uncivic meetings

[a_priori]

We of the political left and middle are increasingly exhorted to acknowledge a painful truth: the bizarre public ‘debate’ over health care, its shockingly disingenuous claims and scarily angry town hall shouters, all reflects a deep undercurrent of racism in American society. It’s not us, of course; we’re not the racists. It’s them. Those people.

Comments

[greensword]

Some small portion of vocal health care reform opponents are racists. Some are lunatics. Some are cynical liars. But the bulk are our fellow citizens, who happen to sincerely hold values divergent from our own, however inchoate their expression may be at times. In contentedly assuming their motives dark, we show them disrespect, do a disservice to civic discourse, and - perhaps worst of all - delude ourselves in righteous comparison. It is just too happy a coincidence that the people who happen to disagree with us on an issue unconnected to race also happen to all be closet racists.I disagree that these protests are largely motivated by racism - I think they are motivated by a more general fear. Bush et al spent years whipping people into a frenzy of anxiety about terrorism, foreigners, communists, liberals. How else will they react when they suddenly no longer hold a branch of the federal government

[a_priori]

I don't think it's helpful to put the blame on Bush and company. Screaming crowds and ridiculous untruths predate this century. And they also aren't unique to the conservative side. There was an interesting story on NPR's "On the Media" last week, detailing how the blueprint for the town hall antics came from arch-liberal Saul Alinsky's book Rules for Radicals.

I agree that there is a lot of misunderstanding, but we should be clear that it's on both sides. Very few people (including among members of Congress) have actually read any of the reform proposals. Many support them for blind loyalty to Obama or the Democrats, while others are driven by a fear of insurance companies that is no less ignorant than fear of a government system.

If republicans don't want to be painted with the brush of extremism, it is up to them to speak their moderation loudly. Right now, the crazy-ass conservatives are the only conservatives talking.They aren't talking, or we aren't hearing them? 'Unexcitable politician gives calm and detailed policy analysis

[greensword]

I don't think it's helpful to put the blame on Bush and company. Screaming crowds and ridiculous untruths predate this century

I'm not saying that Bush et al fundamentally changed human nature - I'm saying that they've fostered a culture of fear that has played to some of the worser parts of human nature. There's a difference.

And they also aren't unique to the conservative side.

I'm not saying that either. However, in this debate, it's not the liberals who are showing up with weapons and vowing to "water the tree of liberty with the blood of tyrants".

I agree that there is a lot of misunderstanding, but we should be clear that it's on both sides. Very few people (including among members of Congress) have actually read any of the reform proposals. Many support them for blind loyalty to Obama or the Democrats, while others are driven by a fear of insurance companies that is no less ignorant than fear of a government system.Of course there's going to be misunderstanding and bad will on both sides. These "sides" consist of

[eve_prime]

I hadn't heard that it was being portrayed as racism - just as alarmism, hypocrisy, and evidence of shocking gullibility. Interesting.

[a_priori]

The racism line appeared last week, so far as I can tell, and has since gained momentum in the liberal commentariat.

I'm worried that this is going to happen repeatedly over the next few years - any concerted opposition to Obama's policies will be called racist, whatever the merits of the charge. That will make it impossible to deal effectively with the (inevitable) instances of actual racism.

[eve_prime]

That's a very good, and troubling, point.

[nanikore]

So some of them might actually be expressing their honest non-racist opinions, despite being jerks.

Ah. Someone is talking sense. Bravo.

[a_priori]

Well, later events make it look like at least some of the people instigating all of this are motivated at least in part by racism. Joe Wilson apparently has a racially-tainted past, and some of the more excitable Republican commentators use unfortunate phrases like "those people" when referring to Obama and his supporters. Whether that means "those Democrats" or "those blacks" often isn't clear at all.

The ambiguous possible-racism is so frequent that I have to believe that even if the speakers themselves aren't expressing personal racism, they are nevertheless speaking in such coded ways to court favor (a la Nixon's southern strategy) with actual racists. It's all very sordid.

[nanikore]

Oh well. I've said many times in the past that extremists get all the air time. The vast majority of the Boring Assed Middle doesn't exist on air, so our issues (or at least mine) doesn't really become burning issues until it shows up on a random poll or something.

For some reason the phrase "those people" reminds me of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAlVKgl_zCQ