But CNN's Don Lemon missed a big chance here, and I think a lot of other folks have as well. There is this insanity to personalize the public; by which I mean, this incessant pursuit to get people to say they are sorry.
The Tea Party is a public institution and Mark Williams was acting in a public role when he posted his 'satirical' letter to Lincoln on his blog (I'll give him it was satire... racist satire...). You can see a screen shot of the blog at the bottom of this post but the point I'm trying to make is how we have moved from public to private...
We witness it here in this interview with racist Mark Williams...
The key point of Williams post was misdirection and he continues it in this interview. Lemon reads the quote from the blog post emphasizing the word ‘colored’.
Lemon: Are you still defending this as satire Mark?
Williams: I defend the idea behind it… but when a group that calls itself ‘colored people’ says it is against freedom, and emancipation, and it’s against self-determination… uh, the first thing that pops into my mind is that those colored people must be speaking for some bizarre group of people that I’m not familiar with…
Lemon sticks on the word colored…
Williams later in the interview… “I used the intent behind their resolution”
Lemon, trying to get the on air scoop of “I’m sorry”…. : Are you sorry for writing those things?
Williams: (F*** off, I’m not going to say it… ) "When their goal in the resolution they passed was to increase government dependency…"
The NAACP’s resolution condemned extremist elements within the Tea Party, calling on Tea Party leaders to repudiate those in their ranks who use racist language in their signs and speeches.
What racism you ask?
By focusing on the personal Lemon missed a huge hole in the Tea Party’s argument. If he had asked Williams to repeat the resolution, or read it to him, he could have followed with…
“Mark, you’re a smart guy, tell me how a resolution that calls on you and other leaders in the Tea Party to repudiate those who use racists language... how is that akin to increasing government dependency? Or how is rejecting racism akin to standing against freedom, emancipation, and self-determination?"
Instead of getting him to say he's sorry, how about ask him about how he is using misdirection to avoid the charges of racism?
If are interested in more of how the Right uses racist language, I urge you to check out
Over the Cliff: How Obama's Election Drove the American Right Insane
by Amato & NeiwertHere is William's original post:
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