Katherine Kersten's Korner
It's time for a very special Father's Day edition of Katherine Kersten's Korner. Today's kolumn proves that Kersten just can't leave well enough alone when it comes to politicizing a non-political holiday.
Wingnuttia Level: 4 (Hidden agendas and bending of reality ahead)
The kolumn is about Joseph Phillips: actor, author, radio commentator, conservative. He has written a book on raising kids, politics, the whole bit. He calls on men to reclaim their roles as fathers in raising their kids. Controversial? No. Liberal or conservative? No, more like common-frickin'-sense.
Apparently, there are some people out there who do not know that children look to their parents as role models, or that you have to say no a lot to kids. Controversial? No. Liberal or conservative? No.
So then why does Kersten say that "Phillips' views aren't politically correct in an age when we often hear that family form doesn't matter because love is all that counts." Who the hell says that? What does that even mean? The only thing that I can think of is that through logical flips and loop-the-loops, Kersten is talking about those decadent liberals who support gay adoption or something like that, or families that don't always have two parents. Well, that's called life. Sometimes one parent who knows what they are doing is better than two who aren't there. Sometimes a same-sex couple can raise better kids than a heterosexual couple. Pointing that out isn't "political correct", it's just being accurate.
Phillips has an idea of what the community can do to help raise better kids: "How about not putting Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on magazine covers as the world's most beautiful, intriguing people?" Okay, but how is this political? Do liberals care about Hollywood in reality, or is this just some ridiculous stereotype?
Leave it to Kersten to latch onto something and try to use it to further her worldview. It's just sad, not to mention completely divorced from reality. I know conservatives who let Hollywood and TV raise their kids. I know liberals who never let their kids watch TV and probably don't even know that Brangelina are having kids.
Parents should take an active role in their kids' lives and protect them from those things that they don't want their kids exposed to. This isn't earth-shattering, this isn't political incorrect (or even correct). It just is. No need to make it political.
posted by MN Politics Guru @ 21:14
7 Comments:
Dude, you left out a very important piece of information from your hitpiece, and that is the racial background of the Mr. Phillips along with the title of his new book ("He Talk Like a White Boy: Reflections on Faith, Family, Politics and Authenticity"). As a result, you are even more dishonest than the person you are attacking.
The fact that Phillips is black is very relevant to the discussion, as over 70% of black children are raised by single mothers or their grandparents. Obviously, Kersten is making indirect references to this fact, although for reasons of political correctness, she does not mention this directly.
The approaches of liberals and conservatives to fixing the problem of black illegitimacy are very different, but for reasons of time, I will boil them down to this:
Liberals say, "It takes a village to raise a child", while conservative say "It takes a family to raise a child."
Mr. Phillip's race is unimportant to me. Unlike most people, when I say that I am color-blind, I mean it.
Besides, the facts of "black illegitimacy" (as you put it) don't have much to do with his message. Everybody, no matter what race, should be involved with their children's lives.
Since the article wasn't solely about a racial issue, I see no point in bringing up a person's race.
You are blind, not color-blind, Mr. Guru.
To gloss over the issue of single parent families among black Americans--especially given the huge disparity in this statistic compared to other races--means you are completely "in the dark" (double pun intended) about the struggles of black families. But for some strange reason, you clumsily attempted to divert the reader's attention by harping on the irrelvant issue of gay parenting. WTF?
Needless to say, even well-intentioned liberals such as the late Sen. Daniel Moynihan (NY) recognized back in the 1960s that out-of-wedlock children was the primary cause of black poverty. And so you have your reading assignment, buddy, along with a field trip: get your ass out of the white liberal cocoon in which you live and out into the real world.
On a side note, I have always observed that race was very important to liberals such as yourself, as affirmative action and quotas are typically race-based. After all, you white liberals like to portray yourselves as the the saviors of black Americans.
"To gloss over the issue of single parent families among black Americans--especially given the huge disparity in this statistic compared to other races--means you are completely "in the dark" (double pun intended) about the struggles of black families."
I'm not in the dark, I know that they exist. But as a lily-white liberal, I really don't have much to say that will be taken seriously by anybody, other than to say that out-of-wedlock births, joblessness, drug addictions, and so on are huge issues that need to be addressed.
Race is most important to those conservatives who are obsessed with it. I'm not the kind of "liberal" you seem to wish that I am, with a program to solve every problem.
Mr. Guru,
You have just confirmed (through your responses) that you are the type of liberal that I thought you were.
I quoteth thee: "I really don't have much to say that will be taken seriously by anybody."
You're ignorant, misleading and remarkably naive. Keep blogging! Americans need to understand the illogical liberal mind!
No, here's the problem: if I say that I have a grand plan for ending all of the problems in the black community, I will be one of those evil liberals who has a foolish plan for everything and thinks that "it takes a village".
If I don't have anything to say about the problem, then I am "ignorant, misleading and remarkably naive."
I am not black. I have not experienced being a black man. I have no real insights to share on this particular problem as a result, so unlike most people, I will admit my ignorance and leave it at that. I'm not going to pretend to be something else. I'm not going to pretend I have knowledge that I don't have.
But since with you, there is no way to win, there is no point in discussing things with you further.
You can say you are for higher standards & greater accountability, and against racial quotas. Does resonate?
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