Oliver Willis shouldn’t be throwing stones
All this outrage over the use of the word “articulate” to describe a black man who is, in fact, articulate is ridiculous (but unsurprising) coming from a guy that used the phrase “the filthy Wolfowitz” to describe a Jew. At the time I was willing to assume that Oliver was just being stupid, but now I think maybe I should hold him to his own standard and call him a racist. Which is worse, describing a man who almost certainly showers daily “filthy,” or calling a man who articulates his ideas very well “articulate?”†
Interestingly, the woman who started all this is a former co-worker of Oliver’s at Media Matters. According to Willis unethical and illegal opposition research by a Democrat is “dumb,” but Republican describing someone as articulate is, in some alternate (yet reality-based!) universe, “dumber.”
Also interesting: Willis’s archives only go back to April and the “filthy” brouhaha occured in March. Not only that, but Google doesn’t seem to have cached any of his related entries.
I was going to confine this to a comment on Oliver’s blog, but it seems to have never made it out of moderation (again… interesting). I don’t think it was inflammatory enough to warrant deletion, but it’s his blog, he can do what he wants. I’ll let you judge for yourself:
All this whining about a single, misinterpreted word from a guy that once used the word “filthy” to describe a Jew. Odd that your archives seem to stop right before that post, Oliver.
If you remember, I defended you back then, describing your use of that word as an inadvertent slip and not racism. Perhaps you should cut Ed some slack, or perhaps I should go back and describe your words as racist regardless of whether you “had any racial intent or not.”
In his entry Oliver admits that he doesn’t do much blogging about race because he’s not very good at it. For once, Willis and I find common ground.
(Links, and lots of ideas, via protein wisdom)
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If “articulate” is racist, then “Filthy Wolfowitz.”
Politics: is what it seemed to be earlier this year despite the protesting it was not.
Except that I find the entire Bush administration, from the chief executive to his subordinates like Wolfowitz to the pundits and bloggers who defend them like slavish little puppies “filthy” in the worst way possible. And I’ve never backed away from it.
If your use of the word “filthy” wasn’t a subconcious racist insult then perhaps when Ed said “articulate” he also meant that the man was… articulate? Maybe next time you see racism in a compliment you’ll think, “Hey, remember that time I was accused of anti-Semitism even though I love Jews? Maybe I’m just misinterpreting this and shouldn’t jump to conclusions.”
Oh, but I forgot, he’s a “filthy” defender of the Zionist neocon agenda, so he must be racist.