Lonzie Cox, Jr. – 9/15/05

This page was last updated on September 15, 2005.

Racism and incompetence; Lonzie Cox, Jr.; Beaver County Times; September 15, 2005. I am not related to Mr. Cox.

I was becoming worried that Mr. Cox no longer saw the world in terms of racism. As it turns out, I didn’t need to worry at all.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“For the first time since George W. Bush became president, the national media have had enough courage to criticize some of his actions.”

[RWC] This is at least the second letter within the last few days to claim the press has been easy on President Bush. Anyone remember Rathergate and the incessant badgering at press conferences? Has Mr. Cox missed the rantings of folks like Dowd, Krugman, et cetera? Given the ridiculous position that the media has been easy on President Bush, this must be a talking point being passed around to anti-Bush writers.

“The hurricane has forced the media to examine how Bush and his regime acts under pressure. We know how he ignored the August 6, 2001, memo telling him Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda were planning to attack us using hijacked aircraft. We know how the media helped Bush deceive the American public by simply not printing what they knew to be the truth to protect him as he got us stuck in Iraq with his immoral and mindless invasion of that country.”

[RWC] Oh man, the August 6, 2001, presidential daily briefing (PDB) talking point again. To refresh your memory, here’s the story. That PDB did not indicate a plan “to attack us using hijacked aircraft.” The PDB simply reiterated old intelligence that bin Laden wanted to attack us and/or hijack planes. At no point did the PDB even imply the planes would be used as weapons. The PDB concluded with, “The FBI is conducting approximately 70 full-field investigations throughout the U.S. that it considers bin Laden-related. CIA and the FBI are investigating a call to our embassy in the UAE in May saying that a group or bin Laden supporters was in the U.S. planning attacks with explosives.” With “70 full-field investigations” in progress, does it sound like anyone ignored the threat?

“We know how the media helped Bush deceive the American public,” is Mr. Cox serious? When was the last time you saw anything positive about our efforts in Iraq, or even Afghanistan?

“The Sept. 4 editorial (‘America’s disgrace’) did a great job of emphasizing how well the U.S. government is able to respond to crises worldwide when it has the will to do so. I can’t add to what the editorial said.

“The coverage of most of the media has left no doubt as to whom the vast amount of the victims were. The TV coverage has shown that most of the death and property damage, in New Orleans at least, were in the parts of town most populated by African-Americans.”

[RWC] I assume Mr. Cox realizes 67% of New Orleans citizens are black according to the 2000 census. As a result, it would seem to follow most of the people affected would be black. Most of the folks I saw were black Americans, but I don’t know if they were also Africans.

“There has been much speculation about whether everyday American racism played a part in the slow response of the federal government agencies. When one considers Bush’s resistance to affirmative action, equal employment opportunity and his appointment of ultra conservative hacks to the Supreme Court, how can racism be eliminated for sure? I think it’s incompetence as much as racism. No one could plan such a specialized destruction by flood. Fire, maybe. Flood, no.”

[RWC] Mr. Cox fails to recognize so-called “affirmative action” is itself a form of racism. What else do you call it when you believe you should get special consideration because of your skin color?

“Ultra conservative hacks?” First, President Bush has had only one Supreme Court nomination. Anyone who would consider Judge Roberts a “hack” has serious credibility problems.

“Racism could no doubt be blamed because of the centuries-long combination of slavery, Civil War, reconstruction, Jim Crow, mortgage redlining, and job discrimination.”

[RWC] Mr. Cox conveniently forgets to mention Democrats have controlled Louisiana and New Orleans “forever.” Further, all New Orleans mayors since the late 1970s have been Democrat AND black. Most of the New Orleans government power structure is also black. Is Mr. Cox claiming both Democrats and blacks discriminated against black citizens?

Finally, when will slavery cease being an excuse for folks like Mr. Cox? Should Jews also fall back on slavery because the Egyptians enslaved them thousands of years ago?