Sunday, October 19, 2008

Ben Affleck should go into politics.

Because he made a very important and necessary point that the media has failed to point out over the last few weeks.

By way of background, if you haven't seen this, check it out:



And then, behold. Friday night. Go to 5:15 to be precise, although Martin Short is of course hilarious and awesome:



And this morning, former Secretary of State Colin Powell speaks eloquently and almost tearfully about these tactics. Go to about 4:20 for the key:



Simply put, Arab does not equal Terrorist. To suggest or assert otherwise is disgraceful.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for collecting these videos! I missed Colin Powell this morning because I had my crazy Republican parents in the house, and didn't want to deal with their complaints ... but this was great.

Anonymous said...

Although it is certainly reasonable to interpret McCain's words the way Ben Affleck did, is it not also quite reasonable to interpret McCain's words as, first, informing the nut-woman that Obama is NOT an Arab, and then, second, going even further by telling her that Obama is a good man whom she should not fear?

I don't believe John McCain believes Arabs are "bad" people, which is why I think people are a little quick on the trigger on this particular point.

Like him or not - I've been mortified by his selection of a vice-presidential running mate and insane focus on Bill Ayers - McCain has not injected race or religion into this campaign. He could have, but he hasn't.

Harmless Error said...

I don't think John McCain believes that either, and actually Ben Affleck said that later in the show (that he probably got tripped up a bit). Colin Powell also said he doesn't think John McCain is a racist.

However, I do believe the way OTHER people in HIS campaign speak and insinuate things does reflect on him and his beliefs, and if he really disagreed with the morality of some of these tactics, which he probably does, he should do something about it.

I also meant to accuse the media as much as anyone in the McCain camp. The fact that Ben Affleck has to make a point that someone else should have made long before (maybe someone did and I just didn't see it) means something.

This will all be water under the bridge, one way or another, in a matter of days. Hopefully.

Speaking of which, I watched HBO's "Recount" today and was highly entertained and educated. Eight years ago was a long time, and I was a sophomore in college. Yes, an interested sophomore, but still. If you haven't seen it I recommend it.