. . . I wouldn't be terribly impressed by someone taking an informal survey of blogs run by Negroes and declaring that President Bush was popular among us, because they had the (possibly deliberate) misfortune of running across. . . no, linking them will just bring them here. And that child -- the subject of the piece, not the writer -- will say she's going to pray for me again. Which always sounds like a threat when she says it.
Suggested reading, not on this point, but rather on the Ryan thing I'm not talking about either: It's Not The Hypocrisy, Damn It, over at respectful of otters. Particular attention should be given to the comments. Well, some of the comments, anyway.
I was on FNC's Hannity & Colmes last night talking about some of the same sorts of things.
All I did was tell the truth: that George Bush is flat-out hated by most of black America. That folsk would vote for their dog catcher for President, just as long as he wasn't George W. Bush. That John Kerry isn't enjoying any "major" support, he's just the "dog catcher" of the moment.
The larger question -- and I don't know the answer -- is if people are so pissed off with both sides that they'll stay home (the "none of the above" vote).
Well I hope African-Americans won't stay home. They should go to the polls just to vote against Bush. As should everyone else. But that purge of the voter rolls in Florida was a direct attack on African-Americans, and make no mistake about it. To me, that state-sponsored removal of the franchise was one of the most terrible acts of that election and it was pulled off by the Republicans of Florida. I'm old enough to remember people sacrificing their lives for the sake of bringing the vote to the disenfranchised African-Americans of the South. I would hate to see that work and those sacrifices dishonored by a failure to use the power of the vote. Okay, so I'm getting cranky and I'm making speeches. So sue me. You get this way when you're prematurely balding. That's balDING, not bald. BalDING.