Lefties Twist Again, Like They Did Last Summer

The only way for some people to win an argument is to twist the words of others and take statements out of context.

You know what I’m talkin’ about.
(click photo)

All of us have experienced this in one way or another, but it’s ESPECIALLY frustrating when it happens in the context of media outlets (e.g., blogs) that reach more than a few people. (A few too many, in some cases.)

Here’s the quick backstory to bring everyone up to speed: I bashed the blind allegiance that many of my brothers and sisters in the black community have to the rap culture. I bashed the music of Ludacris. I bashed a culture where thugs shoot up people – and four-year-old girls! – for no reason at all. I lamented what I see happening to Americans of African descent and to Milwaukee.

Enter the know-it-all suburban lefties who like to throw stones from their cushy armchairs and manicured lawns in Shorewood, Brookfield and River Hills or wherever. These people have NO IDEA what it’s like to live in the city, and what it’s like to work to change a culture from the inside out.

But they know their rap music! (Or so they say.)

They know that they grew up on rap (yeah, right) and now they’re successful doctors, university professors, lawyers – whatever – generally, they are your basic ACLU disciples who take great pride in their supposed good standing in society… their compassion for America’s down trodden.   

These enlightened individuals saw some daylight for an ad hominem argument, so they chastised. Then they took their fact-twisting to another level: they accused me of saying that Ludacris was responsible for the death of Jasmine Owens.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. That is NOT what I said. Instead of my usual slogan, “It’s the culture, stupid,” I’ll have to switch things up today: “Read the post, stupid lefty bloggers!”

Sigh.

That was harsh. I apologize. I’ve already given them too much credit by dignifying their diatribes with such a lengthy response. But let me just close by saying that it’s a sad commentary on race relations, when so many white liberals rush to defend Ludacris, but they demonstrate no genuine concern for Milwaukee’s black community. No desire for it to get better. They defend peddlers of poison while preaching the gospel of handouts. They critique rap as social conscience while they sleep comfortably in security. MLK and JFK would have a lot of trouble recognizing anything that resembles their ideals in this party.

George W. Bush was right when he talked about the “soft bigotry of low expectations.” That’s the funny thing (actually it’s not funny at all): These white rap fans who love the status quo are totally blind to the fact that they’re the biggest bigots of them all. At least the KKK was intellectually honest about their desire to keep black people down. Today’s far-left bloggers take such delight in the poison that plagues black society; they are stubbornly unwilling to recognize my holistic view of the relationship between rap culture and gang culture. 

Did I ever say that Ludacris is responsible for the shootings on 29th Street. No, I did not. But until we teach our young people that there is more than killing – and rapping about (glorifying) killing (and drugs and sex and “bling”) – we will continue to have the same shocking results. And we can’t all retreat to the rolling hills of Brookfield or to a bankrupt ideology that says government spending can solve social problems.

Comments

[Billiam]

Keep the Faith, James. I know it's hard, dealing with the "tolerant and open" far left. I'll hear you Sunday..

[Andy]

I hope this country will someday recover from what the 1960's spawned, but I'm afraid we have about 20 more years to suffer.

[folkbum]

Suburban lefties? Mike Mathias lives in the city. And Chris Schneider isn't a lefty.

[Sean Hackbarth]

James, I'm sympathetic to your argument, but I have no idea what the "suburban lefties" are saying. Please link to your critics. Let me read the back-and-forth to come to my own conclusion.

[Anne Quimby Mathias]

"Enter the know-it-all suburban lefties who like to throw stones from their cushy armchairs and manicured lawns in Shorewood, Brookfield and River Hills or wherever. These people have NO IDEA what it’s like to live in the city, and what it’s like to work to change a culture from the inside out."

Know it all suburban lefties? Far from it. (Well, perhaps the know it all part.)

We live in the heart of the central city, on the corner of 21st and Juneau. My husband lived on this block his entire life and we chose to buy a home in this neighborhood in order to do our small part to change it "from the inside out". Why don't you stop by sometime and check out our cushy armchairs and manicured lawn? Or at least check yourself before making sweeping generalizations.

Reading your post, it's difficult to reconcile your earlier suggestion to abandon MPS with your current call to change things "from the inside out".

Every day we experience the extreme poverty, drug addiction, chronic illness - both mental and physical - lack of education, teen pregnancy and domestic violence that plague our neighborhood. Moreover, we are first- hand witnesses to the total abandonment of these issues by our elected leaders and absolute refusal to commit the funding and time required to start to resolve these issues. Barrett and Hagerty's summer crime prevention plan has kicked off, and it's like a police state over here, but funny, I don't feel like things are any different.

Mr. Hackbarth, below is a link to Michael's post about rap music and Jasmine Owens. So, read and come to your own conclusions, but nowhere in this post does he defend Ludicis, and note that we are not suburbanites.

http://punditnation.blogspot.com/2007/05/rap-music-didnt-kill-jasmine-owens.html

-Anne Quimby Mathias

[atarijpb]

James T - looks like you got served.

[atarijpb]

I think this post makes an even better point about your motivation.

http://punditnation.blogspot.com/2007/05/blind-leading-stupid.html

In any event - I enjoyed watching you on the TV this morning - best of luck in the future!

[illusory tenant]

Funny stuff. I live a stone's throw from 27th and Kilbourn. Have done for going on six years. I wake most mornings to the sound of homeless people rummaging through the dumpsters (there but for the grace of God, etc.).

The above is almost as entertaining as John McAdams's characterization of hip hop fans as white teenage suburban racists who "enjoy seeing black people demeaned." And that's the "truth," he says.

McAdams is a conservative, I think, so obviously silly commentary isn't the exclusive preserve of liberals.

By the way, I hear there's plenty of conservatives in River Hills.