[Rhodes22-list] Bill Effros, regarding Obama (Big Al Delete, contains Politics)

Thu May 29 09:29:18 EDT 2008

Bill,

Oh what the hell, as long as we're on the subject of race - I read this
obituary for Mildred Loving in the Economist on the way over the pond, the
best yet I've seen published.

http://www.economist.com/obituary/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11367685&fsrc=RSS

This is an excerpt from a blogspot I first posted shortly after Katrina that
sums it up well -

Now please pay attention to this, because I�m not going to state it again,
and if you don�t hear it now much mischief will follow:

I believe that the human animal � the raw material of our physical bodies �
is essentially interchangeable. By this I mean that I could take the
children of Fallujah and turn them all into Astronauts, convert Jewish
babies into fanatical, mass-murdering SS guards, and shake a generation of
the poorest Voodoo-worshippers in Haiti into a cadre of top-flight nuclear
physicists, chemical engineers and computer scientists.

Race has *nothing* to do with this � precisely nothing. The mobs of
murdering Hutus and swarms of slaughtering Serbs are as different racially
as it is possible to be, and they are cut from precisely the same cloth.

I know this is so because there have been murdering scumbags of every stripe
and color in the long history of the human race � *which is depressing* �
and that these animals, at any given time, represent only a small percentage
of the majority of people, also of every stripe and color � *which is not*.
There is no corner on virtue, and no outpost of depravity. Human hearts are
indistinguishable and interchangeable. Anyone who claims otherwise is,
without further argument or statements necessary, a complete God-damned
idiot.

Now, with that said � *have we all heard that loud and clear?* � there are
light-years of difference in how various Tribes will behave.

Only a few minutes ago, I had the delightful opportunity to read the comment
of a fellow who said he wished that white, middle-class, racist,
conservative cocksuckers like myself could have been herded into the
Superdome Concentration Camp to see how much *we* like it. Absent, of
course, was the fundamental truth of what he plainly does not have the eyes
or the imagination to see, namely, that if the Superdome *had* been filled
with white, middle-class, racist, conservative cocksuckers like myself, it
would not have been a refinery of horror, but rather a citadel of hope and
order and restraint and compassion.

That has nothing to do with me being white. If the blacks and Hispanics and
Jews and gays that I work with and associate with were there with me, it
would have been that much better. That�s because the people I associate with
� *my *Tribe � consists not of blacks and whites and gays and Hispanics and
Asians, but of *individuals* who *do not rape, murder, or steal.* My Tribe
consists of people who know that sometimes bad things happen, and that these
instances are opportunities to show ourselves what we are made of. My people
go *into* burning buildings. My Tribe consists of organizers and
self-starters, proud and self-reliant people who do not need to be told what
to do in a crisis. My Tribe is not fearless; they are something better. They
are *courageous.* My Tribe is honorable, and decent, and kind, and
inventive. My Tribe knows how to give orders, and how to follow them. My
Tribe knows enough about how the world works to figure out ways to boil
water, ration food, repair structures, build and maintain makeshift
latrines, and care for the wounded and the dead with respect and compassion.

There are some things my Tribe is not good at at all. My Tribe doesn�t make
excuses. My Tribe will analyze failure and assign blame, but that is to make
sure that we do better next time, and we never, *ever *waste valuable energy
and time doing so while people are still in danger. My Tribe says, and in
their heart completely believes that *it�s the other guy that�s the
hero.*My Tribe does not believe that a single Man can cause, prevent
or steer
Hurricanes, and my Tribe does not and has never made someone else
responsible for their own safety, and that of their loved ones.

My Tribe doesn�t fire on people risking their lives, coming to help us. My
Tribe doesn�t curse such people because they arrived on Day Four, when we
felt they should have been here before breakfast on Day One. We are
grateful, not to say *indebted*, that they have come at all. My Tribe can�t
eat *Nike*�s and we don�t know how to feed seven by boiling a wide-screen
TV. My Tribe doesn�t give a sweet God Damn about what color the looters are,
or what color the rescuers are, because we can plainly see before our very
eyes that both those Tribes have colors enough to cover everyone in glory or
in shame. My Tribe doesn�t see black and white skins. My Tribe only sees
black and white *hats*, and the hat we choose to wear is the most personal
decision we can make.

That�s the other thing, too � the most important thing. My Tribe thinks that
while you are born into a Tribe, you do not have to stay there. Good people
can join bad Tribes, and bad people can choose good ones. My Tribe thinks
you *choose* your Tribe. That, more than anything, is what makes my Tribe
unique.

*I am so utterly and unabashedly proud of my Tribe*, that my words haunt and
mock me for their pale weakness and shameful inadequacy.

Obama scares the hell out of me!  Get him out of the way and I'll live in
peace with either of the other two.

Brad

On Thu, May 29, 2008 at 9:07 PM, Bill Effros <bill at effros.com> wrote:

> Ed,
>
> For most of my adult life I have shared the commonly evolving view that
> skin color should make no difference in selecting others for marriage,
> jobs, education, or anything else.  (With the possible exception of sun
> tan lotion testing.)
>
> Now, suddenly, liberals are backing a crook simply on the basis of his
> skin color.
>
> It's appalling, but not unexpected.
>
> I always stop off in SC in my travels.  Attached please find a recent
> snapshot.
>
> Bill
>
>
>
> Tootle wrote:
> > Bill:
> >
> > Please note that we have a BIG Obama supporter on the list.  He offends
> > easily.  He was offended by your subject comment that "Obama is a crook".
> >
> > So are you suggesting that the admendment to the Constitution be changed
> to
> > allow your favorite President run for a third term?
> >
> > Since you expressed an interest in Obama you might want to read these
> > comments:
> >
> http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YThlMWQzNzRmODZkMDE2Yzc3YmI3OWJhZTk3MDg3NWI=
> >
> > And in your worldly travels you avoided South Carolian.  Hump, some
> people
> > on ego trips.
> >
> > Ed K
> > Greenville, SC, USA
> >
> >
> >
> >
> -------------- next part --------------
> A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
> Name: SC Road Trip Photo.jpg
> Type: image/jpeg
> Size: 253124 bytes
> Desc: not available
> Url :
> http://www.rhodes22.org/pipermail/rhodes22-list/attachments/20080529/50bcd805/attachment.jpg
> __________________________________________________
> Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>