No, Tom, Race Has Nothing To Do With It

Tom McMahon is a right wing blogger. My first introduction to him was, to say the least, not a favorable one. But at the urging of a mutual friend, I decided to follow him and found that he does have a good sense of humor, albeit a quirky one, and usually has insightful or at least interesting posts. But every so often, as all of us do, he puts up a clunker. Unfortunately, he did it again.

So in response, here is my version:

Imagine if the Democratic nominee for President was someone who:

1. Joked about mass murder


2. Was good friends, took money from, and defended a convicted criminal


3. Belonged to a group that supported terrorists and Nazis


4. Had so many houses he couldn't remember them all


5. And threw away all the values that he espoused, like his stand on taxes, torture, foreign policy, etc. and threw them away for political gain.

Would anyone take this guy seriously? As either a Republican or a Democrat?
If McCain wasn't a rich, old white guy, would anyone regard this guy as a
serious candidate?

Seriously, race is becoming too much of a factor in this race. There are many blacks that are voting for Obama simply because of racial identity. And there are too many whites of both parties that would never vote for Obama because he is black.

But I do not recall anyone calling McCain names like cracker or honky. What I am aware of is people making racist t-shirts, buttons, and such. I am aware of the right calling Obama a Muslim, nigger, Chocolate Jesus, and other disgusting racial epithets.

Another prime example, via Lady Kay, is the vulgar mailing that is going out in California, with this on the front:

The most alarming thing about this story is the quote from the head of the group that put this out there:

The president of the organization, Diane Fedele, didn’t understand the charges of racism: "I didn’t see it the way that it’s being taken. I never connected. It was just food to me."

How does one overcome such blatant stupidity?