Sling that Mud and Fan the Flames

A little more than a week after his passing the media continues to prove why men like Walter Cronkite are true losses to American Journalism and why the current crop of journalists continue to degrade into childish and immature individuals with nothing better to do than mudslinging. Case in point? Glenn Beck and his recent statements on the morning talk show "Fox and Friends" shown on the Fox News Channel. When responding to questions on his thoughts about President Obama's statements regarding the incident with Professor Henry Louis Gates and Sergeant James Crowley, Beck stated that it was his belief that Obama is a racist and that he hates white people.

Now not only do I find this statement to be completely asinine but I find it completely illogical as well. I do recall that shortly after the election there were many people who were of the opinion that with the election of America's first African-American President that the White House would now become an affirmative action poster child and that anyone in any way related to the Bush Administration would be kicked out were strangely silent as Obama started to put together his cabinet. Filling it with a diverse spread of people, I find it ludicrous to state that Obama hates white people when two of the most important posts in his administration (Vice-President and Secretary of State) are both white. Never mind as well that the majority of his staff and support within the administration is white. Never mind that he retained Secretary Gates as his secretary of Defense despite not always seeing eye-to-eye with the Bush administration on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I agree that Obama's statement last week were uncalled for and unprofessional but to use that as a basis for calling him a racist? I don't fully understand it. As I have blogged several times now in the past, it apparently isn't racism until your particular race is affected. Had Obama not responded at all to the question about his opinion about the Gates incident then I'm sure it would have continued though it would have eventually died down from the media spotlight. But now it is being used as a shining example of continued racial tension in this country. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina it took a ridiculous amount of time to mobilize aid to those trapped or flooded out of their homes. When rapper Kayne West accused President Bush of not caring about black people his administration wisely refrained from responding directly but suddenly the situation improved. My question would be though why it would take such a bold statement to see action? Logistics aside, when warnings were being given that the levies in New Orleans would breech soon, why sit on the facts and let nature take its course?

Now Obama's outburst from last week was also probably spurred on by the fact that he is friends with Professor Gates but for Glenn Beck to come out and state that this is 'proof' that Obama hates white people is a very strong statement. It's also a bit illogical considering that he comes from a mixed background where his grandparents were white. There appears to be no middle ground for the man. For some African-Americans he was not 'black enough' for others he was 'too white'. There appears to be no middle ground whatsoever. I believe that it continues to be a result of the schism that has plagued our nation since our leaders began making statements like "you're eitehr with us or you're agaisnt us". We are dividing ourselves just as quickly as we can and it isn't serving any purpose other than to divide our nation at a time when we should be coming together. I can't help but think that perhaps this is because so many of us have deep-seated racial hatred of anyone or anything different from us. I'm sure Glenn Beck will get a ratings boost thanks to his statements but I'm sure soon enough most of us will realize that he's just looking to sow the seeds of hate.