Politics and Culture

It's funny that one can agree with somebody most of the time and still consider them foolish. Bill O'Reilly is one of those guys (although he's great to make fun of). He reminds me of somebody who reads one book and thinks he's "figured it all out." Let's get the easy one out of the way. O'Reilly used "lynching" and "Michelle Obama" in the same sentence. Mrs. Obama is black. Now, it's impossible to know what's inside of O'Reilly's head, and frankly, I don''t care to probe. It was an insensitive comment and a stupid one considering the times in which we live. People mis-speak, they apologize, and, that's enough for me.

The second one is different because he, like, ironically, Michelle Obama did with her "really proud" statement, actually formed a thought.

The bait that McCain, to his credit, didn't take, was that Mexicans are trying to upset the "white Christian male order." This is an unthinking and even stupid statement. Let me explain:

What is the difference between the American and Mexican cultures?

1. Music? Not really. It's mostly American-derivative pop with it's own regional "country" (some of which is from Germany [banda]!) music mixed in.
2. Religion? Mostly Catholic, but enthusiastic converts to Evangelicalism, often. In any case, Christian, right?
3. Socialism? Not as much as in Europe.
4. Morality and traditional values? Again, miles away from European "advancements."

In almost every world-view relevant way, Hispanics, including Mexicans, are closer to conservative Americans than, say, the average German.

So, what is O'Reilly talking about? He's talking about poverty, race (most Hispanics identify with whites to some extent or another, Mr. O'Reilly.), crime and their interaction with each other which are issues that I'll discuss at a later time.

Given everything I've said: are there individuals or groups that want to upset the white man's apple cart? Yes, and most of them are either white like Frank Rich or imbibe big gulps worth of Marxist (Marx was a German!) cool aid like MECHA or Black Panthers.

So, does Bill O'Reilly know what he's talking about, or does he just hate Germans?

Hat tip to this post.