The River Green

We are simple people here in Pittsburgh, PA. If you've ever been here, you know that we are a drinking town with a football problem. New York we are not. Neither are we 'The Pitts'. I love this city, for all of its problems and 'growing pains' prove that we are a resilient people rising to various challenges and thriving from them.

I'm not the only resident who was completely shocked to hear about this alleged attack; while McCain's politics are not those of the vast majority of us, we tend to be respectful of others' opinions, views, lifestyles, etc. It seemed misplaced, improbable in my city- as it turned out to be.

Congressman Murtha recently accused the area of being racist to a certain degree. This is a label that is not entirely mis-attributed but has become less relevant in recent years. Due in part, not surprisingly, to the appointment as head coach of our beloved Steelers, Mike Tomlin, one of only ten African-Americans to hold such a post in NFL history (thank you Dan Rooney!).

The point is this...

Such a claim that a big, bad, black man robbed then sexually assaulted a defenseless white woman in the name of a black presidential candidate plays not into the secret fears of closet racists or perpetrators of the Bradley Effect, but of anxious liberals wondering if their vote is or is not going to become one of the eventual 10 million ultimately not counted at the hands of Republicans who will do anything to keep all but every vote from being counted in our 'battleground' state. Call me a conspiracy nut if you must, but it is clear that someone at McCain's Pittsburgh camp did not explicitly discourage this woman to self-mutilate herself so that every one of our supposed deepest, darkest racist fears would play out at the polls in the form of a Bradley Effect, thus delivering Pennsylvania's 23 Electoral Votes squarely in the column for McCain. Far from being a conspiracy nut, I'm a realist having read 'Block the Vote' and seen first hand, in November and December of 2000, the shameless, deepest, darkest depths of morality into which the Republican party will delve in order to circumvent the election process to grow, keep or obtain power.

The point is also this...

In a state whose record is firmly Democratic in all but three of the last eleven Presidential elections (a fact I remind myself of, then smile inwardly at the pundits who still claim that Pennsylvania is 'up for grabs'), in a city whose proudly Democratic roots go back to 1930, you would indeed have to be crazy to support McCain.

Labels: Pittsburgh , politics