Still here

Eric's response to Jon Sobel (quoted at the end of the previous post):

However, I never held up Project 21 as an authoritative source on anything, I received a press release from them that brought up very salient points that have only now been partially addressed with the apology from Sylvester for calling blacks, ANY blacks, Uncle Tom and Aunt Jemima.

I gave my own opinions, which still stand: racism is racism regardless if the target is liberal, conservative, middle, or apolitical.

This made me respond:

I gave my own opinions, which still stand: racism is racism regardless if the target is liberal, conservative, middle, or apolitical.

That's fine.

Now, why is it Black people's job to address it? It's not Black people doing it, it's not Black people's reputation at risk like when Harry Belafonte went there (and ALL the 'respectable' organizations tripped over each other separating themselves from that).

You accuse them of not doing white people's job. And by now the NAACP is cowed enough to apologize.

Damn shame.

See, this is the thing.

This is white people's problem. And what's the response? "Why don't Black folks protect us?" when any other time it would be called whining.

Plus, in cognitive science terms, the house nigger/field nigger dichotomy is, to us, what you'd call a "live metaphor" (race, by the way, is a dead metaphor).

Anyway, the fun part started when Deroy Murdock (who??), TNR contributor and syndicated columnist, joined the conversation. The same Mr. Murdock that on June 3, 2004 wrote Increasing evidence suggests Saddam ties to 9/11. That statement is either absolute denial or an absolute attempt to mislead. Either case is absolute justification for dismissal. So when he wrote:

As for the idea that those of us who work with Project 21 have "sold out," I have one simple question: Where is my check? Project 21 does a great job of booking me for radio and TV appearances. I don't believe even one of those engagements has earned me one thin dime.

Those of us black conservatives and libertarians who work with Project 21 do so because we share a belief in individual freedom, personal responsibility, limited government, free enterprise, and peace through strength. We do not get paid for this.

I had no choice but to point out this

The director, David Almasi, immediately issued a stream of defensive remarks that only added to the surreal humor. First he explained the tire blowout, and said he called another member of the group trying to get someone else to appear, but nobody was available (guess the flat and the one phone call exhausted the ranks of conservative blacks in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area). Then he gave a tortured explanation that he was only an employee of the group; he took his marching orders from all of these mysterious black conservatives suffering from flat tires and broken phone lines. He didn't actually "direct" the organization; he was just the director. (As a bonus, this means that the difference between the group of black conservatives and the white guy working for the group of black conservatives is that the white guy gets paid to do it. You really have to love that as an affirmative defense!)[P6: emphasis added] Frankly, it was the best real-world re-enactment of "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain — I am the BLACK CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT!" that I've ever seen.

And boomcrashbaby

Mr. Murdock says:

we share a belief in individual freedom, personal responsibility, limited government, free enterprise, and peace through strength.

That's interesting. Switch out the last one with humanitarianism and those are the values that make me a progressive!

Individual freedom: woman's right to choose, keeping government out of the bedroom, etc.
Personal responsibility: leaving this planet liveable for our children, no driving gas hogs, speaking out and fighting corporate pollution, not snubbing our noses at those less fortunate, but being a responsible good samaritan and giving a helping hand so that they can then begin their own personal responsibility, etc.
Limited government: see individual freedom. Also opposed to government pandering to big business at the expense of the citizen.
Free enterprise: I love capitalism, which is why the government needs to ensure there are no monopolies (I consider Microsoft such) or mega-monoliths, (I consider Wal-Mart such) which do more harm than good.
Peace through strength: I don't believe in this one, that's why I'm not a conservative. I don't believe that being perceived as a big bully to intimidate is the way to achieve peace. It certainly hasn't worked for us in the Middle East. Replace this value with humanitarism, helping those down and out, being considerate and listening to other people/nations, and you've got one heck of a progressive!

And as of this writing, Mac Diva has the closer.

All in all, once you weave through the tactics, there's a pretty complete indictment of the falseness that is Project 21. I appreciate Eric's raising the topic.