William Murchison and Other Political Irrelevancies
William Murchison, in a Dallas Blog column titled "Race, Sex, and other Political Irrelevancies" asserts that any mention of race or sex in the presidential race is "stupid and time-wasting." Spoken like a white male, don't you think? You can almost hear him say, "Pipe down, woman. We're talking politics here" despite his claim that he doesn't say that anymore.
Murchison favorably quotes a conservative friend as saying, "I'm fine with a black president." You half expect Murchison to say, "Some of my best friends are black." Murchison, while claiming America is now color-blind, reveals how much he himself is aware of race by referring to Barack Obama as the "half-black candidate". Murchison fondly recalls his own clever characterization of Britain's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as "the best man in Europe," mistakenly thinking such a comment proves his lack of sexism instead of the opposite. I'm reminded of a recent column by Starita Smith published in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
"Simply saying 'I am not a racist' appears to be enough for some to claim exemption from responsibility for doing and saying the most patently racist things. As the grand wizard of the KKK in Texas once told me in an interview, 'We're not racists; we just believe in segregation.'"
But don't hold your breath waiting for a moment of intellectual honesty from the likes of William Murchison.
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