WASHINGTON — As an observer on the national scene lo these many
years, I have noted time and again that in a discussion of politics
the first person to inject the topic of race into the discussion is
often the racist. Though that person almost always affects to be
without bigotry, in fact he or she is invariably a racist and hopes
to emerge from the fracas as the moral colossus. Those who have
followed the careers of the Rev. Jesse Jackson and his Holiness Al
Sharpton will get my drift. These frauds would have to be debating
George Wallace to be the lesser racists, and frankly I think the
contests would be too close to call.
Last week we observed the phenomenon once again. This time
it was in a discussion of politics on MSNBC led by Lawrence
O’Donnell, who interviewed Herman Cain, the surprising
“nonpolitician” who is fast becoming a powerful contender for the
Republican presidential nomination. O’Donnell is a white Liberal.
Cain is a black conservative. O’Donnell was clearly the racist as
he led the discussion with a series of questions that most
civilized people would find bizarre. O’Donnell was also a bully and
a creep. The way his eyes rarely moved while he was directing a
clearly offensive line of questioning to Cain suggests that he
probably was not aware that his behavior was offensive. Sociopaths
can be TV interviewers too.
Since Cain came in second in a straw poll in Florida, his
star has been in the ascendency. Now he is polling ahead of Mitt
Romney in South Carolina. He has pulled even in Virginia, and is on
the march almost everywhere. I say another appearance with the
racist O’Donnell and he will be preparing to move into the White
House.
O’Donnell’s line in interviewing Cain is typical of how
Liberals treat conservative blacks, and white America does not like
it. I doubt black America does either. O’Donnell might actually be
a unifier, uniting all America once and for all against those who
try to divide us along the lines of race. His lines of attack were
breathtaking in their hypocrisy. First he attacked Cain for dodging
the draft when Cain was working for the Navy in field ballistics
and was asked by the Navy to continue his work as a civilian. He
did. O’Donnell for his part never wore a uniform and never served
in any branch of the armed forces. He got a deferment. Then he
accused Cain of not supporting the civil rights movement by obeying
his father and finishing high school and college. O’Donnell never
aided the civil rights movement and did not perform particularly
well in college. Still he accused Cain of standing on the sidelines
during the civil rights movement. O’Donnell was in the
bleachers.
In his interview he accused Cain of “insulting the
intelligence of all blacks” for using the word “brainwash” to refer
to voting automatically Liberal. With the utmost calm Cain replied,
“I did not insult the intelligence of all black Americans. I
insulted the attitude of those who will not consider an alternate
idea.” And Cain went on to say that black people “did not consider
my statements insulting because a lot of them are thinking for
themselves.” Then Cain did what a clever politician does. He turned
around and focused not on himself defensively but on the president
aggressively.
“Now, if they want to talk about insulting, they need to
look at the president when he talks to the Congressional Black
Caucus and insulted black people,” said Cain. “In my opinion, by
telling them to take off their slippers and put on their marching
boots, when he has had nothing but failed policies.” The other
night in debate he did the same, defending his “9-9-9” policy
program confidently. He does this with a cheerful demeanor that no
one else in the race can muster. Cain is perfectly comfortable in
debate and on the campaign trail.
His secret is that he is a superior gent. He has the best
analytical mind of anyone in the race and the best disposition.
That is a pretty good definition of character. O’Donnell is the
opposite.
