Category: Awards

A reader writes:

It should be noted that the "America that ended slavery" is Obama's America; it is the blue-state America that Shapiro accuses of being Europeanized. The descendants of those who fought to end slavery overwhelmingly voted for Obama. It is the old Confederacy, whose political culture is still marked by slavery's legacy, that contends that Obama doesn't represent "real America."

Another writes:

The irony is that Europe, namely the English, abolished slavery well before the US did: 1833 in England and 1865 in the US.

Timeline of other slavery milestones here.

"They have reinforced the impression that Obama is someone who is forever being given prizes — Ivy League scholarships, law review editorships, prime-time speaking slots at national conventions — he did not earn," – Pat Buchanan, in a piece called "The Affirmative Action Nobel."

"So yes, I hate Obama's America. Because Obama's America isn't America — it's the European view of America, implemented from high office. Opposing the total redefinition of America isn't anti-American; it's patriotic. And opposing those, like Obama, who push for that drastic redefinition, isn't "hating America" — it's fighting in favor of the America that ended slavery, built the greatest economic empire in world history and liberated tens of millions around the globe," – Townhall's Ben Shapiro.

The first black president is antithetical to "the America that ended slavery"?

“If the Obama administration wants to make a statement and impress upon the world their fundamental rejection of the forces of bigotry and homophobia, how about sending a gay ambassador to Pakistan or Saudi Arabia? And now that the president has cleared the way for the same-sex partners of our foreign service officers to participate in programs available to spouses, how about sending him with his partner? That would be impressive, and would likely be as warmly received by Republicans as by Democrats,” – Michael Goldfarb.

Reagan appointed a black ambassador to apartheid South Africa, as Dan Savage noted. Now that was symbolism. But I suspect Goldfarb is a little dewy-eyed about Republicans, especially the base. Condi Rice and Laura Bush might have backed it, but the current leadership – Limbaugh, Levin and Hannity? And Rove?

"I did not realize the Nobel Peace Prize had an affirmative action quota for it, but that is the only thing I can think of for this news," – Erick Erickson, Redstate.

"But, in fact every, when I was sworn into the Marine Corp, I was sworn to uphold the Constitution against every enemy, foreign and domestic. We’ve got a lot of domestic enemies of the Constitution (applause) and one of those sits in the speaker’s chair of the United States Congress, Nancy Pelosi," – Congressman Paul Broun (R-GA).

"We should have fixed this under our watch and I’m frustrated we didn’t," – Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI), asked why the Republicans did not reform healthcare during its eight-year hold on Congress and the White House.

"The widespread support for Polanski shows the liberal cultural elite at its preening, fatuous worst. They may make great movies, write great books, and design beautiful things, they may have lots of noble humanitarian ideas and care, in the abstract, about all the right principles: equality under the law, for example. But in this case, they're just the white culture-class counterpart of hip-hop fans who stood by R. Kelly and Chris Brown and of sports fans who automatically support their favorite athletes when they're accused of beating their wives and raping hotel workers. No wonder Middle America hates them," – Katha Pollitt.

The Dish regrets missing this gem at the time it was written.