Kane Watch: Hillary, Harry and Gene

Eugene Kane took it upon himself to defend Hillary Clinton this friday when he commented on Hillary's recent appearance at an awards event for the Children's Defense Fund in New York, an event which outspoken liberal activist Harry Belafonte was also attending.

Apparently, Kane worried, some MSM reporters were trying to damage Hillary by linking her appearance at the event with Belafonte's infamous political statements. Although, in reality, while at the event, Hillary distanced herself from Belafonte and refused to take any questions on the matter.

Hillary aside, Kane had some interesting things to say about Belafonte. To be sure, Kane wrote:

I have always admired Harry Belafonte for his social activism and dedication to human rights.
Lately, he's been making some over-the-top comments that I don't agree with, things like calling Colin Powell an Uncle Tom or "house n----r" and recently making public comments in Venezuela that President Bush is the biggest terrorist in the world.
That's just a bit too much for my taste.

I'd like to point out that using the term 'lately' to describe Belafonte's over-the-top comments is about as realistic as saying "Lately, there has been some trouble between Palestine and Israel."

Actually, it was in 2002 that Belafonte stated, "There's an old saying in the days of slavery. There are those slaves on the plantation and there were those slaves who lived in the big house. You got the privilege of living in the house to serve the master. Colin Powell was permitted to come into the house of the master." And, for the record, this statement was meant in relation to both Powell and Rice.

Again, in August of 2005, Belafonte fired at Rice and Powell by comparing their place in the White House to the Jews in Hitler's administration: "Hitler had a lot of Jews high up in the hierarchy of the Third Reich. Color does not necessarily denote quality, content or value." He continued, "[If] a black is a tyrant, he is first and foremost a tyrant, then he is incidentally black." Watch the video here.

Interestingly, I wonder, if Belafonte says that if a black is a tyrant, he is first and foremost a tyrant, wouldn't it also follow that if a black is a bigot, he is first and foremost a bigot, regardless of how much work he's done for charitable organizations? Just a thought. For more Belafonte-fun I invite you to check out his profile page at Celiberal.com.

Curious, isn't it, that Kane neglected to comment on Belafonte's stance on Condoleezza Rice. I wonder how he feels about that. Oh wait a second...Kane maybe should have checked his archives because he's already told us how he feels, and not surprisingly, it seems to be a watered down version of the very Belafonte stance he is castigating in his blog. Back in 2000 Kane wrote:

He's said to be close to naming two blacks to his cabinet: retired Gen. Colin Powell and former Stanford provost Condoleezza Rice.

Powell and Rice both worked for Bush's father, which seems to suggest a new definition of his much-touted "affirmative access" plan. In other words, if you're the kind of black person who was close to my father, you've got access.

And if that's not enough, I found these gems from 2004 in an article titled, "Black leaders' deeds may lack merit" he wrote:

I believe Rice, Powell and other blacks in the Bush administration are respected for their achievements by the overall black community. Black folks appreciate anyone among them who rises to a position of authority; it's a testament to the progress of the overall struggle for equal opportunity in America.

But being a powerful black person doesn't earn you any brownie points if you're not perceived as doing the right thing.

Just ask Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Or Powell or Rice.

Or anybody who truly believes you should be judged on your deeds and not just the color of your skin.

Because, according to Kane's article and Belafonte, a black person whose political views are aligned with Bush just can't be good people or doers of good deeds. Classic.

Blogger rule #1: Always check the archives.