4/29/2009

No More Warm Weather For Me


As a life long Mid-Westerner, I have always been envious of those who live in the South. This is mostly because of the weather. As an avid golfer, it’s difficult to play a regulation 18 hole round of golf in Chicago in January. I’ve often told my wife that I’m a warm weather person caught in a cold weather person’s life. However, thanks to the Obama Administration, I no longer feel this way because I don’t want to live among the racists in our society. According to the Obama Justice Department, the South is still run by a bunch of white supremacists.

Earlier today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act which requires many Southern states and their political sub-divisions to get approval from the Justice Department before making any changes in their election rules. Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal referred to Section 5 as “a landmark achievement” that deters schemes to violate the rights of minorities.

Evidently, Mr. Katyal believes that there are gangs of politicians south of the Mason-Dixon Line, meeting in secret rooms, looking for ways to disenfranchise minority voters. But, he doesn’t think that this could be happening anywhere else in the country. If you’re a white politician from Wisconsin, no problem, you’re not a racist. But, if you’re a white politician from Florida, watch out, you have nothing better to do than to prevent black voters from reaching the polls on election day. If you will recall, this was exactly the baseless claim made by Democrats in the aftermath of the 2000 Presidential election. After extensive investigation by the Justice Department, not a single such incident was shown to have occurred.

Chief Justice Roberts asked today if Southerners are more likely to discriminate than Northerners. He then noted that Massachusetts had a lower rate of registering Latino voters than Texas. Surprisingly, Justice Kennedy asked if the sovereignty of Georgia is entitled to less respect than the sovereign dignity of Ohio. So little time these days is spent discussing one of the founding principals of our republic - states' rights. If you look at the 10th amendment, it's clear that this issue is not just for "rightwing" militia members.

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley filed a brief in which he noted that 73% of both blacks and whites are registered to vote in Alabama. Gov. Riley then stated that the make up of the state’s legislature was 25% black, the same as the population of the state.

Since the evidence no longer shows that the South is anymore racist than the North, the questions becomes why are the Administration and its allies fighting so hard to retain a law that is a vestige of a long ago unfortunate past? The answer is that those on the left gain for fostering a sense of victimhood and identity politics.

If the government can get people to believe that they are members of an aggrieved group, only government can provide a remedy for their grievance. Look no further than the bill passed today by the House of Representatives expanding the federal hate crimes law. Do Members of Congress really believe that the states are incapable of prosecuting violent crimes that happen inside their borders? Only the wisdom and piety of the Federal Government is capable of handling such a job? (I’ve always wondered about “hate crimes”. If I were to kill someone because I didn’t like the color of his tie, isn’t he just as dead as if I killed him because he was from a foreign country?)

With the increased need for government intervention in order to redress those who are among the aggrieved classes, the power and the size of the federal government will increase. The government will use its power to intervene in private businesses that are allegedly perpetuating these ills. It will use its power to inject itself into schools to teach children to be “sensitive” and politically correct. It will manipulate local governments in order shape their policies to match those of the federal government.

Also, there is a huge industry centered around the business of grievances and racial/ethnic politics. If the government were to admit that things really are better today than they were in 1955, we would have a lot of people unemployed who had previously worked for the Anti-Defamation League, National Action Network, ACORN, CAIR, Operation PUSH and the NAACP, just to name a few.

The Obama Administration, just like the Clinton Administration before it, believes that it needs to bring a new consciousness to the nation, one where no one feels “marginalized” and “diversity” reigns supreme. This is not the role of the federal government. The Justice Department’s time would be better spent on real threats to the American people, like thinking about what to do with the Islamists that they plan to release from Guantanamo Bay.

2 comments:

The Daily Pander said...

Check the record my friend. W. voted to extend the life of Section 5 of the VRA, too.

Steven L. Baerson said...

Doesn't make it right!