Racist and Stupid is No Way To Govern... Or Maybe It Is
It appears that the manufactured controversy surrounding the Sean Delonas editorial cartoon that used the tabloidesque incident of a chimpanzee mauling a woman in Connecticut as a jumping off point for criticizing the nearly $800 billion Multi-Generational Financial Rape Act—AKA the "stimulus"—has now entered its second day, with New York’s blind governor David Patterson chiming in with an opinion about an image he had described to him, but which he cannot see.
And indeed, if the point of the editorial cartoon was to portray African-Americans as primates, it should be viewed as racist. But the simple fact of the matter is, as even leftist bomb-thrower Jonathan Chait noted, is that sometimes a monkey is just a monkey. Unless you’ve been living under a rock during the past week, one of the biggest news stories in the United States today is the horrid real-life tale of Travis the Chimp, a powerful 200-lb. adult male chimpanzee that went berserk in Connecticut, severely mauling his owner's friend before being shot and killed as he attacked police officers responding to desperate cries for help. The animal shredded the victim's arms—some early accounts claimed he bit off her hands—before biting and ripping off large portions of her face. The owner stabbed the chimpanzee with a butcher knife in an attempt to save her friend, at which point the wounded animal finally broke off his attack. After the police arrived, the rampaging, blood-soaked primate pinned one officer in his vehicle, and after ripping off the side-view mirror of the police cruiser with his hands, the chimp opened the door to attack the officer. The officer fired on the chimp in self-defense at point-blank range, killing the enraged animal and ending one of the most bizarre and tragic news stories in recent memory. The vividly imagined aftermath of the attack is the physical event cartoonist Delonas portrayed in his cartoon. In and of itself, the art of the cartoon portrays nothing but a current event, as it shown with this modified version of the image, which shows the cartoon, sans text.
Paterson, who had the cartoon described to him during a news conference in Manhattan, said it is incumbent upon Post editors to explain "what the cartoon was intended to portray." Images of black people portrayed as primates, Paterson said, "do feed a kind of negative and stereotypical way that some people think."
Clearly, there is no way a rational person can intelligently ascribe a racial component to the artist's depiction of an actual current event. The police officers represent police officers, the dead chimpanzee represents an actual, dead, and publicly known chimpanzee. Nor was the text of the cartoon itself in any way racist. It read, simply:
The text, of course, refers to the largest single spending bill ever rammed down the throats of American taxpayers under the guise of "stimulating" a U.S. economy languishing in a recession. The legislation was the handiwork of the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, a rich white woman and stereotypical San Francisco limousine liberal who encouraged a team of Democratic Representatives and lobbyists to cobble together a wish list of liberal spending and handouts to loyal contributors and special interest groups—pure, unadulterated "pork." The legislation was thrown together so quickly that few if any, of the Democrats that pushed it through the House of Representatives under Pelosi's leadership read the bill the voted for, nor did any of the Democrats that rejected the bill, which was so poorly written, and so filled with overt graft, patronage, and corruption that it could not attract a single Republican vote. In the Senate, the House legislation was lightly modified to provide pork-barrel spending that bought the votes of the two Republican Senators from Maine, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, and Arlen Specter, the Republican Senator from Pennsylvania. The legislation passed in the Senate with only the purchased votes of this Republican Senators and without any dissent from Democrats. The differences between the massive House and Senate bills were hammered between Democrats selected by Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, and Harry Reid, the Democratic Senate majority leader. Not one single Republican from the House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate was allowed to participate in the lobbyist-inspired alchemy that resulted in the final conference bill, which was then rammed through so quickly—and in direct violation of pledges from Democratic leaders—that not one single legislator had a chance to read the Frankenstein's monster of a $787-billion, 1,073-page bill before voting on it in its final form. Unread, and still not entirely understood, it was sent to the President to be signed into law, which he did so Tuesday, also without reading it. When the art and the text are in its proper context, there is no way any rational person can misconstrue the intent of the cartoon for anything other than what it was; a scathing critique of a stimulus bill so horribly crafted by Congress that it appears it was written by a crazed chimpanzee, a chimpanzee that is now deceased.
"They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 10:59 PM
Comments
1
Perhaps in the name of ending racism, all monkeys gorillas and chimpanzees should be put to death so never again may these creatures be equated with human beings.
The will have to be a "American Idol" style playoff to determine who get to fill in for the Infinite monkey theorem.
And of course, all versions and sequels of "Planet of the Apes" will have to be destroyed as well.
The will have to be a "American Idol" style playoff to determine who get to fill in for the Infinite monkey theorem.
And of course, all versions and sequels of "Planet of the Apes" will have to be destroyed as well.
Posted by: Neo at February 20, 2009 12:59 AM (Yozw9)
2
Stupid racism is the default mode of governance by professional greivance-mongers and community organizers.
In other words, shut up, cracker, it's payback time!
In other words, shut up, cracker, it's payback time!
Posted by: SicSemperTyrannus at February 20, 2009 09:10 AM (cqZXM)
3
Since Obama didn't even write the stimulus bill, the leap is even more outrageous. Congress is a bunch of monkeys. There, I said it. It had nothing to do with race.
Posted by: Mike Gray at February 20, 2009 09:49 AM (fBnZs)
4
"Perhaps in the name of ending racism, all monkeys gorillas and chimpanzees should be put to death so never again may these creatures be equated with human beings."
*The corollary to this law is, of course, that this is perfectly acceptable behavior if the mockee is Republican/conservative no matter his/her race, so I would submit that, at some point in the not-too-distant future, Michael Steele will, in some way, be characterized as such (and the added bonus will be that those that engage in such behavior will point to this cartoon as reasonable movtivation for doing so).
*The corollary to this law is, of course, that this is perfectly acceptable behavior if the mockee is Republican/conservative no matter his/her race, so I would submit that, at some point in the not-too-distant future, Michael Steele will, in some way, be characterized as such (and the added bonus will be that those that engage in such behavior will point to this cartoon as reasonable movtivation for doing so).
Posted by: ECM at February 20, 2009 12:41 PM (q3V+C)
5
Well, Christ, that was so quick that this had already happened before I posted my previous comment:
"The real monkeys are the three Republican analyst that the Party has selectively placed in front of the camera to explain their wicked devices, Amy Holmes, Cook-eyed Ron Christie, and Michael sell-out Steele. If you notice how they talk and what they are saying leaves me with the impression that the only thing that is missing from their reporting is a monkey grinder."
Link: http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=N2RlOGYyMWRiOWY0MjBhOGNkYjVhYmVhYjI4ZGQ5Mzk=
"The real monkeys are the three Republican analyst that the Party has selectively placed in front of the camera to explain their wicked devices, Amy Holmes, Cook-eyed Ron Christie, and Michael sell-out Steele. If you notice how they talk and what they are saying leaves me with the impression that the only thing that is missing from their reporting is a monkey grinder."
Link: http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=N2RlOGYyMWRiOWY0MjBhOGNkYjVhYmVhYjI4ZGQ5Mzk=
Posted by: ECM at February 20, 2009 12:44 PM (q3V+C)
6
Without 90+% of the black vote, the Democratic Party becomes an asterisk in American politics. Therefore, the Democrats and the lapdog media will find racism every two weeks or so.
Posted by: Ken Hahn at February 20, 2009 12:58 PM (JLqy3)
7
EVEN A BLIND MAN CAN SEE THIS EVENT AS RACIST ,YOU NEED TO GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR PROVEBIAL BUTT.
Posted by: william at February 21, 2009 09:06 AM (XRq3E)
8
"ONLY a MORON can see this event as racist" - Fixed it for you - no charge. Now, if the artist had altered the chimp's face to look like a certain dim-bulb currently occupying the White House, you MIGHT have a point.
Only someone who WANTS to interpret this as racist would do so, and only a complete and utter moron (i.e., an Obama supporter) would insist that it was the cartoonist's intent.
Only someone who WANTS to interpret this as racist would do so, and only a complete and utter moron (i.e., an Obama supporter) would insist that it was the cartoonist's intent.
Posted by: alanstorm at February 21, 2009 11:47 AM (VUBks)
9
Oh come on guys, this clearly is insulting to blacks, let's not try bullshit people. I say it goes too far, but on the other hand, that's too damn bad! Everyone has the right of free speech no matter who is offended. I'm offended all the time by blacks and their petulant, self-rightous belligerence, and their entitlement attitude; and being called "racial cowards" (as true as it really is, but not in the way it was intended) is at least as offensive to me.
Posted by: 7HEAVENS at February 21, 2009 05:52 PM (lwQM+)
10
Insulting to blacks? It takes a mind-boggling amount of sophistry to connect this cartoon to calling blacks monkeys. I cannot see how anyone with even the slightest shred of honesty or self-respect would view it that way.
Posted by: iconoclast at February 21, 2009 05:55 PM (zWh3D)
11
First, I don't "get" the 'toon at all. Even when explained it's such an incredible stretch as to be incomprehensible. Second, anyone who sees racism IS a racist: P.E.R.I.O.D. It's a chimp that got shot dead. If you think any depiction of any chimp that could in any way whatsoever be connected through some convoluted method of non-reasoning to a person with darker skin and this offends you, you're a racist. If you think YOU'RE a chimp and this offends you, get help.
Posted by: DoorHold at February 22, 2009 02:54 PM (JzCoh)
12
A 'good' cartoonist would be able to depict the the congerssional 'ostrich' with its head up the fat butt of corporate extravagance while the bankers, Wall Street and insurance cos. stand behind waiting to catch the 'golden egg'. Then let someone bitch that it's racist!!
Posted by: Ernest Houdeshell at February 25, 2009 10:45 AM (YtRc8)
Processing 0.01, elapsed 0.0082 seconds.
18 queries taking 0.0054 seconds, 20 records returned.
Page size 15 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.