black…MYstory

I’ll be honest. Condoleeza Rice is not my favorite person. I believe her to be, at least up until the recent past, such an idealogue when it comes to this administration that she has often jeopardized her integrity. I also believe that she is all too willing to “take one for the team” though they don’t always seem to show her the same loyalty.

But, with that being said, I readily admit that she is intelligent, accomplished, capable and, more recently, seems to be willing to act as a voice of reason in an administration full of warmongering nuts.

Also, while I am sure Bush and company knew that having black people in his cabinet could not hurt, I would not dream suggest that her skin color is the sole reason she received her appointments as National Security Advisor or Secretary of State.

If my last sentence sounds ridiculous, it should. If you would say that no one would dare suggest that, though, you’d be wrong.

Enter Michael Savage (or, if you like, we can use his real name, Michael Weiner. I guess “Savage” sounds tougher). Savage is a nationally-syndicated right wing attack dog who has no problem publically airing his vitriol and racism to his millions of listeners.

Weiner…er…Savage (also a Republican) has decided to attack Condoleeza Rice, by suggesting that she only got her chancellorship to Stanford because she is black (never mind that she holds a Doctorate); that she is only Secretary of State because she is black; that she can’t effectively deal with the Middle East because she is not a man and, as Savage put it, she is a “schoolmarm who has been pushed up the ladder all of her life because of social engineering.”

Regardless of how I feel about Dr. Rice, I wouldn’t accept racism against her anymore than I would against any other black person with whom I might agree more. However, I will say that Dr. Rice should expect attacks like this from her fellow Republicans because, as I have stated previously (see here, here , here and here), they are all too willing to throw their black supporters under the bus when it suits their purposes.

But, at any rate, Wiener…er…Savage, should be taken to task over this mess. However, I suspect that other Negro Republicans will take one of two approaches to this issue:

1. They would find someone on the Left who has criticized Rice in attempts to take the heat off a fellow Republican or
2. They will cite this as his First Amendment right and accuse the Left of conspiring against Savage.

So, I find myself in the unusual position of speaking in support of Condoleeza Rice. But, in this case, as a black man, I can’t let this slide.

Note: the audio from Weiner’s…err…Savage’s show is below:

 

 Savage Attacks Condoleeza Rice [1:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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