Tuesday, January 20, 2009

HEY, DOWNTRODDEN, WHERE'S YOUR SENSE OF FAIR PLAY?

Mona Charen, writing for National Review and pretending, not very convincingly, to feel good about the transition:

I did not vote for the man who today becomes the 44th president of the United States, and in fact, advocated for his opponent. But I am not immune to the happiness of those who did support him, particularly African-Americans, and -- to slice it a little thinner -- particularly older African-Americas who actually lived through the contempt and cruelty of Jim Crow America. I do not for a minute deny the symbolic greatness of the moment, and despite my wariness of President Obama's policies, it makes me happy to see so many of my fellow Americans in a celebratory, patriotic mood. (If the shoe were on the other foot, however, I doubt that they would reciprocate these sentiments.)

Yeah, that's right -- I bet those damn Obama supporters, particularly older African-Americans who actually lived through the contempt and cruelty of Jim Crow America, would be disappointed if we'd elected another rich right-wing white guy who had no interest in making life better for blacks and the less fortunate. The ingrates!

Hell, I bet those older blacks would have been more than disappointed forty years ago if Bull Connor had won the Nobel Peace Prize! I'd bet they actually would have been angry! And wouldn't a little graciousness in response to an award like that just have been a simple matter of reciprocity and fairness?

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