"Slave Begs her Master for a House"

Most Americans witnessed a moment of genuine hurt and need resulting in heartfelt compassion on Tuesday when Henrietta Hughes emotionally begged President Obama for help. Most. Then there were the conservatives.

"Slave Begs her Master for a House" was conservative blogger Jonathan Gardner's take. Michelle Malkin derided the event as an "Obama revival meeting." (Malkin, I can only assume, has an elitist's distaste for popular religion.)

This is sick stuff. Yes, you can say, gee, that's great for that lady but it doesn't do much for everybody else. Fine. You can wonder if she was a plant. But to characterize her as a slave begging for a house from her master? Vicious stuff. And yes, very obviously racist if for no other reason that it shows complete disregard for African-American history.

It says something very sad about our conservative friends that they cannot see a genuine moment of pain and compassion and take anything positive away from it. I hated George W. Bush's policies and very regularly hated the man himself, but I was touched when George W. Bush paused and clutched a young woman who had lost her mother in the terrorist attacks of 9-11. Yes, it later became perverted into a campaign ad, but that was a rare moment in Bush's presidency when he used his position for good and not for ill.

Yet conservatives today find it impossible to oppose Barack Obama's policies while still acknowledging his fundamental decency. Why? For some it is surely racism. For others, supping on a steady diet of Malkin, Coulter, and Limbaugh.

This latest tackiness coming on the heels of Eric Cantor's strange profanity spiked video attacking unions (which John Amato twitters, is anti-Italian bigotry) makes you wonder: where are the somber narratives about incivility in our public discourse from eminent journalists like David Broder and George Will? Is incivility only bad when it's on the left?

As Frank Schaeffer points out in his "An Open Letter to President Obama About the Republicans (From a Former Republican)" these crazed Obama haters can't be reasoned with. And, sure, they are doing a great job of self-marginalization, but we need to make sure that our friends and neighbors, sensible centrists and intelligent Republicans reject and denounce the extremists in our midst.

But more importantly, let's try to help the salvageable Republicans keep their souls.

(For more on the insanity of Jonathan Gardner, check outEFFin' Unsound, who read these vile people so the rest of us don't have to pollute our minds.)

Comments

[aniram63]

I see a person in dire straits who has been out of work for a year, is on waiting lists for government subsidized housing, and who spoke up for herself and said "Please help." I'm sure she uttered those same words to many others at other times and I would hope anyone in her situation would do the same. Someone in the audience heard and was happy to respond. It's ok to not be ok with the asker. And it's ok to not be ok with the giver. And I guess it's ok, but seems strange to me, to not be ok with it being ok between them.

[jgardner]

When I say "Slave Begs Master for a house", I am talking about the mentality this woman is living under. Why in the world does anyone expect government, the only organization that uses force and threats of force as its MO, to go take stuff from other people and give it to them because they want it?

We live in a country where it doesn't matter who you are, you are free to pursue whatever economic dreams you have.

We also live in the most charitable country in the earth. I myself, the author of that post, donate a significant amount of money every year to charitable causes and I open up my house to the poor and needy. I find jobs for people I know are unemployed. I help kids and college students with their homework and class projects. I participate in the local community college. I do that because I love them and want to see them succeed.

There is simply no need for people to turn to the government for help. If the lady can't find the money to pay for her own shelter, then there are people out there willing to help her find the money or a job or even provide temporary shelter for free.

That this woman would ask the president, of all people, for help, is akin to the system of government that gave us massive oppression---slavery, serfdom and communism.

[KeatsHandwriting]

Well said, Bart.

You know it's weird. We liberals think that if we will extend our hand in a bipartisan spirit that the Republicans would, if not meet us half-way, at least budge a little. But no! Stories like the ones you have just related, make me wonder if bipartisanship is possible, or even desirable.

I'd like to hope so, but I guess that's just the "Hope" in me, talking.

[jrockbg]

I certainly agree to take that moment and label the poor woman as a slave is grossly insensitive on many levels, including racial. Even the conservative arguement that growing the size and power of federal government makes us all slaves in some regard is no justification.

But to complain about the level of discourse, is a bit hypocritical. The stuff I've heard about Bush over the last 8 years makes this look like nothing. Don't be so thin skinned. Again, I'm not saying it's ok, but don't lie and act as if this is some new low.

Obama has pledged to end this rampant partisanship brought about during the Bush years. If this stimulus bill is any indication of how he plans to do that, we could be worse off in that regard.