;)
The Commentariat -- June 15, 2020
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
** Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a landmark civil rights law protects gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination, handing the movement for L.G.B.T. equality a stunning victory. The vote was 6 to 3, with Justice Neil M. Gorsuch writing the majority opinion. He was joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. The case concerned Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars employment discrimination based on race, religion, national origin and sex. The question for the justices was whether that last prohibition -- discrimination 'because of sex' -- applies to many millions of gay and transgender workers. The decision, covering two cases, was the court's first on L.G.B.T. rights since the retirement in 2018 of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinions in all four of the court's major gay rights decisions." Politico's story is here. The decision and dissents are here. ~~~
~~~ Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up new cases for next term that gun rights groups claimed denied Second Amendment rights. The court did not accept a batch of nearly a dozen cases that gun groups had hoped the court, fortified with more conservative members, might consider. Among them were cases involving restrictions in Maryland and New Jersey to permits for carrying a handgun outside the home. The court earlier this term had dismissed a challenge from New York about transporting guns, and three justices objected, with the newest, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, adding that it seemed likely lower courts have been too quick to uphold state and local gun control measures." A Hill story is here. ~~~
~~~ Jeremy White of Politico: California's 'sanctuary' immigration enforcement law will not go before the U.S. Supreme Court, handing California a capstone victory in an ongoing clash with the federal government. The high court on Monday turned down the Justice Department's request to review a federal appeals court decision that largely upheld three California laws. One of the laws passed soon after Donald Trump became president, Senate Bill 54, partitions local law enforcement from federal immigration authorities, protecting arrested immigrants and low-level offenders from deportation. The federal government asked the Supreme Court to review SB 54. The court announced Monday that it declined that review, though Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas would have heard the case. Trump and allies have lambasted California's sanctuary law as an example of what they called Democratic lawlessness on immigration, but it has withstood federal attacks. In addition to rejecting the administration's argument that California was preempted by federal law, judges have turned back a Trump administration effort to withhold law enforcement funding from 'sanctuary' jurisdictions." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I'll bet when Sam Alito goes for a spin in town, he makes three right turns to avoid taking a left. And poor Clarence had to quit driving decades ago because he kept having panic attacks every time he had to merge onto the Beltway. Ginny thought it was the speedy traffic that frightened him, but turns out it was making a left-turn signal.
Ooh, Everybody's Picking on Donnie. Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump on Monday accused the news media of attempting to 'shame' his reelection campaign over plans to hold a rally during the coronavirus pandemic.... 'The Far Left Fake News Media, which had no Covid problem with the Rioters & Looters destroying Democrat run cities, is trying to Covid Shame us on our big Rallies. Won't work!' Trump tweeted, suggesting the coverage of the protests had not pointed out risks of the demonstrations possibly leading to a spread of the coronavirus." ~~~
~~~ Uh-oh. Looks as if the "shaming" had some effect: ~~~
~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "Attendees at President Trump's rally in Oklahoma on Saturday will be given temperature checks, masks and hand sanitizer before entering the arena, the campaign said Monday, the first indication that there will be any precautions taken to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale tweeted the checklist, boasting that there had been more than 1 million requests for tickets for the Tulsa rally. The BOK Center, which will host the rally, holds roughly 19,000 people."
Politico: "The Food and Drug Administration has withdrawn emergency use authorizations for two controversial coronavirus treatments promoted by ... Donald Trump, amid concerns about their safety and effectiveness." An NBC News story is here. The New York Times live updates for Monday, linked below, now includes an item covering the FDA's decision.
Our economy is doing fantastically. Numbers are coming out very well. The consumer in the United States is unbelievably strong, stronger than ever before, I believe. -- Donald Trump to Sean Hannity, March 4 ~~~
~~~ Lachlan Markay of the Daily Beast: "As the novel coronavirus began to tank the stock market in early March..., Donald Trump went on Fox News to assure the country that the economy remained strong. That same day, Trump's chief of staff unloaded hundreds of thousands of dollars in publicly traded securities. Mick Mulvaney, then the acting White House chief of staff and the director of the Office of Management and Budget, sold between $215,000 and $550,000 in holdings in three mutual funds on March 4, according to ethics paperwork he submitted late last month. Holdings in each of the three funds are made up almost entirely of U.S. stocks. The trades, which represented the vast majority of Mulvaney's holdings in publicly traded funds, suggested a less sanguine view on America's financial outlook than Mulvaney's boss and colleagues were projecting at the time."
~~~~~~~~~~
The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Monday are here. "Leading infectious disease experts in the United States are warning that the coronavirus will be making life difficult for the foreseeable future. And as strict social distancing wanes, some leaders in New York and Texas are threatening renewed lockdowns in an effort to get people to take the persistent threat of the virus seriously.... The new rise in cases in some states comes as the Trump administration announced that it did not plan to back the extension of expanded unemployment insurance benefits beyond the end of July, citing concerns that workers are opting to take the generous benefits instead of going back to their jobs. Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council, said on Sunday that the White House would support new incentives to bring people back to work rather than push to renew the additional $600 in weekly jobless benefits when it expires at the end of next month." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Monday are here.
Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump faced new questions about his health on Sunday, after videos emerged of him gingerly walking down a ramp at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and having trouble bringing a glass of water to his mouth during a speech there. Mr. Trump -- who turned 74 on Sunday, the oldest a U.S. president has been in his first term -- was recorded hesitantly descending the ramp one step at a time after he delivered an address to graduating cadets at the New York-based academy on Saturday.... Another video circulated of Mr. Trump taking a sip of water from a glass tucked inside his lectern on the dais at West Point. Mr. Trump held the glass with his right hand and brought it to his mouth, but appeared to momentarily have trouble lifting his arm farther. He used his left hand to push the bottom of the glass so that it reached his lips. Mr. Trump posted defensively on Twitter late Saturday night about the video circulating of his walk, and offered a description that did not match the visuals. 'The ramp that I descended after my West Point Commencement speech was very long & steep, had no handrail and, most importantly, was very slippery,' Mr. Trump wrote. 'The last thing I was going to do is "fall" for the Fake News to have fun with. Final ten feet I ran down to level ground. Momentum!' There was no evidence that the ramp was slippery, and the skies were clear during the ceremony.... The president has frequently tried to raise questions about the health and mental fitness of his rivals, while growing indignant when his own is questioned." Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead. (Also linked yesterday afternoon. More on the sippy-cup problem linked yesterday.) A Slate story is here. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: You will notice in the video that Trump leads with his left foot. In other words, he doesn't walk left-right-left-right; he walks left-left-left-left. This is what I do when my arthritis acts up & I descend stairs or a steep slope: I lead with my stronger leg. I do so more often now than I did four years ago. (Don't think I look at my feet, though, unless I'm descending uneven ground where foot placement matters.) At the end of his descent, Trump speeds up & sort of jumps off the ramp, which IMO is not particularly steep; he raises his elbows to balance himself as he steps off, which a normal walking person would not need to do on so mild a transition from slight slant to flat. He obviously is keeping secret his difficulty walking even from his advance staff, as they could have requested an even longer, even less steep ramp which Trump could have maneuvered without the best-foot-forward step. ~~~
~~~ "Photo-Oops." Jeff Greenfield in Politico Magazine: "The same man who ran for office by mocking the height and stamina of his rivals, who celebrates dominance as the cardinal virtue of leadership, whose 2016 campaign compiled similar slips by Hillary Clinton into a dark TV commercial accusing her of lacking the strength to serve as president, found himself looking like a longtime resident of Shady Grove Home For the Weary.... Yes, it may seem absurd to argue that in a time of pandemic, economic catastrophe, demands for racial justice, and a president often at war with the norms of a Constitutional republic, that a couple of video images should really preoccupy either the president or his critics. But Donald Trump has a native instinct for knowing what matters -- not what the pundits say, or what civics classes tell you, but what really sticks with people. And history says he's right to be concerned about this one." ~~~
~~~ Stephen Collinson of CNN: "Instead of addressing ... directly [matters of great concern to the country], Trump is grasping for made-for-TV moments designed to enhance his personal aura -- a device he has used to some effect in his presidency but that is now emphasizing his disconnect with many Americans and struggles to manage crises besieging the White House. The President's television producer's eye leads him to seek dramatic tableaus that create his preferred image of himself -- strong, defiant, tearing down establishment structures and trampling the normal etiquette of the presidency. In the most recent example on Saturday, Trump's attempt to wrap himself in the power and prestige of the military failed at a West Point graduation ceremony apparently put on for his benefit, when his creeping walk down a ramp triggered so much social media mockery that he felt the need to explain it...."
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The irony is perfect. Trump staged the speech as a campaign rally, forcing graduating cadets -- a/k/a TrumProps -- to self-quarantine for two weeks so the young men & women in uniform could appear at an event, the purpose of which was to make him look like a powerful military leader. And what came of this fakery were, not one, but two viral videos that pictured him as a doddering, elderly man who was losing control of basic motor skills.
Sunday in the Park with George. Michelle Boorstein, et al., of the Washington Post: "Black Lives Matter Plaza was transformed into a church Sunday morning, with thousands of mostly African American worshipers praying, protesting, kneeling and dancing near the White House after marching from the National Museum of African American History and Culture. It was one of the largest faith-based events in the 17 days of protests that have consumed the nation's capital since George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis police custody in May, and it was the first big public event organized by black clergy. Organizers said that was because of extra caution in the African American community, which has been hit especially hard by the coronaviru pandemic.... The Trump administration forcibly removed protesters from the area near Lafayette Square on June 1, ahead of President Trump's photo opportunity at the historic St. John's Episcopal Church. On Sunday, that show of federal force was replaced with prayer." ~~~
This was not an operation to respond to that particular crowd. It was an operation to move the perimeter one block. -- Attorney General William Barr, last week
I never heard any plan, ever, that police or National Guard were going to push people out of Lafayette Square. -- Gen. Joseph Lengyel, National Guard Bureau chief & member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ~~~
~~~ First the Attack & Photo-op, Then the Cover-up. Aaron Davis, et al., of the Washington Post: "During the nearly two weeks since authorities charged at peaceful protesters to push them from D.C. streets -- about 30 minutes before President Trump walked through the area for a photo op -- his aides, the attorney general and federal law enforcement officials have sought to shield the president from political fallout with a simple defense: One scene, they say, had nothing to do with the other. The notion that the street-clearing offensive around Lafayette Square was already planned, and separate from Trump's decision to visit a nearby church, has emerged as the administration's central explanation for scenes of federal officers shoving protesters with shields and firing pepper balls, chemical grenades and smoke bombs at retreating crowds on June 1.... However, the accounts of more than a half-dozen officials from federal law enforcement, D.C. public safety agencies and the National Guard who were familiar with planning for protests outside the White House that day challenge that explanation."
Trump Stands with "Dead Racist Losers." Jake Tapper of CNN (remarks on "State of the Nation" Sunday: "It has been a rough period for President Trump and the military leaders with his former defense secretary, retired Marine General James Mattis, assailing him for dividing the country -- a sentiment given an 'Amen' by Trump's former chief of staff, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly -- not to mention criticisms from Gen. Colin Powell, Adm. Bill McRaven, Gen. Martin Dempsey, Gen. John Allen, [and] Adm. Mike Mullen. The President and his supporters have had plenty of nasty things to say about these men who have served our country.... There is one group of generals, however, that the President is standing firm with, dead racist losers -- more specifically, the Confederate commanders after whom 10 Army bases are currently named.... Men who declared war upon the United States to fight for their right to own and rape and kill Black Americans.... These bases ... were named in the 20th century as a way of honoring the racist 'Lost Cause' that the generals fought." ~~~
~~~ Are the Agile Strongmen & -women of the NFL & U.S. Soccer Shivering in Their Cleats? Shrivathsa Sridhar of Reuters: "... Donald Trump has said he will not watch National Football League (NFL) or U.S. soccer team matches if players do not stand for the national anthem. The U.S. Soccer Federation last week said it had dropped its requirement that players stand during the anthem, saying the policy was wrong and detracted from the Black Lives Matter movement.... NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said this month that the league had made mistakes in not listening to players and denounced racism in the country amid protests over police brutality against black people."
Carol Lee, et al., of NBC News (June 12) on why Trump's view of protesters who oppose police brutality against racial minorities: "'These aren't my voters,' the president has said repeatedly, dismissing protesters in discussions with aides about how to respond over nearly three weeks of unrest, according to three people familiar with the comments. The president's approach to what's widely seen as a seminal moment for the country reflects his ambivalence about being anything other than a self-styled 'president of law and order' and his stubborn adherence to tactics he believes have served him well politically, advisers inside and outside the White House say." Mrs. McC: That is, Trump readily admits it's okay to discriminate against people whom he sees as belonging to voter blocs who are unlikely to vote for him.
Good Timing. Lachlan Cartwright of the Daily Beast: "Donald Trump's niece, his deceased brother's daughter, is set to publish a tell-all book this summer that will detail 'harrowing and salacious' stories about the president, according to people with knowledge of the project. Mary Trump, 55, the daughter of Fred Trump Jr. and Fred Trump Sr.'s eldest grandchild, is scheduled to release Too Much And Never Enough on August 11th, just weeks before the Republican National Convention. One of the most explosive revelations Mary will detail in the book, according to people familiar with the matter, is how she played a critical role helping The New York Times print startling revelations about Trump's taxes, including how he was involved in 'fraudulent' tax schemes and had received more than $400 million in today's dollars from his father's real-estate empire. [A messy court challenge to Fred Sr.'s will] produced a treasure trove of confidential and highly sensitive Trump family financial documents, including Fred Trump Sr.'s tax returns, which almost two decades later would fall into the hands of The New York Times and form the basis for one of the most stunning pieces of journalism in recent years."
George Conway, in a Washington Post op-ed, runs down the various reasons John Bolton took the course he did in refusing to testify against Donald Trump at the same time he was writing a book, to be published shortly, in which he trashes Trump. Conway concludes this was Bolton's calculation, one that didn't work out: "He wanted to testify, but wanted to appear to be forced to do it. Perhaps he thought that, as a reluctant witness, he'd be less open to being caricatured as a disgruntled, discharged adviser, and his credibility would have been enhanced. So he insisted on a court order to appear before the House. When that didn't happen, Bolton began virtually begging to testify.... But Bolton made one fateful misjudgment. He overestimated the character, honor and patriotism of Senate Republicans. It would have taken just four, joining with Democrats, for the Senate to have issued a subpoena. But only two voted to hear Bolton testify.... For that miscalculation, both he and the nation ... have paid a great price." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Nobody ever went broke underestimating the character of Congressional Republicans. Apologies to H.L. Mencken.
Mary Ilyushina of CNN: "Former US marine Paul Whelan was convicted of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in prison, a Moscow court ruled Monday. Speaking from behind a glass screen ahead of the verdict, Whelan called the trial 'a sham' and called on ... Donald Trump as well as leaders of Ireland, the UK and Canada to 'end this.' Whelan -- who is also an Irish, British and Canadian citizen -- was detained at a Moscow hotel in December 2018 by Russian authorities who alleged he was involved in an intelligence operation. He has been in Lefortovo prison in Moscow since and the trial was held behind closed doors." The Washington Post's story is here.
Elections 2020
You do have to wonder how Lindsey will vote in the presidential race: ~~~
Asawin Suebsaeng & Lachlan Markay of the Daily Beast: The Trump campaign's cease-and-desist letter to CNN, which threatened the network because it published a poll that showed Trump's losing the presidential race "was just the latest effort by the president's aides to attempt to satisfy the boss' appetite for retribution. But it also revealed an element of the Trump political operation that has increasingly demanded time, money, and attention -- mainly, the task of convincing Trump that the electoral landscape and polling deficits he faces aren't as dire as he's been hearing. 'This helps keep the president from flying into a rage as much as he otherwise would,' said a White House official who's been in the room for these types of sessions." Trump appears to be buying the happy talk because he told at least confidant that the published polls showing Biden winning are "all fake."
Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "Experts have estimated that without a vaccine, about 70 percent of the population will need to be infected and develop immunity [link fixed] in order to stop the virus's spread, a concept called herd immunity. The number of confirmed American cases now exceeds 2 million, less than 1 percent of the U.S. population, according to the Johns Hopkins Covid-19 Dashboard and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.... The risk of viral spread at a rally like the one President Trump has planned for next weekend in Oklahoma is much higher [than for the outdoor protests that have taken place across the nation]..., experts said, because the rally will be indoors in a large arena and there will no requirement that attendees wear masks. 'It's a perfect storm setup: the idea of tons of people, where one sick person can have an impact of generating secondary cases on this immense level, where it's indoors, where there's no ventilation,' Dr. [Nahid] Bhadelia [of the Boston University School of Medicine] said. 'I would move it to the outdoors, I would reduce the number of people, I would introduce social distancing, and I would require everybody to wear a mask.'" A related AP story is here. ~~~
~~~ Tulsa World Editors: "We don't know why [Donald Trump] chose Tulsa [for his first campaign rally in months], but we can't see any way that his visit will be good for the city. Tulsa is still dealing with the challenges created by a pandemic. The city and state have authorized reopening, but that doesn't make a mass indoor gathering of people pressed closely together and cheering a good idea. There is no treatment for COVID-19 and no vaccine. It will be our health care system that will have to deal with whatever effects follow.... Trump, a divisive figure, will attract protests.... His 2016 Tulsa rally provoked a heated response for some, and his ability to provoke opponents has only grown since then.... [Trump's visit] has already concentrated the world's attention of the fact that Trump will be rallying in a city that 99 years ago was the site of a bloody race massacre.... When the president of the United States visits your city, it should be exciting. We think a Trump visit will be, but for a lot of the wrong reasons, and we can't welcome it.
Are These GOP Electors Conservative? Nah, Just Bigoted. AP: "A Virginia Republican congressman who angered social conservatives in his district when he officiated a gay wedding has lost his party's nomination. Representative Denver Riggleman lost on Saturday in a party convention which was carried out as a drive-thru because of the coronavirus pandemic. He was defeated by Bob Good, a former official in the athletics department at the evangelical Liberty University. Riggleman, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, upset many Republicans in his district last summer when he officiated the wedding of two male campaign aides. Donald Trump endorsed him, as did the Liberty University president, Jerry Falwell Jr.... Good has pledged to restore 'Judeo-Christian' values to Congress, is a hardliner on immigration and wants English to be the official language of the US. His victory could make national Democrats and outside groups more likely to spend money in the district, which easily went for Trump in 2016."
Michigan. Fine with Me.* AP: "People burned letters informing them that they can vote by absentee ballot in future elections during a protest near Grand Rapids. The applications were burned Friday during an event called Operation Incinerator outside the DeltaPlex Arena in Walker. Many people had flags, shirts and signs showing support for ... Donald Trump and Republicans." *Well, actually, they should have recycled.
Beyond the Beltway
California. Sandra Garcia of the New York Times: "The families of two black men who were found hanged from trees in Southern California are asking the authorities to further investigate their deaths. The family of Robert L. Fuller, 24, disputed the authorities' initial pronouncement that he died by suicide. The family of Malcolm Harsch, 38, is worried his death will also be ruled a suicide." Families of both men suspect they were lynched.
Colorado. Saja Hindi of the Denver Post: "Colorado passed one of the most comprehensive police reform packages in the country Saturday, setting limits on police use of force and mandating data collection to make sure cops who are fired from one agency don't get rehired by another. Gov. Jared Polis [D] has said he will sign the historic bill into law once it reaches his desk.... Among the biggest changes, Colorado's Senate Bill 217 bans the use of chokeholds and carotid control holds, limits when police are allowed to shoot at a fleeing person and requires officers to intervene in cases of excessive force or face criminal charges. The bill requires all officers to use body-worn cameras and departments to release the footage within 45 days, and it allows for officers to be held personally liable for civil rights violations."
Georgia. Felicia Sonmez, et al., of the Washington Post: "Atlanta's top prosecutor said his office will decide this week whether to bring charges against the police officer who shot Rayshard Brooks, a black man whose killing outside a Wendy's on Friday sparked a fresh wave of protests against police violence in the Southern city and added fuel to nationwide anger over racial injustice.... Paul Howard, the Fulton County district attorney, told CNN on Sunday that a decision on whether to bring charges in the case will be made 'sometime around Wednesday.... He did not seem to present any threat to anyone,' Howard said of Brooks. 'The fact that it would escalate to his death seems unreasonable.' The police department has fired [Garrett] Rolfe, the officer who shot his gun, and pulled the other officer, Devin Brosnan, off street patrols. Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields resigned Saturday. Public outrage mounted across the country over the weekend, as demonstrators in New York, Los Angeles and other cities and towns took to the streets for the latest in a wave of protests prompted by last month's killing of another black man, George Floyd, in the custody of Minneapolis police. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office determined Sunday that Brooks suffered organ damage and blood loss from two gunshot wounds, and that his official cause of death was 'gunshot wounds of the back.'"
Way Beyond
David Stern & Robyn Dixon of the Washington Post: "Authorities said an anti-corruption bureau official was paid $6 million to drop the investigation against Burisma founder Mykola Zlochevsky ... in an elaborate sting operation Friday. Special anti-corruption prosecutor Nazar Kholodnytsky [-- who oversaw the sting operation --] ruled out involvement by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden or his son, Hunter.... Some anti-corruption activists saw the arrests as a hopeful sign that Ukraine's culture of corruption is finally changing." Mrs. McC: Looks as if the reporters had trouble writing this story; I hadda scan it twice to make sure the proceedings didn't involve some allegation or charge that Trump could use against either Biden.
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Reader Comments (17)
CNN and others ran a story three days ago about halfpence deleting a tweet, showing the presidential* campaign staff packed into an office with no masks. "What a terrible example" was the cry from various quarters.
But really, my guess is they're using a rapid Covid test and can therefore be calm and comfortable all together. In May, the oval office occupier offered a rapid test system to Biden so he could go out on the trail. Surely the turd has allocated one of the precious machines to his highest priority, re-election? My speculation. Seems like a journalist should pay a visit to campaign headquarters and ask to speak with a manager, see if a test happens...
Ben Carson, unearthed from his den in the mansion he lives in, the guy who is doing such a bang up job at HUD that we never hear about, has come out on CNN saying that in his estimation the U.S. has to "grow up" and stop all this nonsense about racial disparities –-awful thing to take down all those statues of confederate heroes–-let bygones be bygones–-let's move on, folks. But Stacy Abrams will have none of Ben's baloney–-she calls him "infantile."
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ben-carson-stacey-abrams-infantile-confederacy_n_5ee6a241c5b6f434d0dff3de
I recall when Dr. Ben said scathing things about Obama; one could ponder the possibility that Carson may not be a credit to his race or he's more ignorant than I thought. Maybe both?
Now here's something you want to cheer about. Barbra Streisand has given George Floyd's 6 yr, old daughter all her shares in the Walt Disney Co. Now that's putting your money where your mouth is!
@PD Pepe: I don't mean to pick on you because millions of people use the same expression: "a credit to his race." But it's a phrase that drives me nuts.
Have you ever described, say, Donald Trump, as not being a credit to his race? Probably not. A person's race has very little to do with his character, intelligence, good looks, etc. Ben Carson certainly deserves "credit" for becoming a highly-respected brain surgeon & getting there the hard way. But I'd say the same for a white West Virginia out-of-work coal miner's daughter. I see Ben Carson as a jerk, but not as a black jerk. He's just a jerk.
Describing someone as "a credit to his race" (or not) implies that there's something deficient about that race & that anyone who "rises above" that supposed low standard is doing a favor to everyone who identifies with that particular race.
Again, I apologize for singling you out. That is not my aim.
Good point, Mrs. M-- about whether or not Ben Carson is a "credit to his race." I think I see it the way PD does: that Ben is a total rotten egg, and I am disappointed in his performance, tho not surprised. I think I expected, but not really, once I knew about him, that he would be a person more interested in rising and supporting his fellow black people than in his eternal "jerkdom"-- and thus, I "expect" him to act as a "real" black professional. It is totally silly on my part to see all whites the same and blacks the same. But I have divided in my head the whites into good people (liberals) and bad people (conservatives) and conservatives into good conservatives and bad conservatives, and bad conservatives into trumpies and others, like George Will! What I must do is slot Bad Ben into my divisions so he becomes a bad conservative, regardless of his skin color! Naturally, Obama doesn't fit into my fantasy slots, being partially white and not necessarily liberal, so it just proves that my head has no idea what it is talking about. What's a white liberal from WI in the 40s supposed to do?? I need to donate my "slots" to Goodwill and stop all of the thinking. In that case, I detest Ben Carson, the slotless professional do-nothing.
@Marie: Of course you are correct to signal me out on that phrase which I used, I guess you could say, sarcastically–-but it didn't come off that way. I, too, have found it faulty and problematic and yes, we don't describe the whiter shade of pales that way*. So I am glad you mentioned it. However, when you hear someone, as I have, who IS black say "He is not a credit to our race!" pertaining to a black member of her own family then... If I showed her the following paragraph I wonder what she would say. This is a strong, militant woman who is proud and at the present furious with what is going on re: her race. She also happens to be one of my daughter-in-laws.
"Describing someone as "a credit to his race" (or not) implies that there's something deficient about that race & that anyone who "rises above" that supposed low standard is doing a favor to everyone who identifies with that particular race."
Ethnic Eruptions
* "She's too Jewish for me!" said by a Jew
"He thinks he's so Irish, he doesn't know Irish from a hole in the wall" said by my brother who is 3rd generation half Irish, half German, about a buddy of his who was born in Ireland.
"When I hear her speak, I'm embarrassed that she is of the same ethnicity as I am." said by a Polish dental assistant about her sister-in-law.
And so it goes~~~~~
The legendary sports writer, Jimmy Cannon, who covered boxing, but also served as a war correspondent (a different form of pugilism) during WW II, once wrote of the great Joe Louis that he was “a credit to his race, the human race.” The credit to his race “accolade” had been judiciously applied to Louis by white writers who saw him as one of the “better” negroes, that is, not a troublemaker. But Cannon saw him as a great human being. That would be the better (okay, best) way to formulate this expression. Unfortunately (or fortunately, as the case may be) the phrase carries too much baggage, and did, even in Cannon’s time.
Language is perhaps our greatest gift as human beings. Sure, other creatures have their own form of communication, whales sing, ants do that amazing groupthink thing, my dog jumps up on the bed and pounces on me to let me know it’s time to stop all this foolish reading in bed business and give him a belly rub. But language must be used judiciously.
We are quick to notice when it’s not used properly, especially by a certain orange menace, whose employment of the language runs up and down the scale from silly, to stupid, to asshole, to impenetrable. We often fall into a usage trap that can alter our meaning without our noticing. I have a habit of using the word “actually” when describing some situation (as in “he actually did a good job”, or “This actually tastes pretty good”. It drives my wife crazy because she interprets it as condescension. My meaning is (most often) something more along the lines of “really” rather than something less generous.
Certain expressions have thankfully been discarded or used now only in ironic senses, such as “ mighty white of you”, which was once an acknowledgement that someone did something decent that could only be expected from a superior white person.
We’ve all been guilty of inaccurate or unfortunate expressions over the years. I have no doubt that PD, whose generosity of spirit is on display here every day, did not mean to disparage Ben Carson for his race, just for being, largely, an idiot.
So language is a funny thing. The philosopher Stanley Cavell, who has written often about language and himself practices a form of what’s called plain language philosophy, once famously asked “Must we mean what we say?”, which points out the difficulty in knowing not just what to say but how to do it. One of the great values of Reality Chex, besides its formidable service as a clearinghouse for solid information in a tenuous time (Thank you again, Marie!), is, for me, a platform for refining my thinking and the language used to express it, however sketchily at times.
It’s a use it or lose it proposition. Language, that is. And the freedom to use it, as well, something under attack every day.
Otherwise you end up saying stoopid shit and relying on gibberish which you hope others will translate to your benefit. Like a certain dim witted douchebag we all know (how’s that fer languaging?).
And this from the newly liberal SCOTUS that has apparently been reading the tea leaves...
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-06-15/supreme-court-rejects-trumps-challenge-to-california-sanctuary-law
Trump can inscribe another name on his enemies list. Mr "But", Neil Gorsuch penned the opinion in the LGBT case decided against the administration.
Very surprised to see the supremes uphold anti-discrimination civil rights laws. This should not be a surprise (the idea that civil rights should extend to all Americans), but it is. What’s NOT a surprise is that Alito, Thomas, and Bart all voted FOR discrimination.
And while I’m on about the Supreme Court, I noticed that the gun knobbers flooded the court with nearly a dozen “guns everywhere!” cases. Doesn’t this come under the heading of, whatchamacallit, nuisance suits? “Hey, supremes, look over here! Guns. Now over there, more guns! Guns for everyone! What about ussss?? Aiieeee! Guns, guns, GUUUUNNNNSSS!!”
Jesus. Shut up. No one is trying to take your fucking guns.
The idea is that unless every terrorist, criminal, militia kook, wife beater, and mentally disturbed person (but I repeat myself) owns an arsenal, their precious rights are under attack and it’s time, once again, for heavily armed loonies to descend on federal, state, and local government buildings and threaten to murder someone unless they get what they want.
And for those few who think we have not seen all this before:
"We could get along with a man who was only a fool or a knave or mad, but the extraordinary occurrence of all three of those qualities combined in one person is intolerable."
Henry Clay was speaking of John Tyler, but his remark does have a certain prescient ring....
@Ken Winkes It is truly a shame that there is so little published on the Presidents from Jackson to Lincoln. While a mostly pedestrian lot they certainly incited some incendiary press.
@Akhilleus: When I heard news this morning of the Supremes' decision to gay rights, I thought this must be the best "institutional" news we'd had all year; "institutional" in that a hidebound institution (the Court) got it together & made an obviously correct interpretation, an interpretation that will effect real change in our "backward" states.
But now that you mention it, the obvious correct interpretation is, more than the 9-0 Brown v. Board of Education decision, one that should have been a no-brainer for every justice. We know old Clarence has a screw loose, but there's no excuse for Bart & Sam. "It depends on what the meaning of 'sex' is" is not a good counterargument. Roberts must realize he hasn't mastered his Court the way Warren mastered his. That has to hurt.
P.S. Thanks for the enlightenment on Jimmy Cannon. I thought I was a cheese standing alone on the saying. Glad to find out I'm but one on a fine cheeseboard.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/thinking-landslide-beyond-d-c-083042948.html. After reading the comments above, I was wondering if the GOP party leaders are a credit to their ....whatever they are. Maybe they are a credit to their racist, noblesse oblige bullshit toward their fellow human beings. To a person, the party leaders say Orange menace is "where we wanted to be" or so says one "leader". I read this stuff and have to think they are all reading off the same script. But, the Democrats better pay attention and keep the pressure on Orange and his enablers every way they can. Republicans are schoolyard bullies and will only change by grievous, public embarrassment. I think Joe Biden has wisely stayed silent and let his dipshit rival pontificate.
With all the slogans and posters in this current upheaval, there's one simple statement I'd like to see again.
MY RACE IS HUMAN
Perhaps it's a bit too simple to understand.
I'm with @BobbyLee. There is only one race, the human race. We are all just genetic variations. That's just science.
Nice discussion, everyone. That is a reason I read this column every day-- I feel like I am among friends, and that our fearless leader, is the mistress of all she surveys. She makes me smarter every day, even though I don't sound like it...!
Okay, @mrs. unwashed, scientist. Is there a mrs. unwashed & a mr. unwashed? Are there two mrs. unwasheds. Inquiring minds want to know.