Sunday, June 22, 2008

Paula Abeles, under threat

As noted earlier, progressives have launched a fierce attack on Paula Abeles -- the prominent Clinton supporter who now prefers McCain to Obama. See here, for example. Also see TPM:
Apparently, for her, racism trumps women's rights.
What a retarded woman. Maybe everyone should send her a nice "Heard you were a racist, get well soon!" card.
The O-Borg published her private contact information. As a result, she and members of her family have received death threats.

(You may recall how outraged I was when Ann Coulter pulled that very same trick on Lydia Cornell. Lydia, why won't you speak out against Obama's disgusting supporters?)

After this blog helped to publicize Paula's story, Obot readers warned me to mistrust her, since she was an alleged racist. I did not publish these diatribes, due to the odor of fish they carried. Now we learn the truth from Abeles herself.

The "racism" charge stems from a role she formerly played in the controversy over whether Thomas Jefferson fathered children with his slave, Sally Hemings. Paula Abeles' husband is a Jefferson descendant, and she has argued against the well-publicized DNA findings which (apparently) ruled that the long-rumored Jefferson/Hemings union was no mere rumor.

Is Paula a racist for taking a stand in conflict with conventional wisdom? Before you answer, read her side of the argument:
As many of you have probably heard, some descendants of Sally Hemings, a slave in the household of Thomas Jefferson, have claimed that they are descendants of Thomas Jefferson. Sally Hemings had three sons: Thomas Woodson, Madison Hemings, and Eston Hemings. Descendants of Thomas Woodson had their DNA tested 7 times—each time there was no match. Descendants of Madison Hemings declined to be tested. The white descendants of Eston Hemings had their DNA tested and were a match to a Jefferson, but the DNA tests could not determine if the Jefferson genes were from Thomas Jefferson or one of the 27 other Jefferson males that lived in the area at the time and visited frequently. Additionally, since Thomas Jefferson was 64 at the time of Eston’s birth and was suffering from prostate cancer, which often caused impotency, it is less likely that Eston was a son of Thomas Jefferson. A 2001 Scholars Commission of 13 prominent Jefferson historians (including the former chair of Harvard’s Department of Government), examined all the evidence for a year, and issued a 500-page report that concluded that the allegations of a relationship between Hemings and Thomas Jefferson were not true, and that was not enough evidence to determine Eston Hemings’ paternity.
However, it was never a racial issue. Eston Hemings’ descendents (the only Hemings that applied) are, by any calculus, white. No doubt passions at the time were overheated, and honorable people can disagree. Part of the consideration was that as DNA typing becomes more sophisticated, a definitive analysis could prove the issue in the future.

This is the sum and total of the activities for which I have been vilified.
Rather puts a different spin on the situation, eh wot? Heretofore, I did not understand that the matter remained unsettled from a scientific standpoint.

This intriguing comment appeared on the Confluence:
I am a biologist by training. Most people do not understand the complexities of genetic testing. I was troubled about the lack of data on Eston Hemmings. Long story short, when the NY Times had an article about the DNA findings for Eston’s offspring, I thought it was a feel-good ending, but not an accurate one. I also thought that nobody would ever challenge Eston’s claims for fear of being called racist. I remember thinking to myself that if I were a descendant of Thomas Jefferson, I would keep my mouth shut about my doubts.
Does this argument really matter, in any practical "make-a-shoe" sense of the word? No.

Still, we all argue over history, perhaps because these arguments give us a way of better knowing ourselves. Unfortunately, misplaced passion can turn even an academic debate into something ugly. Brilliant as Jefferson was, I can't quite understand why the offspring of Eston Hemings would want to claim descent from a slave-master. Whom would you prefer as an ancestor -- Moses or the Pharoah?

Incidentally, Gore Vidal -- who has written about Jefferson at some length -- has always dismissed the Hemings allegation. (In print, he once sneered at Fawn Brodie, who accepted the claim.) Will the progressives now toss Vidal under that infamous bus? Will they call him a racist and print his home telephone number?

It is said that Paula misrepresented herself in an internet chat room -- as though everyone on the internet uses his or her real name. Apparently, after being barred from a site by zealots wedded to one side of the Hemings argument, Paula assumed a disguise in order to discover what was being said. Read your Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes did that sort of thing all the time.

Paula Abeles' position on the Hemings affair hardly makes her a racist and hardly justifies the attacks on her. The Obama supporters who have written to me have sent contradictory messages: She's lying when she says she got threats -- and besides, she deserved them.

I know damn well that she's not lying, because my own mailbox tells me what Obama supporters are like. Those people are monsters. Monsters.

Will the creeps who attacked Paula on TPM and Kos ever get tired of being wrong? They were wrong about the "darkened video" hoax. They were wrong about the "RFK assassination" smear. They were wrong when they called the "fairy tale" remark a "racist dog whistle." They were wrong when the believed Barack Obama's claims that he hardly knew Tony Rezko. They were wrong to create an inane conspiracy story blaming Hillary for Obama's NAFTA-gate scandal. And yes, they were wrong about Geraldine Ferraro. (A black male candidate really does have an advantage over a female candidate, or so say all the polls.)

It's a shoddy record. These fools are never right. Yet the Obots continue to strut with all the jackass self-confidence of Joseph L. Mankiewicz on the set of Cleopatra, convinced that he's making a really good movie.

One day, O-beasts will understand that they have created most of their own problems. If they had behaved like reasonable adults -- if they had moderated their hate, eschewed race-baiting and refrained from spreading inane anti-Clinton conspiracy theories -- Obama would have won all the late primaries and Hillary's donors would now be flooding his campaign with cash. In a future post, I will present the argument for blaming Obama himself for the tone of his campaign -- and yes, I still maintain that he controlled the major left-wing blogs.

Paula Abeles deserves the final word:
But, as far as I can tell, that has been the Obama campaign’s strategy all along—to isolate, to discredit, to destroy. But, Clinton supporters have seen this game before. You will not frighten us anymore. Even when four of our member networks were disrupted by mysterious viruses—with barely 24-hour notice—we managed to turn out thousands of HRC supporters on a conference call with John McCain. Supporters that will not, under any circumstances vote for a “democratic” party that disenfranchised us—not because we are racists, or ‘closet republicans,’ but because we are Americans.
PS: Ever visit Monticello? Can you believe that Thomas Jefferson actually slept in that tiny weird-ass bed-in-the-wall? He certainly didn't have enough room to spoon with Sally Hemings, or with anyone else.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Joe,
You really think Abeles is giving you the truth of the matter and acted in an above board manner in her dealings?

http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/5888/web_spying_puts_twist_on_jefferson_saga/index.html

Have you seen and read the information at these links?

http://www.monticello.org/plantation/hemingscontro/hemings-jefferson_contro.html

and:

http://www.monticello.org/plantation/hemingscontro/hemings_report.html

"The DNA study, combined with multiple strands of currently available documentary and statistical evidence, indicates a high probability that Thomas Jefferson fathered Eston Hemings, and that he most likely was the father of all six of Sally Hemings's children appearing in Jefferson's records. Those children are Harriet, who died in infancy; Beverly; an unnamed daughter who died in infancy; Harriet; Madison; and Eston."

and :

http://www.monticello.org/plantation/hemingscontro/hemings_resource.html

Gary McGowan said...

Just curious: Anyone know about the lives of these people - Sally Hemings's children appearing in Jefferson's records, Harriet; Madison; and Eston?

Were they taught to read and write? What became of their lives?

Joseph Cannon said...

Scot, you're being silly.

You haven't responded to the Gore Vidal point. Is HE racist now as well?

I think the 2003 article amounts to a whole lot of nothin'. What does it come to, at worst? Years ago, she assumed an online identity to find out what was going on at a website that had shunned her. She later regretted having done it.

Can you honestly say that if you revealed your full name and every trace of your internet activity since the invention of the web, that we would not be able to find anything similar to use against YOU, Scott? Be candid.

Jefferson may or may not have slept with Hemings. I don't have a personal stake in the matter, although all historical mysteries have a certain fascination to me, as I suspect they do to you as well. To me, the whole matter is nothing more than an academic conundrum, akin to who-killed-Meriwether Lewis or did-Marshall-Ney-survive-and-go-to-America.

But nothing you've linked to has disproven the notion that a Jefferson relative might have slept with Sally. There just ain't no way DNA could pinpoint which Jefferson was involved.

Let's face it, Paula has one really good point -- Tommy-Boy was 65 and had prostrate troubles.

Besides, if there's one thing I can say conclusively -- and anyone who has visited Monticello can back this up -- it's this: In his old age, Jefferson slept ALONE.

Here:

http://www.monticello.org/gallery/house/interior/bedroom.html

Let me assure that that thing looks even tinier in real life than it does in the photo. We could not believe a full-grown man could fit into it.

Maybe he and Sal did the nasty on the hardwood floors. Who knows?

An unpopular position on the Jefferson controversy hardly justifies the shit tossed at Paula Abeles, and the Obots are being their usual vile selves to make that argument. I know full well that Paula is telling the truth because of my own situation. You don't see the hair-raising crap I don't allow onto this blog.

You don't believe her? Try an experiment. Assume a new name with a new email address -- hell, give your home telephone number as well. Then publish some pro-Hillary commentary on DU or Kos.

Go on. Try the experiment.

You know DAMNED WELL what will happen.

So don't try to shit me. You will never perform the experiment I suggest, because you know how it will end. Obama supporters are vicious, violent subhuman MONSTERS.

Anonymous said...

I hate to say it, but it appears our only option is to work toward getting McCain elected.I hate what the Repugs have done to our country but maybe if the Dems can unite against a common enemy (the next Republican administration)instead of destroying ourselves caused by the enemy within (the Obama cult) just maybe the party can survive.This situation has forced me to be a liar; I said I would vote for whoever the Democratic candidate would be but I can't do it. The country can not survive another destructive administration.

Anonymous said...

JUST SAY NO (NOBAMA) TO FACISM!

Anonymous said...

She should not be threatened. Vidal may disagree with the finding and not be a racist. There is disagreement as to what the DNA test indicate. Abeles spent her time trying to prevent the descendants of Hemming from getting into the association's cocktail parties. The web site where she published her self defense has posters comparing Abeles to Rosa Parks , Emma Goldman and Sojourner Truth ( IIRC) . How absurd is that?

I use part of my name when posting to your blog. I use the rest of my name posting elsewhere. I do this because I think you attract more crazies than other places I post. Your own language is as extreme as anything I have read elsewhere except for threats of physical violence which (IIRC) I have not seen you make.

RedDragon said...

I agree with you one hundred percent!
These Obama zombies have created an atmosphere of hate the likes I've never seen! Will there be a backlash? You can bet the Republicans have taken notice on how we eat our own. They will no doubt use MANY of the tactics that those creatures at DailyKooks and others employed and then who will have the moral authority to say.....STOP!

Anonymous said...

I think it was Franklin who was concerned more with the ladies. 64 and with prostate cancer? Honestly? Christ.

Anonymous said...

The scientific evidence has confirmed that the male descendants of Eston Hemmings has the same Y chromosome's as Thomas Jefferson, so whether he fathered the children or one of his other relatives, I would just welcome his descendants to the family.

I do not have the hero worship of Jefferson that some do and think it not unlikely that he turned to his wife's younger half sister (Sally Hemmings) after he was widowed. If he did, I hope they loved each other, but who knows. On the other hand, I do not think that hoping one's ancestor did not behave so very badly (having sex with someone not in a position to refuse) is racist.

The actions of TPM and the Obama supporters who have threatened Mrs. Abeles is shameful and disgusting. I note there have been times after 911 when TPM was completely uncritical of the Bush administration, so I don't really expect much, actually. But this is a new low.

djmm

Jaye Ramsey Sutter said...

Has there ever been such hatred in the Democratic Party from one camp of supporters to the other camp of supporters? I mean the Kennedy people weren't wild about the Johnson people but really? Has there ever been such intra-Party hatred?

And the email I have received saying the most outrageous things to me because I dared to support Hillary.

How the Obama people turned Bill Clinton into a racist I will just never understand how anyone bought that crap, but they did. The man's office is in Harlem for Christ's sake.

And can someone tell me what Obama's platform is? I have yet to hear exactly what it is he hopes to do.

There was a Cheer's episode on the other day where Woody ran for the Boston city council. Fraiser was his campaign manager and suggested that if Woody wanted to win he should just say "Change" in every speech about 150 times and he would win.

Of course that really isn't possible, is it? Why yes it is.

The Red Queen said...

Whether or not Abeles is being truthful, does she deserve death threats for having different political beliefs? I can't stand Ann Coulter, but just because she's chock full of wrongness doesn't mean I get to threaten her life or the lives of her family members. And that is the real problem here.

Dems are resorting to threats, thuggery and abuse that previously were only used by rethuglikans on us. It's almost like an abused child. This section of the party decided that rather than be abused again, they would turn into the abusers. It's pathological behavior. And it's being celebrated and rewarded.

Jaye Ramsey Sutter said...

No one, absolutely no one deserves violence or death threats. It is horrible that people cannot be wrong or in the minority without some thug attacking them.