The Weekly Sift

It’s rare to see white racism this explicit. National Review writer John Derbyshire (writing for Taki’s Magazine, not NR; the traffic nearly brought Taki’s web site down Saturday afternoon; you may still have trouble raising that “white racism” link to the article), wrote a “non-black version” of “the Talk” parents give their kids about race. (Various black parents had previously published their version of the Talk, for example Daryl Owens.)

Among other dubious advice, Derbyshire tells his son to avoid events that are likely to attract a lot of blacks, and to leave if an unexpectedly large number of blacks show up. He should also not “play the Good Samaritan” to blacks in distress or settle in a town where black politicians are in control. And of course:

Before voting for a black politician, scrutinize his/her character much more carefully than you would a white.

(I guess that’s why we all had to see Obama’s birth certificate and listen to his minister’s sermons — things I don’t recall ever doing for a white candidate.)

Derbyshire lays it on the line that “The mean intelligence of blacks is much lower than for whites.” And of course they hate you anyway, so always use the white clerk at the DMV if you have a choice.

Finally, on the rare occasions when you can find an IWSB — intelligent, well-socialized black (Derbyshire’s acronym) — make friends with them, because

In addition to the ordinary pleasures of friendship, you will gain an amulet against potentially career-destroying accusations of prejudice.

For some reason, that amulet didn’t save Derbyshire this time. National Review fired him. That’s what happens when you forget to use your dog whistle.

Daily Kos’ Bill in Portland puts two and two together:

The Supreme Court says corporations are people. The Supreme Court also says that people can be strip-searched for any reason whatsoever. Therefore, corporations can now be strip-searched for any reason whatsoever. Let’s start with…[Snaps rubber gloves]…oh, how ’bout Koch Industries.

Alternet’s Sara Robinson sees conservatives mobilizing for an all-out attack on state universities.

Democrats introduced an amendment to the FCC Process Reform Act of 2012 that would have allowed the FCC to block FCC-regulated companies from requiring employees to reveal their Facebook passwords. It failed, because all Republicans in the House voted against it. I haven’t found any reason beyond a general distaste for workers’ rights.

Nicholas Kristof’s Easter column “Learning to Respect Religion” is worth reading whether you are religious or not.

Executive pay: Obscenely high and still rising.

Large numbers of journalists continue to believe that it’s not their job to question whether what a candidate says is true.