South Carolinian Ruth Williams says she was praying for divine guidance as to how she would pay a late electric bill when she found herself in the crowd around the Mitt Romney campaign bus. When she told the Republican presidential front-runner about her plight, he reached into his wallet and handed Ruth around $50 to help her keep her power on.
He only did it for the publicity, of course. (Though there were no cameras present.) Or he did it to show he was better than her. Romney gave her the money because he’s such a rich SOB that it was throwing crumbs to a peasant. Yesterday on CNN, a Democratic operative cited the incident as proof of how out of touch Romney is with the needs and feelings of regular Americans. After all, she said, he just carries all this cash around with him—it was like his betting Rick Perry that $10,000. (Williams says Romney emptied his wallet and gave him everything he had. Wow…the tycoon carries 50 bucks around.)
Over on MSNBC, where every act by a Republican is evil personified, guest Joy-Ann Reid, a blogger for theGrio.com, was furious; she said that the hand-out proves Romney is a racist.
“As an African-American woman, it galls me. I don’t even like to watch it. I felt like it plays into every sort of patronizing stereotype of black people. Oh, here’s this little lady, let me give her 50 bucks. I mean, this is the guy who offered a bet of $10,000 on stage, you know, to another candidate, but, you know, here, let me lay off 50 bucks on this woman. And I think it plays into that conservative meme that you don’t need actual programs that the government puts in place to help people in need, we’ll just give them charity. The church will take care of them, I’ll give them 50 bucks.”
That’s certainly fair. If Romney was spontaneously moved by the woman’s story and wanted to help her, but realized that she was black and that this would be patronizing her, he should have resisted the urge…but he would have been a real miser not to give the gift to a struggling white women, because he has money to burn, and she has none. No, wait—that would be racist too! How dare he not give a women money just because she’s black? Romney should have listened to Williams’story and said, “That’s too bad, but you just be patient and vote for me: after I’m elected and my special commission looks at this problem, we’ll have a program for people like you.” Or he should have hugged her and said “I feel your pain” like the first black President, Bill Clinton, who was always sincere. Yeah, sure, that would be Romney’s game…pretend to care, but don’t offer any real help, even though he wouldn’t miss a lousy 50 bucks because the 1% like him pisses dollar bills. Now, if Barack Obama or Jesse Jackson had given the woman the money because she was black, that would have been a generous, completely non-political act, because they know what fifty dollars can mean to a jobless person who can’t pay her bills. Well, yes, they’re millionaires too, but their not racist white millionaires trying to show they’re better than everyone else, like that SOB Romney. Besides, they didn’t give Ruth any money. They let her keep her self-respect.
Makes sense to me!
There’s nothing Mitt Romney could have done in response to Ruth Williams that wouldn’t have been wrong to his critics. Nobody wants to give him the presumption of good will, and assume that he was moved by Williams’ story and thought, “Well hell…the money I have in my wallet might make her life a little easier for a while, why not just give it to her? I don’t need it.” Nobody will assume that it was just an act of kindness motivated by nothing more than the fact that a fellow human being was right in front of him and had a problem that he could solve on the spot.
I’m sure Romney knew this when he gave her the money. He’s been campaigning for a long time: he knows that every word and act will be dissected and be presumed to be calculated on his part, used by opponents to attack him and used by supporters to lionize him. I’m certain he knew this would be used to burnish his rich-guy baggage; handing money out to random people with sob stories isn’t a well-regarded campaign technique, and after a few thousand or so it can get expensive. I think Mitt Romney just decided, “Oh, the hell with it; there’s no good reason not to help this woman. I’m right in front of her.” That is, after all, what his church teaches. So it was a little strange for a politician; Ruth didn’t care—it was a nice thing to do.
But to Joy-Ann Reid, a good progressive, it just proved that Romney is a Machiavellian racist.
On the Knight Scale of race-baiting nonsense, by the way, Reid’s accusation rates a hardy 9.
Ethics Alarms 
Yup
By the way, kudos to Ron Paul last night for trying to make the point about the unconstitutionality of federal laws restraining state laws. Nobody was listening. There’s an important debate to be had there—I think the national government sometimes has to rein in the states, but the principle is crucial. Literally, nobody cares.
It isn’t that nobody cares, and you’re right, it is an important and worthy debate. Those that are even aware that the states have rights that can be infringed upon by the federal government most certainly care, even though that number seems to me to be depressingly few.
This particular issue is just way down the list of most people’s priorities, and it gets almost no attention in the national media. What they don’t realize is that it is the root of many of the problems they prioritize higher.
I CARE- especially where the Indian Child Welfare Act is in play currently, but hey, states rights matter to candidates only when they want them to…
Race-baiting, it seems to me, will be at minimum an undercurrent in every single issue in this election. The left thinks it’s a winner. They may well be right, regardless of the exploitative nature of such arguments.
The American voter is as sensitive to allegations of racism as the eye is to grit, and the “seriousness of the charge” always tends to trump its veracity, at least until the facts have time to take hold and be digested. Unfortunately, elections can be too short a time for that to happen with so many things going on at once. That’s why race-baiting can be so useful, if unethical, in politics.
I wonder if a point exists in our politics where such charges will be met with “little boy who cried, ‘wolf'” skepticism? I’m really not sure, but continued saturation attacks by race-baiters are bound to test that theory eventually.
But I’m not sanguine. Like charges of sexual impropriety, race-baiting seems to be amplified by its sensational nature and attractiveness to news organizations.
I agree, and this is why I decided to focus specifically on the issue from this point on. Ethics Bob is perturbed with me, but I think the Michael Moore “if you vote against Obama, you’re a racist” appeal to white guilt will be the unofficial theme of the Democratic campaign, and I think the results will be tragic, nasty, and divisive. I expect the Mitch McConnell-Rush Limbaugh rhetoric about the #1 objective being to make Obama a one-term president will be hammered from now to election day—as if every opposition party didn’t have that objective since John Adams took office. If McConnell had said that about any other Democrat—especially one who knew how to lead in a divided government, it would have been completely forgotten. Now it’s “proof” of sabotage, racism and treason.
I completely disagree with your last comment to Glenn, and I think this whole blog entry is a groundless canard. IMO opinion the whole political process is Kabuki Theater, meant to distract us from our rights being legislated away in the dead of night or on new years eve with bogus signing statements and silent, absent reporting. But let’s analyze the 16th Republicon debate endlessly on all media.
Karl Rove being on the Today show this morning makes my point – the fact that this guy isn’t in jail is proof that there are different laws for the “Ruling Class” – and helps make my point.
There are topics that are off-limits that will never be discussed by these “debates”, which have turned into nothing more than revenue & content generators for pundits that talk about anything but the issues. Maybe it’s gotten a bit better, but this was debate #16 – you’d think they’d start getting to these pertinent issues a bit sooner.
You’re a smart enough guy Jack – either you really don’t know that this environment vortex we are currently being sucked into is completely engineered by design, or you are an active, paid participant. The US is being turned into an “oligarched plutocracy” where upward mobility is completely being taken away and the playing field tilted so hard to favor the “Romneys” of the world that the rest of us, no matter what color, are left scrambling for the scraps of 50$ now worth 2$ buying power from (75 years of “Quantitative Easing”) being handed out buy the 400+ billionaires who happen to own everything. We are now Mexico, by design.
And yes, they pay the vast majority of the taxes, however they OWN EVERYTHING… 18% of 10 million is much more than 39% of 40k – but as a percentage of what they have available – it’s a joke. And unfair.
Case in point – check out this awesome interview by Bill Moyer from his new show:
http://billmoyers.com/segment/jacob-hacker-paul-pierson-on-engineered-inequality/
Be sure to pay attention to the bar graphs these Hacker and Pierson show Bill Moyer show in this video – THIS is the real problem here.. your Canard that Race is the issue is the very old trick of Divide and Conquer by pitting the masses against each other. Congrats on doing your best to uphold that tradition.
This has nothing to do with color – the Problem is Greed, and the “Engineering of Consent” for that greed. You and this particular “Ethcs Alarms” entry is a case study that Edward Bernays would be proud of – and as and the real problem I think the majority of the country and the 99% movement has is the lack of empathy and blatant disregard for us “Worthless Eaters” per se. The 99% show the cat is out of the bag in this regard… you at least can’t trick me with this simpleton argument.
When you threw in Moyers, you pretty well threw away your credibility.
It’s a straight interview – questions and answers. What’s your beef with Moyers?
You are like Christmas…I’m always left in wonder and surprise! I would have never expected such an innocuous, obvious, and uncontroversial entry to rouse Mount Blake. Yes, a devout Mormon doing what Mormons are taught to do (I lived with one)—being kind—gets slammed for it by a race-baiting Obama flack, and you say it is a smokescreen and not about race. The Obama team has been playing the race card for three years, in response to legitimate criticism (Eric Holder) and self explanatory criticism (when the country is a mess and the President can’t lead, the President gets criticized, no matter what color he is); it takes willful blindness or ungodly tolerance to shrug it off. And Romney is racist and trying to divide by doing what I or any decent person would do in a similar situation. Holy Lesions, Batman! I don’t know what makes people’s brain work this way, but we need a cure, and quick. Researchers should recruit the folks in McPherson Sq…they need something constructive to do, and they’re mostly white, so nobody will accuse the lab guys of being racists.
Moyers doesn’t do “straight interviews”. I don’t mind a commentator- left or right- who is upfront about what he is. What I can’t stand is a commentator who tries to pass himself off as being otherwise, while also taking extreme liberties with the facts to support his biases. I further resent it when they do it on my dime, as per PBS. That’s Moyers in a nutshell.
Very good and accurate diagnosis of Moyer, whom I just would have said is a bitter, unscrupulous ideologue who with 80 pounds, more talent and less couth could be a less entertaining Michael Moore.
I’d throw Moyers and his “biases” up against any MSM reporter in the so-called Fourth Estate – and speaking of which, you brought up an amazing point. Would you rather have a Media with reporters sponsored by GE, Monsanto and “The People of the Natural Gas and Energy Keystone Pipeline SuperPac” that only give ad dollars to networks that report the news as they see fit, OR a publicly funded network, one of only a handful left I may add.. who genuinely wants to get an alternative view out there into the ether and available. What reporter would you rather see interview these guys in depth? Rock Center isn’t going to touch it and neither is Wolf, Greta – it doesn’t fit into their pre-programmed agendas.
By the way…welcome back, I’ve missed you.
But I guess I’m not “smart enough” to be one of the paid conspirators. Too bad, I could use the money to racially degrade more blacks needing kind assistance.. We sit up all night trying to figure out ways to do that.
Last week I passed an elderly, homeless Black guy pushing a shopping cart. I gave him a $20 and said, “Here, get a good meal.”
I guess that makes me a racist.
Or maybe I just wanted your kudoes as today’s Saint (I’m not even Christian, let alone RC).
Or maybe….
Nah, all too complicated…guess I’m just a racist.
Yup, racist all the` way.. I’ve been hitting myself in the head with a claw hammer for about an hour now,, and you know, Reid’s argument starts making sense after aaaawuhlmnbesssaaaaoiilkm,@$T^YYU8((…
Recommending: Re-name the Knight Scale the Reid Scale, and switch positions of the scoring of Reid’s rant with the scoring of Knight’s nit-picking. It is only fair to give a higher rating on such a scale to the outrage provoked by a direct act of person-to-person charity, relative to a spin-meister’s imaginative take on mere satirical images.
I am white and I can see very clearly why this Wall St. corporate white guy giving a black woman $50 bucks is so condescending and clueless. Blameblakeart gets it and I hope people like him will re-elect Obama. While Obama is not what we were hoping for he is certainly infinitely better than any of the out of touch clowns the Republicans have to offer.
Now, how the hell do I unsubscribe from this?
Never! NEVER!!! You are doomed to read non-paranoid, rational, moderate ethics commentary FOREVER!!!! FOREVER!!!! AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
It’s been one of those days. Huh, Jack?!
Even if it’s condescending and clueless (but then, you would have to extend that criticism to all forms of private charity, regardless of whether it was given by radical libertarians or socialists), there’s no reliable evidence to suggest that it’s racist. Honestly, I think too many folk forget that even bad people occasionally do good things because it’s the good thing to do.
Agreed. Anyone who thinks 375k$ as “a little money for speaking fees” is clueless about what “average” people have to deal with on a daily basis is more clueless and condescending as opposed to showing empathy.
But I believe this is calculated “Kabuki Theater” and these guys are fulfilling “Roles” – and we fall for it hook line and sinker. Newt Purposely flings “Stinkbombs of Condescension” to make the story about “Blacks” by completely generalizing an entire race of people. Now us idiots (myself included) talk about “Race” instead of Unfairness of the system and the core of the problem itself, that the game is rigged except for the privileged few. THEN they try to frame it with the word “Envy” and call it “Class
Warfare”.
And again, this has nothing to do with Obama and race IMO. It’s Wisconsin, Koch Brother sponsored control of issues, debate and the framing of the Language.
I gotta give their PR machine credit – they are incredibly good at the Unfair, Evil Santorum they butter our reality with. They make their Nasty S on a Shingle oh so Tasty.
Of course, BA, you didn’t really with what Julina said at all. His first phrase was a “even if” qualification, indicating later that he doesn’t think charity is clueless,
You’re dismissing the accusation of envy, but supporting it. What Romney or anybody makes in speaking fees is nobody’s business except better speakers who make less—then they should charge more. If Romeny makes someone who earns less feel bad because of the money he makes speaking, that’s envy, my friend. It’s clueless to mention it, and he’s hiding something if he doesn’t. What fees Romney get has nothing to do with you, me, or the people throwing smoking objects over the White House fence. Nor does it have anything to do with Kabuki, Noh, or the twist. It’s called freedom of contract, and its as important as any other.
http://bit.ly/wrongsirwrong
Enjoy that clip – it’s one of my favorites… that’s a good Willy Wonka quote for ya – and you could NOT be more wrong. To quote the movie Swingers – “You are so money and you don’t even know it.”
As I type, the Daily Show completely shreds your argument as well! The problem is not that Mitt makes lots of money – good for him! I hope I am that “successful” someday. I do not begrudge anyone who either Makes or is Born Into ( as Mitt was ) his immense wealth.
I do not Envy that, and neither does that poor women who Romney so generously gave that 50$. What pisses everyone off is that Mittens doesn’t know the difference… that’s why he’s such a douche and completely unlikable. He has zero empathy – and I think he either doesn’t know how or does not care.
And it’s interesting – you put Romney as the subject like Romney is doing the verb action to the object, making the object “Feel” the envy. I guess that is true – but now Romney and the rest of the “Class Warriors” claim that this is their cover all “cop out” to justify their Gilded Age, Hedge-Funded immense wealth, that has increased ridiculously compared to the rest of the population of this country over the past 10 “bush tax cutted” years. Just because it’s legal, it doesn’t make it right. And we come back to Romney handing that woman the 50$. In context, it’s a good, right thing to do, but knowing what we know about Romney, it’s basically an insult to those paying attention.
Hey Thanks Amy..! Glad to know I’m not wandering in a vast, selfish, Libertarian-Moderate to Reich-wing area of the Thought Structure® (I filed for trademark just last month!) all by myself. And I recommend keeping your subscription – Jack’s not all that bad. You can’t just hang out with peeps that constantly agree with you.. the barnicals will start to stick to your hull and then you’ll sink.
blameblakeart.wordpress.com (been silent lately – working on a big project.)
http://www.thestructureofthought.com
Nice to be able to make up your mind without actually listening to the opposition. Nice to already know everything you need to know. Nice to know that you appear to be contributing to an increase in polarization of viewpoints, rather than a decrease.
One of the characteristics of the intellectually bankrupt, is the inability to listen to opposing views with dignity and respect for the speaker, even if you do not agree. Also, another is the unwillingness to be persuaded to change viewpoints when cogent arguments challenge and, in effect, checkmate a long-held, but ultimately untenable conclusion.
Are you really talking to blakeheart here? If so, I’m confused. If you are talking to me, which I suspect, I’m annoyed. I read and listen, and I have a very open mind….just not to everything. I have a clear view of some things that I have thought about a lot and have direct experience with, and while any view can be changed, the threshold is high. Some opinions, however, especially opinions that are assertions only without an iota of support or logic, are not respectable, and I don’t have an obligation to pretend they are…indeed, the opposite is true.
Take Amy’s fatuous
“I am white and I can see very clearly why this Wall St. corporate white guy giving a black woman $50 bucks is so condescending and clueless. Blameblakeart gets it and I hope people like him will re-elect Obama. While Obama is not what we were hoping for he is certainly infinitely better than any of the out of touch clowns the Republicans have to offer.Now, how the hell do I unsubscribe from this?”
That’s a useless, incompetent, and offensive post, and unless you somehow agree with it already, it can’t possibly convince anyone. WHAT is clueless about someone with some spare cash spontaneously giving to to someone in need? How can that possibly be racist? By what illogical nonsense does someone like Amy think it’s great to TAKE a “Wall Street white guy’s” money and give it to a poor person, but “clueless” for the same thing to happen without the government’s dictates? What does what Romney does for a stranger have to do with re-electing Obama? What is Blakeheart supposed to “get”? If his rant about conspiracies and me being a paid co-conspirator was worth taking seriously, why was it in the middle of a comment about an unrelated post? Calling people racists divides us—calling people out for crying racism doesn’t—so why is that in the comment? Why an I supposed to be persuaded by the incoherent? (Or, in your case, sarcasm?)
The Republicans are all clowns. Clowns? I think not. They are all public servants; they have all done a lot more for their communities and the nation than Amy has. I’m not a fan of Ron Paul’s views, but he’s no clown. He’s a leader, a thinker and a patriot. Gingrich is a rotten person, but he’s no clown, and he’s accomplished a lot in his life—a lot more than Barack Obama, who has a Peace Prize. What’s the support for that “clown” assertion? Why should I be open-minded to pure biased invective? Then, as a final insult, she announces that she wants to unsubscribe. That’s right—she just wants to drop in an unsupported comment and a factless opinion and quit the discussion. Well, that’s not what this forum is for, and if someone isn’t willing to read what someone says about her own lazy diatribe, there’s no reason it or its writer deserves respect, attention, or anything but scorn.
Now, Jack, please “chill” for a moment. I thought I was posting directly below, and directly in response to, “blameblakeART,” who seems to be just as “artless” as Ms. Amy above.
I appreciate the depth and thoughtfulness of your discussions, and, although we differ on a number of issues, more often than not, when you wander outside the mainstream of conventional (viz. shallow) MSM thinking, you will find me walking beside you. I believe in the rule of law, not the rule of personalities (who can easily devolve into despots), the sanctity of the American constitution as a bulwark against the rise of same, and the willingness to accept unpleasant conclusions based upon incontrovertible evidence regardless of how they clash with my preconceived notions. That is how I became a libertarian/conservative despite Massachusetts liberal roots. In order to understand Roman Catholicism, don’t ask a cradle Catholic, ask a Jew who has converted. Likewise, don’t ask a cradle conservative, ask one who has done the heavy lifting required to reveal the rot in the “progressive-liberal” mindset.
So, keep them coming, Jack. You do a valuable service, and, even though I think you are hopelessly clueless on a very few (but important) issues, it’s not relevant in the big picture. I respect and recognize the fact that you are earnestly trying, where most people are content to simply criticize you without understanding what it takes to do what you do.
I apologize for flying off the handle. Peter. As you know better than most, it’s one of my persistent flaws. Mrs. Penwarden used to rag me about it. I really didn’t know who the comment was intended for, but you did it right. I’m obviously paranoid.
First, you guys… so adorable! I feel the same whey about both of you as well.. “I may not agree with anything you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Glad you smootched and made up… I feel the same way about the majority of your opinions.
Listen, since I’ve never been in a position of power or prestige, I don’t know how hard it is to get people to participate. Herding Cats is hard, herding Humans is harder, unless they’re fearful and//or full of hate.
Then it’s much easier.
Getting people to act because “its the right thing to do” is a luxury of abundance, of which Mittwit has plenty. But he was born on third base, just like the rest of them, Or if they weren’t, then most are bought and paid for once they get there.
It’s the very few who lead with principle and conviction – and I do NOT put many democrats or Obama in that category. Being Evil is Easy. Choosing to be Good is incredibly HARD.
This is not a right v left, rethug v demican scenario. If Mitt genuinely cared about the actual well-being of this woman, he would have had her stand up, tell her story, and put his people into action to figure out the core of this woman’s problem. Yes, use it for a photo op, yes, fold the story of truly helping her into his own story of “Mitt’s Quest for the Presidency..”
But he’s merrily just giving her a fish, instead of making it easier for her to learn to fish for herself.