Of Broken Clocks, Presidential Candidates, and the Confusion of Certain White Liberals

January 14, 2012

Of Broken Clocks, Presidential Candidates, and the Confusion of Certain White Liberals

Yet to the so-called progressives who sing the praises of Ron Paul, all because of his views on domestic spying, bailouts for banksters, and military intervention abroad, the fact that 90 percent of his political platform is right-wing boilerplate about slashing taxes on the rich, slashing programs for the poor and working class, breaking unions, drilling for oil anywhere and everywhere, and privatizing everything from retirement programs to health care doesn’t matter: the fact that he’ll ostensibly legalize drugs is enough. And this is so, even though he has merely said he would leave drug laws up to the states (which means 49 separate drug wars, everywhere except maybe Vermont, so ya know, congrats hippies!), and he would oppose spending public money on drug rehab or education, both of which you’d need more of if drugs were legalized, but why let little details like that bother you?

Yessir, legal weed and an end to the TSA: enough to make some supposed leftists ignore everything else Ron Paul has ever said, and ignore the fundamental incompatibility of Ayn Randian thinking with anything remotely resembling a progressive or even humane worldview. And this is so, even though he wouldn’t actually have the authority to end the TSA as president, a slight glitch that is conveniently ignored by those who are desperate to once again be able to take large bottles of shaving gel onto airplanes in the name of “liberty.”

I want those of you who are seriously singing Paul’s praises, while calling yourself progressive or left to ask what it signifies — not about Ron Paul, but about you — that you can look the rest of us in the eye, your political colleagues and allies, and say, in effect, “Well, he might be a little racist, but…

How do you think that sounds to black people, without whom no remotely progressive candidate stands a chance of winning shit in this country at a national level? How does it sound to them — a group that has been more loyal to progressive and left politics than any group in this country — when you praise a man who opposes probably the single most important piece of legislation ever passed in this country, and whose position on the right of businesses to discriminate, places him on the side of the segregated lunchcounter owners? And how do you think they take it that you praise this man, or possibly even support him for president, all so as to teach the black guy currently in the office a lesson for failing to live up to your expectations?

How do you think it sounds to them, right now, this week, as we prepare to mark the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, that you claim to be progressive, and yet you are praising or even encouraging support for a man who voted against that holiday, who opposes almost every aspect of King’s public policy agenda, and the crowning achievements of the movement he helped lead?

My guess is that you don’t think about this at all. Because you don’t have to. One guess as to why not.

This is a variation of the guilt by association argument; I guess it makes Our Tribe feel good when we get to hurl insults around and call other people racists, but it doesn’t solve a fucking thing.

Ron Paul’s brand of libertarianism could fairly be characterized as racist or racially insensitive, in that privilege-denying, “I-don’t-see-race-I’m-colorblind” way. And he peddles crank economic theories, and has views on the economy and social policy that are justly derided by people who see themselves in favor of the commons / an inclusive society with a social safety net, and so on.

That said, no one has any right to call someone racist just because they believe that having Paul in the national debate has a salutary effect. Who else in this election cycle is going to talk about empire, or the war on drugs, or civil liberties? Not Obama; the Left has done a miserable job on those causes with Our Guy in power.

If this is gonna be the tone and tenor of the debate in the 2012 election, then let’s flip the tables: If you support Obama, you’re racist against Arabs and are OK with murdering them with drone strikes, and you support continuing and enlarging most of the Bush-Cheney policies on civil liberties and empire. Ron Paul sucks, but we hate Paul because he reminds us of how much we suck too.

(Source: azspot)

5:48pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/ZQKWayEmlbp7

(Notes: 38)