This blog is closed
Shame on you, Alex Pareene.
I’ve liked Alex Pareene ever since I met him at Bérubé‘s. I thought of him as a young writer who was able to combine devastating wit with a strong ethical sense.
So I’m flabbergasted that he’d stoop to the “Asian women are whores” cliché in making fun of Michelle Malkin. It’s not enough that he has to hand the fascist little shit another stick to beat our side with: he decides he has to do so by repeating a vile stereotype that hurts people on his side — some of them in my family — and only helps Malkin.
Scratch that: it hurts people on the side he should be on, though he currently appears not to be.
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised: the blog Wonkette has always been about the superficial appearance of politics rather than any actual substance. Still, I expect better from Alex.
For example: I expect an apology.
Posted by: Chris Clarke
Note: A database glitch in 2008 ate a bunch of archived comments. Don't be offended if yours isn't here, or confused if the conversation seems disjointed. Thanks!
So, that’s the quality of political discourse at Wonkette? Sheesh, I hope it’s elevated a tad more by the time my half-Filipino kid is old enough to take an interest in politics. It’s a shame those vile and ignorant stereotypes are still floating around in this century.
By: By Orange on 2006 05 23
I gotta snark on this just a teeny tiny bit:
Do you suppose the folks over at VDARE.com know she is of Asian descent, or do they just assume from all the things she writes for them that she is one of their own white supremacist sympaticos???
By: By spyder on 2006 05 23
Well, an update is posted with the word “apologize” in it. It’s always risky to judge the sincerity of an apology, but somehow to me that apology seemed not particularly apologetic. Perhaps that is because I read the comments that appeared after the update.
By: By Charles on 2006 05 23
No, that’s not it. It doesn’t seem apologetic because it doesn’t say what the apology is for. When my little boy hits someone (fortunately THAT doesn’t happen very often!) I don’t let him get by with just saying “Sorry.” He has to say what he’s sorry for, to the face of the person he hit.
By: By Charles on 2006 05 23
Thank you for showing the world that being a liberal can mean more than just criticizing, mocking and hating Republicans. Thank you for your your moral commitment and unwavering sense of social justice. Thank you for this post and many others.
By: By Bernice on 2006 05 23
I second Bernice.
This racist/sexist stuff, about Malkin and others—Coulter, for instance— from folks on our side, bothers me more than I can say. It’s up on Tbogg today, in his comments. We’re supposed to be better than this. We’re supposed to know better than this. If we don’t like Malkin’s ideas, argue with her ideas, not her race or her sexuality. If we think Coulter is stupid, say that. Don’t insult her sexuality or her looks or her body.
Thanks for speaking out.
By: By delagar on 2006 05 24
Remember when the odious Wotsisname wrote that book on Mother Teresa and I was going around bitching that someone else should’ve wrenched the material from his sweaty little hands and written something that didn’t come across as saying that the problem with the sanctified crook was that she was too “butch” for someone’s delicate sensibilities? Wotsisname presumably even had the benefit of an editor, which made that mess doubly inexcuseable.
If the Job Corps or CETA (remember CETA? That’s how I got to be a nurse.) were to be resurrected, I’d propose a squadron of aging bitchy editors to stand behind the pre-pundits while the latter wrote posts, and slap them hard upside the head when they wrote stupid self-indulgent adolescent crap like that. Wait, strike* the “adolescent.” The adolescents I know personally are smarter than that.
*Strike it quick, before I have to slap myself upside the sore and swollen head. Ow.
By: By Ron Sullivan on 2006 05 24
Thank you for this. You’ll never get thanks from Malkin, of course. She has plenty to answer for in the oppression of people who happen to look like her. But we can’t stand by silent while people who consider themselves our allies add to that oppression, whether out of their ignorance or prejudice.
For me, part of being a liberal is believing that there are crimes of omission as well as crimes of commission. It may seem a trifle to some, but to me speaking up at a point like this is important. Dehumanizing the other is part of our tribal legacy, a tendency that has to be fought by every one of us, not least of all in our own hearts.
Thanks again.
By: By modus potus on 2006 05 24
The possibility occurs to me that Michelle Malkin might find the ping-pong ball reference more amusing than offensive. By offering preemptive apologies, aren’t you kinda telling her that she ought to have felt victimized?
Just sayin’.
By: By Throbert McGee on 2006 05 24
I don’t give a flying fuck how Malkin feels about anything, Rob. My problem is that Pareene insulted people I actually care about. With which subject you will be recently familiar.
Just sayin.’
By: By Chris Clarke on 2006 05 24
[Libelous comment removed by site-owner, made by someone at IP# 130.76.64.93
130.76.64.93
OrgName: The Boeing Company
OrgID: THEBOE
Address: The Boeing Company
Address: 100 N. Riverside
City: Chicago
StateProv: IL
PostalCode: 60606-1596
Country: US]
By: By anon on 2006 05 24
Thanks so much for this, Chris. That Wonkette post made me feel just sick to my stomach.
By: By jms on 2006 05 24
Categories:
Blogging
