JESSE WASHINGTON * ANDSCAPE * ESPN * THE UNDEFEATED
  • Home
  • Articles
  • BOOKS
  • FILMS
  • Music
  • Bio
  • Speaking
  • Contact

The Cain Chronicles, Part 3: "Lynch Leverage"

11/4/2011

2 Comments

 
From the Merriam-Webster online dictionary:

lynch verb \’linch\

transitive verb
: to put to death (as by hanging) by mob action without legal sanction. Example: The accused killer was lynched by an angry mob. First Known Use: 1836

Perhaps future dictionaries will include a section on this word as a political weapon. Twenty years after Clarence Thomas turned the tables on his accusers by describing questions about his sexual conduct as a "high-tech lynching," the word is being used by Cain's supporters to defend him against accusations from anonymous women that Cain made inappropriate sexual remarks years ago.

This reminded me of a more recent use of the word, during the Rod Blagojevich scandal. Accused of selling the Senate seat vacated after Barack Obama was elected president, Blago shot back by appointing Roland Burris to fill the position. Burris is black. There were, at that point, no black U.S. senators.

Even though Blago's appointment seemed doomed by his corruption charges, Burris' blackness was used to push him into the Senate. Swinging the hammer was Chicago congressman Bobby Rush. Weeks earlier, Rush had said that Blago "has no moral basis for appointing the next senator from the state of Illinois. ... That person would be as tainted as they could be." But when Burris' name was called, Rush stood next to Blago and said, "I would ask you not to hang or lynch the appointee as you castigate the appointer ... There are no African-Americans in the Senate, and I don't think that anyone, any U.S. senator who is sitting right now would want to go on record to deny one African-American from being seated in the U.S. Senate. I don't think they want to go on record doing that."

The specter of the noose worked. Despite initial vows from Senate Democrats not to let Burris in, he was seated and served out the remainder of Obama's term. He did not run for re-election in 2010. 

Now here we are with Cain and another case of lynch leverage. Webster's, take note.
2 Comments
replica rolex gmt link
5/18/2014 07:47:12 pm

Should you be sunglass kiosk come in a new store, your look doing work a long time will certainly need ohio state university physicians a long time.

Reply
fake hermes handbags link
6/20/2014 04:31:24 pm

Handbags are one such accessory that is been used by women since centuries.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Jesse Washington is a Senior Writer for ESPN's TheUndefeated.com

    Archives

    January 2016
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011

    Categories

    All
    Abraham Lincoln
    Affirmative Action
    Al Sharpton
    Asians
    Baha'i
    Baha'i
    Barbershop
    Because They're Black
    Being White
    Black Boys
    Clarence Thomas
    College Admissions
    Condoleeza Rice
    Ebonics
    Football
    Hair
    Herman Cain
    Hollywood
    Interracial
    Martin Luther King
    Mike Vick
    President Barack Obama
    Race Cards
    Race Statistics
    Reconciliation
    Republicans And Race
    Structural Racism
    Suburbs
    The Media
    The Story Behind The Story
    Trayvon Martin
    Unsung Heroes
    Welfare
    White Supremacy
    Young America

    RSS Feed

Serving Fresh Words Daily from '86 to Infinity. All Rights Reserved, Son! 

  • Home
  • Articles
  • BOOKS
  • FILMS
  • Music
  • Bio
  • Speaking
  • Contact