Moe Lane

Via Hot Air comes this Dear God, but I wish there was video unforced error at last week’s Gridiron Dinner.

The distinguished-looking gentleman told [NAACP President Benjamin] Jealous he thought the NAACP Legal Defense Fund lawyer, Debo P. Adegbile, had done a fine job arguing that [certain elements of the Voting Rights Act] needed to be continued[*].

Sure, but what happened to the solicitor general? Jealous wondered aloud, he was just awful.

Well, I am the solicitor general, Donald Verrilli Jr. replied.

Ben Jealous missed a bet, here.  If you’re going to be stuck in this kind of socially awkward situation, you might as well blast on through to the other side.  Of course, that would imply that you have a certain strength of character and willingness to stand by your inadvertent speaking truth to power, which from what I gather more or less disqualifies Ben Jealous right there. (more…)

I instead think that Barack Obama just doesn’t take them all that seriously.  The VFW, on the other hand?  That group has votes that Barack Obama needs to have back; that’s why he went to the VFW convention, even though he didn’t go to the NAACP’s.

As for the doing this so openly, without explanation and/or apology?  Well, that’s just Barack Obama’s casual contempt towards black people.  Which is not really the same as hate, although a lot of people tend to get it wrong.

(Via, obviously, Instapundit.)

Moe Lane

Because they’re not really feeling the love.

The black leaders that attended the NAACP Convention here Thursday heaped praise on Vice President Joe Biden for a heated morning speech, but one question quietly pervaded the gathering: Where was President Obama?

Is this a serious question? – Because the serious answer is Doing something more important than stroking the egos of the representatives of a demographic that will be voting for him anyway.  It’s not even a question of bad optics; it’s just that Obama’s not going to move the fundraising and/or support needle at the NAACP enough to be worth his while, and it’s not like the President’s really all that authentic an African-American in the first place.  The man’s a urban liberal academic, folks.  That’s pretty damned rabiblanco.

Moe Lane

PS: If the African-American community sincerely wants more attention from the Democratic party, though, there’s an easy solution: start voting Republican.

How do we know this? Because they’re all FREAKING OUT about it today. Watch the speech, and see for yourself why:

Particularly the part of that speech that started at about 11:28 (this would be the part where Romney told the crowd that he was going to shut down Obamacare, and the crowd then proceeded to boo him for it).  I’ll let the National Journal explain why this was actually an excellent moment for Romney (hint: it’s not because it was some sort of bizarre dog-whistle to racists): (more…)

…Which is, of course, a thoroughly nasty thing to say about the organization.  Are there individuals in the NAACP who are racist?  Without a doubt; some people plain just don’t like other people who don’t look like them.  And there are going to be people out there who can hide attitudes like that under various guises (including, alas, the venerable Democratic trick of finding a convenient Republican/conservative target, and unleashing a full torrent of racialized/ethnicized/sexualized venom upon her [usually her]).  But for MSNBC to argue that Mitt Romney went out to the NAACP to appeal to the racists in their ranks is just downright appalling… hold up, I’m getting a clarification over my ear mike.

:pause:

Ohhhhh.  MSNBC is actually claiming that Romney spoke to the NAACP in order to appeal to white racists.

(more…)

…to interfere in voter registration reform programs in America.

• As per Ed Morrissey, the UN does not have the authority to interfere.
• The United States does not particularly need any ‘help’ with ensuring fair elections.
• Even if we did, the UN’s core competencies do not extend to ensuring fair elections.
• And if we ever do need help in the UN’s core competencies – which is to say, raping children and screaming at Israel – I’m sure that we have the UN’s contact information around here somewhere.

That’s all.

Moe Lane

PS: It’s a freaking photo ID card.  You need one to buy cigarettes, drink beer, rent a car, and/or fly anywhere.  The Republic will survive requiring citizens having one in order to vote.

So.  We got Maryland Governor and DGA head Martin O’Malley out there SNEERING about us awful, awful racist Republicans (for the full effect, assume that I’m fluttering my hands like I’ve got the St. Vitus’ dance):

Using Governor Rick Perry (formerly) of the RGA for that, too. You see, good old Martin here really, really respects the heck out of Rick, you understand; despite the fact that he’s voluntarily a member of a racist and prejudiced group like the GOP.  Isn’t that just… well, Caucasian… of Ol’ Whitebread O’Malley?

No, my sneer’s deliberate, too.  And much more justified.  Consider this:

• The progressive, inclusive DGA currently being run by Whitebread O’Malley has precisely one racial minority among its members: MA governor Deval Patrick.  Apparently Democrats don’t like voting for ethnic minorities – at least, not statewide.
• The racist, regressive RGA ran by Rick Perry?  Four: Nikki Haley of South Carolina, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Susana Martinez of New Mexico, and Brian Sandoval of Nevada.  Odd how that happened, no?  – And so enthusiastically, too. (more…)

The Daily Caller simply has to understand the delicate situation that the NAACP finds itself in with regard to recent calls by the Left to lynch uppity black Supreme Court Justices (and their wives).  The economy is in awful shape, you understand.  Charitable contributions are down across the board.  The NAACP has a payroll to meet.  Do people really expect the organization to endanger their remaining fundraising streams by telling rich, white liberals that it’s not nice to advocate hanging black conservatives?

What?  There are people who did expect that?  That’s… noble of them, but also foolishly naive.  Shoot, next they’ll be expecting the NOW to start specifically shaming liberals that express rape/violence fantasies about conservative females in public.

Moe Lane

Jason Riley of The Wall Street Journal, on why the NAACP is so concerned with the Tea Party (a group which is even now working  to elect African-Americans to Congress – and in heavily-white districts, too*):

It’s hard to understand how an organization that says it’s devoted to “end[ing] racial disparities” finds the time to rail against tea-party populism until you grasp that the NAACP is, first and foremost, a Democratic Party organ. The NAACP is pretending that the tea party threatens the interests of blacks because the tea party in fact threatens the interests of the Democratic left. The civil rights leadership wants to discredit the movement for political reasons. And unfortunately, this partisan agenda takes priority over the many issues of consequence that confront blacks today.

[It was suggested, pre-publication, that the paragraph that was here before was just the slightest bit inflammatory - and to a point where the sheer force from the screams of outrage would probably perturb Earth's orbit.  I'll thus just all of you work out for yourselves my opinion of the current motivations of the National Association for the Advancement of the Democratic Party.  Hmm.  "NAADP."  Kind of catchy.]

Moe Lane (more…)

(H/T Instapundit)  I’m quoting the Politico title because, honestly, it’s absolutely accurate.

[Tea Party Express spokesman Levi] Russell contended the NAACP is guilty of overstepping its bounds and of acting juvenile.

“As the tea party movement has gained political momentum, groups or individuals still playing the race card look like a foolish embarrassment to their own party,” he said. “It’s time for the NAACP to grow up and stop hiding behind hypocritical race-baiting politics.”

It occurs to me that it has been a long time since any sort of national group has been willing to so bluntly call Democratic hyper-partisan groups like the NAACP on their nonsense.  Or to even so publicly state what everybody knows, but few want to say: the NAACP is a Democratic hyper-partisan group.  Apparently, enough people in the Tea Party movement have internalized the lesson that since the Left is already calling them every name in the book, there’s no downside to plain talking.

How… refreshing.

Moe Lane