Ezra Klein Doesn't Think Romney Is A Racist...Just Privileged

[Me.]

Last night I turned on Hardball to find Ezra Klein guest hosting. Not a problem, as I normally find Ezra to be smart and insightful. Not so last night. He opened the show with a segment on the Romney birther ‘joke’. He started out by saying that talking about race made him squeamish and afraid and he didn’t know that he should be talking about it at all. What utter nonsense I thought. He then, with a wide-eyed look said he didn’t believe Romney was a racist just the product of privilege. So what does he think racism, ‘I’m better than you, my inferior, and therefore can treat you any way I wish’, is? Privilege is the enabler, the underlying backbone, of racism. Why a white southerner thought he could enslave humans from Africa and horribly mistreat them. Because they were beneath his contempt and certainly had better not try to sit at a luncheon counter with him. Privilege allowed a homophobic teenage Romney to chase down a gay boy and cut his hair off. It also gave him leeway to make a birther remark knowing full well he’d get away with ‘putting a little humor into the campaign”. And get away with it he has to applause and accolades from the other racists who want the black man out of the white house. Privilege is at the root of racism and all the other prejudice we see in this country. Money has often been, and is, the determiner of privilege, but so has race and gender. And those who have this sense of themselves act to put and keep others in their ‘place’. They do so because they know they can. And they’ve been trying to put Obama in his place for four years. Frankly, if you ask me, in this campaign of 2012, Romney and those of his ilk are covered with hundred dollar bills rather than white sheets. So Ezra, you and others who have been giving Romney a pass need to open your eyes. Anyone who uses racism, in joke form or otherwise, to gain an advantage or benefit, such as garnering votes, is a racist, plain and simple.

[Divine Discontent]

1. I agree with you. Fortunately for us, they don't have a quality candidate to run with a vision that

is halfway presentable, because if they did, they might be easily ahead of Pres. Obama at this time. Instead, they offer up a vulture capitalist with a load of baggage, and a good history of letting other people see just how arrogant he is...



Get it here --->
http://www.zazzle.com/what_is_mitt_hiding_romney_bumper_sticker-128087600293857910?rf=238107662556833486

[Me.]

2. Sad Isn't It

That he and Ryan are the best they could come up with. But hey, I say, good for us.

[Divine Discontent]

3. ha! true... we can only hope voters continue to trend to liberal viewpoints...

why people support corporations and the elite rich is beyond me...




Get it here --->>>
www.zazzle.com/youre_not_in_the_1_why_vote_like_you_are_bumpe_bumper_sticker-128479630785214922?rf=238107662556833486

[Enthusiast]

4. I think we need to consider the history of the Mormon faith

and racism. Really. The religion is just full of racism. I don't have quotes right here at hand but there is no mistaking the outright racist ideology inherent in the Mormon faith.

[No Elephants]

6. I posted earlier, but did not read your post until just now. Apparently, our minds

went in a similar direction.

Usually, wiki is enlightening, but I am sure Mormons scrub wikis about Mormons continually. I know of a much smaller religious group that does that literally 24/7, erasing the overnight entries of their former members by morning, if not immediately.

Indeed, wiki tries to exonerate the religon's founder and raises some red herring (almost literally) issue of red skin versus white skin. However, the wiki does contain provide a number of quotations from the Book of Mormon, equating dark or black skin with being ugly and a mark of sinfulness .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_people_and_early_Mormonism

But, more telling that the quotes perhaps are the earlier official, discriminatory policies of the church.

[Divine Discontent]

9. I know Obama doesn't want to go there, but I'm all for rights groups pointing it out in selected

media and radio. They are twisted, and really had a dirty hand in Prop H8!



Get it here --->>>
www.zazzle.com/youre_not_in_the_1_why_vote_like_you_are_bumpe_bumper_sticker-128479630785214922?rf=238107662556833486

[No Elephants]

10. Yep, and the Mormon financial backers of homophobia fought a lawsuit

to keep the names of their contributors secret.

Coincidence?

[No Elephants]

5. Remember, Romney grew up in a church that officially excluded African Americans

entirely and then excluded them from the clergy. And he had no trouble remaining a member of that Church.

Would have been able to remain a member of a church with segregationist policies, even if you were promised your own planet for so doing?

And let's not forget Romney's lies about race.

Romney: "I marched with Martin Luther King, Jr."

The public: Um, no, Willard, you never marched with MLK, Jr.



"Well, I 'felt' like I marched with MLK, Jr., so don't dare say I lied about marching with MLK, Jr."

The public: Well, I certainly would have known whether I had marched with MLK, Jr. or not. But, I believe you. I am relieved you only engaged in truthiness, Willard. I would so hate to think you lied about something like that. I guess you really do deserve a nomination for POTUS, after all.



But, what about this lie about race, Willard?

"I remember very clearly when the Mormon Church changed its policy on African Americans. I was driving to school then (meaning Harvard) and I was so touched that I pulled over to the side of the road and wept."

No Elephants: But, Willard, you had been out of school for two or three years when the Mormon Church changed its policy on African Americans, so i guess you don't really remember it all that clearly.



AFAIK, no one has confronted Willard on that one yet. I have no idea why. However, I have confidence in Willard. If confronted, I am sure he will have an answer as truthy as the one he had for his lie about having marched with MLK, Jr.

Do I think it is racist to remain a member of a church that is discriminating against African Americans? You bet I do.

Do I think it is racist to make up lies about having been a better person with respect to race than you were and expecting not to get caught in your lies? You bet I do.

[sabrina 1]

7. Unlike you I've never liked Ezra Klein. I used to read his early

blog posts and never got how he rose to such prominence. He was always on the right leaning side of the Dem Party. The wing they like to call 'pragmatic' as opposed to 'progressive'. There were other, much more insightful writers on the web as the same time he started out, who never got the backing he got for some reason, financial I mean.

[Me.]

8. I See What You Mean

And think you have the edge on this matter as I was appalled and, rather disgusted, by his 'performance' on Friday.

[No Elephants]

11. FWIW, I never liked Ezra Klein either.