Jonah Goldberg writing about all the hate being tossed the way of Jesse Helms
The bigotry aimed at the South never ceases to amaze me. Indeed, it is astounding to me how the left tells us we need to understand the nuance of, say, the Jihadi mind in all of its shades of gray, but when it comes to the voting habits of law-abiding white North Carolinians all you need to know is that if a white hand pulls a lever for a Republican politician, that hand must be attached to a racist, and that racism guided the hand to vote for a Republican.
Goldberg makes it quite clear that he is not defending every single one of Helms’ actions or ideas. And neither am I.
Helms’ time was before my own. I do not know everything the guy did or stood for, which is why I am not fit to lay judgment upon him or to speak ill of him upon his death.
As far as I can tell, he wasn’t a mass murdering dictator, or a serial killer, so I find the pure vitriol spoken by his political opposites disgusting.
But what is even more disgusting is that when neither Goldberg or I do not join in their hateful chorus, and accept their opinion of the man without reservation, we are labeled homophobes and/or racists.
And so it continues with bits of fluff such as this from Olivia Zaleski at the HuffPo.
“Environmental Racism†is the newest tagline for Tobacco Road: She worries about the fact that the poor have to live in the less expensive sections of cities, sections that are near the freeways and/or the industrial zoned areas.
Now, a thinking person would understand that their location is why these areas are less expensive to live in. But being a good, guilt ridden, rich liberal, she has decided that the best way to help these folks is to found Communities for a Better Environment to bring “Environmental Justice†to them.
There is lots of flash and pomp, but nowhere does she explain just how the group is going to fix this problem. They can’t shut down the roads or the businesses, though I’m sure they’d like to, and they don’t seem to have enough money to move the people out of there.
Which is proof that this is just some superficial feel good effort that gives her the opportunity to call anyone who doesn’t feel as strongly about it as she does a racist and blame capitalism for the world’s ills.
I believe that it is a good thing when someone finds their true calling in life. However, I predict that this can only be said to be a “calling” because of all the name-calling.