Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Consistently wrong since 2002

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

DeSantis transforms Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Glad to see john eastman going through some things.

Not all heroes wear capes.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: In NRO-world, Oprah Winfrey is the Real Racist

Open Thread: In NRO-world, Oprah Winfrey is the Real Racist

by | 96 Comments

This post is in: , , ,

Not just open, but gaping! Rich ‘Starbursts’ Lowry explains it all for you his readers:

… The movie’s stars showed up for the New York City premiere with “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirts, and held their hands up for photos. One of its producers, Oprah Winfrey, says of the film, “It is here for a reason in this moment.” The actor who plays Martin Luther King Jr., David Oyelowo, calls the parallels with Ferguson “indisputable,” and the rapper Common, who plays activist James Bevel, pronounces, “Obviously, the story took place in 1965, which is almost 50 years ago, but we know that it’s happening now.”…

Whatever you think of the merits of voter-ID laws — often brought up to make the case that the struggle for voting rights is not over — they are not the least bit redolent of the Deep South of the mid-20th century. No one asks anyone to recite the preamble to the Constitution to get a driver’s license or some other valid ID…

As for policing, the worry in 1965 wasn’t ambiguous encounters or tragic accidents. It was beatings, or worse. It was whips and forced march by cattle prod. It was the violence of police who were the oppressive instruments of a lawless authority.

The protesters who faced off against the police in Selma didn’t shout abuse, although they would have been amply justified; they didn’t burn down local businesses; they didn’t randomly fire guns, or throw rocks or stones. The difference between demonstrators in Selma and Ferguson is the difference between dignity under enormous pressure in a righteous cause and heedless self-indulgence in the service of a smear (that Officer Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown as he surrendered)…

Reader Interactions

96Comments

  1. 1.

    Mike in dc

    “Why do all these racists keep voting for us? ” is the new “Why do these homosexuals keep sucking my dick? “

  2. 2.

    Rafer Janders

    As for policing, the worry in 1965 wasn’t ambiguous encounters or tragic accidents. It was beatings, or worse. It was whips and forced march by cattle prod. It was the violence of police who were the oppressive instruments of a lawless authority.

    Thank god that’s no longer a problem…..!

  3. 3.

    Tokyokie

    I read a few of the comments at TRO. But I can only take so much of racist assholes insisting that they’re neither racists nor assholes.

  4. 4.

    Derelict

    @Mike in dc:
    It’s more like, “We keep saying racists things, and we keep doing racist things, and our party is working very hard to keep Blacks from voting. So we can’t understand why anyone would call us racist–especially since we haven’t said ‘ni**er’ out loud in the last couple of months.”

  6. 6.

    Zam

    Everyone knows you’re not racist unless you openly declare yourself as one. Until then you are just pointing out how terrible and lazy those black folks are, and maybe they don’t need rights until they meet your standards for earning them.

  8. 8.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Whenever Rich Lowry writes this, I hear people blowing the dust off NR’s actual Civil Rights era editorials

    Pierce is already on it, and there is no dust on his copies

    How he refers to the death of, among other people, a 12-year old kid at the hands of trigger-happy policing, as “ambiguous encounters or tragic accidents.” (Two seconds it took the cop to decide that Tamil Rice needed to die on the spot. There is nothing ambiguous about that, nor is there anything accidental.)

    IIRC Christopher Buckley was asked to resign from his mostly ceremonial position on the NR board when he announced his support for Obama in ’08.

  10. 10.

    Bystander

    Just read on joe god that Donna Douglass has passed away. Douglass played Elly May on The Beverly Hilbillies. She was 81.

    I’m guessing Elly May was a role model for Sarah Palin. Only connection I’ve got to between Lowry and Douglass.

  12. 12.

    Amir Khalid

    @Bystander:
    No way. Elly May Clampett and her kin may not have been the most sophisticated people in Beverly Hills; but, Jethro aside, they weren’t stupid, and there was never a mean bone in any one of them.

  14. 14.

    Bubblegum Tate

    The comments are…holy shit. The biggest debate they’re having is whether William F. Buckley really did say his famous quote about the natural inferiority of black people. Besides that, it’s mostly settled that the only racists in the world are black people (specifically Obama, Eric Holder, Al Sharpton, and, now, Oprah).

    PS: I also love how Lowry says that “MLK and his forces descended” on Selma. Really? His “forces” “descended”? That’s just fantastic.

  15. 15.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Aimai:
    I’ve been using the rule ‘If it’s what a racist would do who’s smart enough not to use the word nigger, then it’s racism.’ The Obama years have made it abundantly clear to me that the benefit of the doubt is not only not deserved, it’s a huge part of the problem.

  17. 17.

    Mandalay

    It was beatings, or worse. It was whips and forced march by cattle prod.

    Eric Garner and Michael Brown and Tamir Rice would be longing for those good old days.

    It was the violence of police who were the oppressive instruments of a lawless authority.

    Heh – Lowry thinks things have changed. If you made this stuff up nobody would believe it.

  19. 19.

    AshWing

    Sometimes I wonder if it’s possible to buy the National Review, fire everyone, and replace them with contrarians (aka liberals), thus ensuring decades worth of “even the conservative National Review” from the punditry.

    But then I realize that this sort of thing only works in one direction.

  21. 21.

    Botsplainer

    @Mandalay:

    Heh – Lowry thinks things have changed. If you made this stuff up nobody would believe it.

    Had it been up to Lowrey’s literal and ideological predecessor Buckley, nothing would have changed and those uppity nigras would have gotten their heads busted like they clearly deserved.

  22. 22.

    Cacti

    The worst thing about NRO’s civil rights record wasn’t just that they favored second class citizenship for racial minorities, they even went so far as supporting apartheid-style government in places where black people were a numerical majority.

    The central question that emerges . . . is whether the White community in the South is entitled to take such measures as are necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in areas in which it does not prevail numerically? The sobering answer is Yes – the White community is so entitled because, for the time being, it is the advanced race. It is not easy, and it is unpleasant, to adduce statistics evidencing the cultural superiority of White over Negro: but it is a fact that obtrudes, one that cannot be hidden by ever-so-busy egalitarians and anthropologists.

    National Review believes that the South’s premises are correct. It is more important for the community, anywhere in the world, to affirm and live by civilized standards, than to bow to the demands of the numerical majority. Sometimes it becomes impossible to assert the will of a minority, in which case it must give way, and the society will regress; sometimes the numerical minority cannot prevail except by violence: then it must determine whether the prevalence of its will is worth the terrible price of violence.

    As Gore Vidal said upon learning of William F. Buckley’s demise: “RIP WFB – in hell”.

  25. 25.

    dedc79

    @Bubblegum Tate: Yes, one would think the “forces” that “descended” would more appropriately describe the state and local police who gassed and clubbed the peaceful marchers or the lynch mob who murdered James Reeb.

  27. 27.

    JustRuss

    @Cacti: Wow. So the the minority, in order to “live by civilized standards”, is permitted to resort to violence? I am in awe of the inconsistency of NR’s rhetoric….even by the standards of today’s conservatives that’s impressive.

  28. 28.

    Citizen_X

    @Bubblegum Tate:

    The biggest debate they’re having is whether William F. Buckley really did say his famous quote about the natural inferiority of black people.

    What, just because those words had his name on it, and were in his magazine?

    Next, I suppose you’ll tell me that Ron Paul was responsible for the racist shit with his name on it that appeared in his newsletter.

  30. 30.

    Cacti

    What National Review actually said following the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963, that took the lives of four black schoolgirls:

    And let it be said that the convulsions that go on, and are bound to continue, have resulted from revolutionary assaults on the status quo, and a contempt for the law, which are traceable to the Supreme Court’s manifest contempt for the settled traditions of Constitutional practice.”

    William F. Buckley was a thoroughly repugnant human being.

  31. 31.

    Mike in dc

    It feels like the GOP teased an end to the Southern strategy in 2004-2005, when Mehlman apologized for doing it in the past…then regressed shortly after it became clear that Obama would be the Dem nominee in 2008. I can only imagine how the party will pander more openly to misogynists if and when Clinton Is elected.

  32. 32.

    dedc79

    I made the mistake of skimming the comments. Here’s a real gem:

    everybody needs personal discipline to succeed in life….much of childhood consists of conscious and subconscious inculcation of discipline – which is the quality of being able to tolerate and accept doing things which don’t come ‘naturally’………white people call discipline by the name ‘education’……black people call discipline by the name ‘racism’

    And because it’s NRO, when someone posted a reply correctly pointing out the racism of the above commentt, the reply was removed in “moderation” and the original comment was left alone.

  33. 33.

    lethargytartare

    @Botsplainer: I am both under 65 and not from the northeast. Also a Tom Lehrer fan.

    Though it does occur to me now that my dad was from Connecticut. Damn you, Obama!!!!

  34. 34.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Bubblegum Tate:

    Really? His “forces” “descended”? That’s just fantastic.

    The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold,
    And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold

  36. 36.

    Bubblegum Tate

    @Citizen_X:

    What, just because those words had his name on it, and were in his magazine?

    Well, yeah. But really, the argument some of them are making is “I’m subscribed to NR and therefore have access to the archives, and I can’t find that quote, but liberals seem to reference it a lot. If I put those two things together, it seems as though it’s a quote made up by liberals to smear the great William F. Buckley.”

    It’s pretty fucking amazing–especially when contrasted with the other strong view presented in the comments: “Buckley was right!”

  37. 37.

    Anne Laurie

    @Mike in dc:

    I can only imagine how the party will pander more openly to misogynists if and when Clinton Is elected.

    They seem to have spent 2014 doing test runs. If/when HRC announces her candidacy, expect to read many mealy-mouthed explanations about ethics in gaming politcal journalism between the raw obscenities…

  40. 40.

    MattF

    @dedc79: That’s just precious. Telling people they need to be disciplined is good practice for a career in soft-core porn.

  41. 41.

    Mandalay

    The Palace issues a very carefully worded denial::

    Royal officials on Friday denied that Britain’s Prince Andrew engaged in any “impropriety with underage minors” after he was named in U.S. court documents related to a lengthy lawsuit against American financier Jeffrey Epstein.

    In papers filed to a Florida court, an unidentified woman alleged that Epstein forced her to have sex with Prince Andrew in London, New York and on a private Caribbean island owned by Epstein when she was under the age of 18. The filing said the alleged encounters took place around 1999 to 2002.

    Buckingham Palace said in a statement: “This relates to longstanding and ongoing civil proceedings in the United States, to which the Duke of York is not a party. As such we would not comment on the detail.” Andrew, 54, is known as the Duke of York.

    The statement added: “However, for the avoidance of doubt, any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue.” The statement was unusual because royal officials typically do not comment on such allegations.

    I think that they are arguing that the idea that any impropriety is involved when the Prince has sex with minors is untrue; the Prince can do whatever he wants so there cannot be any impropriety.

  43. 43.

    MDB

    @dedc79:
    If you are referring to the “Hi, I am a Black Guy…..and as one who has been black his entire life…..” reply to that bullshit first post…then yeah…that was me. It was deleted almost as soon as I finished posting it.

  44. 44.

    Howard Beale IV

    @Botsplainer: I could give two shits about Kathy Griffin, but I dare say that today’s Russel Brand is getting close to being this generation’s Tom Lehrer if he could channel his comedic talents in that direction.

  45. 45.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Cacti:

    As Gore Vidal Veedle said upon learning of William F. Buckley’s Fuhbuckley’s demise: “RIP WFB – in hell”

    /Ernestine Tomlin

  46. 46.

    Full metal Wingnut

    Adoption group is coming with the cat! I’m nervous and excited. Never had a cat because my mom was allergic. Hopefully he likes it here and remembers me from earlier this week.

  48. 48.

    dedc79

    @MDB: Yep, that was the one. Well since I never got to reply over there, i’ll just say over here that I thought it was great.

    That guy (and most of that commentariat) is beyond reach, sadly.

  49. 49.

    Baud

    @MDB:

    I can’t believe an institution that once advocated for white minority rule would delete uncomfortable comments.

    Are you sure you’re not the real racist?

  50. 50.

    Cacti

    @dedc79:

    And because it’s NRO, when someone posted a reply correctly pointing out the racism of the above commentt, the reply was removed in “moderation” and the original comment was left alone.

    It’s a hoot watching them scrub the comment section of verbatim, but racist as shit quotes actually cribbed from articles published in National Review.

    Pointing out how NR reacted to the Civil Rights movement in real time is apparently a violation of forum rules. LOL

  53. 53.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @JustRuss: They should not be the slightest bit surprised or astonished that with attitudes like that, they are dealt with in kind.

  54. 54.

    MattF

    @Cacti: Yeah, well. ‘Conservative’ means respect for tradition– which in this case means ignoring their own history.

  55. 55.

    Brendan in NC

    I’m all for forcing them to change the name of the magazine to National Disgrace

    That would look perfect in Weigel’s tweet: The Real Lesson of Selma, by Rich Lowery, National Disgrace

  58. 58.

    Gin & Tonic

    @raven: That’s very cool. I remember a very small version of those, like maybe 2″ diameter, as a firework when I was a kid.

  59. 59.

    Mike in NC

    National Review is shit to be sure, but pales in offensiveness to stuff like the American Spectator (AKA American Sphincter).

  61. 61.

    Howard Beale IV

    @Full metal Wingnut: Congratulations on becoming owned by a cat. Wonderful creatures. Don’t be surprised of every now and then they start acting like they’re not breathing, they’re more than likely coughing up the ubiquitous hairball.

  62. 62.

    Full metal Wingnut

    @satby: Thanks! I’m just worried I’ll accidentally misread his body language and set him off. Just me worrying about everything.

  64. 64.

    TR

    Of course the conservative NR was opposed to the civil rights movement. They were all about defending the old order and never ever ever stood by political figures who demanded certain rights boldly.

    Remember when MLK announced at the March on Washington that “extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, and moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue”? That kind of rabble-rousing and rationalizing away law breaking went against their very core!

  65. 65.

    Pogonip

    @Bystander: She also played the beautiful girl on the Twilight Zone who was having plastic surgery to become ugly on the planet of pig-faced people. There was another actress under the bandages, a voice actress, and they were going to dub in her voice over Donna Douglass’s at the end, but DD’s performance was so good they decided not to bother.

  66. 66.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @Full metal Wingnut:

    Congrats! Just keep in mind that he’s going to be nervous, too, and don’t push him too hard to be friendly right off the bat. Just hang out with him in a non-pushy way and let him come to you.

    My late great Boris was part Russian Blue and the sweetest, most devoted cat ever, so I think you’ll enjoy your new buddy!

  68. 68.

    Pogonip

    @Full metal Wingnut: If you provide regular meals and a clean litter box, he’ll be happy. When he arrives he will either inspect everything immediately, or he’ll sit under a chair for a while, thinking it all over, and then inspect everything. Either way, don’t interrupt the inspection; it’s very important to cats that they THOROUGHLY inspect. (If cats were people, they’d always get their damage deposit back.). After the inspection is completed, then he’ll be ready to get acquainted.

    For some reason, dogs are much more casual about inspection; a quick sniff and they’re satisfied.

  69. 69.

    lurker dean

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): Good point. Each of our three cats spent the first few days under the bed in the room we had set up for them. Cats don’t like change and are very territorial, so going to a new place scares them. You could be lucky and your cat may not be that way, but it’s nothing to worry about if he/she is. But they snap out of it after they figure out there isn’t a tiger hiding around every corner, lol. Congratulations!

  71. 71.

    Just One More Canuck

    @Full metal Wingnut: the best part of having a cat (or any pet) is learning about their idiosyncrasies – we got a new kitten a few months ago – her favourite thing to do with one of her toys is to dunk it in her water dish and then carry it around the house

  72. 72.

    Pogonip

    @lurker dean: We’ve never had one think it over that long. There are rooms to be inspected! Ours always thought it over for a night, at most, and then couldn’t stand the suspense any longer.

  73. 73.

    Bubblegum Tate

    @Howard Beale IV:

    There is the possibility that NRO scrubbed some of WFB’s more uh, colorful quotes from their archives for precisely that reason.

    I’m sure that’s the case.

  74. 74.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Mike in NC: American Spectator is not above inventing stories out of whole cloth and passing them on as actual reporting.

    American Sphincter is certainly an accurate characterization of them.

  75. 75.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Howard Beale IV: Reminds me of Art Robinson accusing Peter DeFazio of “slandering” him when DeFazio quoted Robinson verbatim from Robinson’s own book.

  76. 76.

    Full metal Wingnut

    @Pogonip: He’s inspecting. I had to pick him up to stop him from running after the dude who dropped him off and his little heart was racing. My friend just said to ignore him for a little while so as not to freak him out.

    And now he’s hiding under the coffee table. I have food and toys and catnip! Here kitty kitty kitty!

  77. 77.

    Pogonip

    @Full metal Wingnut: Leave him alone and he’ll come out when he’s ready. Cats have to think it all over before they make a move. If you want to brighten his life while he’s still thinking, drape a sheet over the table so he’s in sort of a little cave. He’ll appreciate that. And don’t look directly at him–that’s like saying, “Hey, wanna fight?”. Should you catch his eye, blink slowly and look away (translation: “Let’s be friends, or at least, not enemies.”).

  78. 78.

    Pogonip

    @Full metal Wingnut: And enjoy this time while it lasts. Sooner than you think, he will be walking across your face at oh dark thirty, snickering to himself when you wake with a start.

  79. 79.

    Kass

    I need kitty advice, and this is the best spot! We adopted a new kitty from a small shelter about four months ago. He is eating, and likes being brushed, but won’t budge from the one spot in our dining room that he likes. Maybe we let him out of isolation in one room too soon? He does no exploring and isn’t curious, won’t hop into a box, etc. We are not pushing him, just trying to be loving and show there’s nothing to be afraid of. Does he smell our previous cat, whom we sadly lost in April? I’m beyond wondering if he likes us or not. I love him, and I hope he will ” come around” someday. Any comments from cat experts? Thanks, from a lurker.

  80. 80.

    Full metal Wingnut

    @Pogonip: Oops. Been making too much eye contact with the poor bugger. His eyes are just so pretty (russian blue). He rubbed up against me and let me scritch him and then promptly ran back under the couch. He keeps doing that and then going back to hiding. Progress?

  81. 81.

    Pogonip

    @Full metal Wingnut: Yup. Stop looking him in the eye till he gets used to you. Right now, between the skritches and the looks, he doesn’t know if you’re a lover or a fighter.

  82. 82.

    LWA (Liberal With Attitude)

    @Cacti:

    Pointing out how NR reacted to the Civil Rights movement in real time is apparently a violation of forum rules.

    In the words of Newt Gingrich- “Anyone who quotes words I spoke is lying.”

  83. 83.

    Howard Beale IV

    @Pogonip: Yep-that’s what happened when I brought home Ozzie-took 3 days before he came out of his shell, even though he hid under my bed and purred for two days before that.

  86. 86.

    Citizen Alan

    @Bystander:

    I’m guessing Elly May was a role model for Sarah Palin.

    Ellie Mae Clampett was kind and gentle to animals and was able to tame bears with nothing but the warmth of her affection. The Satanic Harpy from Wasilla gets her jollies by shooting endangered wolves from the safety of a helicopter.

  87. 87.

    Citizen Alan

    @Amir Khalid:

    re: The Clampetts

    there was never a mean bone in any one of them.

    Eh. Hard to tell, since they were a family of endearing Confederate sympathizers who never encountered a single black person in all of L.A. during the show’s entire run. Sort of like how Bo and Luke Duke could be considered the heroes in the only Southern town of any size that had absolutely no black people living in it.

  88. 88.

    Citizen Alan

    @efgoldman:

    Ellie May (to my recollection) never wore short shorts. That was Daisy Duke, which is why they’re called that. Ellie May actually dressed like a guy most of the time except for the few rare occasions where they forced her into a dress for plot-related reasons.

  89. 89.

    Origuy

    @Howard Beale IV:

    today’s Russel Brand is getting close to being this generation’s Tom Lehrer if he could channel his comedic talents in that direction.

    I’d say Tim Minchen is already there.

  90. 90.

    lurker dean

    @Kass: hmmm, never experienced that. it could very well be the smell of your previous cat, but it also may be that you have a somewhat shy cat. i would post again in the next open thread when were bear or some of the other cat experts are around.

  91. 91.

    Central Planning

    @Botsplainer:

    You olds gotta quit referencing Lehrer – those all go flat with everybody under 65 and with all who are not from the coastal northeast…

    My current 17YO, when 13YO, would sing Lehrer’s Elements song to anyone who would ask him. At one point he had the piano memorized too.

    Old indeed. Please imagine me looking over my reading glasses saying that. :)

  92. 92.

    J R in WV

    @Kass:

    Kass,

    We’ve had cats, 2 or 3 at a time, for a long time, and I’ve not seen that behavior.

    But I’m not a cat expert by any means, even so I can tell you it isn’t an emergency, and suggest you try this site: http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/

    She knows a lot about cats, and can inquire for things she isn’t familiar with.

    Best of luck with your little kitty, and don’t worry about it yet, especially if he’ll purr for you. One suggestion, you could put a chair with a towel over it ot give him a little privacy. He might like that.

  93. 93.

    Hal

    The difference between demonstrators in Selma and Ferguson is the difference between dignity under enormous pressure in a righteous cause and heedless self-indulgence in the service of a smear (that Officer Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown as he surrendered)…

    One of the things I’ve seen over and over again the past few months: conservatives using the civil rights movement to criticize Ferguson protesters. Lets ignore the fact that MLK’s quiet dignity still got him shot in the face, or the many people who died, were beaten, had dogs sicked on them, blasted with fire hoses. What matters most to white people like Lowry is that no one acted out of sorts. Even in the face of massive institutionalized racism, abuse and multiple unnecessary and even criminally libel deaths, black people are still supposed to be quiet and dignified.

Comments are closed.