Patterico's Pontifications

9/29/2012

Atlantic Wire Doubles Down on “Obama Phone” Woman Racism Accusations — Calls Patterico Intellectually Dishonest

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 4:30 pm



This past week I showed y’all this hilarious video of an Obama supporter thoughtfully explaining her well-reasoned support for President Obama:

A laugh riot — and it would be whether the woman was black, white, mauve, Hispanic, Chinese, or Pakistani. What’s more, her greed for government handouts is relevant in the wake of Big Media’s excoriation of Mitt Romney, for disparaging people who vote for Obama because they want government to give them free stuff.

As I explained, however, it was obviously RAAACIST! to draw attention to this video, because the Obama voter it depicts happens to be black. This (according to certain liberal pundits) gives her a Magic Shield that apparently protects her and everyone with a dark shade of skin from criticism or mockery, no matter how absurdly they might behave.

I cited as an example of this attitude the commentary of one Elspeth Reeve of the Atlantic Wire, who kindly explained to us why we are all racists for finding the above video funny.

Now Reeve doubles down, and saves some of her nastiest invective for yours truly. Let me give her some space to make her argument, because I’m going to use plenty of space to refute it. Reeve says:

This is a he-who-smelt-it-dealt-it argument. Or, as Stephen Colbert’s persona likes to say, “I don’t see race.” This line of argument wants to change the subject to something, anything other than race. Hey, what about free phones?! Patterico at Patterico’s Pontifications tried defending the video, saying, “The above video is hilarious. It is representative of a group of Obama voters who feel entitled to handouts from government. It does not matter what the color of the speaker is. It’s news… Conservatives should not have to shy away from such amusing examples of entitlement mentality simply because the particular proponent of that mentality happens to be black.” This is intellectually dishonest, at best. We await Patterico delving into the minutiae of the Universal Service Fund. Until then, it’s just “hilarious.” Specifically, it’s hilarious because it uses one person to portray a huge group of people in a negative way is. The point of the video — and the reason Drudge and Limbaugh hyped it — is to say, this is what Obama voters look like: black, poor, stupid, and after your money. The video’s subject wasn’t picked out because she “happens to be black,” she was picked out because she is black. Lee Atwater, strategist for Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, explained how this works way back in 1981 — better to talk about cutting taxes and bussing, because it’s “a hell of a lot more abstract than ‘Ni***r, ni***r.'” Of course, this Internet meme isn’t all that abstract.

Having cited Lee Atwater, she is certain to cite Willie Horton:

This video, if placed in a Romney ad, would make George H.W. Bush’s 1988 Willie Horton ad look subtle by comparison: the other guy is supported by scary black people, vote Republican!

Where to start?

First of all, I refuse to allow Reeve to cram down our throats the conventional wisdom that the Willie Horton furlough issue constituted an illegitimate racial line of attack. If so, then furloughing murderers to commit rapes is no problem — and Al Gore was a racist. I explained this all the way back in 2004:

Of course, what was so outrageous about the Willie Horton situation was not that there existed a furlough program of any type, but that a convicted murderer serving a sentence of life without parole was furloughed, allowing him the opportunity to rape a woman.  The news media always treated this as a simple case of racial hyperbole, while ignoring the fact that this situation was unacceptable regardless of race.  Indeed, this is why Al Gore thought the issue of such furloughs was fair game in a debate with Dukakis.

I am familiar with the fact, often cited by liberal pundits who love to cry RAAACISM!, that Lee Atwater described the Willie Horton ad as an example of pandering to racists. If that was his intent, shame on him. But that doesn’t mean the issue was illegitimate. Important issues are fair game even if they can be exploited by cynical partisans.

 One of my readers with non-white skin, Dana, is pissed off. Let me turn the microphone over to dana:

Once again, because another earnestly precious writer sees the world through a colored lens, by default everyone else does, too. As a person with brown skin, I find this utterly disheartening because that means I will never be judged by character, nor by word and deed, but only by skin color.  Why does the writer want to do this to me, and others?  Shouldn’t her goal be to rise above this nonsense and be the change she’s been waiting for?  (or, to put a point on it, she has not been waiting for that change, nor do she and her ilk want that change to occur because there goes the house of cards).

This is a non-stop insult to anyone who is not lily white and I am annoyed by it…and if this is the real Elspeth Reeve, writer of the article, I feel even more insulted.  Who  voted her arbiter of all things racist?  Some white chick gets to decide for us when we who are not lily white like her, should be offended??  I don’t think so.  She belittles herself, she belittles the woman in the video, and she belittles people of a different color with her um, racist attitude.  What, does she think we’re all just little Step ‘n Fetchits who will react accordingly?  (Heh.  I can’t think of an Indian stereotype to fit because we’re so low on the totem pole, one wasn’t created!).

Ironically, even as Reeve criticizes tarring an entire group (Obama voters) based on the idiocy of one person, Reeve tars the entire group of people who publicize the above video, based on the reaction of one group: Stormfront:

Why bring Stormfront into this?

If you want to know whether something is racist, why not go to the experts? “You’ll be glad to know that Reeve backs up her leading question by citing those mainstream conservatives at, um, Stormfront,” writes Treacher. Members of a “white pride” forum are, after all, not offended by being labeled as white supremacists. And if they cheer the “Obama Phone” video as proving their “racial inferiority” hatred, then, you know, we’d say that’s pretty good proof that the video is trucking in racist stereotypes.

Let’s be honest. There are racists on both sides of the political aisle.  If we make legitimate points about a candidate’s views on criminal justice issues by pointing out his excessive leniency to someone who happens to be black, our arguments will probably appeal to racist whites. If if there is a hilarious video of a moron screaming about free phones, and she happens to be black, posting that video will probably appeal to Stormfront. In either case, it’s not our fault.

Reeve appears to argue that conservatives should be forced to refrain from making their most effective points in a campaign, for fear that we might incite a racist reaction. She thinks that we should be forced to ignore a funny video of someone who happens to be black, for fear that racists might find the video funny too.

This view is patronizing to black people, because it treats them as a fragile group that can’t be a part of the rough and tumble politics we enjoy in this nation.

Does Reeve’s “don’t stir up the racists” rule apply to stories that stir up black racists by portraying white people in an unfavorable light? Does Reeve consider stories off limits if they appeal to stereotypes that some blacks hold about white people?

Let’s turn the tables for a moment and see if Reeve likes it. The dragging death of James Byrd was a live issue in the 2000 election. Byrd was killed by white racists, and bringing up the issue was certain to have a side effect in that it would appeal to stereotypes held by black racists, who believe that all whites are racist and hate blacks. Under Reeve’s rule, discussing the death of James Byrd would be “trafficking in racial stereotypes.”

Except it was a legitimate issue.

White people did not give a script to the Obama phone woman. She is real, and while her attitude does not represent everyone, it does represent a segment of the population that believes itself to be entitled to government handouts — a segment that makes its voting decisions based on which candidate will give away the most goodies. The issue is the woman’s attitude, not her race . . . and if we’re not allowed to note the attitude if it is held by someone of a particular race, we are hamstrung in our ability to make our arguments in the most forceful and effective manner possible.

Which, somehow, seems like the goal. Doesn’t it?

152 Responses to “Atlantic Wire Doubles Down on “Obama Phone” Woman Racism Accusations — Calls Patterico Intellectually Dishonest”

  1. Racists

    Patterico (50fafa)

  2. The idea that Obama and his supporters are immune to all criticism because of race is simply an affront to Democracy itself.

    Not that Obama supporters think much of democracy …

    SPQR (26be8b)

  3. Specifically, it’s hilarious because it uses one person to portray a huge group of people in a negative way is. The point of the video — and the reason Drudge and Limbaugh hyped it — is to say, this is what Obama voters look like: black, poor, stupid, and after your money. The video’s subject wasn’t picked out because she “happens to be black,” she was picked out because she is black.

    She was picked out because for some reason Sandra Fluke was unavailable.

    Reeve is an idiot.

    Steve57 (c8ac21)

  4. Did this Reeve airhead not see us laughing and pointing at the lily-white “Occupy!” children of privilege whose mommy’s and daddy’s have paid up until now for their cars and $5k Apple laptops, and now they want someone else to step in and pay off their student loans, give them free housing, and spending money? (They call the latter “jobs” but they clearly despise the work requirement that goes with the capitalism they openly despise and were protesting against as well.)

    What? Was Megan McCain unavailable for that writing gig so they gave it to another ditz?

    Steve57 (c8ac21)

  5. if someone says you are racist just because you are white and said something they don’t like, they are the real racists, since the accusation would have not been made had the comment than offends them been uttered by a “person of color”.

    the whole “RACISSSSSST” meme is over and done. the left has worn it out the point that it’s just a bad joke, and i, for one, am tired of being discriminated against, just because i was born Caucasian and don’t drink KoolAde.

    redc1c4 (403dff)

  6. Mentioning this kind of fiscal idiocy is how you get into $16 trillion in debt-RACIST!

    I will vote for Romney because despite an anemic campaign thus far, he at least along with Ryan understands we face a fiscal disaster. But if Obama wins the Left had best understand that very shortly we will have hald the electorate screaming the biggest ” I TOLD YOU SO” in history. The day that Red China, the Saudis and everyone else stop showing for for T-bill auctions is probably within 6 months of right now if Obama is re-elected. And these fools do not seem to grasp the iceberg is dead ahead as they steam right into the mess.

    Bugg (642d2d)

  7. PS-Al Gore used Willie Horton first vs. Dukakis. Bush’s ad had a mixed race group of supposed criminals walking through truurnstile justice, Gore’s featured a photo of Horton who was indeed a black guy.And the point of the ad in both cases was strong; any governor that would allow convicted murderers weekend furloughs was a blasted fool.

    Bugg (642d2d)

  8. Elspeth is not an honest person.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  9. Keep in mind, this Elspeth Reeve woman married writer Scott Thomas Beauchamp, the famous Army fabulist who made up stories accusing his brothers in arms of not just some “boys will be boys” misconduct in Iraq, but of doing some pretty rotten things.
    He had those fabrications printed in The New Republic several years ago, and the fallout caused quite a headache for TNR head honcho Franklin Foer.

    What kind of woman marries a lying no-good punk like Beauchamp ?

    Reeve and Beauchamp are both low-class individuals with a history of nasty attacks on people they disagree with politically.

    Elephant Stone (65d289)

  10. Elephant Stone, I had forgotten that disgusting episode. At the time, it was obvious that Reeve had facilitated Beauchamp’s fraudulent writing.

    That really puts paid on the credibility of this piece of debris.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  11. SPQR,

    Spot on, friend.
    She was the “mysterious” contact that he had at TNR, who facillitated getting those pieces published for him.
    Then she married him.

    Elephant Stone (65d289)

  12. They can’t be forced to testify against each other.

    htom (412a17)

  13. Maybe not, but she’s sure as hell is one damn fine witness against herself.

    ropelight (040655)

  14. Frankly, at this point I don’t much care about sensibilities in the least. Obama’s folks have tried to keep nearly any criticism off-limits, for this reason or that. Next, they’ll be saying we are criticizing him because we think he’s a Muslim (and that this proves we’re both wrong and stupid).

    We have have a little over 5 weeks to save this country from utter disaster at the hands of a man who hates everything we love about this country. I see no reason be be polite about it.

    Kevin M (bf8ad7)

  15. This from Elspeth is just another form of !squirrel!. The facts (both the recent explosion in signups and the misuse of the publicly funded lifeline program for political purposes by calling them “Obamaphones”) are a little too precious and embarrassing and fraudy for the left to leave out there in the public domain. The subject must be changed and true to her history, Elspeth’s just the girl to do it.

    elissa (e52588)

  16. When I mock a video of someone saying something stupid, it changes me.

    If the person is a woman, it turns me into a sexist.

    If the person is gay, it turns me into a homophobe.

    If the person is black, it turns me into a racist.

    I gotta stop watching funny videos, it’s hard on the furniture.

    Pious Agnostic (2c3220)

  17. Ann Althouse posted approvingly about The Atlantic article and has several subsequent posts on how it’s racism and/or there have been racist responses. I wonder if she’s looking for an excuse to vote for Obama again.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  18. I agree with Patterico and Dana, and commend them for focusing on treating all people the same.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  19. teh fair elspeth reeve
    opens mouth to reveal she’s
    another blonde joke?

    Colonel Haiku (03109c)

  20. DRJ–I like to think Ann’s smarter than that and has more depth and clarity in her thought processes. If some people Ann doesn’t know, and who are not running for office are possibly saying things on the internet about the interview of a private citizen in Ohio that she thinks might be considered racist,–and that influences her more than all the lies, clear-cut economic policy debacles and foreign policy failures of the Obama administration–then that’s both disappointing and kind of scary, I think.

    elissa (e52588)

  21. “this is what Obama voters look like: black, poor, stupid, and after your money.”

    Nice mouth Reeve.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  22. I am not voting for Obama because he has been one of the worst president’s in this country’s history, not because he is black.

    His performance in office exceeded my worst expectations and validated my decision to vote for McCain on the merits in 2008, not because Obama was black.

    Obama is a clueless, lawless and shameless president and it has nothing to do with his skin color.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  23. Indeed, daleyrocks, I thought Obama a poor candidate in 2008. He truly has been worse than I thought he would be.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  24. #19 I’m going to be chuckling all day tomorrow, Colonel Haiku.

    htom (412a17)

  25. She isn’t that smart, elissa. She voted for Obama.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  26. There are racists on both sides of the political aisle.

    Probably true. Most of the ones that aren’t semi-illiterate, uneducated bumpkins are almost uniformly libtards.

    IGotBupkis, Legally Defined Cyberbully In All 57 States (8e2a3d)

  27. __________________________________________

    if this is the real Elspeth Reeve, writer of the article, I feel even more insulted

    If that’s the same person who is sniping at Patterico, I’ll at least give her credit for appearing to be still rather young. IOW, naivete and foolishness are less perplexing when it comes from a person who hasn’t been on Earth for too many decades, who’s still green behind his (or her) ears.

    The cant of nonsensical liberalism (“racist this, racist that!!”) is one thing when it’s being spouted off by a teenager or someone in his or her 20s, or is perhaps not much older than his or her 30s. But when a liberal is reaching the age of 40, 50 (Hi, Obama!) or, of course, beyond, it then loses whatever whimsy and “cute” hipness it might have once had. Then it becomes straight-out dumb. Then it becomes a matter of stunted maturity.

    As for the issue of Willie Horton, for any person to not understand how that symbolized the sickening irresponsibility of releasing a convicted killer back into public — on a smiley-face weekend furlough program, no less — and thereby endangered innocent people, reveals, in turn, the irresponsible and even heartless nature of that person. Heartless, certainly, to not care about jeopardizing the well-being (and life) of an innocent stranger who might be unfortunate enough to be one more victim of a convicted murderer.

    Mark (6d5e0d)

  28. Do keep in mind, DRJ, that Ann Althouse is an academic. And honest to Allah, the way the President talks and acts is precisely like a faculty meeting. So she is comfortable with having vote for him…and she probably will again.

    Lord help us.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  29. _______________________________________________

    There are racists on both sides of the political aisle.

    But apparently more on one side than the other…

    Dailycaller.com, March 2011:

    Social scientists usually measure traditional racism against African Americans by looking at the survey responses of white Americans only. Among whites in the latest General Social Survey (2008)[and conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago], only 4.5% of small-government advocates express the view that “most Blacks/African-Americans have less in-born ability to learn,” compared to 12.3% of those who favor bigger government or take a middle position expressing this racist view.

    [A]mong whites, Republican advocates of smaller government are even less racist (1.3% believing that blacks have less in-born ability) than the rest of the general public (11.3% expressing racist views). Thus, in 2008 Republicans who believe that the government in Washington does too much have 10 times higher odds of not expressing racist views on the in-born ability question than the rest of the population (79-to-1 odds v. 7.9-to-1 odds).

    In 2008, only 5.4% of white conservative Republicans expressed racist views on the in-born ability question, compared to 10.3% of the rest of the white population.

    [T]his same pattern holds for white Democrats compared to white Republicans: in 2008 12.3% of white Democrats in the U.S. believed that African Americans were born with less ability, compared to only 6.6% of white Republicans.

    And 2008 wasn’t an aberration. In sixteen surveys from 1977 through 2008, overall white Republicans were significantly less racist on the in-born ability question than white Democrats (13.3% to 17.3%), and white conservative Republicans were significantly less racist than other white Americans (11.7% to 14.7%)…

    Another traditional racism question — on segregated neighborhoods — was asked on fifteen General Social Surveys from 1972 through 1996. Though the percentage of white Democrats and white Republicans who slightly or strongly agreed that “White people have a right to keep Blacks out of their neighborhoods” did not differ significantly in any one survey, overall white Democrats were significantly more likely to support segregated neighborhoods than white Republicans (30.4% to 26.3%).

    Meanwhile, one (or two) of the noble, wonderful icons of the Democrat Party…

    aman.members.sonic.net: Larry Patterson [Clinton’s bodyguard in Arkansas] confirmed that he frequently heard Bill Clinton use “n—–” to refer to both Jesse Jackson and local Little Rock black leader Robert “Say” McIntosh. Longtime Clinton paramour Dolly Kyle Browning corroborated Patterson on Clinton’s use of “n—–.” “Not only did he use the ‘N’ word, he called him a ‘GDN’ [goddamn n—–], if you catch my drift,” Browning told Fox News in 1999. [NewsMax, 17 July 2000] Brown also told NewsMax that the president would regularly make derogatory comments about African-Americans in private. “He has used the ‘N’ word before. Bill would make snide remarks about blacks behind their backs.” [Carl Limbacher and NewsMax Staff, 17 July 2000]

    Patterson said Hillary was no stranger to the “N” word either. He heard her say “n—–” “probably six, eight, ten times. She would be upset with someone in the black community and she would use the ‘N’ word, like, you heard they’ve got the president’s brother on tape using the ‘N’ word.” [NewsMax, 17 July 2000]

    Mark (6d5e0d)

  30. I can’t stand to listen to 0bama speak with his weird cadence and I’m at the point where I can’t even tolerate the sight of him. He’s a narcissistic phony who cultivates a cult of personality in the grand tradition of tin-horn despots and banana republic dictators everywhere.

    If that makes me a racist, I can live with it.

    Colonel Haiku (0ee95d)

  31. Suppose I post a video of a a fat goitered barefoot toothless hick on a chair on the porch of a shack, ranting about Jesus, “God guts and guns”, rag-heads and the comuniss conspire-ass-see, and why he’s voting for Romney, or any other republican.
    Such people exist. I’ve met them. But fans of Hee Haw and the Grand Ole Opry [sic] might take offense.

    Hell suppose I post a tape of Todd Akin… but no, you like him now. He’s back!!!

    On top of that of course the 47% includes those hicks and a lot of people who work for a living.

    rudepundit.blogspot.com/2012/09/photos-that-make-rude-pundit-want-to.html
    What is that line up there outside the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, just across the way from the Coliseum, for? Phineas and Ferb on Ice? Extra USC football tickets? No, but it does involve children and the University of Southern California.

    See, volunteers from the schools of medicine and dentistry at USC, partnered with the organization Care Harbor, are currently giving free health and dental care to people who come to the L.A. arena. It started yesterday and will continue through Sunday.

    Oh, the line-sitters? They aren’t waiting to get in to see a doctor or a dentist. No, that only began Thusday. That line is from Monday, when they started handing out wristbands so that nearly 5000 people without insurance could get that lump checked or that cavity filled. Especially the latter, since many people who have health insurance don’t have dental, the two things oddly not linked by most insurers.

    People started lining up last Friday, sleeping out so that they could have a chance to see medical professionals. In one of the biggest cities in the United States in the year 2012. Whenever someone talks about people in other countries being “savages” or uncivilized, the Rude Pundit thinks of sights like this:

    I like this, on Obambi
    theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/09/why-i-refuse-to-vote-for-barack-obama/262861/
    Obama has done things that, while not comparable to a historic evil like chattel slavery, go far beyond my moral comfort zone. … Obama terrorizes innocent Pakistanis on an almost daily basis. The drone war he is waging in North Waziristan isn’t “precise” or “surgical” as he would have Americans believe. It kills hundreds of innocents, including children. And for thousands of more innocents who live in the targeted communities, the drone war makes their lives into a nightmare worthy of dystopian novels. … Obama established one of the most reckless precedents imaginable: that any president can secretly order and oversee the extrajudicial killing of American citizens. Obama’s kill list transgresses against the Constitution as egregiously as anything George W. Bush ever did. It is as radical an invocation of executive power as anything Dick Cheney championed. The fact that the Democrats rebelled against those men before enthusiastically supporting Obama is hackery every bit as blatant and shameful as anything any talk radio host has done. … Contrary to his own previously stated understanding of what the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution demand, President Obama committed U.S. forces to war in Libya without Congressional approval, despite the lack of anything like an imminent threat to national security.

    sleeeepy (b5f718)

  32. My dad used to say “truth fucking hurts.”

    Rodney King's Spirit (9ce6d4)

  33. From the Dayton Daily News:

    A program that provides subsidized phone service to low-income individuals has nearly doubled in size in Ohio in the past year — now covering more than a million people. At the same time, federal officials say they’re reining in waste, fraud and abuse in the program.

    But the size of the program in the state — and profits to the increasing number of cellphone companies involved — has exploded in recent months, according to a Dayton Daily News analysis of program data.

    The program in Ohio cost $26.9 million in the first quarter of 2012, the most recent data available, versus $15.6 million in the same timeframe in 2011. Compared to the first quarter of 2011, the number of people in the program nearly doubled to more than a million.

    Growth could cost everyone who owns a phone. The program is funded through the “Universal Service Fund” charge on phone bills — usually a dollar or two per bill — and the amount of the fee is determined by the cost of this and other programs…A growth of $100 million in this program could result in an increased fee of a few cents on the average bill, according to officials from the agency that administers the program. The total cost of the program nationwide was $1.5 billion in 2011, up from $1.1 billion in 2010.

    Growth in the program is fed by the 2008 decision to extend it to prepaid cellphone companies, which get up to $10 every month that someone is subscribed. The number of cellphone companies offering the service in Ohio grew from four in 2011 to nine currently, with seven more awaiting approval from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

    elissa (e52588)

  34. “Suppose I post a video of a a fat goitered barefoot toothless hick on a chair on the porch of a shack, ranting about Jesus, “God guts and guns”, rag-heads and the comuniss conspire-ass-see, and why he’s voting for Romney, or any other republican.”

    sleeeepy – Is anybody stopping you?

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  35. #34 “sleeeepy – Is anybody stopping you?”

    LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Rodney King's Spirit (9ce6d4)

  36. Suppose I post a video of a a fat goitered barefoot toothless hick on a chair on the porch of a shack, ranting about Jesus, “God guts and guns”, rag-heads and the comuniss conspire-ass-see, and why he’s voting for Romney, or any other republican.
    — Bill Maher already did this, but you go right ahead; I’m sure that plenty of people will watch your little video, too.

    Such people exist. I’ve met them
    — You have a twin?

    Hell suppose I post a tape of Todd Akin… but no, you like him now. He’s back!!!
    — Again, somebody already beat you to the “post a tape” part. As for ‘liking him now,’ he remains preferable over McCaskill. And he’s not “back” because he was never away.

    That’s three mistakes in one short statement. But not to worry, it isn’t all bad . . . you did spell his name correctly.

    On top of that of course the 47% includes those hicks and a lot of people who work for a living.
    — Ex-horse, meet your flogger.

    Icy (37fa61)

  37. Well, if the goitered toothless guy is voting for Romney for the purpose of unseating the communist currently in the WH, to secure second amendment rights, to better protect the world from terrorism through a more sane foreign policy, and to assure that he can practice his religion without government interference,—- he’d be giving a lot more and better reasons for his vote choice than sleeeepy has ever offered in support of his clammoring for Obama’s re-election.

    elissa (e52588)

  38. Elspeth knows all about Intellectual dishonesty. She married Beauchamp after aiding his serial lies.

    JD (b00b22)

  39. I love how she uses Stormfront. Does she use the New Black
    Panthers to determine if leftists are racists?

    JD (b00b22)

  40. In their disingenous effort to paint right wingers as “racist,” the lefties claim that not as many blacks are getting free phones, collecting welfare, or taking food stamps as we infer they are (if we even infer it at all ! ), and that our inference that blacks are dependent upon these programs merely stems from cynical racial stereotyping.

    But guess what the lefties will predictably say everytime we propose reducing welfare or food stamps or the freephone program…they’ll say the cuts in the programs will hurt blacks !

    So, blacks don’t actually benefit from these programs except for when we propose cutting them.

    So if you say blacks are benefitting from the programs, you’re a racist.
    But if you propose cutting the programs which the lefties say blacks don’t benefit from, then you’re a racist because the cuts to the programs will hurt blacks.

    It’s all so Orwellian…heads I win, tails you lose.
    There’s really an anger and a sad void inside the hearts and minds of these lefties.

    Elephant Stone (65d289)

  41. There are more white people on welfare than black people, Elephant Stone. The percentages are roughly the same for both groups, at around 38%. But whites are around 72% of the population and blacks around 13%. What did Senator Byrd notoriously say?

    nk (875f57)

  42. Q. How can you know if the lady on the street corner is really a prostitute and not a police woman on an undercover sting?
    A. How many teeth does she have?

    Q. Why are crimes so hard to solve in Arkansas?
    A. The DNA is all the same and there are no dental records.

    nk (875f57)

  43. If I’m not mistaken, every blogger who has created a post about this video routinely refers to the person being interviewed in the video as a female. However, not one blogger has even attempted to put forth a convincing case about the person’s gender. I see two earrings on this interviewee, but that’s hardly proof.

    As for the content of the video, I’m going to go out on a limb here and speculate that the free phone was not the tipping point in her support for Obama. Does anyone think that Romney lost this person’s vote because of the free cell phone program? Does anyone that that Romney ever had this person’s vote?

    John W (184fe5)

  44. 40. Comment by Elephant Stone — 9/29/2012 @ 9:59 pm

    if you say blacks are benefiting from the programs, you’re a racist.
    But if you propose cutting the programs which the lefties say blacks don’t benefit from, then you’re a racist because the cuts to the programs will hurt blacks.

    It’s like this:

    It’s noticing that blacks disproportionately benefit from some programs that you have some criticisms of that is supposed to be racist, because then it is a criticism of blacks as a group, and cutting them is supposed to be racist, because presumably the only reason you are willing to cut them, is that you noticed that. And even if you didn’t notice that it’s de facto racist maybe.

    And if you thought the majority of recipients are not black, as is in fact the case they will add, you wouldn’t be so ready to cut it, but you think nobody you know or care about or ever would know or care about, would benefit from the program, because you think mainly blacks benefit from the program and because you don’t care about anybody black or even dislike them.

    Or because you so dislike blacks, you are willing to hurt them, even if it hurts some others as well just so long as it hurts a higher percentage of blacks.

    Sammy Finkelman (1190c5)

  45. No, of course not, of course, this is the coalition Obama wants to cultivate, it’s like that woman in Detroit, back in 2009, asking about something from ‘Obama’s stash,’

    narciso (ee31f1)

  46. I’m probably not doing this right. I think maybe it’s like this:

    If you don’t like the program, it’s racist to notice that blacks benefit disproportionately. If you like the program, it’s racist to ignore that.

    Sammy Finkelman (1190c5)

  47. NK,

    I was talking about the prism through how the lefties frame our objections to their policies
    When we say “it’s necessary to cut program X,” the lefties say, ” but that would hurt blacks/hispanics/women/gays/blah blah blah. You only want to cut program X because you hate (fill in the blank.)
    In other words, there’s not much political value in the lefties saying, “cutting welfare would hurt white people” when they can stoke the flames of alleged “racism.”

    Did you realllly believe I think that blacks are the majority race in America ? I mean, they’re referred to as minorities for a reason, right ? 🙂

    Elephant Stone (65d289)

  48. This is a brilliantly clear post. I applaud it and agree with it.

    Ms. Reeve’s argument is in spectacular bad faith. It is always bad faith to ignore what your debate opponent actually says. Ms. Reeve instead bases her entire arguments on what she imagines that her opponents might have been thinking (if her opponents were utterly corrupt and dishonest, which is something she presumes as an article of faith and without any supporting evidence).

    To use logic so precisely to dismember Ms. Reeve’s position — and to do so without snark or juvenile insult — is a good piece of blogging. Congratulations, Patrick.

    Beldar (d8195e)

  49. Comment by John W — 9/29/2012 @ 10:17 pm

    If I’m not mistaken, every blogger who has created a post about this video routinely refers to the person being interviewed in the video as a female. However, not one blogger has even attempted to put forth a convincing case about the person’s gender. I see two earrings on this interviewee, but that’s hardly proof.

    There’s also the pitch of her voice. Also somebody at the start may have had some actual knowledge.

    Next you’ll be saying there’s no proof the attack in Benghazi was not spontaneous.

    As for the content of the video, I’m going to go out on a limb here and speculate that the free phone was not the tipping point in her support for Obama. Does anyone think that Romney lost this person’s vote because of the free cell phone program? Does anyone that that Romney ever had this person’s vote?

    Sammy Finkelman (1190c5)

  50. As for the content of the video, I’m going to go out on a limb here and speculate that the free phone was not the tipping point in her support for Obama. Does anyone think that Romney lost this person’s vote because of the free cell phone program? Does anyone that that Romney ever had this person’s vote?

    She’s really touting the telephone, I think, not Obama but her attributing the phone to Obama, only adds to her support of Obama. Or maybe it works the other way around – her support of Obama, makes the notion of an “Obamaphone very plausible.

    Except one thing. She can’t believe “every minority” (person) has it. If so, she’d have nobody to tout this too. She wants people to feel that way – to feel if they don’t have it, they’re left out. (and few people probably knew about the landline version. Or if they do, that they can’t have both.. The company is not interested in making that clear)

    Sammy Finkelman (1190c5)

  51. We jist be talkin here, Elephant Stone. No offense intended.

    My daughter is here and I’m kinder than a Franciscan on sacramental wine.

    BTW, SPQR, my daughter asked me what SPQR stands for. Looks like you’ve got a fan.

    nk (875f57)

  52. Since the Atlantic writer is bringing up Willie Horton again, how many of you know who Joey Fournier was? Have you ever asked a liberal if they can identify Clifford and Angela Barnes, or Fournier?

    A good many liberals see Horton as a “victim.” Maybe some of them consider him a “hero.”

    DN (322684)

  53. No sane person considers Willie Horton a victim or hero. “Everybody” considers Dukakis an idiot, and Lee Atwater a political genius who could have saved us from Clinton had he lived.

    nk (875f57)

  54. Dukakis had no chance, in any case. America got burned with Agnew, in then recent memory, and Greeks need not apply for a while. Racists!

    nk (875f57)

  55. The Food Stamps AND Reparations President.

    Rodney King's Spirit (9ce6d4)

  56. “No sane person considers Willie Horton a victim or hero. “Everybody” considers Dukakis an idiot, and Lee Atwater a political genius who could have saved us from Clinton had he lived.”

    Atwater made a deathbed apology but in 1981 he said this:
    query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E6DF1E30F935A35753C1A9639C8B63
    “‘You start out in 1954 by saying, ‘Nigger, nigger, nigger.’ By 1968 you can’t say ‘nigger’ — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff. You’re getting so abstract now [that] you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites.

    ”And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I’m not saying that. But I’m saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me — because obviously sitting around saying, ‘We want to cut this,’ is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than ‘Nigger, nigger.”

    If you want to defend Akin, son, go right ahead.

    sleeeepy (b5f718)

  57. That last was also for Beldar, defender of Harriet Miers.

    sleeeepy (b5f718)

  58. Slurpy is on a billionaire coke bender again. Racists.

    JD (b00b22)

  59. to have great expectations that a blonde lefty from Atlantic Wire will add anything of importance to any discussion will only lead to heartbreak and remorse.

    Colonel Haiku (fdcf49)

  60. and go back to your sleeeepwalking, sleeeepy, ya dope.

    Colonel Haiku (fdcf49)

  61. iowahawkblog “video maker now locked down in solitary for “probation violation” http://t.co/LIQm3Q5t Meanwhile, Corzine is still bundling cash for Obama.”

    Colonel Haiku (fdcf49)

  62. “Americans don’t vote for failure, and they certainly don’t vote for economic collapse. The state of the economy is so precarious that a vote for President Obama can only be understod when cast by (1)someone ignorant of the economic situation; (2) a client of the current distribution of services and payments from the government that doesn’t want their cash flow interrupted; (3) ideologues who are indifferent to the woes of the middle class.”

    – Hugh Hewitt

    Colonel Haiku (fdcf49)

  63. 57. “Defender”? Against what charge?

    Used azzwipe.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  64. The Atlantic once was considered to be a fairly decent publication. Several recent hires such as Elspeth have diminished its reputation for intellectual heft and illuminating, fair writing. Considerably.

    And speaking of Elspeth—-At the time of the disgusting Beauchamp debacle over at The National Review, ol’ softy me gave their then-employee Elspeth a partial pass. I knew that she was very young, was probably crazy in love with the guy, and as a result she likely believed everything he was selling her without much question. (Young girls in the throes of romance sometimes succumb to that sort of thing, you know.) I even suspected he might have cynically been using her and her position at TNR to make a name for himself. I figured she’d be really pi*sed when the dust all settled and she realized how foolish he’d made her look–and how he’d damaged her credibility and professional career. I assumed she’d dump the creep and move on.

    Now, with the utter disingenuousness and lack of intellectual rigor she has shown in her articles about Obamaphones, one must look back at her role in the l’affaire Beauchamp with fresh eyes. Willing partner and co-conspirator in the made up stories which were clearly crafted to harm the military and its operations, and active participation in the weeks of fraud and dissembling to cover it up at TNR looks like a much more likely scenario.

    elissa (1b1bd0)

  65. Rasmussen is now predicting Nov. 6th will be D+2to4.

    No word on the undervote.

    Essentially all tied up otherwise.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  66. 0BAMAWORLD ON FIRE:
    AFGHAN SOLDIER KILLS 2 MORE AMERICAN TROOPS…
    String of Iraq car bomb blasts kill at least 32…
    Muslim protesters torch Buddhist temples in Bangladesh…
    Militant group al Shabab attacks church in Kenya…
    Bomb explodes near Islamic school in Nigeria…
    Grenade attack on fair in Thailand injures 30…
    Car bomb kills 4 in Syria…

    Colonel Haiku (fdcf49)

  67. Those dang Buddhists had it coming…

    Colonel Haiku (fdcf49)

  68. What do Akin and Harriet Miers have to do with this, imdw? You really are a [foul word for female genitalia].

    nk (875f57)

  69. My heritage is from the North and West, Haiku, but I also hate them for that vandalism. They also destroyed the towers, totems to Sky, in Chechnya, and ageless Muslim church art in Bosnia. They do want to create a Hobbesian world. Without beauty. Nasty, brutish and short. Which they are. And I bet that they do not bathe, either.

    nk (875f57)

  70. sleeeepy is still stuck on stupid. Lee Atwater died more than 20 years ago. Is he a player in the current election? Racist, anti-Semitic Jimmuh Carter is just as relevant.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  71. So is “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” racist against whites?

    If Honey Boo Boo and family were black it would be racist?

    How about TLC does a show about a stereotypical urban black welfare family?
    Parallels:
    June’s “forklift Foot”= Black Mama’s gunshot wounds
    June and Suger Bear live together= Baby daddy in jail
    Chickadee is pregnant at 16= Black Daughter pregnant at 16
    Redneck Games= Flash mob at 7/11
    Sugar Bear chews tobacco= Baby Daddy smokes pot
    Uneducated Hillbilly speech= Uneducated Ebonics\
    Dumpster Diving= Welfare and Social Security collections.

    Sound fair?

    Smarty (880bf6)

  72. Does Miz Elspeth read the Onion?

    Dirty Old Man (c5d468)

  73. sleeeepy – Democrat Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church is a much better representative of today’s insane Democrat party thinking than Lee Atwater of Republican thinking.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  74. “If Honey Boo Boo and family were black it would be racist?”

    Smarty – All in the Family and Sanford & Son were both very popular television shows.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  75. nk, that brings my list of “fans” to two.

    SPQR (525653)

  76. Smarty is sleepy under another name. Sewer Wallet Angler.

    nk (875f57)

  77. It isn’t racism, its proximity and laziness. Going out and digging up a white meth head, in a trailer park some where, is work. The black underclass tends to be concentrated in easy to reach pockets in the inner city. Not to mention that going out into the country to find that white meth head could prove hazardous to your health. OTOH when these news crews wonder into the inner cities, there are more than enough patrol cars, to see to their personal safety.

    Of course being black myself; I wince every that stupid, stupid, stupid woman gets airtime. But I guess every group has its dumb sh*ts, ours are simply easier to get to.

    Mike Giles (14a5bb)

  78. National Mute Button Day. Facebook: national mute button day. YouTube channel: emptychairvideos.

    calypso louis farrakhan (83821f)

  79. I told her “Senate and People of Rome”. She’s only ten, but smart. It will percolate for a while, but she will ask why Senate comes before People.

    nk (875f57)

  80. ‘But it’s pronounced throat warbler mangrove’

    narciso (ee31f1)

  81. I first heard about the free phone program over a year ago. A friend of a friend. If a person was on food stamps, it was just a matter of filling out a form and soon the phone came in the mail. It’s a basic phone, but if a person wants something better, they can provide it and stay on the plan. And we all are paying for it in our phone bill.

    Is Smarty the one Snow White kept hidden in the attic?

    PatAZ (a12365)

  82. ______________________________________________

    And even if you didn’t notice that it’s de facto racist maybe.

    That’s quite an explanation for why people will do a contortionist routine to either rationalize in favor of or against government programs—but mainly the former instead of the latter. That’s because just about all the ridiculous excuses or rationalizing that is being expressed nowadays (more than ever before) — in which “racist this, racist that” is part of a person’s rhetoric — comes from the left.

    I often focus on the ideological biases of people because that truly reveals far, far more about them than race or ethnicity. However, when over 90-plus percent of a community is liberal/Democrat — as is the case with black America — a fine line does exist between race and politics.

    I’m not aware of any other large group in this society — meaning not a small sub-section like a bunch of actors in Hollywood or attendees to a Young Republicans conference, but millions of people — that is so one-sided politically. I think such an extreme lack of philosophical diversity among any populace is not a healthy or reassuring thing. That’s even more the case when the group in question has suffered from various forms of socio-economic anomie and dysfunction for several decades, going on over 50 years.

    The example in question also creates sort of an ideal, ready-made textbook study of whether monolithic liberalism makes people better or worse. Whether solid left-leaning biases foster happiness, generosity, kindness, humaneness, tolerance, reliability, prosperity and sophistication.

    Are such traits more noticeable in black America than other communities? Do limousine liberals — white or black — generally relish being a part of areas like Detroit or southside Chicago, including sending their children to public schools that are typical of such communities?

    Hello, Michelle and Barack. (Tap, tap, tap) Is this microphone on?!

    Mark (6d5e0d)

  83. Ms. Reeve instead bases her entire arguments on what she imagines that her opponents might have been thinking (if her opponents were utterly corrupt and dishonest, which is something she presumes as an article of faith and without any supporting evidence).

    I would go further and say that Ms. Reeve’s is compelled by her own narrative to believe that her opponents are utterly corrupt and dishonest. She has no choice but to assume and assign us the default position. If she doesn’t her argument falls apart. It’s built upon a lie and it’s argued from dishonesty. Her narrative is the premise from which everything else follows. For Ms. Reeve and others like her, truth is a sidebar discussion at best…and one best not to have, especially with opponents.

    Dana (292dcf)

  84. Fair enough “smarty” but then you know there are are lot more poor rednecks than poor negroes, and more whites on disability, welfare and all the rest. You want a poster child that fits the numbers, you’re looking at Daisy May not Kineesha.

    Not to mention again that the most of the 47 percent who aren’t old, work full time.

    sleeeepy (b5f718)

  85. Sam Donaldson interviewed Willie Horton in 1990 for ABC Primetime Live. The theme was that Horton was a “victim.” Donaldson asked Horton something like, “Do you forgive Lee Atwater for what he did to you?”

    Back in 2004, I was talking to a college professor acquaintance. He was railing about the Swiftboat ads against Kerry. He then brought up the 1988 Willie Horton ad and spluttered for five minutes about the “evil, racist, Republicans.”

    I asked him if he had ever heard of Joey Fournier. He answered, “Who’s that?” I informed him that Fournier was a 17-year old gas station attendant whom Horton and his two partners stabbed multiple times and stuffed into a garbage container.

    He had never heard about the crime for which Horton was supposedly serving life (along with furloughs) in prison.

    DN (d1a4f3)

  86. sleeeepy’s act is very tired.

    Colonel Haiku (f3ce21)

  87. Btw, it was the local paper, the Lawrence Eagle Tribune that broke the story, that Gore used in the Democratic primaries first.

    narciso (ee31f1)

  88. You want a poster child that fits the numbers, you’re looking at Daisy May not Kineesha.

    So, what’s your point? That it isn’t a race issue after all? Thanks for finally agreeing with us.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  89. sleeeepy – Are you now agreeing with Romney that 47% are not going to vote for him and he shouldn’t waste time or money chasing their votes?

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  90. sleeeepy, who are you arguing with?

    Pious Agnostic (2c3220)

  91. “sleeeepy, who are you arguing with?”

    PA – Billionaire coke heads.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  92. By the way, what is the “Atlantic Wire?”

    I’ve never heard of it. Sort of like I’d never heard of Rachel Maddow or Ed Schultz until someone told me of their unbelievable stupidity.

    Now I can add Elspeth Reeve to the list. Is she good looking? I only ask because she clearly didn’t get her job due to her intellect or talent.

    I’d google “Atlantic Wire” and “Elspeth Reeve” except I’d be afraid to link to anything connected to either. For much the same reason I’d be afraid to sit on a toilet seat in a public restroom in Tijuana.

    Steve57 (c8ac21)

  93. It was the Beuchamp lying creep, Steve. I know you’re a vet, don’t Google him either if you worry about mind germs. I am a suckass liberal hippie peacenik but I would never sink to the depths he did with Elspeth’s help.

    nk (875f57)

  94. Atlantic Wire is one of the an e-mail lists distributed by the magazine “The Atlantic”

    They also have 5 Best Columns of the day (on weekdays)

    Sammy Finkelman (1190c5)

  95. Actually “Atlantic Wire” is the common headquarters for all their e-mail lists.

    I get three of them, I think, but the only one I regularly read is “5 Best Columns of the Day”

    National Review has a similar set of lists.

    Sammy Finkelman (1190c5)

  96. sleeeepy’s work here are done…

    Colonel Haiku (6f1458)

  97. “Are you now agreeing with Romney that 47% are not going to vote for him and he shouldn’t waste time or money chasing their votes?”

    No. The 47% includes Republicans, many of them older and white.

    “So, what’s your point? That it isn’t a race issue after all?”
    Read the quote from Atwater, above. He explained it well.

    sleeeepy (b5f718)

  98. The video’s subject wasn’t picked out because she “happens to be black,” she was picked out because she is black.

    This is the lamest straw man I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t refute the objection. It ignores it obnoxiously.

    This video’s subject was picked on because of the democrat entitlement mentality. If democrats think this has something to do with her skin color, that is a mental hang up about race or a deranged bigotry against conservatism.

    Dustin (73fead)

  99. sloppy, go find lovie and enjoy the rest of the weekend with a couple of goats.

    nk (875f57)

  100. Forget it, Dustin.

    “You’re not going to vote for Obama? Obama is black African-American. You are not going for a black American African-American for President? Racist!

    Obama’s only qualification is his perceived race and anything that is a criticism of him is racist.

    nk (875f57)

  101. yup

    Dustin (73fead)

  102. Slurpy will pass out again, shortly.

    JD (154fbf)

  103. 101. Obama’s only qualification is his perceived race and anything that is a criticism of him is racist.

    Comment by nk — 9/30/2012 @ 12:47 pm

    But, but, I thought he had other qualifications?!?!

    He was going to reverse the rising of the ocean tides, and heal the sick. His very name, in addition to his appearance, was going to create mutual respect and peace between the US and he muslim world.

    Those aren’t true? I’ve seen pictures of people all across the Muslim world banging on the gates of our embassies, trying to get in.

    Jay Carney tells me it’s because they want visas, just so they can be close to Obama and bask in his aura.

    He wouldn’t lie to me, would he?

    Steve57 (c8ac21)

  104. ““Are you now agreeing with Romney that 47% are not going to vote for him and he shouldn’t waste time or money chasing their votes?”

    No. The 47% includes Republicans, many of them older and white.”

    sleeeepy – Excellent news. So you are saying that less than 47% will not be voting for Romney in November. I am hoping for a landslide as well.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  105. Elspeth quotes Stacy McCain:

    “Yes: Taxpayers are forced to pay $1.6 billion — billion, with a ‘B’ — to provide free cellphones for Obama voters,” Robert Stacy McCain writes. “And if you don’t like it, you’re a racist!”

    Then answers him in a way that treats her readers like fools:

    That’s wrong in three ways. One, the program is supported by surcharges on phone bills, not tax dollars. Two, income level, not political affiliation, is what qualifies you for the Lifeline program. Three, opposing the program is not racist. And the video wasn’t on Drudge because Drudge is advocating getting rid of the program. Again, it’s racist because the point is to portray poor black people as stupid, and lazy, and dupes for Obama.

    Oh.
    OK
    The program is a surcharge NOT a tax.
    Yeah there are non taxpayers that pay the surcharge… thanks for shaving that point fine.

    Income level does have some correlation with voting habits, but we’ll move on..

    The woman in the video is indeed a dupe for Obama, and surely seems stupid. She’s chunky, looks like a bag of potatoes but I dunno about lazy because she very vigorously applies herself as she doubles down on the stupid.

    steveg (831214)

  106. #93

    Your toilet in Tijuana had a seat?

    SteveG (831214)

  107. nk: “Obama’s only qualification is his perceived race..”

    No, not his oy nlqualification: That was his USP ‘Unique Selling Point” (in advertising, a quality, quite possibly unimportant, that no other brand has)

    It mainly benefited him in getting his Presidential campaign launched. He actually had a hard time taking the black vote away from Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries in 2008 at first. My own feeling is that the Clinton machine was really behind him – he was supposed to lose but be strong enough to get rid of the other candidates.

    Sammy Finkelman (70f9a1)

  108. 86. This is the first I heard of the name of the person Willie Horton killed to get his life sentence. Maybe it got mentioned in something I read, I don’t know, but the name sounds really unfamiliar.

    Sammy Finkelman (70f9a1)

  109. I can’t quite place the language this person is speaking.

    pat (0833d4)

  110. Sleeeeepy,

    Colonel Haiku is correct—your act is tired. Put it to bed. Stop dreaming. America has had enough of the Obama nightmare.
    Now, go eat your Chef Boy-ar-dee Spaghetti O’s, and then go take a nap !

    When you awaken, it will be Morning in America, instead of Mourning in America.

    Elephant Stone (65d289)

  111. . My own feeling is that the Clinton machine was really behind him – he was supposed to lose but be strong enough to get rid of the other candidates.

    Conflating the possible with the plausible. Simply having the ability to imagine something does not make it plausible, Sammy.

    JD (318f81)

  112. Frankly, it’s natural that Reeve would want to change the subject to race – it’s more comfortable than accepting the real reason people find this funny.

    Tarring everybody in a group with one member of that group (for example, attributing Todd Akin’s dumbest comments to all Republicans) is often unfair. That one Obama supporter thinks like this hardly proves that all do. But it’s not unreasonable to suppose that she is not the only Obama supporter who thinks this way (even if we don’t have hard proof), and even if we she’s the only one, there’s nothing wrong with mocking her as an individual.

    Steven (2afcec)

  113. 109. Yes, Joey Fournier is who Horton killed. You have to search to find the name. Interesting that people who whine about the ad don’t know this particular name. Not that they care in the slightest about Fournier or the Maryland couple Horton brutalized.

    DN (ad6cba)


  114. Here’s a fair solution to the problem created by this program:

    Take it back to its origins –

    When the “universal lifeline service” started in 1984, it provided low-income people with subsidized landline telephone service. My elderly next-door-neighor paid $3.50 a month for dialtone service.
    He could call 411 (5x a month) 911 and make local non-toll calls.

    Under this scenario the program worked well and served its intended purpose.

    The problem came when the service was expanded to include cell phones and unlimited long distance service in the 1990’s.

    At that point the taxpayers cost of the service ballooned.

    Here’s how to make the service work so that only those truly in need will avail themselves of it.

    1). Turn off the cell phones.

    2). Tell current users their cellular service will be replaced by landline wired phone service.

    3). No long distance allowed. Only local calls and no 411 or 211 calls allowed.

    When the program is put back to its original constrictions, we will see only the truly needy avail themselves of the taxpayers largesse.

    Others like the moocher featured in this video will likely refuse a telephone that:

    A). Forces them to be at a fixed address to use

    and

    B). Does not allow for long distance or 411 calls.

    I’d like to see this member of the 47%’s face when that change takes place.

    Iconoclast (f5b30f)

  115. The actuall cost of landline installation wipes out savings.

    What should happen is there is no no-cost service, only low-cost service, and low-cost phones.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  116. Even the disabled and low-income participants should have a stake in the cost of the service and the fees used to subsidize it.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  117. I think what you can expect to happen, though, is, are new fees to make sure FREE FREE FREE internet connections and Obamapads are available to low-income and disabled persons.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  118. Everybody pays taxes, we just don’t all know it. My cheese crackers and Dr. Pepper, at the SevenEleven, included an employment tax for the clerk, a real estate tax for the store, a gasoline tax for the truck that brought it …. And how far do you want to go back to the producers?

    nk (875f57)

  119. SarahW –are the free “Obamapads” you mention something Sandra Fluke would need every month, a specialty product for house training puppies, or are you referring to electronics in your comment above? (I’m sure you can see why there might be confusion since Obama seems to want to insert himself into all aspects of our lives.)

    elissa (89682b)

  120. The Obamacare bill actually had products like tampons and pads taxed as medical devices. I’m still not really sure the manufacturer is not stuck with a tax (to pass on to consumers.)

    Maybe there’s an app for that.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  121. An Obama supporter response to the death of Ambassador Stevens? Well, he had it coming.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  122. Remember, it’s racist because sleeeeepy said so.

    Icy (f25220)

  123. Isn’t Elspeth Reeve the bimbo who was canned by The New Republic for “fact checking” her own then-boyfriend’s phony Iraq stories?

    Kevin R.C. O'Brien (c3a6c5)

  124. Not a mere boyfriend, Mr. O’Brien. According to the interwebz and the WaPo, Elspeth Reeve was — is? — also Mrs. Pvt. Scott Thomas Beauchamp:

    “The [New Republic’s], Franklin Foer, disclosed in an interview that Beauchamp is married to a New Republic staffer, and that is “part of the reason why we found him to be a credible writer.”

    Beldar (d8195e)

  125. ______________________________________________

    An Obama supporter response to the death of Ambassador Stevens? Well, he had it coming.

    There is an irony from such sentiment, since a leftist like the person in that video certainly didn’t mean it in the way that’s explained below. IOW, he cavalierly throws a like-minded liberal under the bus (and Stevens, btw, also apparently was gay) based on the idiotic notion that the ambassador represented American power-hungry hegemony, or greedy capitalism, or racist imperialism, or sexism, or homophobia.

    Another irony is that unlike the fan of Obama — who undoubtedly sees himself as coming from a place of great humanity, humaneness, caring and generous, beautiful populism — the person who makes the following observations, and who likely sees her politics as being grounded in harsh reality, is certainly appalled by the ambassador’s death. But she also realizes that Stevens unwittingly — and foolishly — set himself up.

    debbieschlussel.com: It should be noted that the late Ambassador Chris Stevens was murdered by the very extremists he helped put in power. Stevens wasn’t just an Islamo-pandering cheerleader, he dedicated his career to romanticizing, whitewashing, aiding, abetting, and enabling Islamic extremism.

    [A] video…from last night’s “NBC Nightly News” broadcast…confirms that the far-left Stevens was the liaison for the Obama administration to the Libyan rebels. He was a big part of the Obama plan to remove Qaddafi (with whom we had a de facto peace and an agreement pursuant to which he gave up all weapons of mass destruction) from power and install these animals in his place. As you’ll note, Stevens made a pandering video to Libyan extremists, introducing himself as the new ambassador. And he wanted to become U.S. Ambassador to Iran, where we deliberately DON’T have an ambassador or an embassy, something Stevens wanted to change, because he was constantly in bed with the worst elements of an already dangerous Islam.

    While I am outraged by the attack on the U.S. Embassy and the murder of Stevens and the other three U.S. Embassy officials, my disgust and anger is over what was a deliberate attack against America and what Stevens stood for only as an official representative of our country. As for what he stood for as an Arabist par excellence, well, he should have known better. Sadly, all of America and the West have to reap the everlasting poisonous fruit that grew of the seeds he sowed.

    Mark (6d5e0d)

  126. Now Reeve doubles down, and saves some of her nastiest invective for yours truly.

    Why o Why the “sudden” Patterico hate Ms. Reeve? Holding a 5 year grudge?
    Patterico savages Reeve’s boo

    liontooth (c33c1e)

  127. She’s part of the 47% and she doesn’t look, sound or act like the rest of us. Neither does President Obama, for that matter. Rather than refute this charge – that Obama and his minions are “the other”, lefties cry racism. That’s the scam.

    Lavaux (a74f72)

  128. “it does represent a segment of the population that believes itself to be entitled to government handouts — a segment that makes its voting decisions based on which candidate will give away the most goodies.”

    So of course you would have to include Sheldon Adelson in this group as well, correct? By some estimates, he stands to save something like $2 BILLION dollars in taxes if Romney is elected.

    Government handouts for Republicans/Wealth = OKEEDOKEY!

    Government handouts for common folk = SOCIALISM, promoting a dependency mentality, etc blah blah puke.

    Your little bubble world collapses on contact with reality EVERY TIME, which is why no one is buying it anymore.

    P. Tillman (fcbc8b)

  129. Abuse of universal service fees
    Obamaphones
    Swing state Ohio
    Racism
    Elspeth Reeve
    Shelson Adelson
    “some estmates”
    Rich Republicans bad

    Yes, I’d say that’s a pretty typical transition in “logic” from our pal Tilly.

    elissa (e05d64)

  130. “By some estimates, he stands to save something like $2 BILLION dollars in taxes if Romney is elected.”

    sleepy – What estimate are those?

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  131. To leftists like P. Tillman:
    Taking less of people’s wealth = “Government handouts for Republicans”

    Government handouts for common folk = “fair share”

    We all belong; right?

    SOCIALISM, promoting a dependency mentality, etc blah blah puke.
    — When P. Tillman was young he NEVER asked his parents for a single, solitary thing . . . ever.

    Icy (726345)

  132. Government handouts for Republicans

    Keeping money you have earned is now a government handout. Gotcha.

    Gutting free stuff that other people pay for is all good.

    You forgot the Kock Brothers, clown.

    JD (318f81)

  133. “By some estimates, he stands to save something like $2 BILLION dollars in taxes if Romney is elected.”

    sleeeepy – Was that estimate by the same person who told Harry Reid that Mitt Romney had paid zero federal income taxes over the past decade?

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  134. “a segment that makes its voting decisions based on which candidate will give away the most goodies.”

    “a segment that makes its voting decisions based on which candidate will give away the most goodies.”

    And again for those who seemed to have missed it the first two times:

    “a segment that makes its voting decisions based on which candidate will give away the most goodies.”

    P. Tillman (fcbc8b)

  135. Petey – Still waiting for that Obama DNA sample from your chin.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  136. I think Tilly’s keyboard is stuck.

    elissa (e05d64)

  137. I’m glad Tilly posts here. Obama has been working so hard to walk back that “you didn’t build that” gaffe ever since he let the mask slip.

    He’s been trying to claim, unbelievably, that he’s a champion of small business and that he always valued success.

    Then Tilly comes along and just blows the whole charade out of the water. It is, as everyone who correctly understood what Obama meant by not just his “you didn’t build that” gaffe but his whole speech, really just a government give-away in their warped bolshevik world view.

    Everything you are, everything you make, and everything you ever make belongs to the collective. It’s just their generosity that lets you keep any of what really belongs to them, and they have the right to take it anytime if you aren’t sufficiently grateful in demonstrating your “economic patriotism” (Obama’s next euphemism for socialism).

    That’s what Obama was really telling that crowd of public sector leeches in Charlottesville, VA. And despite his and his apologists efforts to claim otherwise, that’s what Tilly reveals to be the truth as we’ve all suspected all along.

    Thanks, Tilly. You’re like a walking, talking campaign ad for the GOP.

    Steve57 (c8ac21)

  138. Keeping money you earned is a give-away.

    JD (ab8eee)

  139. That’s what Obama meant by “you didn’t build that.”

    It’s not really yours, JD.

    We can thank Tilly for the independent confirmation.

    Steve57 (c8ac21)

  140. P. Tillman, your handle is very disrespectful and I believe B of the 75th has the resources to find who and where you are. Stop using it, for your sake.

    nk (875f57)

  141. The left uses this race libel against the right exactly the same way that Muslims and neo-Nazis use blood libels against the Jews. Neither has any basis in fact. All you can do is roll your eyes and try to keep better company if you run into one of these lunatics. Elspeth is just too precious quoting Stormfront. I suppose we should go look at one of Farrakhan’s sites (or interview Jeremiah Wright) to see what the left thinks about race. They are FAR more mainstream on the left than Stormfront is on the right.

    I gave up reading Althouse’s blog this week because she bought into this bs. I think it takes a certain level of indecency to find an appeal in arguments like Elspeth’s that I find disagreeable to an extent that it makes it impossible to ever take the person buying into such an argument seriously ever again. It shows a darkness in their hearts that puts them outside the circle of decency. Ann really screwed up on that one. She has always been pretty shallow and more concerned with style than substance but she insulted pretty much her entire readership.

    Tillman, I can’t believe you are incapable of understanding that allowing someone to keep what they earned is the opposite of socialism and is not at all the same as using force to take something from me through a tax and giving it to someone else. This is just a basic ignorance of everything from economics to the definitions of everyday words.

    You obviously aren’t really worried about corporatism because Obama is an avid practitioner of that economic philosophy. Entire industries, such as solar panels, exist only because Obama has created them. That everything they produce ends up in the dumpster is of no concern to you or Obama. They support the goal of the motherland over all and vote the right way so they get rewarded. This is all the Democratic party cares about.

    Libertarians and many Republicans on the other hand do not believe in the government picking the winners and losers or using the tax code to reward or punish businesses or individuals. They promote a flat tax where whoever the tyrant of the day happens to be there is not the option of engaging in such meddling. If you were truly concerned about “corporate welfare” then you would vote against the candidate who is getting the lion’s share of Wall Street money. I will give you a hint. It ain’t Romney. Not by a long shot. But I know these facts will have no effect on you because you argue in bad faith.

    You know who sounded the horn the loudest against the corporatism of the Obama administration? You know who was the first to point it out on a national stage? Sarah Palin. You and she are of the same mind on this issue and you are both right to oppose it. You just don’t understand it as fully as she does and think it is fine when groups you support are rewarded. For you it is just a partisan game. For her it is a matter of principle. She has thought the issue through. She has thought much more deeply than you have. You should ponder that for a bit instead of being so hysterical.

    Voluble (0b86d9)

  142. “So of course you would have to include Sheldon Adelson in this group as well, correct? By some estimates, he stands to save something like $2 BILLION dollars in taxes if Romney is elected.”

    I estimate Sheldon Adelson will stand to save something like $200 BILLION in taxes if Romney is elected.
    Feel free to cite my numbers…
    Of course George Soros’, Eric Scmidt’s, Mark Zuckerberg’s and Warren Buffet’s numbers are unassailable and I defer to your wisdom

    SteveG (831214)

  143. Someone should drop this stupid leftist into Tahir Square during one of the big demonstrations.

    What an arrogant twit! But the muslim brotherhood loves to deal with that type of female, don’t they?

    Estragon (13e813)

  144. The Wall Street Journal’s “Best of the Web” Oct 1, 2012 on the Obamaphone lady.

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444592404578030511606922322.html?mod=djemBestOfTheWeb_h

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  145. Utility bill scam:

    https://www1.nationalgridus.com/NationWideScamAlert

    National Grid has issued a nationwide warning about a new scam claiming that President Obama will pay your utility bills through a new federal program.

    This is an identity theft scam and it is being reported nationwide. It involves different types of utility bills including electric, water, telephone and natural gas….

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  146. I encountered news about this on the Con Ed Payment express telephone number, but so far I haven’t encountered any mention of this in the newspapers.

    The Con Ed telephone numbers starts with a message that they won’t process it (when certain routing numbers are used)

    The information received by National Grid indicates that the scam’s perpetrators attempt to make contact through a variety of means: door-to-door solicitations, telephone calls, mailed or hand-delivered fliers, and through social media sites such as Facebook.

    Customers are allegedly asked to provide personal information, including Social Security or bank account numbers, to participate in the bogus bill-payment program. In return, consumers are given a fake bank routing number that they erroneously believe will pay their utility bills.

    There is no new federal program to pay utility bills that will request Social Security or bank account information. The scammers allegedly use the customers’ personal information to steal their identity or empty their bank accounts.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  147. Thanks, Tilly. You’re like a walking, talking campaign ad for the GOP.

    Comment by Steve57 — 10/1/2012

    True.

    Dustin (73fead)

  148. 151. Dustin.

    I think you’;re in the wrong thread. I added this about the scam, because it seemed to belong here.

    It could be somebody’s piggybacking on the “Obamaphone.”

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)


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