Sterling, Silver

I've thought Donald Sterling (nee Tokowitz) was a pig since he moved the Clippers from San Diego in 1984 when I lived there. Commissioner Adam Silver banning him from the NBA for life over racist comments is entirely appropriate.

Yet the affair leaves a bad taste. It is not news that Sterling makes outspoken racist statements and discriminated as a landlord. One wonders why the NAACP was going to give him a lifetime achievement award before the latest blowup. And at age 80, that lifetime ban's sure to sting.

But this time Sterling met that strange inflection point in our culture when the insatiable appetite of 24/7 media meets a bad rich ugly white dude spewing hate and subjects him to the same beat-down as one of the victims of Billy Bob Thornton's character in FX's Fargo. Then America pats itself on the back and moves on.

Time wounds all heels. Or so we wish. I suffer from schadenfreude-interruptus.

The trouble is, what is Sterling's infraction compared with the six years of hatred dumped on President Obama by the Party of Lincoln? Hatred whose roots are deep in racial antagonism and fear. But the best of them do it better than Sterling. As Andy Borowitz satirized the (shocker!) racist ranting by welfare queen moocher Cliven Bundy:

Republican politicians blasted the Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy on Thursday for making flagrantly racist remarks instead of employing the subtler racial code words the G.O.P. has been using for decades.

“We Republicans have worked long and hard to develop insidious racial code words like ‘entitlement society’ and ‘personal responsibility,’ ” said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky). “There is no excuse for offensive racist comments like the ones Cliven Bundy made when there are so many subtler ways of making the exact same point.”

Fox News also blasted the rancher, saying in a statement, “Cliven Bundy’s outrageous racist remarks undermine decades of progress in our effort to come up with cleverer ways of saying the same thing.”

Remember Sarah Palin, the half-term governor of Alaska, shrieking before Nuremberg-like rallies about "real Americans" during the 2008 campaign?

Remember the years of demanding Obama's birth certificate, where "respectable" Republicans would say, at best, something like, "He says he was born in Hawaii, so..."? The constant references to Kenya? The thuggish takeover of Democratic lawmakers' town halls in the 2010 campaign? All the dog whistles about That (Black) Man in the White House?

One of our "two great political parties" used Mr. Obama's race as the prime rallying point for their base. And no consequences. None. No censure from Very Serious People.

Post-racial America, my ass.

And what about Joe Arpaio, the Badged Ego, Nickel-Bag Joe, High Sheriff of Maricopa County? He has used the most overt and brutal racial tactics against Hispanics, only to be re-elected again and again (and in campaigns against highly qualified candidates). Jan Brewer, accidental governor (thanks, St. Janet), rode Mes'can Hate to a big election victory over Terry Goddard.

Meanwhile, one of the most important projects of the Republican Party is laws that make it much harder or impossible for minorities to vote. This to maintain their white supremacy even as the demographics of many New Confederacy states shift against them.

The poor, working-class whites have been convinced by the Oligarch-controlled or intimidated media that their enemy is people of color. Especially that "socialist" (excuse me, SOCIALIST!!! WHAT PART OF FORGED BIRTH CERTIFICATE DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!) Barack Hussein Obama. Before that, the Southern Strategy had worked very well. But Obama's election was gold.

The 24/7 outrage against these much greater, more poisonous transgressions is lacking.

No lifetime bans for Palin, Michele Bachmann, Rush Limbaugh, Rep. Joe Wilson (who showed such class in his unprecedented shout of "You Lie" in Mr. Obama's State of the Union speech), Jim "Break Him" DeMint, wealthy Republican Willard "Mitt" Romney of the 47 percent, Tucker Carlson, Newt ("The Food Stamp President") Gingrich, and all the tea partiers with their bumper stickers, lynching allusions and "send him back to Kenya."

No price paid. The Republicans, The Party That Wrecked America, are actually poised to retake the Senate.

Maybe that's why I don't feel particularly satisfied about the fate of the very wealthy Donald Sterling.

 

Comments

[Suzanne]

Excellent column! I have nothing to add.

[100 Octane]

"And at age 80, that lifetime ban's sure to sting"...
That's two good laughs I have had today, the other being the Soleri comment "and Horizon became as boring as Phoenix" in the previous comments concerning Phoenix in the 30s.
Otherwise, an excellent column on the sad state of affairs we find ourselves in.

[soleri]

Say what you will about Sterling, I don't recall him trying to exclude poor people - disproportionately black, of course - from Medicaid access under Obamacare expansion. I don't recall him leveraging USSC rulings to take away people's basic right to even vote. I don't recall him imputing a "culture" problem to an entire race. I don't recall him hiring tokens for his basketball team in order to bamboozle Americans into thinking he wasn't a racist. And I don't recall him fighting to kick millions off food stamps and shave benefits for others while increasing subsidies for Big Ag. No, Sterling may be a registered Republican but for the really serious racism, you have to check people like Rick Snyder, Rick Perry, Bob McDonnell, Scott Walker, most GOP congressmen and senators, and then the tens of millions of ordinary Republicans who cannot even connect two dots without getting confused by the naked political gambits of their own party. "We're not racist! It's the Democrats! Lincoln freed the slaves! Robert Byrd was KKK!"

The Republican Party is not merely dishonest, it's full of pathological liars, cheats, assholes, greedheads, and ideological absolutists who easily surpass an amateur like Sterling in the real racism sweepstakes.

But, the False Equivalence shall not be challenged. Democrats "take blacks for granted", for example. Never mind that Democrats have not only "lost the South for a generation", pace LBJ. It's actually getting worse going into the third generation! Democrats now have a smaller percentage of the white working class in their entire history. And there's only one explanation for it. Only one: Republican racism works like an evil neuro-toxin in the American brain. It tells low-information white voters that pretty much everything is the fault of minorities. It does what political operatives like Karl Rove want: it has taken over our political discourse in order to burlesque it and then rape it. It did it because people are both easily beguiled and persuaded by ugly messaging.

Donald Sterling is a pathetic, ancient relic and probably bewildered by the sudden twist of fate his life has suffered. There's a great novel here (although the one to write it, Saul Bellow, is gone). But to mainstream racism in this country, you needed more than a great artist. You needed practitioners of the political black arts. And Republicans found them, nurtured them, unleashed them, and inflicted them on the country they purport to love.

[cal Lash]

Soleri, you can write this book: “Donald Sterling is a pathetic, ancient relic and probably bewildered by the sudden twist of fate his life has suffered. There's a great novel here (although the one to write it, Saul Bellow, is gone). “
I am especially interested in how you write Sterling’s “Lady” friend into the plot.
Jon, I agree with this great article but I have a few thoughts about Sterling. I believe his remarks were led by his Penis and the resultant lack of blood flow to his brain. And, just supposing his “Lady” friend is telling the “truth” when she said Donald baby agreed to her recording the conversation! Where the heck does that take this deal?

[cal Lash]

Soleri said "You needed practitioners of the political black arts. And Republicans found them, nurtured them, unleashed them, and inflicted them on the country they purport to love."

A republican bus ready to roll into the next civil war.

http://www.guns.com/2014/04/29/take-a-ride-inside-magpuls-mbus-pro-photos/

[Rogue Columnist]

Soleri,
Brilliant.

[Emil Pulsifer]

Mr. Talton wrote:

"It is not news that Sterling makes outspoken racist statements and discriminated as a landlord. One wonders why the NAACP was going to give him a lifetime achievement award before the latest blowup."

Well, it isn't good looks. It isn't love of Black people. What does that leave? Hmmm...

Well, according to Forbes, Sterling's net worth is $1.9 BILLION. In the aftermath of past racial allegations, including being forced to pay the largest federal housing discrimination lawsuit settlement ever obtained by the Justice Department, he made a LOT of contributions trying to salvage his public reputation.

I'm not disappointed in Sterling because he's an inveterate racist and I never expected otherwise from him; I am very disappointed with the NAACP for selling out. Literally.

"The trouble is, what is Sterling's infraction compared with the six years of hatred dumped on President Obama by the Party of Lincoln?"

It's probably no coincidence that, "According to the Los Angeles Board of Elections, Sterling is a registered Republican, who first registered in California in 1974. The state database's records have listed him as a Republican since 2002. He voted in both the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections." (Washington Post)

Of course, Sterling is a player and has also given money to the Democratic Party; but it's clear where his sympathies are, and it isn't with Barack Obama and the Democrats who support him.

"And at age 80, that lifetime ban's sure to sting."

Losing the power over the team is, but being forced to sell (if he is) isn't going to hurt too much, since he bought the team in 1982 for $12 million and it is now estimated to be worth anywhere from $475 million to a billion dollars.

[Chris Thomas]

What Soleri said. The ongoing destruction of the middle class and of public education are the result of conscious, cynical policy choices by plutocrats whose electoral prospects depend on indefinitely maintaining a lightly educated class of resentful white voters. These are features, not bugs.

[Bearsense]

More than the racism, Mr Sterling's feelings for anyone delivering "labor" condemn him:
“I support them and give them food, and clothes, and cars, and houses. Who
gives it to them? Does someone else give it to them? … Who makes the game?
Do I make the game, or do they make the game? Is there 30 owners that
created the league?”

[eclecticdog]

The more we know, the uglier this gets. Money is all that really matters, that's way he and those around him live the pathetic life. They have sold their souls.

[cal Lash]

one must have a soul to sell!

[eclecticdog]

cal, are you getting philosophical?

wgh (and other readers): if you are interested is some good hillbilly redneck scribblin' ana writin', go to Joe Bageant's site:

http://www.joebageant.com/joe/

He's passed on but his essays are kept alive online.

[wkg in bham]

@dog: thanks for the link. checkedit out. good stuff.

[Allen Weiner]

Damn you are brilliant. I am in awe, as always

[Tim]

This commentary is great, too!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/29/bomani-jones-donald-sterling_n_5233565.html?utm_hp_ref=email_share

[cal lash]

Thanks wiener glad U noticed?

[Petro]

"He was set up." (Generic quote signifying shit that I hear from some white people.)

What an interesting meme. Exploring...

People are sick of Sterling, people know his Achilles Heel, people exploit it.

Now, I'm all about outing a racist. In the interests of what? Well, to further stigmatize racism so that emerging generations have less of a taste for it.

Were there other motives for sticking it to Sterling? Perhaps and probably. And the fact that there may have been motives unrelated to his racism sucks. But I'm not about to go and defend Sterling because the motives suck.

I feel the vertigo of hypocrisy, maybe, because...

There have been quite a few "terrorists" caught in the law's web who were similarly set up (if Sterling was indeed "set up,") and this practice is ongoing. This bothers me. The Sterling case, not so much.

I'm trying to distill the difference, if there is one, between the two.

This is me, "writing it out."

First thought is, fuck racism, so Sterling needs ostracization.

Second though is, fuck terrorism, so... hey, wait, this is way beyond ostracization. These fuckers get jail and "enhanced interrogation."

And "terrorist" is a bit of a more debatable concept then "racist."

So, yeah, I don't care if he was "set up."

[Diane D'Angelo]

Yeah, what is this BS about him being "set up"? Is there a proper way to expose racism? I must have missed that chapter in the etiquette book.

[Petro]

You know, I really really hate it when someone like Diane D'Angelo comes along and says something more economically than I did.

OK, no, I actually love it. :)

[cal Lash]

Disgusting story about a disgusting old man. And it just keeps getting more disgusting.

Please tell me if I am hearing this wrong. I thought there was an hour long agreed to recording between Donald Disgusting and his friend that is a Girl.

Then she hands copies off to some friends one of which may have "wrongly" released it to the press.
Does that sound like a SET UP.

Like Donald Disgusting isn't smart enough to know an hour long tape recording couldn't eventually do him great harm. Sounds like his brain was not in gear.

And is there a proper way to set up someone that justifies rendition water-boarding anybody in a solitary dark hole in the universe.

[Ruben]

When I'm 80, the only 23 year old I want around me is the Depends delivery guy.

The only empathy I have for the ambassador killed in Libya is the same empathy I have for the guy in Alaska who thought he was a bear, till the bear ate him. The ambassador felt a "connection' with the Libyans. Ya, right.

The real IRS scandal is that 501c's are being so blatantly abused by both parties. Based on his actions on Benghazi and the IRS, Darrell Issa may just be the dumbest congressman of this new century.

I hate it when Cinco de mayo falls on a non-drinking day. What a waste.

I hate it when politicians and the media get together for a friendly dinner. They shouldn't be friends. They should be bitter enemies. It works best for us that way.

[wkg in bham]

"The kidnapped Nigerian girls show that religious conservatives hate educationPeople are finally paying attention to the 300 girls abducted..."

The Guardian can't even write an accurate headline. Gutless bastards.

[wkg in bham]

@Ruben "I hate it when politicians and the media get together for a friendly dinner. They shouldn't be friends. They should be bitter enemies. It works best for us that way."

Amen. Couldn't have said it better.

[wmscott]

Wow John, you have brought leftist name calling to a whole new level here. You must be proud.

Younare giving Sterling a run for his money here.

[wkg in bham]

Mr. Scott: This is a lefty site. You have to expect righteous indignation, naive idealism and hyperbolic overstatement. It goes with the territory. But they do have some good ideas. Just be patient.

[cal Lash]

WKG, "Lefty site"?
Name calling seems beneath your previous posts.
I have been a registered republican since 1961. I try not to do too much name calling but here!
My territory is not with Nut job right wing religious kooks. Particularly ones that run around the country pointing large guns at innocent people including women and children and stating they are ready to kill.
I consider this blog a place for everyone to make a comment right, left, middle, green, white, red, blue or yellow.

[wkg in bham]

@Cal: As I have said before, I consider Jon and Soleri as defining the ethos of the site. I don’t know how any rational person could look at their writing as being anything but from the left side of the aisle. I don’t consider calling someone a “lefty” as name calling. I guess you’d have to label me as being pretty much of a “righty”, except on those things where I can be pretty “lefty”.

[cal Lash]

Hey Ruben whats ethos mean? never mind i looked it up.
Means i seldom make any sense.
Aisle? Boundary? Line in the sand? Killing field?
Paladin rides.

[wkg in bham]

Have gun will reads the card of a man.
A man without....I can't remember the rest.

[cal Lash]

Charlemagne

[cal Lash]

Dirty old Racist?
seems to like women of color.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-sterling-stiviano-20140504-story.html

[eclecticdog]

His money and cock are colorblind. The rest of his racist self is laughing all the way to the bank. Will he be at the championship ceremony if the Clippers take it all?

[cal Lash]

Eclectic dog, not electricdog
I look for Sterling and his wife to sue everyone

[eclecticdog]

Ted Rall's take (bonus for Petro, a philosophical musing!):

http://rall.com/2014/04/30/los-angeles-times-cartoon-deconstructing-donald-sterling