Oct 1st, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Conceptual Policymaking
John McCain wouldn’t sit down for an interview with The Washington Blade (DC’s gay and lesbian newspaper) but he was willing to let the paper email his campaign some questions that an aide would answer in writing and then sign McCain’s name to. To his credit he said “I support the concept of non-discrimination in hiring for gay and lesbian people.”
But in much the way that McCain’s mentor, Barry Goldwater, thought that segregation was bad but not nearly so bad as legislation aimed at ending segregation, McCain supports “the concept” of non-discrimination but doesn’t support legislative efforts to prevent discrimination.
28 Responses to “Conceptual Policymaking”
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October 1st, 2008 at 5:21 pm
As Goldwater pointed out in 1964, strong anti-discrimination legislation would inevitably lead to a massive system of racial preferences, which is exactly what happened. (I leave it to the reader to work out why this was so, using the concept of Type I and Type II errors). The 1964 Civil Rights Act manager Hubert Humphrey offered to eat the pages of his bill if that turned out to be true. For some reason, though, he never got around to it.
October 1st, 2008 at 5:37 pm
And enter Steve “SS” Sailer with his defense of discrimination and attack on the Civil Rights Act.
October 1st, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Hell, and just look where the 1965 Voting Rights Act has brought us. Darkies runnin’ for President! Lawd, lawd.
October 1st, 2008 at 5:47 pm
I guess we had to see Mr. Sailer back, didn’t we? I’ll address his comment when he proves he’s not a racist. I suspect it will be a few hundred lifetimes from now.
But in fairness to Goldwater, he did eventually come around. Unlike Steve.
October 1st, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Actually, the 1965 Voting Rights Act was successful hugely and almost instantly, because white politicians had prevented fair competition in the market for electoral power in the South. When obvious barriers were removed, blacks quickly elected enough of their own politicians to office to protect black electoral interests. Thus, for example, George Wallace switched from anti-black to pro-black in his comeback victory in Alabama.
The subsequent modifications of the Voting Rights Act, the addition of affirmative action elements to create majority minority districts, were passed largely with Republican support because they hurt the Democratic Party by rounding up the strongest Democratic supporters (minorities) and putting them all in a few districts so that they will elect minority legislators, leaving Republicans with narrow margins in most of the other districts.
The unfortunate side effect of majority-minority gerrymandering is that it has harmed black advancement to the highest levels, since now blacks start off their careers running in black districts, so the races turn into contests over who is blacker (e.g., Barack Obama’s defeat by former Black Panther Bobby Rush in the 2000 Democratic House primary on the South Side).
Since you have to start off as a race man to get elected, it’s hard for black politicians to make the switch to appealing to whites later in their career. So, they run into a glass ceiling in the U.S. House, where there are about 40 blacks in recent years. Out of 150 US Senators and state governors, today only 3 are black, and one is Obama, a genuine exotic, raised by his white relatives in multi-racial Hawaii.
October 1st, 2008 at 6:04 pm
It should also be pointed out that Goldwater had no problem with gays serving in the military. As he so famously put it, the military hierarchy should worry less about their recruits’ sexual activities and more about whether they can shoot straight.
October 1st, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Now, I leave it to the reader to work out the essential reason why the 1964 act against employment discrimination inevitably led to massive systems of racial preferences, while the 1965 act against discrimination in voting systems would not have had to (and only did lead to majority minority gerrymandering because that’s in the GOP’s interest).
October 1st, 2008 at 6:07 pm
McCain supports the “concept” of non-discrimination in the same way he supports the “concept” of equal pay for equal work — entirely verbally, with no legal force whatsoever. And we’ve seen how well that (verbal objection) works, i.e., not at all.
In both cases, McCain would simply ask people to not discriminate — but if they did, he would not prevent it. He has repeatedly voted to prevent the law from requiring them to not discriminate.
When a gay person is being fired because he is gay, or a woman is being denied equal pay for equal work, it really doesn’t help them for McCain to simply go “tsk tsk tsk” about it, while voting against any meaningful legal enforcement of fairness. In fact, it’s adding insult to injury.
We need a president who strongly supports *laws* that *prohibit* discrimination. And that’s not, and never will be, John McCain.
October 1st, 2008 at 6:13 pm
“a genuine exotic”
OMG! The secret is out! Barack Obama is a houseplant!
No, he’s a sportscar!
Oh, sorry, you just meant “exotic” in the racist not-really-an-American way. Sorry, I got confused. It’s a big internet.
October 1st, 2008 at 6:18 pm
If Sailer’s point were reasonable & not ridiculous hyperbole — meaning that “massive racial preferences” for minorities existed — then that would just beg the question of why a few decades of such is terrible but centuries of preferences in reverse were no big deal.
BTW: As an anarchist, I inherently don’t agree with the concept of such laws anyway. My point is rather the curiosity of such hollow screaming by a still dominant group.
October 1st, 2008 at 6:47 pm
This is called pandering. You tell people what they want to hear, but you refuse to pledge to actually do anything about it. Of course we all want to live in a world without discrimination, where everyone gets paid equal money, and lollipops grow on trees, but instead we live in the real world and government is sometimes called on to address the discrimination which does exist.
October 1st, 2008 at 6:51 pm
May we please see ads in FL, AZ, NM, NC, SC, Philly, Gary, Milwaukee et al. reminding that McFail was a bitter-ender re the MLK holiday? Strip the bark off the old fraud!
October 1st, 2008 at 7:25 pm
My very strong suspicion that there were things that MattY wasn’t telling us was quickly confirmed.
Could MattY actually be a Rovian plant designed to serve as a setup man for others?
October 1st, 2008 at 8:02 pm
McCain supports “the concept” of non-discrimination but doesn’t support legislative efforts to prevent discrimination.
McCain also doesn’t support the concept of the U.S. torturing people, yet supports legislation which specifically allows the U.S. to torture. So at least he’s consistent.
October 1st, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Sadly, the racist morons LoneWacko and that other incredible buffoon have infested Matt’s new home. Too bad for them that their boring “give racism a chance” will no longer make it to the hot 100.
October 1st, 2008 at 11:06 pm
Sadly, the evil warlock LoneWacko and that other incredible friend of Satan have infested our blessed new home. Too bad for them that their boring “give Satan a chance” will no longer make it to the whatever was a hot 100 back then.
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:51 am
McCain has tried to pull the same trick on people with disabilities:
McCain’s Contradictory Rhetoric on Home Health Care
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:05 am
what fostert mens:
It’s easier to call Mr. Sailer names than address the points he brings up, and I get the added benefit of seeming to be morally superior!
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:53 am
God, Yglesias managed to get so many things wrong in that post. Good thing he has Sailer to make similar errors, albeit from the other side.
Goldwater worked, spent, and took risks to gain equality and improve material conditions for Black Americans. On the other hand, Matt Yglesias makes snarky comments about Republicans.
It is clear to see who has done more to advance American race relations.
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:12 am
Your lede is inaccurate. Or is it disingenuous?
Obama also refused to sit down with the Blade staff for an interview–just like McCain. His campaign, too, simply provided the Blade with written answers to the publication’s questionnaire–just like McCain’s.
Here are the Obama campaign answers to the Blade questionnaire:
http://www.washblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=20935
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:32 am
Guy, what a depressing– but totally in-character for McCain– link. He talks a good game but never seems to back it up.
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