Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Clyburn on Palin: Great Moments In Not Getting It

Kudos, of a sort, to congressman James Clyburn, D-South Carolina, for having the courage to suggest Sarah Palin might potentially be something of a twit:
In her response to the tragic shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and 19 others in Arizona, Sarah Palin criticized journalists for manufacturing a "blood libel" against her. On a radio program this morning, Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn (D-SC) said that the former Alaska Governor "just can't seem to get it."

"You know, Sarah Palin just can't seem to get it, on any front. I think she's an attractive person, she is articulate," Clyburn said on the Bill Press radio show, according to The Hill. "But I think intellectually, she seems not to be able to understand what's going on here."

Verily, 'tis possible. But what, exactly, does Clyburn think is going on here?

Clyburn said that his experiences in the Civil Rights Era gives him a different understanding of the relationship between rhetoric and action, and says what he sees and hears today reminds him of what he heard back then.

"I have some experiences that maybe she does not have," he said. "When I see and hear things today that are reminiscent of that period of time, I am very, very concerned about it, because I know what it led to back then, and I know what it can lead to again."

Yes, as a black man who lived through the Civil Rights Era, Clyburn certainly wouldn't want to see a return to the days where one group of Americans lived in dignity and freedom while another group had no rights to speak of ... unless Clyburn gets to belong to the favored group this time. Clyburn, you may recall, is the loathsome opportunist who responded to the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords by saying TSA agents should give Congressmen special treatment in airports:

Clyburn called for the Transportation Security Administration, which administers airport security checkpoints, to interact “a little better” with the Capitol Hill Police.

“We’ve had some incidents where TSA authorities think that congresspeople should be treated like everybody else,” he said.
Note to James Clyburn: don't make this a civil rights issue, you flaming hypocrite. If you really cared about equality, you wouldn't try to make yourself more equal than others.

12 Comments:

Anonymous smartass sob said...

"You know, Sarah Palin just can't seem to get it, on any front. I think she's an attractive person, she is articulate," Clyburn said on the Bill Press radio show, according to The Hill. "But I think intellectually, she seems not to be able to understand what's going on here."

Oh, I think she gets it alright - she just doesn't agree with it. Neither do I. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the Left has been using this whole affair in an attempt to silence not only her but the grassroots Right or teapartiers as well.

Be careful about calling someone a "flaming hypocrite," Jennifer - Clyburn and the rest of our "betters" might come after you for trying to set off the crazies.

5:26 PM  
Anonymous smartass sob said...

One additional thought: Clyburn says, "I think she's an attractive person,..." What in the blue blazes of Hell does her appearance have to do with anything? Would he have said such a thing if Palin were a man?

5:39 PM  
Blogger Jennifer Abel said...

Dunno, Smartass. First I heard of this insufferable man was his suggestion making Congress exempt from TSA is the proper response to the Giffords shooting.

7:49 PM  
Anonymous NoStar said...

A self proclaimed radical communist like Van Jones can repeatedly call for violent revolution both before and after his White House job, but the main stream media pays no attention.

If someone on the right uses a metaphor like "targeting" an incumbent candidate for defeat in an election, the media treats it like an act of murder.

9:44 AM  
Blogger Jennifer Abel said...

Not an act of murder, NoStar, but fairly or not, the fact is that if you use inflamed rhetoric, you do put yourself at risk of looking bad if some lunatic out there does anything which sounds like it has your endorsement.

As I think more about it, I myself have used violent rhetoric, but it's too over-the-top for anyone to take seriously: I remember being appalled by an abusive stage mother on one of those "toddler beauty pageant" shows, and said/wrote something like "She deserves to be strangled with her own just-ripped-our reproductive organs." I'm taking a bit of a gamble; namely, that if some loon DID attack one of those stage mamas, I highly doubt he'd do it the way I suggested. But if ever such a thing did happen -- well, I certainly didn't mean it literally, but fairly or not, I'll catch a lot of shit from people. (Though less shit than Palin has, because I'd handle it better: rather than delete it, say nothing for a few days, then defend myself with a rambling incoherent video with the basic message "It's all about ME," I'd keep my message up, and include a heartfelt message expressing sympathy for the victims and utterly castigating anyone crazy enough to do such things to them.)

But I'd never say/write of anyone "He needs to be shot" or "she deserves to be run off the road in her car" or any other type of relatively common murder that does, in fact, happen fairly often.

11:25 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The same Clyburn that pushed the Pigford settlement through in the shadows. The largest fraud ever to be perpertrated on the tax payers of the U.S. Do you mean that Clyburn who steals from the taxpayers doesn't think Palin gets it??? And what does Clyburn get?

12:05 PM  
Blogger Jennifer Abel said...

Clyburn strikes me as an unprincipled partisan whore. And if, somehow, Palin said or did something tomorrow that made her very popular in the eyes of the populace, I'm sure Clyburn would immediately jump on her coattails too: "Oh, yeah, I've always supported Palin from the get-go. That thing Palin said yesterday was so wonderful!"

12:13 PM  
Blogger James Hanley said...

You attracted some right-wing jackasses today, Jennifer. Re: anonymous and the Pigford settlement. Apparently anonymous doesn't care that the U.S. government systematically discriminated against minority farmers. But let the government compensate them for that discrimination and suddenly there's outrage.

What an ass.

7:10 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Pigford settlement was thought up by midlevel bureaucrats in the USDA. There was no discrimination. They took their idea to unscrupulous lawyers (sorry for being redundant) who then began searching for "victims". Then a sympathetic justice department official ran cover for them so the fraud would not be discovered. But the scheme was still not going well until 40 or so congressmen "secretly" pushed it through. The biggest "winners" were the lawyers of course, those mid level USDA workers who suddenly were "farmers" and suddenly had been discriminated against. The losers were the taxpayers and our justice system. The only thing missing from this scam was the ambulance chasing ads on daytime TV looking for "victims".
We deserve an investigation and if there was fraud, conspiracy and a coverup then there should be jail time. At the least we should appoint a special prosecutor.

I'm sorry if this offends your left wing sensibilities but it offends my American snesibilities to allow crime to flourish within our government.

8:57 AM  
Blogger Rich Peterson - Medford said...

Does the Target Corporation's logo incite you to open fire upon them as you drive past the store?

12:18 PM  
Anonymous smartass sob said...

You attracted some right-wing jackasses today,


Not that I'm a Republican or even all that rightwing - other than being a libertarian - but I could have sworn that the "ass" is the mascot of the Democrats.

10:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Leftist name calling is a typical response when you cannot engage in logical debate.

5:49 AM  

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