Herman Cain And "Some Of My Best Friends Are "Fill In The Blank" Argument

I always got a good belly laugh when someone who is clearly anti-semitic, racist, or homophobic will invariably say "my best friend, wife, girlfriend, et cetera is Jewish, African American, gay, et cetera" and then launch into a tirade against said group.

It's akin to when someone starts a sentence with the preface " that no offense is intended.". You just know someone who is going to get offended.

The Tea Party embrace of Herman Cain is part and parcel of the phenomenon. It allows the Tea Baggers to say "How can we be racist when we support Herman Cain ." They support Herman Cain because he reinforces their prejudices by suggesting the poor are envious and lazy and that is why they are poor without attributing any blame to the society that is at least partially responsible for their condition.

He's not like "all the rest...you know."

some white liberals could be racially insensitive - and the proof offered by many was the argument that no one who voted for a black man for president could be in any way racially bigoted.

Obviously, that is not true.

Not just this thread. The whole damn web site.

So that meant he could not be against immigrants due to bigotry!

There's no way those right wingers will let Cain be the nominee. They are just using him to claim they are not racist. But they are too racist to really nominate him.

They may allow a black conservative on the Supreme Court. But their precious Presidency, the way they view it? No way.