And people tell me I’m a raving, foam at the mouth, drama queen?

When that happens, our movement will destroy itself, and our government will be as unresponsive as ever. Our work will have been for nothing. We can’t allow that to happen.

Look, love to all my blogging peeps, but let’s try to have some perspective. I think Chris is one of those guys who truly gets it, but this post made me laugh, and cry. Let me try to make it simple.

-What is the total cost of the war, and who has received most of that money? Hint: it’s approaching over 1/2 a trillion dollars and most of the people getting that money are pale in hue.

-What is the total cost of the Katrina “reconstruction” effort and who has received most of that money? See previous hint above. Sidebar: how many former NOLA brown and black people are still living in trailers, on couches, in the streets, etc?

-How many lawbreakers are there in the Republican party, how much have they stolen, and how much time have they served? Hint: I promise you the cost these criminals pay is nothing close to what this “criminal” did.

I can go on, and on, but I guess this is one of those “black thangs.” Or Latino thangs. Or poor, fucked over rural white person thangs. There are times when I wonder about the Digital Divide, and our leadership here in the blogosphere.

I don’t claim to know much about Jefferson, this race, or Ms. Carter. I do live in the city that reelected Barry after his coke bust, and I did live in the city that is known as Daley’s Kingdom by residents. I’m also quite familiar with Detriot city politics. In all these cities, black (and white, and brown, etc) people return “corrupt” Democratic leaders to office, again and again. Some of those folks may think Chris is suggesting they’re stupid. Sigh. This really isn’t a help, Chris:

Our inability to distinguish between legitimate victims of governmental persecution and corruption within our own leadership has the potential to sow the seeds of our own undoing not long from now.

Because yes! Another white guy lecturing foolish black voters about corruption and the risks in our future is so refreshing. eye roll It’s called perspective. When you’re one of the little people on the bottom, looking up at literally trillions being passed around by a seemingly endless parade of white guys, many of whom are complete racists and totally willing to let you know that, flying around in private jets, owning multiple mansions, driving through your streets in limos…I’m not exaggerating here, and if I felt like it, I could make quite the list of Republican corruption

THAT EXCEEDS WHAT JEFFERSON STOLE BY ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE. WHO ARE NOT ONLY WALKING AROUND FREE, BUT CONTROLLING PRACTICALLY EVERY ENTITY OF POWER IN THIS NATION.

Sorry for the shouting. Oh, I forgot: AND WHO ARE CONTINUALLY REELECTED BY THE WHITE MAJORITY, AND PROTECTED BY THE WHITE MEDIA, AND IGNORED BY THE WHITE JUSTICE SYSTEM.

Ooops, I was shouting again. Sorry.

I don’t mean to pick on Chris, truly. He’s right to be an absolutist: corruption of any kind in any politician is and always will be intolerable and deserving of ejection from office and jailtime. But the pedantic, patronizing tone of this piece is just another example to me of how some of us are “failing to communicate.”

The reason it matters, to Chris and me and all the rest of us, is actually very simple. Talk down to voters like this, and you can expect them to return Jefferson again and again and again. Chris admits his views are ahem, colored by his experiences in the uber-corrupt City of Brotherly Love. May I humbly suggest he go and speak with some of his neighbors, who will help him better understand why it is the Black community is so willing to vote in guys like Jefferson.

It’s the OJ divide all over again. And it will continue, until the conversation is truly two-way. Scolding Black voters in NOLA for voting for corruption is about as useful as bitching about Universalists for not ordaining gays…in 1945. Jefferson is a problem, but he’s not the one who is “sowing the seeds of our undoing.” When Jefferson is the biggest problem we have to deal with, I’ll be more interested in this as a “critical” matter for the party.

Update: Scout Prime and some other familiar faces left comments, and I found this one particularly useful:

Come down here and lecture us on our tone. It’s too easy from your comfy chair.

This is probably the most politically active community in the country right now; it’s just that we are directing our political energies in ways that more directly serve our recovery. The fact that the national corruption issue is not at the top of our priority list may be disappointing to you, but you don’t walk in our shoes.

FWIW, the Jefferson/Carter race was second in the political news to the really BIG story, which was that we finally got a bill passed giving our state a share of our oil royalties so that we can use the money for coastal restoration. This story didn’t even make a blip in the national MSM, and I’m sure the number of netroots “activists” who contacted their own representatives to advocate on our behalf on this issue could be counted on one hand, but it was a hugely important win for us.

by ray in new orleans on Sun Dec 10, 2006 at 07:38:30 PM

Imagine that, people who care about little piddling issues like food, shelter, and control over their resources and long term economic situation, more than they care about 90K in a freezer. Shocking.

Update Update: Another NOLA blogger weighs in.