2,073 Years And Still Have Not Learned A Damn Thing. My Message Regarding Being Considered a Bigot. "No Label Party" Is Labeled.

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"The Budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed, lest Rome will become bankrupt.  People must again learn to work instead of living on public assistance."
Cicero 55 B.C.

So, we've evidently learned nothing over the past 2,073 years!
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Uppity people are a pain in the derriere regardless of their color. 

I have few (three) close black friends but the ones I have mean a lot to me.  One lives in Atlanta and we violently disagree on just about everything political but he is still a dear and meaningful friend. I recommended and supported him to become a Board Member of GMOA and he and his charming wife came to my birthday party in Santa Fe.  They  visit us in Savannah and we play tennis together.  

My two other black friends live in Savannah and I am mentoring and supporting them with letters of recommendations in their current pursuits. One recently was my guest to hear Amb. Bolton because I thought it would be an experience he would enjoy and he did and thanked me profusely.

I mention this because I am fed up with the idea that I am a racist since I may not measure up to the attitude and beliefs of the true bigots among us who happen to be black.

I never enslaved anyone, I never held anyone back and, in fact, hired a lovely black woman to be my investment unit administrator when I was active and we are in touch to this day. 

Jason Riley wrote an eye opening op ed several days ago as did Thomas Sowell about the plight of blacks who simply cannot get with the program and move forward, tough as it might be for them.

I have always fought for a solid education, not mental mush, because that was the most important lever in an increasing technology society whose race barriers  have virtually been eliminated.

Our nation's Civil Rights Laws are actively enforced and protective so "racial privilege" has about balanced itself. What may not be balanced is disparate abilities and that is where education, self-enlightenment, personal responsibility, tenacity etc. come into play in providing that needed additional leverage.

There are too many instances, outside athletics, where one can excel and as the economy expands and the pie grows opportunities are being created for all. This is the blessing brought about by Capitalism.

I am fed up with hearing about the beauty of Socialism. I am sick and tired of hearing about police departments that are out to get black citizens. Is there prejudice?  Damn right there is and always will be because mankind is flawed. 

I am Jewish and I know anti-Semitism still exists, even at The Landings but I am not going to spend my life blaming everything and everyone on my own failures.  Nor do I believe tennis balls I cannot return, because I lack tennis prowess, are purposely aimed at me. Why?  Because I am soon to be 85 and I decided it was time to grow up and be responsible a few years ago.

That is my message and I embrace and recommend it to others. (See 1 below.)

Former Governor Huntsman, I believe, created the "No Label Party" which is a label about not being labeled.  A rational Democrat Congressman, who wanted to come together to solve a particular thorny national problem regarding health care, was vilified for uniting with members of a "No Label" group and the venom and name calling spewed  forth . (See 1a below.)
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Dick
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1) The Cudgel of ‘White Privilege’

‘I’m not interested in negotiating with racists,’ an Ivy League historian told me.

By

Zachary Wood

‘White people need to be checked, Zach. End of discussion.”

I was talking with an Ivy League historian, a fellow African-American, about “white privilege.” I asked if his goal was to antagonize or to promote dialogue.

“Do you know who I am?” he demanded. “I’ve been helping black people longer than you’ve been alive. I’m telling you what I know: Lecturing these white kids is only the beginning.”

Is it really necessary to be so aggressive?

“Listen, I don’t give a damn. I’m not interested in negotiating with racists.”

I tried to close the conversation cordially, saying I’d have to reflect on the issue. But when I extended my hand, he looked at it, looked up at me, and then walked away.

Does white privilege exist? Sure. If you’re white and you excel at academic or other cognitively demanding endeavors, for example, the light of your success is never dimmed by speculation about whether you benefited from affirmative action.

White privilege has become the target of many initiatives in higher education. The goal, advocates say, is to fight racism and promote justice. Yet the practice often doesn’t seem constructive. In my college career, I’ve spoken to many peers and professors who insist adamantly that any conversation about race in America should begin and end with the accusation of white privilege. The aim seems to be to establish guilt, not build understanding.

As I see it, the main goal of discussing white privilege should be to promote a more complex and nuanced view of the world so that, for example, it would be difficult for one of my white peers to drive through the Washington neighborhood where I grew up and say: “What’s wrong with those people?” People of all races should aim to understand the range of attitudes and perspectives on race that make the issue a difficult one.

Often that’s not how activists approach it. “I’m not interested in talking to white people who aren’t woke,” one student told me. When I asked him to clarify, he said: “Ain’t no white person earning my trust unless they admit to being racist and apologize on behalf of their ancestors.”

Although I strongly disagree with this view, I have some sympathy for it. For many African-Americans, focusing on white privilege allows them to assuage a damaged self-image that is the legacy of centuries of racial subjugation. That feeling should be taken seriously, not dismissed.

But the way to bring people of different races and viewpoints to the table is not by belaboring the unconscionable demand that white people confess their guilt for social problems that no individual could have created. To build understanding around issues of race, we instead should try to engage others in good faith, especially when doing so can be difficult.

Mr. Wood, a senior at Williams College, is a former Robert L. Bartley Fellow at the Journal.

1a) You Won’t Believe the Names the Left Is Calling ‘No Labels’

Our support for a Democratic lawmaker drew obscenities and accusations of bigotry.

By Margaret Kimbrell White and Sasha Borowsky

For an object lesson in how venomous American politics has become, look no further than the insults hurled in our direction late last month. We’re two millennial women who work at No Labels, a political reform movement founded in 2010 featuring Democrats, Republicans and independents working together to solve America’s toughest problems. In March, No Labels organized in support of Rep. Dan Lipinski, a moderate Democrat from Illinois whose primary challenger had been endorsed by a host of liberal interest groups.

After Mr. Lipinski narrowly won, the president of Naral Pro-Choice America, Ilyse Hogue, accused No Labels of following President Trump into “bigotry.” When our group tweeted that Mr. Lipinski’s victory showed “America’s political center is finally striking back,” Howard Dean, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, replied: “This is foolish nonsense.” Former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau complained that Mr. Lipinski had also voted against the Affordable Care Act and opposed same-sex marriage: “To call people who disagree with those positions the far left is a f— embarrassment.”

We don’t agree with Mr. Lipinski on every issue either. (Hey, Ms. Hogue, turns out we’re pro-choice, too.) But Mr. Lipinski still votes with his party 88% of the time. That hardly makes him a turncoat. Moreover, we think there’s a bigger problem in Washington than whether Mr. Lipinski passes any given group’s political litmus test.

Legislators in both parties have to worry too much about primary challenges from ideologues on the far left or far right. That’s why Democrats and Republicans are so unwilling to work across the aisle. And that in turn is why Congress is failing to address the biggest problems facing America.

Here’s a specific example. When the individual insurance market almost imploded last year, the far left (which wants a single-payer system) and the far right (which would be happy enough to watch ObamaCare’s exchanges collapse entirely) went straight to their respective ideological corners. They ignored the concerns of the ordinary Americans who stood to lose their medical coverage.

Dan Lipinski was one of the few in Congress determined to do something realistic to fix the problem. He worked out an agreement with a handful of his counterparts in the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus to help these Americans keep their insurance coverage and provide relief for small businesses. To this day, this is the only bipartisan health-care plan this Congress has proposed. It is the framework for a deal struck in the Senate last October.

You may argue that a lawmaker’s position on your favorite social issue is more important than his overall approach to governing. We don’t agree—but we also won’t call you names or dismiss you out of hand. Is asking that our view also be respected too much to ask? When Mr. Lipinski won, did liberals really need to vent their anger on Twitter by calling No Labels foolish, embarrassing bigots?

Belittling our group won’t convince anyone. Although the two of us don’t share Dan Lipinski’s views on abortion, his victory improves the chances that Congress may actually get something done for the American people. Many voters, like us, see the value in reaching across the aisle—and we aren’t going to be silenced, as the Illinois primary last month illustrates. Call us names, roll your eyes, encourage others to write us off. But understand this: We mean to fight back. We’re strong and we’re resilient. Like your hero Elizabeth Warren, we will persist.

Ms. White and Ms. Borowsky are, respectively, senior adviser and chief of staff at No Labels.

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