This is what Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D – Tex) says about Republicans who disagree that raising the borrowing limit of the federal government is a good idea no strings attached. To my mind she labels it as outright racism.
Is she in disagreement with Hillary Clinton on the right to debate and disagree with an administration? While it is possibly true that Hillary was overstating her own opinion while stating that we all, as Americans, have a right to disagree with any administration, to wit:
I could use the word hypocritical in relation to Lee’s outburst but as I’ve said in an earlier post, just because a person acts hypocritically does not make her wrong. Unfortunately, other than pointing out the idea that the forces against raising the debt limit have aligned during the term of President Obama as never before, she provides no detail about her reasoning. Therefore, it is hard to assess the correctness of her charge as a matter of fact. Without more we’re left with a charge unsupported by any evidence other than half the race of the current president. I wonder what Rep. West (R -FL) would have to say about the charge of racism in regard to his own vehement opposition to the president’s proposed policy regarding the debt ceiling?
Left in the air is a salient question. Why would people choose to disagree with a president over a budget issue solely in relation to the president’s race? I just can’t see it no matter how hard I try. Perhaps if Rep. Lee provided more background, like Rep. Clyburn did when he went after Sarah Palin in the wake of the Arizona shooting in January, we’d have more to go on. As it is though I am unable to determine whether there is an issue of different worldviews in this matter, as was the case with Clyburn’s charge which I addressed here, or whether this is just an instance of a powerful federal politician harshly speaking out against political opponents. In the last analysis it appears to me that Lee may very well just be in disagreement with Hillary Clinton on a fundamental issue of rights. She may disagree that all Americans have the right to disagree and debate with a black president if the history of their group (a group of nearly all white Republicans) somehow makes them suspect of having done so purely on racial grounds.
In an interesting twist, given her own race, it is theoretically possible that Rep. Lee is agreeing with the president solely on the basis of identity politics and therefore is actually the pot calling the kettle black (relax, this is just a saying not a negative comment on Lee’s or Obama’s race). Without more information it’s hard to know what the truth is on the matter. It is not hard, however, to label Lee’s position, stated as it was on the floor of the House of Representatives, as intolerant!!!! In fact in the future, every time I hear a charge of racism being made without the necessary groundwork having been laid by the person levelling the charge, my response will be an equally impassioned – “your intolerance is showing!!!!” How is that for a progressive comeback?
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