Welcome To One Of My New Features: “Foxholes”

“Foxholes” will be a new regular feature in which I will highlight one of the more outrageous, ignorant, insane or just outright dumb things said by people posting on the Fox News Web site. This is in the developmental stage right now. I am going to continue to work to develop this soon-to-be regular feature within my blog, but here is the first entry.

Comment by sadmadnotglad

November 5th, 2008 at 3:29 pm

who’s going to share their wealth with me? oh wait, that’s right. No one. I have to work for my money unlike the lazy freeloaders constantly abusing the system.

COMMENTARY: Once again, this is another classic example of a Fox News-following moron who thinks that he/she works harder than everyone else. This individual sees the worst in people who do not represent what they believe they see when they look in the mirror. In reality, we should thank our lucky stars there are not more people in the world who are like what this individual sees in the mirror. This is one of those individuals who tend to view minorities and others as “freeloaders” who are “lazy” and don’t work for themselves because they want a handout from the government.

Right-Winger Commentator Bill Bennett Spits Well-Disguised Racial Cheap Shot On CNN Airwaves

Conservative commentator Bill Bennett, an old-school right winger who has somehow managed to find a home on CNN, apparently believes that the election of President-elect Barack Obama means that all racial wounds have instantly healed, and everything is fine because we will have a black president.

Here is an exchange on CNN anchor between Anderson Cooper and Bennett that, to me, is telling:

COOPER: I mean, if he does become president, and it still is an if, does anyone know what this means in terms of change of race relations in the United States, or perception of?

BENNETT: Well, I’ll tell you one thing it means, as a former Secretary of Education: You don’t take any excuses anymore from anybody who says, ‘The deck is stacked, I can’t do anything, there’s so much in-built this and that.’There are always problems in a big society. But we have just — if this turns out to be the case, President Obama — we have just achieved an incredible milestone. For which the rest of the world needs to have more respect for the United States than it sometimes does.

Bennett, hardly an authority on race relations, might want to realize that not everything is equal because one black man made it to the top. It is that kind of narrow-minded ignorance that continues to prevail in the United States of America among those who come from conservative circles. It is yet another backhanded way of calling blacks crybabies without having the political guts to come right out and say it. It’s another way of attacking institutions like affirmative action since many conservative whites believe people are poor simply because they are not as smart or do not work as hard as others. I think it’s another example of bitterness on the part of many conservative whites who can not possibly fully understand the historical significance of what this means to blacks – particularly older blacks who lived during the civil rights era. Earth to Bill Bennett … President-elect Obama’s historic moment does not automatically heal all racial wounds. It’s not about the deck being stacked, but it is a matter of having to work a little harder than the next guy who does not have the same obstacles to overcome.

Crooks and Liars:
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/bill-bennett-obama-wins-means-no-mor

Ralph Nader Plays Race Card Again To Jab At Old Racial Wounds

Failed multiple-time presidential candidate Ralph Nader, one of the nation’s biggest political player haters, once again proves to bea tired old man who doesn’t realize his time has passed. He is a relic of past failures. I am proud to say that Shepherd Smith stepped up and challenged the foolish and erratic Nader on his racist use of the term “Uncle Tom” in reference to President-elect Barack Obama.

Crooks and Liars:
http://crooksandliars.com/nicole-belle/you-stay-classy-nader

Even Fox News Commentator Juan Williams Gets Emotional

I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised to learn even some people on Fox News (Juan Williams in particular) were emotionally moved by the presidential election (positively moved, emotionally). Here are some comments from Williams: 

“It’s a stunning sight. It’s incomprehensible. Even a year ago, I wouldn’t have thought this was possible. That an African American man could be elected President of the United States. When I think of it from a historical point of view, and you go back and think of people, that fact that black people didn’t have the right to vote in this country. There were only black men until 1870. In 1870, black men got the right to vote and of course it didn’t mean much until going forward until 1965 and the Voting Rights Act. And at that point, Lyndon Johnson said the Democrat Party lost the South forever and there was no possibility really of full enfranchisement that said black people could somehow be the leader of the United States of America. This is truly an incredible moment of American history. I can’t think of another country in the world where you could have a significant minority that was once so maligned and so oppressed finally have one of its sons rise to this level. This is ah… I don’t care how you feel about him politically, on some level you have to say this is America at its grandest, the potential, the possibility, and what it says for our children. Black and white, the image of Barack Obama and those little girls in the Rose Garden in these years to come. I think it’s just stunning.”

I am amazed, but in a pleasant way.

Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/04/juan-williams-tears-up-th_n_141242.html

Washington Post Speaks To Bill Ayers

I am not here to defend the controversial Bill Ayers. But, I did read with interest a Washington Post article on Ayers.

Here are three passages that caught my attention.

On what it means to “pal around with terrorists” as said by Gov. Sarah Palin:
“Pal around together? What does that mean? Share a milkshake with two straws?” Ayers said in his first interview since the controversy began. “I think my relationship with (U.S. Sen.and now President-elect Barack) Obama was probably like thousands of others in Chicago. And, like millions and millions of others, I wish I knew him better.”

On guilt-by-association politics:
“I didn’t do anything. It’s all guilt by association. They made me into a cartoon character; they threw me up on stage just to pummel me,” Ayers said. “I felt from the beginning that the Obama campaign had to run the campaign and I had to run my life.”

On regrets about his terrorist activities that have gotten so much publicity because of the campaign:
“Asked yesterday if he wishes he had set more bombs, Ayers answered, ‘Never.’ He also said he had regrets. ‘I wish I’d been wiser,’ he said. ‘I wish I’d been more effective. I wish I’d been more unifying. I wish I’d been more principled.’”

Washington Post:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/11/04/bill_ayers_speaks.html

Crazed Right-Wing Talk Show Nut Bill Cunningham Spreading More Racism

Media Matters has done outstanding work documenting the campaign of hate from right-wing talk show extremist Bill Cunningham. Here is the latest comment from this right-wing moron as documented by Media Matters.

CUNNINGHAM: Well, now, my fellow Americans, this is the day we’ve been waiting for, in a sense, for the last year-and-a-half. As the failures of the Bush administration has become more apparent, and the American people – they’re turning farther left. Much like Castro took over Cuba, Mao Zedong took over Red China, and the Communists took over Russia, Obama now is poised, according to many of my good friends on the left like Paul Mason and others, to seize power in America, and I hope to be a bloodless coup.

This is the kind of hate speech that has turned so many people off to the Republican Party in this election. So many of the extremist conservatives need to reevaluate the direction of their party. The GOP can not continue to pander to the right-wing nuts that make crazed talking heads like Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh rich fat cats. The United States of America is a changing nation and it is changing for the better. The Republicans are relics of the past … a past when ethnic minorities and women were second-class citizens who did not have to be considered in political elections. The Republicans have grudgingly accepted the rise of women to a status that is almost close to equal to men in the eyes of the GOPs. Ethnic minorities, and particularly blacks and Hispanics, continue to be virtually ignored, ridiculed and slammed by those on the right wing of American politics. Just because Mao, Castro and Barack Obama are all people of color does not mean they are all the same. Republicans must find a way to move away from the politics of fear and smear if they are to rehabilitate their party which now lies in a sad state – longing for a past that most of are pleased is just that … in the past.

Media Matters:
http://mediamatters.org/items/200811040013?f=h_top

UPDATE: I noticed later in the story he compared President-elect Barack Obama to Hitler, who was a white guy. I guess that makes Cunningham perhaps a little less racist (just slightly), but clearly no less the nut.

Here Is A Comment From One Idiot On Fox News Web Site

Comment by Jeff

November 5th, 2008 at 10:21 am

“To all the whites that voted your rights away you a disgrace to the white man…”

This speaks volumes about some of the idiots who are still out there in the United States of America and around the world.

Fox News:
http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/11/04/youdecide_11042/

An Interesting Perspective on Conservative Extremist Sean Hannity’s Web Site

I saw that the conservatives on conservative extremist Sean Hannity’s Web site are up in arms about the number of black people who have come out to support and vote for Sen. Barack Obama in his successful and historic bid to become the first black president of the United States of America. So, I went back to Sean Hannity’s Web site to gauge some more reaction of his followers (or Web site visitors). The white conservatives Hannity panders to have been angry about the large number of black people who supported Sen. Obama (ignoring that blacks historically support the Democratic candidate in large numbers, but why let the truth get in the way of a good lie). Here is one comment on the Hannity message board that I found a little interesting about blacks and what candidates they support, historically:

“Well since securing the right to vote in the 60s, blacks have voted for white Presidential candidates 100% of the time. If you don’t understand how history was made last night, you never will. Many people died to get to this point and many people today are shedding tears of joy in how far the country has come in only forty years.”

Well said. I should note that a subsequent responder complained that it’s still too many black people voting for the black candidate since black voting numbers were up. Again, numbers across the board were up in registered voters and actual voters. The numbers were almost historically higher.

Hannity’s Web site:
http://www.hannity.com/

Ignorance Spreads Like A Virus On Sean Hannity’s Web Site

I couldn’t resist. I had to visit Sean Hannity’s Web site to check out maybe his reaction to the election results and the results of his cult-like following. Here is an item posted by one of his Web site visitors with the title: “Dr. King would roll over in his grave.” We know how much Sean Hannity and his followers champion the causes of racial equality and how deeply they care about race relations in our country … NOT!

Anyway, here is the item posted by a visitor on Hannity’s message board:

“Dr. King preached that no one should ever judge a man by the color of his skin, but instead to be judged based on his character. Some naive people are saying that this election proves that racism is a thing of the past. To the contrary, racism is more evident than ever. For a man to get over 95% of the vote from one racial demographic is a bad sign. Furthermore, although I do not have the numbers yet to support this, I believe there was a dramatic increase in Black voters over any other election. Which means that when there was only white candidates running, it was not worth many blacks time to cast their ballot; but when there is a black candidate, it is worth their while. Dr. King may have been touched by this history making election; but his dream of all men being viewed strictly based on character and not skin color was proven to be NON EXISTANT as it pertains to the majority of African Americans. There is limited anti black racism in America. There is OBVIOUS pro Black racism in America.”

In 2004, Sen. John Kerry ran against President George W. Bush and got 88 percent of the black vote. Was that based on race? Of course it was not based on race. To the dummy who posted that message, blacks have always strongly supported the Democratic Party. It has less to do with race and more to do with policies. If it was all about race, then blacks would have supported conservative Alan Keyes when he ran for president and they would have overwhelmingly supported the Rev. Al Sharpton when he ran against Kerry (Kerry beat Sharpton, who is black, in the black vote). It’s amazing to me how some conservative white people like to quote Dr. King today. These are the same people who, if he was alive today, would be calling him a race baiter, a race-card player, a troublemaker, a race hustler, angry, hateful, bigoted and more. Was there an increase in black voters going to the polls? I don’t know the answer to that right now. But, I can tell you that there was a dramatic overall increase in voters this year and a lot of that was due to an incredible grassroots effort by Sen. Barack Obama that included unprecedented use of the Internet and an impressive ground game that went door to door, campus to campus, city to city, state to state, restaurant to restaurant, park to park and more to get people out to vote.

Hannity’s Web site:
http://forums.hannity.com/showthread.php?t=1117571

The Wrong John McCain Ran And Lost Badly To Barack Obama

Where was the John McCain who ran for president in 2000 against George W. Bush? And, where was the John McCain who made a fantastic speech that bridged gaps in his concession to Barack Obama, who became President-Elect Barack Obama on Nov. 3, 2008? Even though I consider myself far more liberal than conservative, the political part swimming around inside of me wishes wonders what would have happened had we seen the John McCain (when he truly was a maverick) who was the uniter we saw in 2000 and a uniter in his concession speech throughout the 2008 campaign. A part of me can not help but believe that McCain became far too caught up in the politics of winning and the extreme right wing of his party. The John McCain of 2000 truly worked to govern in the middle. The John McCain of 2000, I’d like to think, would not have resorted to some of the things (things that many people considered dirty) that the John McCain of 2008 allowed to happen. Had John McCain campaigned as a uniter and dumped or said “no more” to all of this garbage of trying to portray Obama as different, as dangerous, as a terrorist, as a socialist, as a communist, as an Arab, as a Muslim and all of that garbage coming out of his campaign he would have been stronger for it.

I want to display a portion of his concession speech that shows some of the greatness of John McCain that makes you wonder what might have been:

“In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving. This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight. I’ve always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Sen. Obama believes that, too. But we both recognize that, though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation’s reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.”

This is the John McCain who might have reached out to a lot more people in the middle had he campaigned with this kind of a tone. Hopefully Republicans will learn from this costly lesson.

Politico:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15303.html

Election Of Barack Obama Overwhelms Many Older Black Americans With Emotion

The United States of America made history on Nov. 4, 2008, as Sen. Barack Obama became President-elect Barack Obama with a resounding victory in the race for president of the United States of America. For a lot of people, the magnitude of this moment can never truly be understood. Even as a still relatively young black man, I probably can not appreciate the magnitude of this moment as older blacks can; I speak of blacks who endured the more modern civil rights movement of the 1960s. For those older black Americans, Nov. 4, 2008 was a historic moment in their lives. For many of them, it’s a day they probably never thought would be realized. In a span of 40 years, we’ve progressed from blatant racial discrimination, race riots all over the country, the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in the United States of America to electing our first black president. I write this because of how truly struck I was by one quote from an Associated Press story that I think symbolizes what a lot of black Americans feel on this historic day:

“I was born in the civil rights time. To see this happening is unbelievable. We’ve got the first black president. A black president!” said Mike Louis, a 53-year-old black man who got teary-eyed as he watched the election results on a giant video board in Cincinnati’s Fountain Square. “It’s not cured now, but this is a step to curing this country of racism. This is a big, giant step toward getting this country together.”

From a racial standpoint, the United States of America has made unquestioned progress toward the kind of equality we’re experiencing today. We’ve clearly made that progress. The United States of America is still the symbol of diversity in the world. The country is completely where we want to be, but with more and more young people growing up with diversity it’s clear that we’re a lot closer than we were.

Fox News/AP story:
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/11/05/tears-traffic-jams-greet-obamas-victory/

Election of Sen. Barack Obama As President is A Great Day For United States Of America And The World

Perhaps our nation truly is moving in a direction toward being post-racial. I know that the term “post-racial” has been buzzing around the media for quite some time since Sen. Barack Obama announced his run for the presidency of the United States of America. I always wondered to myself what exactly it means to be post-racial? Even more, however, I wondered if this is a nation that truly had become post-racial in its thinking. In the twilight of this presidential election of 2008, one that has witnessed history as Barack Obama has become President-elect Barack Obama, has shown that the United States of America truly has taken a major step toward becoming the post-racial nation that so many of us so desperately covet. Barack Obama is the American dream. Obama, by any objective measure, is the true self-made man who worked himself up from humble beginnings to achieve perhaps the ultimate worldwide success. he has endured the deaths of his parents. He has endured the death of his grandmother, who helped raise him and was such a powerful figure in his life, the day before the election. He put himself through Harvard, went to work as a community organizer on the streets of Chicago, became a state senator, became a United States Senator and now has become president of the United States of America. Forty years since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., perhaps on Nov. 4, 2008 we made a big stride toward the realization of his dream.