Jack Ross on my view that Colin Powell is deep down inside an Arabist:
Though I haven't checked the Commentary blog yet, I too have been surprised to see that the Republican attacks on Powell have not been neocon red meat attacking his "Arabism", but rather baldly and hysterically accusing him of supporting Obama just because he's black. At first I thought this was just the same old desperation, but now I'm scared s--tless realizing what's really going on. The two charges against Powell are related - the increasingly racial tone of the McCain/Palin hysteria reflects the worst fears about what the right has in mind for the long term. They are trying to lay the groundwork for the myth that we were stabbed in the back by the disloyal blacks, just as the Germans were by the disloyal Jews....
And Ross clarifies in response to some comments:
No, I do not believe that this is what the Republicans have in mind in
all its graphic glory. Probably the analogy they're working with in
wanting to throw the election, which I believe most of the Republican
establishment and "conservative movement" has wanted to do all along,
is that Obama will be four years of David Dinkins followed by eight
years of Giuliani. And don't think that Rudy himself isn't delusional
enough to think he can do it all over again.
Much as it goes
against my instincts, I believe Katrina vanden Huevel was right that
what Michelle Bachman represented was a slippery slope to a Sinclair
Lewis dystopia. Having said that, I don't think it's going to get
anywhere, because we've done the stabbed-in-the-back thing once
already, after Vietnam. As the German example made clear, its a
non-starter the second time.
I have the distinct sense that this is a very real fear of much of the black population. It was clear to me that this was why Jeremiah Wright's intervention last spring was received positively by the black community in spite of the obviousness with which he was trying to sabotage Obama, because he was appealing to those fears. Black people know this history, because they were very conscious of what was happening in Europe in the 30s and 40s on account of its implications for them, and because they themselves suffered through horrible upheavals at home right after World War I, with a string of race riots that made April 1968 pale in comparison.
Mmmmmm….stabbed in the back by the Rev Wright?
Phil, maybe you are the one who is hysterical. Afterall, blacks are voting for Obama at a better than 90% rate. Powell commented on Obama's race, as you have. Why having a black president would be electrifying is beyond me, but the statement can't be ignored. You can't mention Obama's race constantly and claim that race doesn't matter.
My guess is that Jews wouldn't be thrilled if McCain had close personal ties to a white identity minister, or stated that Jews cling to Israel, behind the scenes power and media manipulation. Shouldn't whites be able to play identity politics with everyone else now that we are out of power?
I too don't have a clue what you are freaking out about.
Suggestion:
Look into the details of the impact of the Stab In The Back theory
through the Weimar period in Germany. Both the pros and the cons, and all the facts mustered.
I think this guy has it all figured out.
http://www.atlah.org/broadcast/ndnr09-03-08.html
You don't understand anon. This Jack Ross guy is suggesting there could be other groups in the world that might be endangered. Did you understand him at all? He is suggesting that the next time round it couldn't be us, but someone else. How dare he????
How can Colin Powell be an "Arabist" as an American? This is not possible. American people love Israelis and Jews and hate Arabs. We are the champions, the main achievers in an envious world. Simple as that. Loosers always hate winners.
"..They are trying to lay the groundwork for the myth that we were stabbed in the back by the disloyal blacks, just as the Germans were by the disloyal Jews…."
I don't see how the right's claim would be we (the US) were stabbed in the back by the blacks.
As for the other myth that jews stabbed Germany in the back…as I said I would last week I have been doing research into
the holocaust and WWII and the leading events. I found the 1933 newspaper articles about 'Jews Call for Economic Blockade of Germany' in the NYT archieves and some articles ands headlines in the London Daily Mail and others that say "Juda Declares War on Germany".
So there is some basis for saying the Jews stabbed Germany in the back..early on, before the war and we know how that turned out for the jews..millions of dead jews and a slice of Palestine for the zionist.
I don't see anything similar going on with blacks here in the US. Maybe the story is if a black is president the blacks will become the teachers pet instead of the jews and maybe the blacks will sympathize more with the Arabs and Palestines than Israel.
The Dolchstosslegende / the stab in the back myth.
A slightly more complex story than simply antisemitic myth. But a myth from the extreme right never the less, so yes antisemitism is part of the mix.
And a story about how Christian employes stick their own?
Ross: "They are trying to lay the groundwork for the myth that we were stabbed in the back by the disloyal blacks"
Blacks stabbed Americans in the back by voting for Obama? Well, that's a stretch. What about all the millions of white voters who are going to vote for him? Are they back-stabbers, too?
No need to be "scared s–tless", Jack. Why is it that certain left-liberals profess to see racist conspiracies anytime someone disagrees with a Jew or a black? Do they really believe it, or is it pure demagoguery? Remember, even Hillary was accused of racism by the Obama camp.
The “racist” accusation in America is totally overused, exploited and irresponsible, just not quite to the degree of the “anti-Semitism” accusation yet.
"the worst fears about what the right has in mind for the long term. They are trying to lay the groundwork for the myth that we were stabbed in the back by the disloyal blacks, …"
The is the divide-and-conquer strategy. The immigration policy initiatives of the 60s can be seen as part of the same thing.
I think it would be wrong however to think of it as part of an explicit, CONSCIOUS strategy. You don't need conspiracies to explain this kind of thing. It flows naturally out of a besieged, paranoid world-view. You instinctively try to weaken those whom you regard as your adversary. And one way of weakening is to block alliances.
"No need to be "scared s–tless", Jack. Why is it that certain left-liberals profess to see racist conspiracies anytime someone disagrees with a Jew or a black? Do they really believe it, or is it pure demagoguery? Remember, even Hillary was accused of racism by the Obama camp."
I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed watching "good whites" like the Clintons served a large helping of the phoney race rules that they helped engineer for the rest of us. Are such people so stupid that they really believed that their time wouldn't come eventually?
I don't think they are stupid, Todd. I think they are simply power mad and narcissistic, hence willing to do and say whatever they need to in order to pull off their swindles. And they don't really care about the country. To the contemporary US elite, America is simply a vessel to attain personal and ideological gratification — and that goes for both sides. Why just look at open borders McCain, who just like the Clintons, has made a career of basically accusing anyone to his Right on nearly issue of bigotry.
The modern American political "elite" are actually the dregs of a corrupted society wherein the scum rises to the top. Remember, we’re now living in upside down bizarro world.
I agree with you, Ed. But I do think it is stupid for extremely ambitious people to play by a set of rules that will eventually be used against them. And I thoroughly enjoyed watching Hillary Clinton's mad dash for power stopped in its tracks by Obama's skin color. That was priceless. I would say that a smart demagogue plays with the majority, rather than triangulating whatever idiots he can cobble together.
Don't forget the meme that poor minorities brought down the Wall Street financial empire. How's that for misdirection?
RELATED POST @ SALON.COM
The right's two-pronged religion of rage and self-pity
by Glenn Greenwald, Thursday Oct. 2, 2008
The Right in this country — meaning the faction that followed George Bush for the last eight years — long ago ceased being a movement of political ideas and is driven by two, and only two, extreme emotions: (1) intense, aggressive rage towards their revolving door of enemies, and (2) bottomless self-pity over how unfairly they're being treated. As their imminent defeat looks increasingly likely (potentially on a humiliating scale), these two impulses are in maximum overdrive, feeding off one another in endless self-perpetuation (the more they lose, the more victimized they feel, the more they rage against their enemies who oppress them, etc.)……
ENTIRE POST- link to salon.com