I just flipped past The View earlier today and was reminded of this old Reactor post called "Whoopi-Doo" I did on September 22, 2008.
I HATE The View.
Please watch this video first.
After watching that video, what is your initial reaction?
Are you in agreement? Are you incensed?
Or here's a better question:
Have you even heard of this incident before now?
Here's the background for those of you who can't view the video above.
McCain was talking about constitutionalism regarding the (in)famous Roe v. Wade case passed down in 1973, and saying that he would appoint Justices to the Supreme Court that would interpret the Constitution "the way our founding fathers envision for them to do."
Sounds like a normal Republican response. Yay. But then Goldberg comes out of LEFT field with this question:
"Should I worry about being a slave, being returned to a slave?"
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you read that correctly. She asked if she should be worried about slavery returning to the United States.
Apparently she's never heard of the 13th, 14th, or 15th Amendments, ratified in 1865, 1868, and 1870 respectively, that guarantee African-Americans rights they did not have before those Amendments.
So apparently Goldberg thinks that the Amendments to the Constitution are really just suggestions, and don't really count as actual parts of the Constitution.
That is incredibly ignorant and insensitive. That question shows just how much ignorance regarding politics has sprung up in our country, and how little is being done to stop it. When I checked on this video at 5:30p.m., September 23rd, 2008, it had 42,595 views. That is an incredibly SMALL number compared to an interview Charlie Gibson had with Sarah Palin one day earlier, which now has 257,559 views.
What's going on here?
Goldberg asked what may be one of the stupidest and most offensive questions in this political season, and no one talked about it. I actually found out about it through conservative pundit Glenn Beck, who posted a transcript of his radio show here.
How is it that this went completely under the radar? Why are we letting people like Goldberg ask supposedly serious questions to the candidates? Why aren't people fighting BACK, and asking good questions, and telling ignoramuses like Goldberg to let us big boys do the talking?
This is a problem in our society today, and we need to start being INFORMED about our political decisions, and not just saying "poignant" and "scathing" questions to get a rise out of people.
And so, Ms. Goldberg, if you ever read this, please, PLEASE take a 10th grade civics class again before you try to get involved with politics.
Discussion
The Kansan.com staff reviews comments regularly. Please be respectful of your peers. For our full user policy, click here.
I'm amazed the situation came about to begin with. How can people boil a Supreme Court nomination down to one issue? These people have unrestrained power to overturn any law, and we're ignoring everything in favor of turning it into an abortion-only issue? Much as I hate to say it, McCain was absolutely, 100% right in saying that it can't be a one-issue deal. I've never heard truer words come out of his mouth.
Not that I'm surprised that Goldberg would say something like that. She thrives on saying stupid, offensive things, then acting like she's the cleverest person on earth for saying it. She talks about being a slave all the damn time, too, even though she oddly never mentions what she was doing during the Civil War...Oh, right, she's never been a slave. I wonder sometimes whether her ancestors are offended that she pretends that she went through the same things they did.
I was watching this show and a I have to disagree with you. He said he wanted people who interpeted the constitution the way the founding fathers meant it. At that time slavery was common place. It is a legitimate question that he never actually answered. He acknowledged that the question was asked, he even acknowledged her concern behind the question, but he never answered it. There are those ( and I am not accusing McCain of being one) who would love to see slavery reintroduced in this country and every person of color should probably be asking that question.
Sorry not a ignorant question from this side of the fence.
noirbear, you'll notice that he tries to say something about four times after Whoopie does her thing, but she and Walters interrupt him. Also, most of the founding fathers at the Constitutional Convention were against slavery, and it was proposed that it be outlawed from the start. The Southern states threatened to secede, so they caved, but it's still written as an outstanding issue that needed to be dealt with, not a Constitutional institution.
Besides, to accuse somebody of that when you know full well that's not what he meant is just malicious. I'm not going to ask you if your "side of the fence" is for King George and the royalists, or for the Articles of Confederation, because I know that's not what you meant. It'd be the same kind of stupid question, for just the same rhetorical purpose: to make you look terrible by pretending I think you're saying something that I know you aren't.