We need to move forward (Erin)

"The "us vs. them" construct"

See . . . "No Christians Need Apply" thread to see that the "us v. them" construct isn't unique to race relations but pervades all discussions among the "victim classes."

It's a natural sense, when you think you are a victim, to assume everyone is out to get you. It's natural, in many ways. Which is why you assumed the worst in the last thread. You see yourself as a victim and assume you are being victimized by "them," the secularists and liberals.

To be fair to Dowd, there really are *some* "white Republican men afraid of extinction":

But do you understand what the New York Times wants, and the far-left want? They want to break down the white, Christian, male power structure, which you're a part, and so am I, and they want to bring in millions of foreign nationals to basically break down the structure that we have. In that regard, Pat Buchanan is right. So I say you've got to cap with a number.

as a wise Caucasian Freemason, I'm offended by Maureen Dowd's handshake remark.

I can't stand Dowd, but I think her comments were in reference to all the hysterical comments about Sotomayor being a 'racist', generally made by white, powerful, Republican men. I don't believe she was talking about white men in general.

Davis, I would agree, except that currently it's not at all socially acceptable to say, "A minority shouldn't work in (fill in the field)." We *do* find it socially acceptable to say, "A Christian shouldn't work in (fill in the field)." In other words, it's not paranoia if they really are out to get you. ;)

No, all those immigrants are just coming here to make sure that we accept the progressive revelation in all its fulness. The fact their their countries are, basically, sh*tholes should not be used by reactionary, neocon forces to distract us from the wonderful work they're all doing.
Oh yeah, they're also here to fight for the rights of gays, which are so much worse here than in the countries they left.

The difference between Sotomayor's joking and the Senator's is obvious. She was not indulging in obvious ethnic stereotyping. I can't imagine that the Senator would try to amuse by parroting some copy of "jive talking" urban language to an African-American nominee or some ersatz Charlie Chan talk to an Asian-American before his committee. It was at least in poor taste or just plain dumb. But what can you expect from the same party that tried to read legal inferences into Sotomayor's Puerto Rican cuisine choices.

Maybe next time he's back in Texas he can channel Speedy Gonzales, the Frito Bandito or Jose Jimenez and see how that goes over.

I've just read the Dowd article, and it's clear she's talking about white Republican male senators, not collective white men in general. If someone disagrees with Dowd's politics, I can understand why her snark would get under your skin; but to extrapolate her criticism of Washington D.C.'s last bastion of the Old Boys' Network as a put-down of all white men is simply a misreading of her column.

Yes Virginia, there really are "white Republican men afraid of extinction":

Where Beijing floods its borderlands with Han to reduce indigenous populations to minorities, and stifles religious, ethnic and linguistic diversity, America, declaring, “Diversity is our strength!” invites the whole world to come to America and swamp her own native-born.

Indeed, we now happily predict the year, 2042, when Americans of European ancestry become a minority in a country whose Founding Fathers declared it set aside for “ourselves and our posterity.”

Without the assent of her people, America is being converted from a Christian country, nine in 10 of whose people traced their roots to Europe as late as the time of JFK, into a multiracial, multiethnic, multilingual, multicultural Tower of Babel not seen since the late Roman Empire.

-Patrick J. Buchanan, July 10th, 2009

Hampton - Just to set the record straight, Pat Buchanan is no longer a Republican. He left the GOP in 1999 to run for President as a member of the Reform Party. But he is white and male, and a little nutty.

Davis, I would agree, except that currently it's not at all socially acceptable to say, "A minority shouldn't work in (fill in the field)." We *do* find it socially acceptable to say, "A Christian shouldn't work in (fill in the field)." In other words, it's not paranoia if they really are out to get you. ;)

Oh noes, it's the Inquisition all over again.

A Christian who believes the Earth is 5,000 years old probably shouldn't teach Evolutionary Biology.

However, if said teacher keeps his patently silly religious view to himself, then he has every right to do the job. Be a snake handler and speak in tongues on your own time.

As long as the man isn't shooting us in the the head (Patrick Dorismond), or just plain shooting us (Amadou Diallo), we mostly spend our time doing the same thing everyone else does: living our lives, raising our families, and watching Babylon 5.

Mr Bottoms, where is Babylon 5 on?

Yeah, Pat Buchanan is a bit nuts, but his book on the origins of WWII should be required reading for every citizen.

R Hampton,

PJB is simply quoting facts and census projections. It's really strange, no other group is expected to sit by and watch its proportion of the population decline. Quite the opposite. The Congressional Black Caucus, seeing it was losing the immigration race, has pressed for easier immigration from Haiti and Africa. Sotomayor's La Raza is, of course, always looking for ways of getting more of 'the Race' into the country.

In contrast, many of the 'good thinkers' like you (assuming you are white) appear to welcome white minority status. Certainly Dowd more than welcomes it -- I suspect she really does want our extinction, apparently missing the reproduction boat herself. However some, I would say many, of us don't.

We don't for a lot of reasons. At the very least with numbers comes political power, and thus economic power. Moreover, multiethnic/multiracial countries don't have such a great track record -- look at Brazil, or Fiji, or former Yugoslavia, or Iraq. And of course the people that are increasing as a proportion of the population generally come from, or their ancestors come front, not the most successful of societies and there simply is no reason to believe that when they become local majorities hear things will be any better. Look at California -- there is actually net outmigration of the native-born because things have gotten so screwed up. I happen to go further, I think that biologically population groups have differing aptitudes and abilities, and obviously have different appearances, and my own group is worth preserving. This seems to be the summum malum of opinions these days -- but up until about two generations ago it was readily accepted.

Indeed, Richard

Strange thing, during the middle of the twentieth century, when immigration was curtailed drastically, we had the baby boom. Maybe it had something to do with rising wages and less competition for housing, good schools, etc.

And I am old enough, at the edge of my consciousness, to remember the ZPG campaigns, though I don't think I understood at the time. If I was a nutty conspiracy theorists, I'd say there was some strange sort of connection there --campaigns to control what was then an overwhelmingly European-descended population followed immediately by a great river of legal mass immigration -- let alone illegal mass immigration.

None dare call it conspiracy!

"You'll have lots of 'splainin' to do," replied GOP Sen. Tom Coburn, evoking the 1950s TV show "I Love Lucy" to laughter from the crowd and the judge.

This is probably about as funny to Hispanics as the senator doing an impression of Step'n Fetchit at the Clarence Thomas hearings.

I know, we just don't have a sense of humor about these things.

Stari Momak: Sotomayor doesn't have to worry about getting more her "raza" in the US since she is Puerto Rican and an American citizen since birth. Puerto Ricans are not immigrants since it is part of the US.

In the world of Dowd's imagination, you see, white men, all white men, are universally powerful

While in your world, you read things that haven't been written.

What is so hard to understand that this country has only had full voting rights for all of its citizens for 44 years, just barely older than Star Trek.

People in my age range can remember when it could cost your life just to vote.

Women moved towards equality in the work place in just the last few decades, and until recently the entire Fortune 500 was run by something other than wise Latinas, blacks and women.

Lord, give the victimization a rest. It went white folks way for 400 years, it's been about half a century since things really began to change and we're supposed to get bent out of shape over remarks made in an effort to bolster the confidence of young Latino women.

Pu- lease.

Notice the title of the op-ed is 'White Man's Last Stand' -- and though its quite possible she didn't choose that, it certainly is racially charged. In the text 'it was a disgrace (sic) that Bush chose two white men for the court' . Seriously, I don't understand how whites can be so self-hating. I just don't get it. Some folks have this theory of status -- the more you can denounce the white trash, the more you build yourself up. Maybe that's it.

someone needs to really spell out the reasons why it's completely irrational to suggest that the republican party is swiftly becoming the last redoubt of angry white men, to the exclusion of almost everyone not white and bitter. because the image of the party that is becoming more institutionalized by the week is one of a dwindling clique of pissed off, self-pitying white guys.

and people can blame 'the mainstream media' or keith olbermann or al sharpton or the french. but you'll find that most of the people dismissing this image are conservatives trying desperately to salve other conservatives. outside of that circle, don't you wonder how this is becoming so obvious to everyone else.

it's like someone with really bad breath who, as everyone continually hints to them that they have bad breath, just shrugs it off and tells themselves that it can't possibly be true. that it can't really be them with the problem.

watch alabama senator jefferson beauregard sessions III hammer judge sonia sotomayor, or republlicans just savage immigrants, and then wonder what the problem is if anybody notices. it's almost sad in it's denial. like the people who just can't, or won't, ever accept how much they stink.

stari, you seem to be more at odds with erin and the original post, than with with maureen dowd.

the "us vs. them" construct that erin is suggesting is a fiction drummed up by dowd is just underscored with statements like;
a. " . . served the interest of whites."
b. " . . any sort of isue affcting whites . ."
c. " . .Palin, while maybe 'implicitly' championing whites
the political interests of whites . . "

what republican or conservative wants to stand up and articulate exactly what the interests of, and issues affecting, us whites are. and how exactly that is different from . . . . y'know . . . them.

And really, what sort of 'part' of the US has its own Olympic team.

The Iriquois have a national Lacross team.