Vernon Robinson - a Nightmare for American Liberals
See this guy. He is fast becoming public enemy number one for the pseudo communist American Left. He stands for family values, colorblind laws, a tough border and security policy and is a straight shooter who is everything the left fears... An articulate African American USAF vet who's a social and fiscal conservative. He's the son of a nurse and a Tuskegee Airman, an Eagle Scout who graduated from the Air Force Academy with a degree in Middle Eastern Affairs and then went on to get his MBA. Married to the same woman for 23 years with three children (2 adopted after their mother died of cancer). How the left must absolutely hate (spelled F-E-A-R) this guy. The people for the American Way are desperately trying to paint this guy as a bigoted hate monger but if you read through their articles about him, most of the quotes they use to support their condemnation are not verifiable. In one case, they refer to a news article in which his opponent is quoting an unnamed ambiguous source. Basically, to substantiate their claims they link to a report where his opponent says 'they said this about him'... Uh-huh (eyes rolling) just where are those accuracy in media folks when you need them?
Check out Robinson's tv spot here. And see the comparison to his opponent here. Whether or not you agree with him, this guy is tapping into the frustrations of Americans who are seeing the constant erosion of traditional values. Check out his radio ads here.
My only advice for Vernon is that he should have closed with the Andy Griffith theme instead of Leave it to Beaver- I mean, it is North Carolina, after all... ;-)
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He personally called me back the next day just to say thanks, even though I wasn't a constituant!
If the GOP is smart, they'll be looking at this guy in '08...
Comment by Brooke— 2006/08/02 @ 04:40 AM — (Reply)
Comment by Cate— 2006/08/02 @ 07:05 AM — (Reply)
Hey Cate,
You know I respect your work, but I'm not quite sure where you diverged from reality on this one. Looking at People For The American Way's Right-Wing Outrage page, Vernon Robinson's not #1... he's #4, and falling ... (as every other week, they add another, more recent 'outrage')
Okay, so I think, Cate must have something right about how inaccurate the article about Robinson is. But every quote attributed to Robinson is supported by a link to a page hosted on Robinson's site. There are a few quotes in the second paragraph that are, admittedly, attributed only to anonymous "critics" and that's weak. But the majority are Robinson's own words, from his own site.
Maybe you were looking at a different page than I was... you don't give a link. Maybe it's the same page, and has since been updated with more relevant information. I'd like to give you the benefit of the doubt.
As for Robinson himself, I will say this- he says what he means, and that's a welcome change. At least I don't have to dissect or translate him.
Comment by Michael— 2006/08/04 @ 01:49 PM — (Reply)
Second point - I was referring to characterizations of him such as these in the 2nd paragraph:
There is a footnote to an article in the Journal which appears to be an opinion piece rather than actual reporting - though I can only guess at this from other readings I have done of Irvin's comments about VR on NPR because I haven't located the actual article. (Which since People doesn't link and only refences, leads me to believe they couldn't access it either.)
Irvin, btw, is not without an agenda. But aside from that, who are the "critics"? Who suggested he could be shrouded in the stars and bars? These are just pot shots.
Furthermore, the entire article over at People is more hate-filled than anything coming from Robinson. Here's why:
They call him a homophobe.
You can disapprove of homosexuality and the zealous gay activist movement for reasons other than fear. I do.
They call him a bigot.
A bigot is one who is strongly partial to one's own group... (dictionary.com) Robinson can hardly be categorized as going with the black vote.
They call him a racist.
Robinson does not blame the problems of the black comunity on skin color but on the breakdown of the family. Same comments Cosby was excoriated for. In fact, Robinson refuses to play race when he tells young blacks to stop blaming "Whitey". Blaming "Whitey" for all your troubles IS racist (i.e. attributing differences in human ability or character to race... dictionary.com)
They call him anti-hispanic.
Nope. But he does expect to speak English in America. I don't think it's too much to ask of people. I learned Spanish when I lived in Argentina - I didn't expect people to cater to me.
They refer to his "anti-immigrant hate speech".
Wrong again. It's anti-ILLEGAL-immigrant speech. And if it is hateful to demand that people respect our laws then, I suppose, that is hate-speech.
They crucufy him for supporting Santorum's comments about the slippery slope leading from gay marriage to polygamy and pedophilia.
Have you seen this or this or this? Santorum was publicy denounced for (gasp) being right!
Michael, I enjoy our conversations, but if you think PFTAW are on the money here we are just going to have to agree to disagree. I've read Irvin and the W-S Journal and I've listened to Vernon Robinson and what is happening here is the same thing that happened to Alan Keyes. He's refusing to go with the voting bloc and they are "Uncle Tomming" him.
Comment by Cate— 2006/08/04 @ 06:45 PM — (Reply)
Hey again, Cate,
Let's start off by saying that in no way am I going to defend PFTAW's article on Robinson. While it does have some small merit, by providing links to Robinson's own words, overall the article is inflammatory, reductionist and over-broad. It's emblematic of what's wrong with political discourse: THERE ISN'T ANY. Rather than even try to understand the other side, folks simply mock, belittle, over-simplify and typecast opinions.
Do I think Robinson is "anti-Hispanic"? Not from anything I saw in that article, no. I've found other material coming from his office that smells fishy, but short of calling someone a "wet-back" it's hard to say anything definitive. Nor do I think Robinson is "anti-immigrants" based on somewhat legitimate criticism of the lax immigration over the past decades. I'll give you those two, no question.
"homophobe" and "bigot"- well, dictionary.com defines homophobia (despite its obvious etymology) as "fear of or contempt for lesbians and gay men." While there's not necessarily any fear involved, disapproval is not a far reach from contempt. And I don't think Robinson's views are merely "disapproval", that there is actual contempt in his tone.
Bigot... I looked up the dictionary.com definition, and I wouldn't agree with what is given as a fair summation of Robinson. However, the second definition is more in line with how I've heard the word used, and with how Oxford English Dictionary defines "bigot" : "A person obstinately and unreasonably wedded to a particular religious creed, opinion, or ritual."
Robinson won't allow the concept of evolution or Big Bang to enter into his beliefs... even goes to the point of implying a correlation between homosexuality and the teaching of evolution. You can disagree, of course, and perhaps you do, but in my eyes, that qualifies as obstinately holding to a belief.
----
Anyway, that's all semantics, really. I don't like the PFTAW's method of just over-simplifying, and re-interpretting the viewpoints of candidates they oppose. I approve of providing links to their own words, but disapprove of anonymous critics (who are probably just other PFTAW staff). Anyway, that's my two bits...
Comment by Michael— 2006/08/07 @ 10:26 AM — (Reply)
Dems:Let's distill the message for the stupid voters.
PFTAW: Robinson's buying the poor white trash vote.
Reality check: People like me are sick of being told that we are too dumb to recognize what's good or bad for society. It was bad enough when politicians just acted like we were stupid, now they send out press releases to let us know that they are redacting their party platforms so that we simpletons can grasp the higher thinking of the *#$&^ who tax us to death while raising their own salaries practically every time they meet...?!
As for Vernon, people in NC are flocking to Robinson because he appears frank. Candid. He is striking a chord among people who are sick of 'any-way-the-wind-blows' politicians. That he is being hailed a new Helms resonates in NC as well, because Helms, for better or worse, was likely the most consistent voting Senator ever. Everyone knew where he stood. Always. He usually voted with his constituency's wishes and they rewarded his loyalty with a very long tenure. He was no self-appointed elite minded activist.
Something politicians have forgotten is that they are supposed to be beholden to US.
As for PFTAW - what is the "American Way" anyhow? I know the "American Dream" which has somehow shifted from work hard and make a good life to demand that the government give you everything you ask for and if that doesn't work try to get rich by suing someone, winning the lottery or by applying to a t.v. show for a free home makeover or liposuction and a boob job. But the American Way? I was under the delusion that PRAGMATISM was the American way - but "a practical, matter-of-fact way of approaching or assessing situations or of solving problems" hardly seems like what I see happening in the American political scene...
Please enlighten me...
signed,
Frustrated with campaign year politics
Comment by Cate— 2006/08/07 @ 11:48 AM — (Reply)