I just put this here for discussion as it seems far more important to discuss than just the overall gloom that the Friends at Fox put forth last night.
I think the whole concept of a “traditional America” is quite different than his. Maybe it’s because I am a Euro Mutt who was born in New York City, someone who saw the Statue Of Liberty as tangible evidence that we were supposed to be a melting pot of different cultures, that the whole concept of a “white establishment” is offensive to me. Even more so, the notion that those outside of that establishment simply “want stuff.”
I find his views racist. I find them repugnant. To be there is nothing subtle here, like the Tea party blathering or innuendo alluding to “States Rights” and the like. What he said is blatant to me, and equally offensive.
But I wonder if I am incorrect for feeling this way. Not that it’s not racist and disgusting - for sure, I know that it is, just as I though Romney’s comments after he was booed at the NAACP (the eerily similar “Remind them of this: if they want more stuff from government, tell them to go vote for the other guy – more free stuff.”) - but that it’s as blatant and unhidden as I think.
I also wonder that if it is as openly racist as I think it is, when BillO will be drummed out of his position at Fox News?
I think he is irrelevant. And what makes him irrelevant is what he is saying.
What’s fascinating is that him and similar ilk were able to pull a cloak over a lot of people eyes and make them think that election is close. He is entertainer and should be treated as such. But, somehow, he is given weight and importance where there’s no basis whatsoever.
303:206 demonstrates that NOT all ideas are equally worth and some people who continue to ignore basic and self-evident truths should be placed in a dustbin of history.
I don’t know exactly how it was intended, but to the extent “racist” connotes disparaging a particular race, I’m not sure it was. It certainly is not “colorblind.”
But I’m not sure that is a bad thing. I chose to interpret it as a positive remark in that it is a step towards recognizing the new reality, as opposed to the past in which educated and propertied white males are entitled to all manner of privileges and advantages, with everyone else expected to be happy for whatever is left to them.
Sometimes it is good for things to be stated bluntly - by someone, even if they do not please the ear.
I’m sure that’s what he meant, but in spite of himself he was right. People should and do want their government to be effective and do “things” for its people. Where he is completely wrong is in insinuating that it’s because people are lazy or entitled rather than being completely reasonable.
Personally I think everything **John_Stamos’_Left_Ear **quoted Oreily saying is correct. Whatever his stupid idea of traditional America is really is gone. A tiny minority of weathy whites don’t get to determine the future of the country anymore. Finally! And I say that as a wealthy white man.
This bears repeating. The GOP will undoubtedly spin the usual reasons rationalizing the loss: The media is in the bag for Obama, voter fraud/intimidation, Romney was a poor campaigner, Hurricane Sandy, and on down the list. This fantasy is aided to a large extent by the epistemic bubble of Fox News, Drudge, and other conservative echo chambers. But the fact of the matter is, this race wasn’t really that close, and a majority of voters don’t like what the GOP is selling. Period.
A party that disproportionately favors the priorities of rich or angry white males is not going to win nationwide elections in future years. If O’Reilly doesn’t like that, tough; he may as well rage against the tide. I for one will shed no tears if he and his pundit ilk continue their Sissyphean cycle, certain that this time–this time–voters will finally accept whatever “truth” their personal right-wing noise machine is blathering about, only to see the rock knocked down the hill yet again by another “surprising” electoral loss. Cruel reality has a pitiless way of blunting false expectation.
Well Obama won by over 2 and a half million votes the same night we elected our first openly gay senator, legalized marijuana in 2 states, voted against an anti-gay rights amendment for the first time and voted to legalize gay marriage in 3 other states, the first time it was ever legalized by popular referendum. There’s a lot of very angry old people today who’re going to stay angry for the rest of their lives.
It almost seems as though he is suddenly seeing something that was right there in front of him, for the first time.
He’s right, they do want something. They want the old, rich, white, guys to stop stacking the deck in their favor! That’s hard for an old, rich, white, guy to hear. Poor thing!
He’s knowingly dancing all around the racism, which is so weaselly. Clearly something improved he sight, so he could ‘suddenly’ see this ‘new’ America.
If by “traditional” you mean “conservative,” then I disagree. Conservative America is getting older and older and is dying off year by year. The Republicans will get fewer votes every election if they don’t come back toward the center a bit.
I don’t think the numbers bear this out. Romney came close. A lying sack with no convictions other than ‘tax cuts’ nearly won. More men in the country voted for him than for the President. Thank God the women stepped up.
Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
If he was unable to win getting a small percentage of women and smaller one of minorities but white men mane it close, how will that side so when there are less white men and more of everyone else - which is how the population is going?
They’re not gonna turn back time. They tried this time. They failed.
How does coming close and failing make them think that when the landscape gets even tougher for them that it’ll work next time?
Rush Limbaugh said today, “We’re outnumbered…We’ve lost the country”. Republican Sean Trende tweeted today, and got retweeted by prominent right wingers like Jonah Goldberg, that Obama got slightly less of the white vote than Dukakis did in '88! They aren’t coming out and saying it as bluntly as Rush or O’Reilly, but the idea is the same.
I can actually see where they are coming from, a little bit. Before Obama’s 2008 victory, I’m fairly sure (and someone here will correct me if I’m wrong), no one had ever lost the presidency when getting an outright majority (not a plurality) of the white vote. If that has ever happened before, it must have been one of those razor’s edge elections in the late 19th century. But if we change the parameters to “55+ percent of white votes”, then I feel utterly confident McCain was the first to do that and lose. Now Romney gets 59 percent and loses. It really must feel like “their” country is slipping out of their control!
And in any case Lindsey Graham had called it months before: “We’re not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term.” Meaning there’s got to be another way. Become the party of entrepreneurial Latina women, the party of optimistic education-focused Black parents, the party of patriotic young Asian men. Or perish.
Oh, Jesus H. Christ on Rollerskates :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
This is like the lady who barely three months into the Administration was saying “I want my country back” at a town meeting. Honey, “your” country as you think you are entitled that it be, was gone years ago. *** Now*** you notice?