About That New Yorker Cover....

Imagine if this cartoon had appeared on FOX News!

So I guess now everyone who ever liked Clint Eastwood in the past hates him because he lent his star power to the Republicans. Funny how that works. The man has brought countless hours of relaxation and entertainment to countless people the world over for countless years--okay, I could count them but I'm not gonna--with the movies in which he has starred and the movies he created as a director, producer and writer, not to mention all the fantasies he fueled back in his younger, heartthrob days. But all that is washed away because he prefers Mitt Romney to Barack Obama! It is sickening, plain and simple, how many clueless-on-the-issues voters cling to that wrecked lifeboat called the Democratic Party simply because the man at the helm is half African-American.

Loving Obama allows people to feel good about themselves--hey, I'm not a racist, I voted for Obama! It reminds me of something that happened almost 20 years ago in the small Maryland suburb where I lived, just a few miles from the shameful slums of inner-city Washington. My son had started kindergarten, along with his best friend, Richie. The two of them had been inseparable for three years, just about half their lives at that point. One day when I happened to be there helping out, the children lined up to go outside for recess. Richie caused a scene when he stubbornly refused to stand next to "that brown boy," claiming he "smelled funny." The teacher, a black woman, was about to go ballistic on him when I intervened, explaining that his mother was a close friend and I would alert her to the situation immediately. Surely they would fix the problem at home.

Later that day, Richie's mom almost fainted when I recounted the story. She was mortified, outraged, depressed and mystified that her little boy could have said something so clearly racist. "But we are so liberal," she wailed, signalling her despair with one of the most unforgettable lines I have ever heard: "This must be how Ted Bundy's mother felt." The two of us discussed the matter further and it came to light that little Richie had never actually been near a black person before, in fact the family had never invited a black person to their home, despite the fact that our friendly, small town was quite diverse and fully integrated. (Huh---imagine that.)

Now all the people who have never had a black person into their home can feel like they do it all the time whenever Obama comes on TV. "Hey, I'm no racist, I voted for Obama! And I love Michelle!" And of course, the opposite is implicit in a vote against Obama--after all, a vote for the white guy is a vote against the black guy. And now, even liking Clint Eastwood makes you a little bit racist. Funny, isn't it? Almost as funny as that New Yorker cover, which everyone accepted at the time as satire since it appeared in such a left-wing rag. Somehow when liberals say or do something blatantly racist, it's just fine.