All That's Sterling is Not Golden

Of all the bread and circuses sent to us to distract us from the abysmal aftermath of the last five and a half years of the Obama administration, the latest slice is Donald Sterling, an uber-rich 1%'er, owner of the LA Clippers NBA sports franchise. The brash and brazen Sterling, who gives liberally to liberal causes and politicians, was caught on tape making some rather racist comments.

Finally! I thought, a poster child for dim witted, liberal trolls ( but I repeat myself) to gaze upon. Here's a guy who is rich, therefore evil and greedy (unless one is a movie star, sports star or scion of a wealthy political dynasty), and racist, in the court of public opinion, and clearly a liberal.

But, wait! I should not have underestimated the power of denial in liberal trolls! Donald Sterling does not fit their pre-conceived prejudices. Cognitive dissonance sets in. Finally, straw graspers like Mother Jones discover...Donald Sterling is (or was) a registered Republican! Huzzah! The balance is the Force is preserved. The Space/Time continuum is safe for the moment! Donald Sterling is an old, white, rich, racist Republican!!!!
Or, is he?

Facts are such pesky things! Sterling contributed heavily, twice to Gray Davis, uber liberal governor of California. Sterling contributed to liberal causes and liberal candidates for president. Strange activities for a supposed wascally Wepubwiccan! He has been feted and given awards by the left of center NAACP. In fact, he was set to receive a "lifetime achievement award" from them on May 15th, which has been quietly rescinded.

Why would a liberal register as a Republican? Happens all the time. I remember back when Jerry Brown was running for governor (the first time) and since he was pretty much a lock on being the candidate, there was talk among Democrats about registering as Republicans, and voting in the primaries, so as to give an edge to whomever they considered the weakest candidate or one with the most baggage, to make the Democrat's victory easier in November.

You may recall that something similar was suggested on the Right in 2008. Rush Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos" urged Republicans to register as Democrats and vote for Hillary in the primaries to keep her candidacy alive. Nowadays in California, such subterfuge is no longer required. We have an open primary, where, if your party's candidate is a shoe in, you can vote for your least favorite candidate of the opposition, hoping to cause a little chaos of your own.

I suspect that Donald Sterling, the old, white, rich, racist liberal, once registered as a Republican to cause mischief with that party, not from any ideology he shared with them. And unlike those businessmen who sometimes contribute to both parties, to hedge their bets whomever wins, Donald Sterling put his money where his old, white, rich, racist heart was...with liberal Democrats*.

Like Obamacare, liberals own this turkey. If they should ever approach anything, even remotely 'reality based', they'd have to admit that Sterling is their guy. Corruption and lapses of character are not the province of any one political party, despite the many, many, many efforts of this administration to prove me wrong.

*Sterling donated a combined of $4,000 to Democratic Sens. Bill Bradley of New Jersey and Patrick (Leaky) Leahy of Vermont as well as then-State Controller Gray Davis of California in the late 1980s and early 1990s, according to a database on OpenSecrets.

...Two years later Sterling backed Davis over Dianne Feinstein in a special election for a Senate seat, donating $1,000 to Davis. Davis lost to Feinstein in 1992 and eventually became governor of California before being recalled.

In 1991 Sterling also gave $1,000 to Leahy, who still serves in the Senate. OpenSecrets database goes back until the 1990 election, and basketball blog RealGM reported in 2011 that Sterling’s political donations totaled $6,000 over the years.

-Politico



Original art by John Cox. More at John Cox Art
Cross posted at LCR