“Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks.”
– Democratic Congressman Alcee Hastings.
What do guns and “moose stripping” have to do with Jews and blacks? Nothing, unless you are an African American Congressman from Florida and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, then apparently it means everything. Hastings spokesman David Goldenberg said that the Congressman was trying to show “how out of touch Governor Palin is with mainstream America.”
I guess the Congressman feels that example is the best way to make his point.
I don’t think I have ever heard a comment more out of touch with the mainstream than this. I know people who own guns, and people that hunt and dress moose, and as far as I know none of them think ill of blacks or Jews. Yet the distinguished gentleman from Florida has painted them all with the brush of anti-Semitism and racism.
Democratic Congressman Hastings has taken the low road and played the religion and race cards, and the Palin campaign has taken the high road and taken a “pass.” I applaud this reaction from the McCain & Palin camp because this type of rhetoric is below any comment. The double standard is in play here, as any member of the Congressional Black Caucus can cry racism at the drop of a hat, and they are not held accountable; much like Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton, and many other “black American leaders”.
I wonder if Congressman Hastings is familiar with the fable of the “Boy Who Cried Wolf”? This type of broad and baseless accusations of racism and religious discrimination undermines the real efforts that millions of people put forth every day to fight discrimination on all fronts: gender bias, racial bias, special needs bias, religious bias, etc…
Much like the boy who cried wolf learned; the real cries of those-in-need will fall on deaf ears if this type of baseless hyperbole is accepted by the American people, by the media and by fellow politicians.
I hope that the Obama campaign will distance itself from this type of commentary and speak out against this member of Congress.
tjb
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