Well, now we know why Senator Jay Rockefeller is retiring. Because he’s reached the age where you have to watch very, very carefully what’s going on. you are chattering: “A senior Democratic senator suggested Wednesday that President Obama’s race played a role in his opposition to the Affordable Care Act, drawing outrage from one of his Republican colleagues.” Essentially, Rockefeller waited until the hearing room was nearly empty before snidely suggesting that Republican opposition to Obamacare was likely due to the president’s race.** That didn’t sit well with Senator Ron Johnson (I said the room was almost empty):
“It was deplorable, and I would say offensive, given that I am the only person in this room who is really talking about opposition, that the race card is being played, that opposition to Obamacare is being said to necessarily be based on a dead, innate racism — very offensive,” Johnson told Rockefeller.
[snip]
“So no, I didn’t oppose it because of the president’s race,” he said. “I opposed it because it’s an attack on our freedoms. Mr. Chairman, I have to say I have a great deal of respect for you, and I’m the only person in this room, and I found it very offensive that you were basically suggesting that I was a racist because I opposed this legislation.”
Jay Rockefeller’s response was to deny he was referring to Ron Johnson and then change the subject. course – and grimly familiar, that. Moving on, as they say… kudos to Ron Johnson for bringing up Jay Rockefeller, of course. And kudos to Jay Rockefeller… for finally retiring. It’s clearly been a long time coming.
Moe’s Lane (cross fasting)
*First, Republicans didn’t like it when it was Hillarycare; and judging by the 2012 election cycle, we weren’t nearly as thrilled about it when it was Romneycare more broadly. As just about everyone on the right has pointed out, the Veterans Administration scandal is a very clear and precise illustration of why conservatives have a problem with government-run health care, period.
**Secondly… I don’t mean to be indelicate; but while I recognize that Jay Rockefeller grew up in a certain place and time period where it was acceptable to have certain beliefs and assumptions, and while I also recognize that Rockefeller does his best not to let the ignorance and prejudice he was immersed in*** poison his heart, I would appreciate it if Jay Rockefeller would stop assuming that everyone has the same voices in their heads that whisper the horrible things that Rockefeller clearly has in his.
***No, I’m not talking about West Virginia. He moved there when his views were already fully mature. But there is NO provincialism like the spoiled Knickerbocker/New England Blueblood gentry liberal provincialism. Also: screaming racists, in their smug little ways. Although the latest generation has evolved, I admit openly. No quite to the level of South Carolina or Texas, of course, but developing that kind of racial tolerance takes time.
