I know, I know, it's not really worth taking John Derbyshire seriously. The National Review blogger is extreme, sure, and sometimes offensive, but can't we all be adults and put up with his idiosyncracies? Why are we getting all bent out of shape? Why is everyone so touchy these days? Well, maybe because the prospect of a black president is making Derbyshire's head explode, and the results aren't pretty. Here he is today:
Maybe I'm jaded, but I really need persuading that when I look at Barack Obama, I'm not just seeing Al Sharpton minus the pompadour and the attitude.
Black folks and their "attitude", right? Derbyshire follows this post up with another gem, which I'll quote at length:
A thing I hear a lot, following the campaign trail (and just a few minutes ago, in my e-mail box) is something like: "Oh, this race business, it's just you older types who go on about it. Young people like me, the 18-30 crowd, we really are past it all. It just doesn't matter to us at all. Black, white, Hispanic, we really don't care."
Now, you know me; I really, really hate to burst anybody's bubble. However, the crowd of 21-year-olds I graduated with back in 1966 were just as convinced of their own post-racial righteousness as this present cohort are. So, I am sure, were the graduates of 1976, 1986, and 1996. It's to do with being young.
Those damn idealistic kids wanting to move behind racism--the nerve! In such a society, after all, there would be no room for bigoted writers at "intellectually serious" magazines. It's time National Review sent him packing.
--Isaac Chotiner