The Tourettic bigotry of Matt Stoller

I don’t know Matt Stoller personally, I’ve read a few of his posts and have found him to be insightful. I am at a loss on a truly strange tirade against “right-wingers” this morning:

I find this discussion irritating, because it cuts to a basic problem with the nonpartisan new media blog pontificators who don't want to deal with the fact that the right-wing movement is populated by creepy racists. [...]

Right-wingers tend to hate a free media. Right-wingers tend to say creepy and racist things. Right-wingers tend to hate reporters who say that all isn't apple pie in Iraq.

Note that he doesn’t identify who these “creepy racists” are. Note also that the essence of bigotry is to identify people into a group and then to attribute characteristics to them based on that identification. Or, to do the converse, and to assume that because one person acts a certain way, s/he represents the group.

Seems Mr. Stoller is happy to indulge in such when imagining the “right-wing movement”. I don’t know what the right-wing movement is. Mr. Stoller does not address those individuals he finds offensive; rather, he invents a group and calls it a movement. Sensing a tendency here?

Mr. Stoller’s post is one of raging bigotry against a right-wing straw man. I am sure he needed to get this off his chest, and many of us do about those with whom we disagree. Stoller’s post, unfortunately, follows the sort of acid logic that tells us that African-Americans like watermelon and Jews are cheap. I’m of Arab descent — have anything to tell me, Matt?

Every stereotype is true if that’s what you are looking for. I am sure that you can find racists who are right-wing, right-wingers who are racist, and folks that fit the examples I name above.

I am sincerely trying to find out what racism he is talking about, as I take such criticism to heart. Let’s try this:

This has to do with a flat-out racist and warmongering right-wing movement that doesn't like a woman [Jill Carroll] whose survival cuts against their narrative.

I really don’t follow. Is he talking about Ms. Carroll’s race? I’m not sure that’s even been reported. I think he is trying to imply that certain bloggers unfairly criticized the pro-terrorist statements she was forced to make before her release. That may be a reasonable complaint, but what it is the racism angle?

If I may continue with Mr. Stoller’s tone, let us remind ourselves that the identity politics of the “the left” has brought us things like housing projects and a push toward the welfare state, which have done more to damage race relations than any troll in some comment area.

“The left”, should we indulge that it exists, is the last redoubt of the angry bigot. On the right, in my humble observation, such bigotry represents an extreme element that is shunned when it is found. On the left, wrapped in the soothing language of identity politics, bigotry is mainstream.

Comments

[TwoHands88Keys]

The left only speaks to the left who hold the unrealistic extreme image of the right being warmongers, racists, misers, dictators, and just plain mean people. They speak it to each other and will take each example they believe fits and repeat it as if it makes the incorrect generalization into the truth. Often, those examples fall outside of "the right" or even fall into "the left", but the left are also quick to ostricize their own ranks if it helps them maintain their clique's "image". In summary, the left is all about image... not substance.

[The Gentle Cricket]

I don't think that the left ostricizes it's own too often. While conservatives spoke out in droves against serial plagiarist Ben Domenech or Ann coulter's use of "rag-head", Howard Dean's racist comments and Rep McKinney's recent debacle go unmentioned.

[Jeremiah]

With this and other recent posts, you're really hitting some good points. Real zingers: "... the last redoubt of the angry bigot" Good to see. My bad for not keeping up. Power to you!

[TwoHands88Keys]

To TGC: Make sure you let the liberal "Black Hebrews" know that the left isn't ridiculing them almost to the point of demonizing them as a mindless cult... instead of supporting their own supporters.