Weeds And Seeds
Sean Hannity says this is race-baiting. I disagree. Mr. Hannity sees a black face and assumes that the intent is to inflame the passions of blacks. But, if we are going to promote a color-blind society don't we have to reject an argument based solely on skin color? The individual pictured is not only a black, but also a male, and an adult. Why then does he not claim gender-baiting? Or, Ageism? On his Fox News show, Hannity and Colmes, this evening Mr. Hannity cited past racially offensive advertisements by the Missouri Democratic Party as proof of the intent in this work, but, his reach exceeds his grasp. The past behavior is reprehensible, and inspires an emotional response, but it does not logically prove the present intent!
The real crime associated with this billboard (and the five others planned to follow) would be for someone to recognize themselves in the people pictured and then based solely on that similarity come to believe that they are being disadvantaged. My counsel is; appraise the premise, ignore the symbolism. When the premise does not stand up to scrutiny, don't be swayed by a picture. Think, don't go all Michael Moore on me folks!
Bill Cosby has another lesson he wants families to hear. (While some reports have Mr. Cosby speaking of Black families, I believe that he would allow that his advise is not color specific). (hat tip- Rush Limbaugh)
"I can't even talk the way these people talk: 'Why you ain't,' 'Where you is' ... And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk. ... Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. ... You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth!"It must the company that I keep, but, I honestly wake up every day thinking the Ku Klux Klan is extinct, literally. Wrong! Not only are they still around, they are demanding free speech rights! I blame liberals for corrupting constitutional protections at the expense of common civility, can't prove it, just a gut feeling.
If you are against Gay "Marriage", and want to be heard go here.
Comments
Actually the poster was part of a series... each of which targeted one of the (D) preference groups. So just as that one did race-bait... so too there was one of the elderly, one of a woman etc...
They 'set' of posters confirmed Hannity's point.
Posted by: DANEgerus | May 31, 2004 05:43 AM
I can certainly understand how you can come to that conclusion, (btw, Chris agrees with you and Sean), but if that is the only criteria, (the presence of an example of a clearly defined group within the ad), then what isn't ______-baiting (choose any group to fill in the blank). By that logic, only a picture showing a group of people of diverse association, (i.e. race, gender, age, religious persuasion....), could pass the test; and couldn't it be argued that such a group picture is also an efficient ploy targeting all the groups represented all at once? Diversity-baiting?
Come on now, there needs to be another element present; merely the presence of a black man on the billboard does not make it race-baiting any more than the arrest of a white man by a black policeman (or vice versa)become a racially motivated police action just because the two actors are of different skin colors.
I am ready and willing to believe the worst about the Democrats, in fact I can believe that their intent in these ads was to bait the groups represented, but I can not accept that we can make the big picture work if the standard for defining such abhorant behavior is so nebulus. I think this is a case where only those that want to see a problem can see _____-baiting, when the bigger problem with the ad is in the claims it makes about America; they claim failure, and they fail to support their claim!
Posted by: Richard | June 2, 2004 08:38 PM