Posted on 11/23/2010 10:52:03 AM PST by mandaladon
When I was 11, my father thought it was time to show my sister and me the nation's capital. I have only vague memories of that trip - the heat, the expanse of the White House's grounds, the Jefferson Memorial. I do remember we took Route 1 through Baltimore (no I-95 yet) and it was there that I saw my first sign with the word "colored" on it - a rooming house, I think. This was 1952, and the United States was an apartheid nation. It is Sarah Palin who brings back these memories. In her new book, she reportedly takes Michelle Obama to task for her supposedly infamous remark from the 2008 campaign: "For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback." Instantly, Republicans pounced. Among the first to do so was Cindy McCain, who said, "I have and always will be proud of my country." It was a cheap shot, but her husband's selection of Palin for the ticket and plenty of cheap shots from Palin("death panels," etc.) were yet to come.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Wait, didn’t Michelle grow up in Chicago? I thought only the South was guilty of prejudice and racism...?
Come on...just think...all of our presidents have been (gasp!) WHITE until now.
In the name of fairness, diversity and political correctness, we should take turns electing our leaders based entirely on their skin color until far into the future when the balance (or blend so to speak) of color can be mixed into a wonderful rainbow of gray color.
Wouldn’t that make us all feel better about ourselves and we can all get along and sing kumbaya while celebrating Festivis and kwanzaa. (/S)
Eugene Robinson is the one righting about the trip as an 11 yo going to DC? That would actually make sense since I doubt that Richard Cohen was 11 in 1952. Don’t think he’s that old.
We all know what she meant and it wasn't voter turnout. That sign stood out in his memory because he hadn't seen one before so it was unusual for him, yet he's ranting about poor MO being put down by da man. MO wouldn't be born for another dozen years. In fact, MO wouldn't grow into her un-proud adulthood until the 80s. She probably never saw a colored sign in her whole life but she certainly has carried that perceived chip on her shoulder.
Richard Cohen is a guilt filled liberal!
The article is rooted in the author’s racism. Palin can’t be president of black or hispanic America? Obama has proven he can’t be president of any part of America.
I’ve seen presidents since Eisenhower. In my lifetime the only president I’ve seen who could be reasonably characterized as racist is Obama.
Cohen displays an amazing ignorance of apartheid.
Somebody forgot the BARF alert.
Yeah, Sarah was really way off on those death panels. Maybe you should tell your fellow clymer Krugman to dummy up about them, eh Cohen?
Cohen knows full well that Palin understands the history of black people in this country. We all do. So his basic premise is a lie.
What really upsets him is that Palin — and most of middle America — rejects the liberal dogma that America is morally stained by its history and can only be redeemed by jettisoning its traditional of itself as exceptional and good, and by taking up redistributive liberal social policies.
In other words, Cohen cheaply frames his point as though it’s about Palin’s “ignorance”, but in fact it’s an attack on the notion of American exceptionalism. And actually he’s trying to tie the two together — i.e. that if you believe in American expceptionalism or the basic goodness of American, then you are ignorant.
Nor is it mention that: “In Charleston, South Carolina in 1860 125 free Negroes owned slaves; six of them owning 10 or more. Of the $1.5 million in taxable property owned by free Negroes in Charleston, more than $300,000 represented slave holdings. In North Carolina 69 free Negroes were slave owners.”
Anyone who is not ignorant about history knows that virtually every ethnic group on earth can trace its ancestry back to slavery at some point in time.
Uh, old liberal writer guy, it’s 2010 and the President is a black/white mix raised in Indonesia. It’s not 1860 or 1954. Michelle said it was the first time she was ever proud of her country in 2008 . . . and she’s an unAmerican liberal jerk with no understanind of our nation or its people to have said that.
Turn that headline around there and you might have something.
Cohen fancies himself useful to the ruling class (he may even be under the mistaken belief he belongs to it.) I pray we never reach the point where he discovers exactly how useless they would find him once they achieve their objectives, for the sake of myself and my own -- not his.
What we need are certificates conservatives can issue to liberals so they can feel free to give over their guilt and thus stop being liberals. Something like the White-Guilt Certificates Ken Hamblin used to give out.
Really, it would be a social gain and think of how many fewer guilt-ridden liberals there would be. Maybe few enough that NBC/CBS/ABC could safely go out of business and be replaced with adults.
I am confused here. Are they saying MO saw this in 1952? That would be a little difficult, since she was born in 1964.
I’m Hispanic she could be my president any day of the week.
Both Obama and his wife have shown through their comments and actions that they have nothing but disdain for the U.S.A..
The “Crotch Salute “ comes to mind.
Also apending 200 million a day on his trip is disgusting , when many people are suffering and starving.
Both Obama and his wife have shown through their comments and actions that they have nothing but disdain for the U.S.A..
The “Crotch Salute “ comes to mind.
Also apending 200 million a day on his trip is disgusting , when many people are suffering and starving.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.