So - how are all of Ann Althouse's "losers" today? Wanna talk about race some more? How about gays? I'm sure I've got some glitter around here, somewhere, that I can fart in someone's face "to make a point." Or will it?
No - not really. Because Americans don't give a shit about my points or yours. Quick to anger, slow to think, that's who we are. It's no mistake one of the most well-known and popular phrases in American english is "What you lookin' at?" because it reflects our sense of our own ignorance so well:
I'm looking at you, asshole.
When I moved to France years ago, I had the shock and misfortune of, on my first day, being engaged with a French nationalist. He had nothing but resentment for George W. Bush and the United States and, immediately, challenged me to prove why Americans are better than everyone else. He, and others, became determined to change my mind about my country and it's people - usually based on race - though they never did. It even got physical. I didn't care. They were French, and I was American, and I seriously didn't care - I'd take them all on. I had friends back home, of every race and nationality, I was proud to bleed for.
But now I'm back, living at home - begging everyone to shut up about race - and my fellow citizens are ever determined to prove the asshole frogs right. Whites talk about "fair" when they know the numbers are so skewed in their favor that such a possibility is probably impossible. Blacks talk about unfairness, like they never catch a break, even after all these years. And neither group thinks about anybody else unless they have to - not just that many blacks are paranoid about being outnumbered by their family's former "masters," but gays, hispanics, asians, etc.. It's all very sick, if you think about it too hard. And we do. Rarely, though, for the kids.
It's so easy to take a "side". Sure, Trayvon Martin was probably, enthralled with "Thug Life," coming home to drink some Lean, and - by age and temporary temperament - not mature enough to handle confrontation well. That still doesn't mean he deserved to die. That doesn't change he was somebody's kid. And it also doesn't mean he, both by his family and the community, wasn't loved.
And, while George Zimmerman may have acted in good faith, only concerned for the safety of his community, that still doesn't change an outlook that - as evidenced by his friends - is pretty insecure. (I'm not even going to comment on the multitude of gun owners who, supposedly, have hearts big enough to care for the community but - when faced with a member of that community - can't think to aim for an arm or a leg,...) George Zimmerman is free, as he should be, but there should also be little cheering. His was not exactly an act of bravery. But instead of a muted response, just by sheer numbers (again) he got an ugly roar of approval. And it was very ugly.
Whites should accept that.
Whites should accept that.
I'm not going to keep up with this racial nonsense because - while the cultish thinking that supports race and racism are a subject I'm happy to cover - TMR's focus has always been on cults, not whatever silly idea or impulse motivates them. Yes, I was born into the "black" one, but we could be fighting over sugar, for all it matters. (And, being Americans, probably would.) I broke free of racism, a long time ago, and - I strongly suggest - the rest of you consider doing the same. As you can see, especially in this silly culture, where "Oh Yeah?" is considered a nifty rejoinder, it ain't going to get us very far.
If any of you were troubled, by the last week's output, don't be. I could give a fuck about race, today, as much as always. What I can't get over is how often it affects everyone else. Let Drudge, or NPR, or FOX, or MSNBC, or (yes) Glenn Reynolds and the mean-spirited folks at Twitchy, ring the bell and Pavlov's snarling dogs come running - Every. Single. Time. It's not smart, it's not helpful, and it's not respectable.
And those three things - without a PC veneer - encapsulate exactly what I've been trying to regain, in and for my home, since I returned to it, gladly, oh so long ago.
If only in my own eyes.
If only in my own eyes.
I hope my little "protest" was a good *enough* example of the futility inherent in it. (It took a lot out of me.) Didn't like it? Think it was unworthy? Unfair? Not "right"? Well, flip it upside-down, moron:
I could spend this week doing the exact same thing - for whites - and it would look just the same,...
