The day Basil whitened

OK, OK, just one more history post! I'm procasting writing something big that will be up for tomorrow morning - on the Corleone Family of the modern American right - and besides, my fans seem to clamor for this stuff.

Remember, a couple of days ago, when Ol' Man Limbaugh wailed like a baby who wanted his diaper changed after the Republican presidential candidates were asked at their May 15 debate whether the Republican Party should be worried that there were no women and minorities on the stage. Whined Rush: "you know, the Democrats never get those kinds of questions because it's always assumed that they're fair and just, and not discriminatory and all that."

People acted like some new low had been sounded. But when the subject is winguttery, there truly isn't anything new under the sun. It just reminded me of the North Carolina congressman with the apt name of Basil Whitener who whinged during debate on the 1966 civil rights bill about an amendment offering relief for Negroes injured or intimidated while voting: "Why cannot a person who is injured or intimidated be a white person for once?"

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