The Cynical Misuse of the Words Bigot and Racist

Websters says that a bigot is “a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance”

Calling someone a bigot is certainly an insult and much worse if the party uttering the word absolutely knows better. That is cynicism at its deepest level.

The sexist accusation is just silly. My arm was bruised the other night as Jim continually pointed out “the show” from his smoking hot 2nd row seats at the Suns game. Not that I didn’t appreciate the heads up…

I also looked up the term racist, and Websters says,
“1 : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race 
2 : racial prejudice or discrimination.”
Clearly, I said no such thing. In a moment of anger, Hags overreached and made a scurrilous accusation as a way of lashing out. When I posted my answer to his question, I worried that he may respond with an “I’m outta here” purely on the basis that I think my party is more thoughtful and intelligent than his. Please see my Obama/Palin response to his “Why are Liberals…” post for more on this topic.

For the record, I do not believe that Jews possess any inherent superiority based upon race. I think that the reason for their undisputable success is cultural. Education in particular is honored within the community, which surely leads to all of the post-grad degrees. The Jews have had to work harder and smarter than the dominant culture over the years, for they have been an oppressed minority the world over. In this country, they have only escaped institutional racism in the last fifty or sixty years. So – why is it that such an educated group would overwhelmingly vote Democratic? Does it speak well of the Democrats? I say it does.

James Webb wrote a book that I will soon read called “Born Fighting, How the Scots-Irish Shaped America.” Is such a topic racist? Or, has the Scots-Irish culture continued to influence our country centuries after their first arrival? Is it okay to even ask the question or does it reveal a latent racism? You know my opinion. I look forward to learning more about an ethnic group that has so influenced our culture. I make no apologies.

Words have meaning, guys. You should not throw words like bigot and racist around so casually. I’ll give Hags a pass on this – he doesn’t know me and sometimes he succumbs to a moment of pique. The Good Doc has no excuse. He should be vouching for me rather than stoking the fire.