White People talkin'

I love satire. Right. But what's worse then when satire goes bad? I have got to admit that what annoys me about this Steve Gaillard post is that it just isn't that funny. Funny is important, because context is everything in discussing race, which is why a black man can use language a white man cannot. It's called the Richard Pryor exemption. It's an exemption that I myself hold, when it comes to queers and white trash. So Gaillard's posting is indeed racist, because it was not funny. Humor would have changed that context.

But what's really annoying is how these kinds of things get mis-used by conservatives the same way that the ex-gay movement does; as a ticket to making outlandish oversimplifications:

Look! This blog posting proves that the Left are the real racists!
Look! Because of Jesus, this onetime tranny crack addict is now wearing a Men's Warehouse suit and standing next to his suspiciously over-made wife!
Look! The Clintons had cronyism too! Remember Travelgate? Anyone? Anyone?

It's not that these aren't valid points. It's just that they are quibbling points. Maybe that onetime tranny really did find a lurking heterosexual deep within himself. Who am I to say? I do know that the vast majority of gay folks, myself included, failed to ever change our orientation. The same way I know that many of the average white Republicans I grew up with don't give a shit about black people, except when they need something to rant about.
The White House Travel Office is not the Supreme Court.
And Michael Steele is not a "sambo". In fact, he may be the whitest man in Maryland.