Negro Please!

This whole Harry Reid "scandal" is absolutely absurd, and is nothing more than a symptom of the vile political climate in this country. Was what he said less than tactful? Of course. Did he use an archaic term from a more racially fractured time in American history? Yes, and he probably used that term because he grew up in said period of time. And lastly, is what he said true? I think that if we were honest with ourselves we would have to answer in the affirmative. So he made an off the cuff remark using a racially insensitive word that just so happened to be true. He apologized to the person he made the statement about and that person forgave him. So what's the big deal?

The big deal is that our system is so screwed up that either side will do anything to score cheap political points. The idea that Reid should resign over what he said is ludicrous-- almost as ludicrous as these disingenuous schmucks on the right feigning outrage. And then to make it worse, the arguments Republicans are making about double standards, citing the Trent Lott remarks about Strom Thurmond, further displays their dimwittedness on race matters. Trent Lott lamented that a man who ran on a segregationist platform did not win the presidency. Let me see, saying "Gee Strom, I wish you would have become president and crushed the civil rights movement" is a little worse than Reid's inappropriate comment. But they don't seem to grasp that. The second a drop of blood hits the water, they just swarm. Because really, the truth is that they could give a damn about what Harry Reid said, they just want to take him down and gain power.

And that's a shame, because I really want to believe that there are good Republicans and Democrats who actually do want to work together for the good of the country. But as the Obama presidency has gone through it's first year, I struggle more so every day in believing that. And if I was honest, I would say that one side is worse. Above I said that "either side" will do anything to score cheap political points, and in the past that has probably been true, but the more I pay attention to politics (especially with the last election), the more I see the cheapest, most desperate and underhanded attacks coming from the right. For instance, the right has used everything from fear mongering about government takeovers to fear mongering about death panels to derail meaningful healthcare reform. And I can't help but believe they're now playing the race card to that end as well.

Stupid Is...

I just have to comment on the Henry Louis Gates incident. I got to check out the Sunday morning political shows, and listen to George Will and others discuss how Obama's comments had racial overtones. Really? The police arresting a man in his own home after he showed identification proving he lived there wasn't acting stupidly? Really? I don't care if Gates went off on them, called them racists and pigs blah, blah, blah. After he showed some ID, the cops should have been on their way. Now I'm not saying the cop involved is a racist, or that Gates shouldn't have kept a cooler head, all I'm saying is that the president was right for calling said actions stupid. For conservatives-- and I didn't read the Thomas Sowell piece where he weighed in on this but I can imagine what he said-- to imply the president was making accusations of racial profiling is absurd.

In other news, a study has been published declaring that obesity costs the U.S. 147 billion annually. It goes on to say that medical bill are much higher for obese people. I think this is pretty convincing evidence that we need a junk food tax in our health care reform. It's a common argument that obese people die earlier and are thus less expensive than healthy people in the long run. However, much of our health care expenses go towards interventions to keep people alive longer who are suffering from obesity, i.e. people now live longer with heart disease than they did in the past. All that to say, if we're looking to cut costs and pay for health care reform, taxing the crap that increases the costs might not be a bad idea.

Like People are Actually Offended...

The other day at work my manager and another employee were discussing the 3 hour free coffee promotion at Biggby's. During the discussion my manager noted that he thinks the name change from Beaner's to Biggby's is kind of dumb and he doubts anyone was really offended. I, so badly, wanted to ask the Mexican cleaning guy Miguel, who was standing in the same room as us if he agreed, but I figured that wouldn't be very wise. I've heard other people express these same ideas, but, apparently, according to the news story I linked to people did take notice. In fact, a couple friends who moved to Michigan a year ago were shocked that the name of a popular coffee chain was a derogatory term for Hispanic Americans.

My question is why do we caucasians have such crappy attitudes when other people feel offended by something? Shouldn't we respect other culture's feelings on such matters? Who are we to judge what other people are offended at? I understand that some groups take things too far, but I really don't believe this is one of those instances. Don't get me wrong I liked the name "Beaner's" very much, and I'll probably continue to call it that. The name Biggby-- don't ask me why, it's probably something from my childhood-- make's me think of a large, dumb cartoon dog Maybe they should have compromised and changed their logo to a large coffee bean to drive the meaning home.

But, in the end, shouldn't we consider this progress? Not that long ago in the 50's the government actually had a deportation program called, "Operation Wetback." We thought nothing about throwing around racially disparaging remarks. I'm not saying we should be politically correct, but historically we (caucasians) have done a lot of evil to other people in this country, and the least we can do is respect a racially oppressed people's right to be offended.