Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Blog Stupid
Yglesias is struck by this 'radical's rejection of the notion that Obama's views match his own. Fair enough. But what jumps out at me is the idea that admirers of Hugo Chavez are morally equivalent to racists. They might be (probably are) equally kooky, but can we agree that socialism and race hatred are in completely different moral universes?
Speaking of NRO
Written by Matthew Locke at 2:06 PMMatthew Yglesias flags this anecdote posted at The Corner by Mike Potemra:
I was having dinner in Greenwich Village this evening and saw a thirtysomething guy with an Obama button—and a “Viva Chavez” T-shirt praising “Bolivarian Revolution.” I asked him if the Chavez he was endorsing was Hugo (as opposed to Cesar, Linda, etc.) He said yes, so I asked him: “Are we going to have a Bolivarian Revolution here in America next month?” He said sadly, “Obama says all kinds of bad things about Hugo Chavez”—here he perked up—”but you never know!” I’m not being McCarthyite in recounting this (definitely not Joe, not even Andy)—I’m just pointing out that while every racist or other kook who backs McCain is going to be treated as a symptom of a horrendous and endemic Republican pathology, the other side has its share of extremists too…
Yglesias is struck by this 'radical's rejection of the notion that Obama's views match his own. Fair enough. But what jumps out at me is the idea that admirers of Hugo Chavez are morally equivalent to racists. They might be (probably are) equally kooky, but can we agree that socialism and race hatred are in completely different moral universes?
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