Silly season is when nothing is going on in the presidential campaign and the debate focuses on trivialities. Racist season is when the campaign begins in earnest and President Barack Obama looks vulnerable. Then, liberal commentators pull out all the stops to deem practically any criticism of the president racist.
Chris Matthews of MSNBC led the charge with an on-set rant against Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus. Criticizing the gutting of welfare reform? Racist. GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney's joke about no one ever asking for his birth certificate? Racist, too. Saying the president is inspired by a European welfare-state model? Obviously racist.
Priebus looked like he'd been buttonholed by a persistent drunk at a bar and didn't know how to get away.
It's only late August, and the campaign is tied. Wait until October, especially if Obama is trailing. In the imaginations of the president's devotees, an America where he is behind by 2 or 3 points will be indistinguishable from an America where blacks are set on by dogs during civil-rights marches.
When Romney joked in Michigan that no one ever had to ask for his birth certificate, it was a banner day in the racist season. Michael Eric Dyson, who apparently earned an advanced degree in finding obscure ways to accuse people of bigotry, detected the telltale signs of "othering."
"Other" used to be a perfectly fine word, then became jargon fit for use only by people with regular MSNBC gigs or endowed chairs in nonsense.
It's not clear why the former Massachusetts governor would insist that Obama is an American during the Republican primaries only to lurch toward birtherism in the general election, with an unscripted joke he will never, ever repeat.
Even Dyson lacks the creativity of Thomas Edsall, a Columbia Journalism School professor. Edsall wrote a blog post for The New York Times contending that, by attacking Obama for cutting Medicare to pay for "Obamacare," the Romney campaign is engaged in a politics of "racially freighted resource competition."
Why? Because Medicare beneficiaries are "largely white," and "Obamacare" beneficiaries will be "disproportionately minority." Edsall calls this supposed strategy "subtle." Subtle, indeed.
According to this logic, the Obama ads hitting Romney for wanting to end Medicare as we know it must be a naked racial appeal, the "othering" of Romney's reform plan.
There is a consensus among Democrats and the media that Romney's attacks on Obama for "gutting" welfare reform are out-of-bounds and racially charged.
This, too, is wrong. Obama has altered the welfare-reform law fundamentally. The section of the law imposing the work requirements was written to be unwaivable. The Obama administration unlawfully claims authority to waive it.
Imagine that a Republican administration claimed authority to waive the entitlement status of Medicare and Medicaid. Wouldn't Democrats accuse that administration of "gutting" those entitlements?
A Romney ad goes too far in suggesting that the work requirements will disappear immediately. It will probably be a slow unraveling. Any loosening comes in the context of work requirements that already don't have much force. Only about 40 percent of adult welfare recipients in any state are required to undertake "work activities," according to Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation. (Roughly a third of the welfare caseload is black.)
Work is not some racist code. It's a core American value. Ninety-seven percent of conservatives thought able-bodied welfare recipients should be required to work or prepare for work, according to a 2009 Heritage Foundation poll. Ninety-two percent of liberals agreed.
The usual suspects probably consider this universal sentiment a form of prejudice. What a dim view they take of their countrymen. They believe the American public is keenly attuned to racist dog whistles and - though they elected Obama with 53 percent and still like him personally - is ready to reject him partly because he's an African-American.
The silly season can occasionally be fun. The racist season is rancid.
Now that Obama has had the reins for over four years and is running amok destroying our nation, I am still confused why he was voted in for the second time.
President Barack Obama believes in the public sector. He thinks it should be made ever more expansive and entrusted with ever more complicated tasks. Its unions should be powerful. It should be hailed by all the great and good, and attract the nation’s best and brightest.
I am writing this letter to thank and to acknowledge the great and swift job that the Wayne Township Fire Department did, as well as the ambulance, in responding to a medical emergency in our household on May 15.
It is worth mentioning that more Americans were killed by the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, last Sept. 11, than were killed by the recent terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon.
I hate dog movies. In dog movies, the good, loyal, lovable dog always dies at the end and I end up sitting there in the dark with big tears streaming down my cheeks.
I’ve not kept it a secret that I find people who dress their dogs in clothes to be, to put it nicely, somewhat more than just eccentric. And many friendly, helpful readers out there have not kept it a secret that they really wish I would not express my views about dogs dressed as humans.
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
An NPR broadcast examines the question of how communities can better prepare for tornadoes like the one that struck Moore, Okla. on Monday. The broadcast features commentary from Michael Fitzgerald, who reported a five-part disaster series for the CNHI News Service.
Grilling is a simple way to feed your family well this summer. Start with a lean meat and a healthful marinade and then allow the grill to strip away additional fat for a heart-healthy and waist-friendly final result. Plus, grilling caramelizes the natural sugars in foods, which adds flavor without additional calories and fat.
Commentary
Discussion
Way past time for the 'race' ranting to end
By Rich Lowry CNHI
Silly season is over. Racist season is here.
Silly season is when nothing is going on in the presidential campaign and the debate focuses on trivialities. Racist season is when the campaign begins in earnest and President Barack Obama looks vulnerable. Then, liberal commentators pull out all the stops to deem practically any criticism of the president racist.
Chris Matthews of MSNBC led the charge with an on-set rant against Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus. Criticizing the gutting of welfare reform? Racist. GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney's joke about no one ever asking for his birth certificate? Racist, too. Saying the president is inspired by a European welfare-state model? Obviously racist.
Priebus looked like he'd been buttonholed by a persistent drunk at a bar and didn't know how to get away.
It's only late August, and the campaign is tied. Wait until October, especially if Obama is trailing. In the imaginations of the president's devotees, an America where he is behind by 2 or 3 points will be indistinguishable from an America where blacks are set on by dogs during civil-rights marches.
When Romney joked in Michigan that no one ever had to ask for his birth certificate, it was a banner day in the racist season. Michael Eric Dyson, who apparently earned an advanced degree in finding obscure ways to accuse people of bigotry, detected the telltale signs of "othering."
"Other" used to be a perfectly fine word, then became jargon fit for use only by people with regular MSNBC gigs or endowed chairs in nonsense.
It's not clear why the former Massachusetts governor would insist that Obama is an American during the Republican primaries only to lurch toward birtherism in the general election, with an unscripted joke he will never, ever repeat.
Even Dyson lacks the creativity of Thomas Edsall, a Columbia Journalism School professor. Edsall wrote a blog post for The New York Times contending that, by attacking Obama for cutting Medicare to pay for "Obamacare," the Romney campaign is engaged in a politics of "racially freighted resource competition."
Why? Because Medicare beneficiaries are "largely white," and "Obamacare" beneficiaries will be "disproportionately minority." Edsall calls this supposed strategy "subtle." Subtle, indeed.
According to this logic, the Obama ads hitting Romney for wanting to end Medicare as we know it must be a naked racial appeal, the "othering" of Romney's reform plan.
There is a consensus among Democrats and the media that Romney's attacks on Obama for "gutting" welfare reform are out-of-bounds and racially charged.
This, too, is wrong. Obama has altered the welfare-reform law fundamentally. The section of the law imposing the work requirements was written to be unwaivable. The Obama administration unlawfully claims authority to waive it.
Imagine that a Republican administration claimed authority to waive the entitlement status of Medicare and Medicaid. Wouldn't Democrats accuse that administration of "gutting" those entitlements?
A Romney ad goes too far in suggesting that the work requirements will disappear immediately. It will probably be a slow unraveling. Any loosening comes in the context of work requirements that already don't have much force. Only about 40 percent of adult welfare recipients in any state are required to undertake "work activities," according to Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation. (Roughly a third of the welfare caseload is black.)
Work is not some racist code. It's a core American value. Ninety-seven percent of conservatives thought able-bodied welfare recipients should be required to work or prepare for work, according to a 2009 Heritage Foundation poll. Ninety-two percent of liberals agreed.
The usual suspects probably consider this universal sentiment a form of prejudice. What a dim view they take of their countrymen. They believe the American public is keenly attuned to racist dog whistles and - though they elected Obama with 53 percent and still like him personally - is ready to reject him partly because he's an African-American.
The silly season can occasionally be fun. The racist season is rancid.
(c) 2012 by King Features Syndicate
Every year you hear people saying, “If only it would get cold enough and snow enough in the winter. Then we wouldn’t have so many bugs.”
May 24, 2013
Democrats do not live the way they vote.
Now that Obama has had the reins for over four years and is running amok destroying our nation, I am still confused why he was voted in for the second time.
May 24, 2013
President Barack Obama believes in the public sector. He thinks it should be made ever more expansive and entrusted with ever more complicated tasks. Its unions should be powerful. It should be hailed by all the great and good, and attract the nation’s best and brightest.
May 24, 2013
I am writing this letter to thank and to acknowledge the great and swift job that the Wayne Township Fire Department did, as well as the ambulance, in responding to a medical emergency in our household on May 15.
May 23, 2013
It is worth mentioning that more Americans were killed by the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, last Sept. 11, than were killed by the recent terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon.
May 23, 2013
I hate dog movies. In dog movies, the good, loyal, lovable dog always dies at the end and I end up sitting there in the dark with big tears streaming down my cheeks.
May 21, 2013
Mr. President, the buck stops with you.
President Truman set that standard, with these very words posted on a sign on his Oval Office desk.
But now, with over a thousand days left in this second Obama administration, we find a Nixonian stench emerging from the “W. House.”
May 21, 2013
Rarely has the White House briefing room so resembled the main ballroom at a meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference.
May 21, 2013
I’ve not kept it a secret that I find people who dress their dogs in clothes to be, to put it nicely, somewhat more than just eccentric. And many friendly, helpful readers out there have not kept it a secret that they really wish I would not express my views about dogs dressed as humans.
May 17, 2013
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
May 17, 2013
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An NPR broadcast examines the question of how communities can better prepare for tornadoes like the one that struck Moore, Okla. on Monday. The broadcast features commentary from Michael Fitzgerald, who reported a five-part disaster series for the CNHI News Service.
May 22, 2013 1 Photo
Complete Report:
Part I: Are We Prepared? | Part II: Disaster Dollars
Part III: Lessons Learned | Part IV: Warning Signs
Part V: The Big One
Grilling is a simple way to feed your family well this summer. Start with a lean meat and a healthful marinade and then allow the grill to strip away additional fat for a heart-healthy and waist-friendly final result. Plus, grilling caramelizes the natural sugars in foods, which adds flavor without additional calories and fat.
May 24, 2013 1 Photo
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