A Sterling Performance

At first, when I started seeing that the interwebs were filling with tales of Donald Sterling, I assumed that he was some sort of composite character from the television show "Mad Men." He's made people mad, that's for sure, with some doddering comments he made to a mistress who seems to be plotting revenge.

It's good news for everyone, because we all get to fall all over ourselves denouncing Sterling for his addled observations. John Hinderaker gives the matter as much attention as it deserves here; his conclusion makes perfect sense:

So an 80-year-old man with a much younger, mixed-race girlfriend is sexually insecure–go figure! He has a friend, a negative-image Iago, who plays on his insecurity and teases him when the mistress posts pictures with black men, however innocent they may be. So the old man asks her not to do it. She can spend all day with black men and even sleep with them, he says, just don’t post photos or attend Clippers games with them. But the young woman already has one foot out the door, and she illegally records her conversation with the old man, and then turns it over to two of the most disreputable gossip sites on the internet.

This sad domestic drama has become the best evidence the Left can come up with of the ongoing legacy of slavery and discrimination. It merits denunciation by the President of the United States, who locates the old man’s sad story in the grand sweep of history.

On the tape, Donald Sterling says, “I love the black people.” I can’t vouch for his sincerity, but there is nothing in the DMZ/Deadspin tapes that belies that sentiment. It is telling that this domestic upheaval between an aging billionaire and his gold-digging, disloyal mistress represents the best the Left can come up with to support its claim that racism and the “legacy of race and slavery and segregation” is alive and well. As for Sterling, he is merely collateral damage. That Lifetime Achievement award was almost in his grasp, when he became more useful to the Left as a villain. Something tells me, however, that Stiviano will land on her feet.

The "Lifetime Achievement Award" that Hinderaker references was something Sterling was going to pick up from the NAACP, at an event next month in which he was to share the dais with Al Sharpton. The NAACP thinks better of bestowing the award now, of course, and since the checks have cleared they can certainly rescind the honor with a clear conscience and let Sharpton have the day to himself. No word if Sharpton will be receiving the award while wearing a suit from Freddie's Fashion Mart, but we'll check back on that later.

As for Sterling, I suppose becoming a late-in-life cautionary tale and this weekend's Emmanuel Goldstein merits a lifetime achievement award of some sort. I also suppose that Cliven Bundy appreciates his efforts. And getting exercised about the Racism of the Rich and Famous is as much exercise as some people get. So good job, Donald Sterling. Your basketball team may be in ruins and what's left of your life may be a smoldering pile of recriminations, but you've made a lot of people feel very good about themselves because you've reminded them that they aren't like you.