Kirsten Powers Long, Hot, Race-Baiting Summer

In the past, I had mistaken Kirsten Powers for a rational human being, regardless of her political persuasion. She always seemed mild-mannered and struck a different chord than most of her fellow left-wing commentators. Was I wrong about that or what?

Last night, I came across a piece she had written for the Daily Beast called, "The GOP's Long, Hot, Racist Summer." Yes, that's the actual title, which should give you some insight into how far off the hinges Ms. Powers has fallen. The article begins (emphasis mine):

Welcome to the summer of hate.

These dog days have brought a veritable festival of racial demagoguery, from a phony “New Black Panther” controversy to Arizona’s draconian illegal-immigrant crackdown to the most recent “ground zero mosque” hysteria.

There's a lot to digest in those two sentences, so let me give it go...

First of all, I'd like to just go ahead and state the obvious. It's clear that Powers recently purchased the one-size-fits-all, lefty paint-your-political-opponents-as-racists brush set. These are the brushes they use to paint those whom they disagree with as "racists." We all know they do this to shut people up, considering the label of "racist" holds much shame in our society. Too bad for them, merely calling someone a racist doesn't make it so. One actually has to BE racist these days for the charge to stick considering the lefts over-usage of their magical racist paint brush kits.

Now, back to the issues that make up Kirsten Powers' not-so clever canvas.

She starts by calling the Black Panther voter intimidation controversy, "phony." I'm sorry, but how exactly is the Justice Department "stonewalling" a case involving Black Panther members, caught on tape brandishing batons outside of polling stations on election day to intimidate Republican voters, "phony?" The entire controversy played out of Fox News, while virtually all of the other networks did what they always do for the administration. They distorted it, or just outright ignored it. Even though the story came complete with eye witnesses, video evidence, a whistle-blower, and a racist (the real kind) member of an organized group who had once stated on camera, "You want freedom? Your gonna have to kill some crackers. Your going to have to kill some of their babies!"... But according to Kirsten Powers, Republicans are the one's guilty of "racial demagoguery."

Next on the list of issues Ms. Powers wishes to paint Conservatives as racists on, is "Arizona’s draconian illegal-immigrant crackdown." I take it Kirsten has never lived anywhere near the border, nor has she ever had to deal with the crime rates, prison population, drain on the overall public fund, overcrowding in schools, and hospital closures as a result of a large number of unaccountable, undocumented aliens living in the community. Well I do and have for many years. Recently however, things have become much worse considering the war between the Mexican government and the powerful cartels, along the border. I wouldn't expect someone who lives in the Beltway to understand the situation in it's entirety. But I also wouldn't expect that same person to view the grievances of a population under assault, as racism.

I have plenty of Latino friends. I also have Latino family members who live in Arizona, who just so happen to support the law that Governor Brewer tried to put into place. A law that is in no way "draconian." People of the left... If you have not read the Arizona law, please do so pronto, before you too demagogue this simple legislation. You can do so here.

That brings us to the “ground zero mosque hysteria." Conservatives like Governor Palin have stated for the record, that this is not about the "right" of the Cordoba House to build their Mosque next to the site of the attacks on 9/11 at the World Trade Center. There are many components to this story which I do not have time to go in to. I will just point out that this isn't about Islamophobia, or "hatred." It is a matter of sensitivity to the families of the dead, who have asked Imam Abdul Rauf time and time again to reconsider the location. This is about respect to those families and this nation, plain and simple. That's not hate Kirsten.

Her piece 'rambles' on:

Leave it to GOP darling Sarah Palin to turn up the heat with a bizarre defense of the hateful Dr. Laura’s “n-word” rant.

In a rambling Facebook post, the former Alaska governor asked incredulously: “Does anyone seriously believe that Dr. Laura Schlessinger is a racist?”

Why, yes, Sarah. Yes, we do.

This incident is instructive, because it bears the hallmark of many GOP blunders in the area of race. Palin truly cannot understand why anyone would think that Dr. Laura is racist, or why Palin’s defense of her is disgusting. In Palin’s world, apparently this kind of behavior is acceptable, which tells us quite a bit, actually.

Why didn't she just spell it out for us? Actually, she didn't have to. The implication is clear... With that statement, Kirsten Powers tries to suggest to her readers that Governor Palin is racist for sticking up for Dr. Laura, after the statements she made on the radio.

While I think what Dr. Laura said on her show was in very poor taste, I also understood what she was saying. Powers acts as though Dr. Laura was calling someone the N-word, in a hateful way, when that wasn't the case at all. Did we not just get beat over the head (figuratively speaking) by the media about understanding "context" in regards to the episode between Andrew Breitbart and Shirley Sherrod? If "context" is good enough for Shirley Sherrod, then why isn't it good enough for Dr. Laura?

So, NO , I do not think Dr. Laura is a racist. I think Governor Palin stepped up (graciously so) to help someone who was being maligned as a "racist" by Media Matters, to highlight that context and point out the left's hypocrisy on the issue. After all, the left just got done celebrating the life of the former Senator from West Virginia, and former recruiter for the Ku Klux Klan, who also had been known to say the N-word from time to time. Although in his case, he meant it in the bad way.

It's ridiculous the way the left spins each issue in such a manner as to paint these pictures about their opponents, instead of debating the issues on their merits. If they think they can mindlessly throw Governor Palin into the waste bin of maligned Republicans they have targeted with their racist smears, they are sorely mistaken. You see, Governor Palin has a base of support who understands her character. We are fully aware that she is no racist, and we will come ferociously to her defense when such accusations are thrown in her direction.

By the way, if any leftist wants to paint me as a "racist" for writing this... You're going to have to pick which one of my races I think is superior to all the others, considering I am of mixed descent.