Hold me back, I have a furious temper
Yippee! Another villain to vanquish!
Read this, then this.
I heard about this crap first thing this morning, seeing as how we live on the fringe of Madison and all. I was fuming in the shower preparing the vanquishing to serve up...so here goes.
A local radio "personality" and "entertainer" (seems to me he lacks personality and I'm not entertained, but...) here in Wisconsin took it upon himself to characterize two of the members of President Bush's administration. His targets were National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell. This...individual (I struggled to find an appropriate noun -- "human", "human being", and "person" all seemed far above his station.) had the crass bigotry to call Dr. Rice an "Aunt Jemima" and Colin Powell an "Uncle Tom." He further posited (again this term is a bit too refined) that these individuals are marginalized within the administration and serve subservient roles.
So many things to say...my brain will explode.
First, let's look at the "marginalized" and "subservient" claims. Okay. This nation is embroiled in essentially a world war. It has two major fronts, and minor skirmishes are playing out in Jakarta, Manila, London, Rome, Russia, and lots of other places. As a nation at war, two of the issues most front-and-center on a daily basis are (duh!) National Security and Foreign Freakin' Policy.
So, let's get this straight. This racist SOB thinks that the two people who have been put in charge of the two issues most important to the nation at this time have been marginalized. I think he either smoked his breakfast for the last decade or lacks two braincells to rub together. As a matter of fact, if you want to talk about marginalized members of the President's administration, one might send a lesser candidate to the position of, say, Secretary of the Interior, Veterans Affairs, or Health and Human Services. These individuals are much less in the news on a daily basis. (I don't mean to suggest that these posts or the people who do these jobs are unimportant, merely that they are less visible.) Do I even need to point out that everyone in the administration is subservient to the President and serve at his pleasure? I didn't think so. Let's go one step further.
President Bush didn't know what specific challenges the nation would face in his first term. He had to nominate cabinet members long before the splashy start to the War on Terror. In doing so, he chose as his Secretary of State a 4-Star General who had spent 35 years soldiering, had served as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs for four years, and who had served as National Security Advisor for two years in the late 80's. It seems to me he is highly qualified to be our representative to foreign nations. And the Senate apparently agreed: they confirmed him unanimously. More here.
Condoleeza Rice is equally qualified for her current position. Her full bio is here. She has a Doctorate in Political Science and has been a member of Stanford University's faculty since the early 80's. She's been highly honered as an educator and has served in executive positions too, namely Provost of Stanford for 6 years. She has been published a number of times and is considered something of an expert on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. As a matter of fact, she put this expertise to work for the Joint Chiefs and later for the first President Bush.
My point is, neither of these individuals is swimming in waters too deep for them. They are highly qualified, admirable people who have each achieved great things. And yes, they are both black, but who cares? The only one who seems to point to the color of their skin is the racist motherfu**er who is flapping his ignorant, ill-informed jaws on WTDY-AM (1670)! Skin color is not a prerequisite for any cabinet post, nor does the issue even belong on debate in the public forum.
This "personality" is an idiot. He gets his jollies maligning well-intentioned, hard-working, highly-qualified public servants by equating one to a friendly marketing campaign and the other to one of the most vile images in American Literature. By calling Colin Powell "Uncle Tom" he implies that either the President or the American People are Simon Legree. Neither characterization is realistic or apt. The whole thing is quite disgusting.
Unfortunately, the aforementioned jackass brought up race as an issue, so I must needs discuss it. First of all, let me begin by saying I don't care what color or religion or sex or sexual preference anybody is. With respect to these things, I like to judge people by their actions and their words. I have nothing but admiration and respect for Dr. Rice and General Powell. I have nothing but contempt for the racist SOB who is the subject of this rant. He can't see past the color of their skin, and I can't seem to see it. Isn't that curious? The guy bringing up race is the racist. The United States have moved so far away from slavery and toward equality that a black man and a black woman hold two of the most important jobs in the Government. Rather than the ridicule Jackass feels is in order, I feel pride. It's not about color; its about qualifications, work-ethic, and right guy for the job.
What a novelty!
The schmuck offered up an "apology" which lacked any grace and didn't come close to resembling an apology. Jerk. Jackass. Imbecile. SOB. Racist.
I respect that we have freedom of speech and that he is entitled to his opinion.
It is that same freedom that entitles me to conclude my opinion on the matter with the following:
En garde, you miserable racist motherfu**er. Consider yourself vanquished!
