New Attorney General: We're A Nation of Cowards

I haven’t been posting lately, because deadlines are well and truly on me. But here’s a quick note about something that caught my eye today.

According to the new Attorney General, Eric Holder, speaking today at the Justice Department, we’re a nation of cowards because we don’t talk about race enough. I have several responses to that grotesque statement, most of which aren’t printable. But I will say this much: If the past discussions about race in which I’d participated (voluntarily and otherwise) didn’t always – not often, not most of the time, but always – devolve into name calling, where I was denounced as a racist (usually as a starting point for said conversation), then I might today be more willing to continue to have discussions on the subject. I suspect I’m not alone in this.

In my experience, anyone who doesn’t immediately and enthusiastically subscribe to the idea that all American whites are active oppressors against other races is an irredeemable racist. Of course if you do agree you’re still a racist, just one of the self confessed variety.

In the interests of full and fair disclosure, I’m apparently also a misogynist, a homophobe, and a Nazi, this according to folks (some of whom were friends and colleagues) upon finding out that I have problems with feminism, gay marriage, and gun control. There were other accusations I could list, given time, but the truth is such incidents are too common and never important enough to be worth devoting too much of my time and memory.

So here’s my response to our distinguished public servant.

Dear Mr. Holder: serious and thoughtful conversations about race aren’t possible in today’s American culture, where name-calling and hurled epithets are the acme of discourse. Name-calling is a conversation ender. Always. And here’s some more cold water to pour on your notion: Name-calling is the proprietary weapon of the left. There’s no equality of blame, no comparison. We on the right aren’t “just as bad.”

That’s why I don’t play your silly games anymore. I only ever talk about important matters like race and gender politics with those for whom there is still the possibility of serious discourse and reasoned debate. Once again, I suspect I’m not alone in this. Your side has taken itself out of the game, and until such time as you on the left can get your house in order, you aren’t worth a reasonable man’s time or effort.

Here’s a hint though. Calling everyone a coward isn’t a good place to start.

In the meantime, I’ll continue to live my life, free of prejudice, never oppressing anyone, hating no one on a group basis, and not participating in your cloud cuckoo world of vicious and hateful pan-victimology, where even making funny faces is now a crime worthy of multi-billion dollar lawsuits. Your world is no longer a serious one, and I’m no longer interested in wasting my valuable time there.

Best of luck though.