April 14, 2014

Just before George Will and Chris Wallace decided liberals suffer from "race card Tourette Syndrome" on Fox News Sunday, Brit Hume tossed in his opinion, which struck me as even more odious than Wallace and Will's.

Heeeeere's Brit:

I don't think so. And I think, you know -- first of all, it's false that no attorney general, no president have been subjected to this kind of treatment. After all, Bill Clinton was impeached, think about that for a moment. [Nixon administration Attorney General] John Mitchell went to jail. I mean the list is long of attorneys general and other officials who have been subjected to some very rough treatment on Capitol Hill and elsewhere.

Pssst. Let's not mention that John Mitchell went to jail because he committed a crime. And Clinton's impeachment was definitely the product of a witchhunt, but he loaded their gun for them, so to speak. On the other hand, they haven't been able to dig up anything on Eric Holder or the president, so they just shriek as though they have.

The only thing Eric Holder has done to bring the wrath of the right down on him is protect minorities' voting rights. Because of course, that has nothing to do with race, right?

Also, it isn't like Fox isn't working overtime to create something to pretend they have a scandal. Benghazi, IRS, Fast and Furious -- all hatched from Roger Ailes' fevered brain.

And this strikes me as kind of crybaby stuff from Holder. My sense about this is that both Eric Holder and Barack Obama have benefited politically enormously from the fact that they are African-American and the first to hold the jobs that they hold and this -- I don't know if he specifically meant race or not, I suspect perhaps he did. But to those two men race has been both a shield and a sword that they have used effectively to defend themselves and to attack others. And I think it is depressing at this stage in our national life after all we've been through on this issue and given the overwhelming consensus on the issue of civil rights that this kind of stuff is still going on.

Oh, white privilege, thy name today is Brit Hume. Is he saying that Obama and Holder have "benefited politically" from the fact that they're African-American, and if they weren't they wouldn't have had a chance? Veiled affirmative action claims there, gentlemen?

On the other hand, they claim that race is a sword and a shield wielded by the pair, evidently as some groundless magic spell they weave to convince the body politic they're something they're not.

This is Fox News exploiting the same mindset that causes whites to move toward the right if they fear losing their majority status. The not-so-subtle suggestion that Eric Holder and Barack Obama's race has absolutely nothing to do with how they've been treated by Republicans and the likes of Fox News is intended to affirm viewers' concerns about black guys in high places.

From the birther issue to the current outcry for impeachment, right wingers are in a frenzy over...nothing. The spark that lights their fire is race. If you doubt, just go read a few winger sites and report back.

Yes, race is an issue, and yes, both Holder and Obama have been treated abominably. Brit Hume can say otherwise until he's red-faced and panting, but it won't change what is.

Boo-f*cking-hoo, Brit. Seems to me the real crybabies are the Fox News hacks who just never miss a beat when it comes to bashing and disrespecting this President and his cabinet.

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