The Wages of Glib

The Amanda Knox trial has been decried as a “witch hunt”, largely because of its show-boating, race-baiting prosecutor and his blatant nifongery.*

At least he had a genuinely reprehensible crime to prosecute. Another less lurid witch hunt may have lost its prey as well today, as David Starkey was cleared by British regulators of charges of racism, incurred when “hundreds” of exquisitely conditioned BBC viewers reacted with despair–despite the fact that Starkey was clearly speaking for himself and his fellow news-chat co-panelists reacted with the proper intellectual hysterics–to an impolite but undeniable assertion: that London’s rioting white chavs have adopted black culture as their own.

In its headline the Telegraph did the right thing by placing the child-like charge in its proper context–between a pair of mocking quotation marks–and Mr. Starkey stands by his remarks. Progress, then.

*I suggest “nifong” be adopted as a verb for such cases as these.

I Can’t Seem to Forget You…

As for the president’s Freudian slip, I’m reminded of a Sega Genesis commercial from 1994. Quarterback Joe Montana is taking a Rorschach test; as the psychiatrists (out to learn everything possible about football) flip through the images, Joe peers intently at each and repeats: “Reggie White…Reggie White…Reggie White…”.

Rule #1 in politics: know who’s Reggie White.

Remember When?

Slate’s Jacob Weisberg, (b)oracle, August 2008:

Many have discoursed on what an Obama victory could mean for America. We would finally be able to see our legacy of slavery, segregation, and racism in the rearview mirror. Our kids would grow up thinking of prejudice as a nonfactor in their lives. The rest of the world would embrace a less fearful and more open post-post-9/11 America. But does it not follow that an Obama defeat would signify the opposite? If Obama loses, our children will grow up thinking of equal opportunity as a myth. His defeat would say that when handed a perfect opportunity to put the worst part of our history behind us, we chose not to. In this event, the world’s judgment will be severe and inescapable: The United States had its day but, in the end, couldn’t put its own self-interest ahead of its crazy irrationality over race.

Spot on as always, J-Wee. Can’t wait to see what you’ve got for 2012.

more:
Isn’t it amazing how much this

The United States had its day but, in the end, couldn’t put its own self-interest ahead of its crazy irrationality over race.

sounds like a condemnation of the failing Obama Movement and the liberal hysterics which produced it, made, I don’t know, yesterday morning? It really is prescient.

Paranoid-in-Chief

Via Drudge, it appears the White House is calling on some of its strengths from 2008–the power of the Internet, the gullibility of Youth, the paranoia of progressives–to compile a massive enemies list, with a fervor and reach in which Richard Nixon would find evidence of mental instability.

They’ve set up a “watchdog” website employing a vaguely sinister stark-alarm aesthetic (think SPLC’s “Hatewatch”) where you can report suspicious activity unfair criticism of the President’s policies, politics or person. They have a list of refutations of common smears–first up: “…the President is a friend of Israel…”* (Ben-yo’s finger-wagging notwithstanding).
USA. Mad from the top down.

*Somebody tell Manhattan’s Jews not to worry: America is the nation Obama is intent on destroying through the displacement of its majority ethnicity, not Israel. Sillies!

Teeth long past repairing

picket a gape, perpetually despairing,

beneath a thousand-yard stare

(as if requisite, bad hair);

Bulbous nose–Satan’s choice!

blame it for the toad-fart voice

(Yes it must be Lucifer;

for what divine engineer

puts a head this heavy on a neck this austere?);

With pock-marked skin

and gap-toothed grin

(granted, a not-bad chin):

one mediocre specimen!

His malformed charm,

his fellowship too,

draw only the alarm

such desperate figures are due;

(silence insulates he from you)

And through that silence he says:

alive, still, no less than you…

Self-Portrait, August 2o11

Melobama

Mother Nature’s about to learn the cost of interrupting the president’s golf game:

Obama takes charge at hurricane command center.

That’s the actual headline. The Administration is determined to use this (pardon pun) overblown crisis to implicitly juxtapose Obama’s action stance against Bush’s lame Katrina performance. Maryland’s Democratic governor assured Meet the Press: “This is a much better FEMA than the olden days”. Irene makes a better crisis too–or the Eastern Seaboard has only President Obama’s leadership to thank for averting complete societal breakdown.

But the accompanying photo suggests the president is bawling-out government employees for the slow pace of sandbag production, or something:

“I’m not going to be the one telling Michelle you guys couldn’t get Tyler Perry!”