Media Matters noticed that Bill O’Reilly decided he had a lot to say about Asian-Americans yesterday. Here’s video:
The money shot is this: “…Asian people are not liberal, you know, by nature. They’re usually more industrious and hard-working.” There is so much wrong with those two sentences that I don’t even know where to begin. First of all, Republicans are going to have to get off this bullshit theory that all liberals are lazy. It’s a big reason why Mitt Romney lost the presidency, and it’s an off-putting fallacy. Second, Gallup disagrees with O’Reilly. Third, you might not want to insult an incredibly diverse group of Americans with broad generalizations if you’re trying to win their vote.
Is there any evidence that liberals are not lazy?
I mean, let’s be honest with our Portland selves: if you take a look at the shaggy haired and bearded “creative” type who haven’t had a job in two years (and is not actively seeking work), I’m going to bet that you’re looking at someone who 1) has no conception of political parties (and yet still has traditional liberal-leaning views) or 2) self-identifies as a “liberal-I-guess” and 3) definitely considers their band/drug habit to be “what they’re doing with their time.”
Meanwhile, laziness tends to end in a kick in the ass if you’re from a Conservative “by-your-bootstraps” household. Of course not everyone who is liberal is lazy, nor is every lazy person liberal.
Liberalism comes with youth, and obviously there’s young Asians out there, so O’Reilly is just speaking out his ass. Asian societies, not that long ago, had a strong tendency to support communism.
Great commentary Paul.When I saw the Media Matters post,I also wondered why he did not continue the slur and stereo-type by saying “Orientals”.You have to love the demographic age group that he is appealing to these days.