Patrick Murray Climbs on a Shark’s Back and Jumps a Bunch of Sharks

If you need a good laugh this morning, check out the comments (at ArlNow) of Patrick Murray, the once and future Republican nominee for Congress in the 8th Congressional District. Murray, of course, is famous for…well, actually, now that I think about it, for absolutely nothing. On the other hand, he did rack up an impressive a whopping oh forget it 37% of the vote against Rep. Jim Moran in what was, otherwise, a huge Republican “wave” election across the country. But not in deep-“blue” Arlington and Alexandria, and not for poor ol’ Patrick Murray (maybe it was his decision to bring in the Bush-Cheney alumni and assorted right-wing extremists to a district that voted 69%-30% for Barack Obama in 2008?).

Anyway, now Murray’s apparently gearing up to lose even bigger in 2012, a presidential year in which Democratic turnout will be at the maximum in places like Arlington and Alexandria. And he’s opened his campaign with a withering blast at Jim Moran, calling him “un-American” for Moran’s remarks that “the results of last November’s election were because most Americans are racists who ‘don’t want to be governed by an African-American…'”  

Except for one problem: Moran never said “most Americans are racists.” In fact, what Moran actually said was that “a lot of people in the United States don’t want to be governed by an African-American, particularly one who is liberal, who wants to spend money and who wants to reach out to include everyone in our society.”  Yeah, whatever: “a lot of people” and “most Americans”; “don’t want to be governed by an African American” and “are racists.”

So, the question for Patrick Murray is, what specifically about Jim Moran’s statement was factually incorrect? If there are even tens of thousands of Americans (out of 300 million) who “don’t want to be governed by an African-American, particularly one who is liberal,” does that qualify as “a lot” who are “racists?” How about if there are a few million people who think that way, out of the U.S. population of 300 million? Is that “a lot?”  Also, when Patrick Murray says “most,” is he referring to the definition that most English speakers understand, that being “more than 50%?” Because nowhere in Jim Moran’s remarks can I find an assertion that 150+ million Americans “don’t want to be governed by an African-American, particularly one who is liberal,” let alone that 150+ million Americans are “racists.”

Anyway, I hope Patrick Murray enjoys waterskiing over  fish with cartilaginous skeletons and sharp teeth, because it looks like he’s decided to do a lot of that in 2011-2012. I’m just not sure it will be any more fun to watch than when Fonzie did it on Happy Days. 🙂