So a guy whose contract was terminated by NPR on a phony pretext for not toeing the liberal line enough, including writing a book ("Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America--and What We Can Do About It") which indicted the modern civil-rights movement for, well, undermining Black America, now appears to want eliminate "Constitution" and "Founding Fathers" from the lexicon of Republican candidates -- and possibly, it would appear, from political discussion in general -- because, well, they're racial code words. How ironic.
That is what Juan Williams outrageously claims in his latest column at the Hill today (bold is mine):
Two weeks ago at the Fox News/Wall Street Journal debate in Myrtle Beach, S.C., I asked each GOP presidential candidate some pointed questions about the racial politics that will play a big role in the presidential campaign.
Race is always a trigger in politics, but now a third of the nation are people of color — and their numbers are growing. With those minorities solidly in the Democratic camp and behind the first black president, the scene is set for a bonanza of racial politics.
The language of GOP racial politics is heavy on euphemisms that allow the speaker to deny any responsibility for the racial content of his message. The code words in this game are “entitlement society” — as used by Mitt Romney — and “poor work ethic” and “food stamp president” — as used by Newt Gingrich. References to a lack of respect for the “Founding Fathers” and the “Constitution” also make certain ears perk up by demonizing anyone supposedly threatening core “old-fashioned American values.”
The code also extends to attacks on legal immigrants, always carefully lumped in with illegal immigrants, as people seeking “amnesty” and taking jobs from Americans.
Well, I guess this explains why so many on the left like Williams breezily assume that anyone associated with the Tea Party or having Tea Party-sympathetic beliefs must be a racist. If you guys would just stop talking about the Constitution and our Founding Fathers, this would all go away -- not. Williams et al would find other "code words" which in their fevered imaginations still connote racism. It's all about the limiting the range of acceptable speech to protect liberal and leftist interests. With all due respect, Juan -- pound sand.
This afternoon, Jim Taranto at the Wall Street Journal's Best of the Web noted another potential target of Williams's ire:
Accusing someone of not respecting "the 'Constitution' " is a racial code word? If that were true, the American Civil Liberties Union would be the biggest racist organization around.
Indeed. When are we going to hear from you, Juan, about the ACLU's obviousl and pervasive racism?
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
