weighs in with some more examples of the intensity of the identity politics card game going on right now.

UPDATE IV: The always insightful Ric Locke weighs in on the dynamics of how we got to this point in general.

UPDATE V: You know that the card playing is getting out of hand when independants like Ann Althouse are voicing their displeasure with the racialist demagoguery being employed by Obama's political allies.

Rocketman