TBD on Ning
Republicans, the Tea Party, and charges of racism
I've read many tea party members and supporters decrying and denying allegations of racist thoughts or intentions in their rather vitriolic opposition to both the Democratic party and the Obama administration. They are wondering where these opinion might arise from, in other words, how we got here.
Lets review.
Republican and conservative leaders and corporate interests created and deployed the strategy of attempting to intimidate members of congress by shouting in town hall meetings. This has the effect of increasing media attention and simultaneously stifling debate and the exchange of ideas. It also gives the seriously unhinged a venue and an outlet for their fears, which by the way were implanted by the same parties who now exploit them. This was the watershed moment for the end of civility.
Out of that impulse and bolstered by long-established overt racism in certain areas of the country and the visual distaste of seeing a person of color address a joint session of congress as President of the United States, Joe Wilson shouted out his now infamous invective.
We all watched as Republican after Republican dismissed or otherwise stepped on the toes of Rush Limbaugh, one of the most bellicose and intolerant voices alive in conservative thought today, only to crawl back, kneel and figuratively "kiss his ring" (another word comes to mind...but I digress). This indicates to any objective observer that it is Limbaugh and Fox News who are leading the Republican party, setting the agenda and talking points, not the other way around.
It is Republicans who have called a bill passed by the majority of both houses of Congress, by members of Congress each elected by a majority in their districts, "an unconscionable abuse of power," "a violation of the presidential oath," and "the end of representative government." Speaking in such terms is both patently false and irresponsible. It does have the affect of demonizing the duly elected government of the United States and convincing those people whose grasp of civics and government is less than stellar, that the Democratic leadership and the administration are doing something nefarious, which also is not true.
It has been Republicans who have spoken of secession while campaigning for office in their home states. It was a Republican who chose a (patently unqualified in my opinion) Vice-Presidential candidate whose husband belonged to a secessionist movement in Alaska. It has been Republicans who have lately chosen to ignore the long-standing rules of decorum in the Congress by bringing their town hall meeting strategy into the chambers.
It was Fox News (Republicans) who promoted and sometimes funded Tea Party gatherings. It was Republicans that were invited to speak at these events and allowed to spew their particular brand of racial hatred and intolerance to those people assembled there. It was at tea parties and other right-wing events where guns were very much in evidence, another attempt to threaten and intimidate the public and ramp up fears against the government. I
t has been Republicans (and often, the Republican leadership) who have accused their political opponents of being communists, Marxist, fascists, socialists, and totalitarians. It was right-wing militia and extremist groups the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) warned the country about in the first part of this year. It was a right-wing militia with the goal of murdering police officers in a bid to start a war against the "anti-Christ," a label such groups and tea party supporters are fond of applying to President Obama and the Pope.
Several militia groups have the stated goal of starting a "race war" in the United States and have tied such a war to "the rapture" or the "second coming of Christ." Glenn Beck, yet another mouthpiece for conservative Republicans has called the President of the United States a "racist (which likely hasn't been true since Ronald Reagan left the office) who seems to hate white people." Who was that dog whistle moment for?
The governor and attorney general of Virginia removed civil rights protection for gays and lesbians in the state. Newt Gingrich opined that the Democrats will regret their decision to push for comprehensive health care reform, saying "They (Democrats) will have destroyed their party much as Lyndon Johnson shattered the Democratic Party for 40 years with the enactment of civil rights legislation in the 1960s." Who was that statement meant for? Day's later he was backing up from that statement as fast as his little legs could carry him, but he got it out there.
Can you discern a pattern yet?
No Republicans are countering these statement of this behavior. Why? Because most of the moderates have been purged from the party. There are many very good reasons why so many see the Republicans and the Tea Party movement as racist, intolerant, and more akin to the right-wing death squads in El Salvador than to the party of Lincoln.
It is the same impulse, tendency and lack of responsibility that lead to the death by suicide of 15 year-old Phoebe Prince. These things are connected. If you can't see how, you have really got yourself a problem. This is the kind of behavior we are modeling for our young people. Neither is this racially suspect tilt to the Republican party a new phenomenon. Check out this article entitled "Message to America from the Racist Republican Regime" from 2003 by Jackson Thoreau.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/03/01/10_racist.html
As long as the people of the Tea Party stand beside racists and extremists while failing to repudiate their messages, it makes it virtually impossible to receive any other message or characterization. Don't then be surprised when you are labeled racist or extremist.
Lets review.
Republican and conservative leaders and corporate interests created and deployed the strategy of attempting to intimidate members of congress by shouting in town hall meetings. This has the effect of increasing media attention and simultaneously stifling debate and the exchange of ideas. It also gives the seriously unhinged a venue and an outlet for their fears, which by the way were implanted by the same parties who now exploit them. This was the watershed moment for the end of civility.
Out of that impulse and bolstered by long-established overt racism in certain areas of the country and the visual distaste of seeing a person of color address a joint session of congress as President of the United States, Joe Wilson shouted out his now infamous invective.
We all watched as Republican after Republican dismissed or otherwise stepped on the toes of Rush Limbaugh, one of the most bellicose and intolerant voices alive in conservative thought today, only to crawl back, kneel and figuratively "kiss his ring" (another word comes to mind...but I digress). This indicates to any objective observer that it is Limbaugh and Fox News who are leading the Republican party, setting the agenda and talking points, not the other way around.
It is Republicans who have called a bill passed by the majority of both houses of Congress, by members of Congress each elected by a majority in their districts, "an unconscionable abuse of power," "a violation of the presidential oath," and "the end of representative government." Speaking in such terms is both patently false and irresponsible. It does have the affect of demonizing the duly elected government of the United States and convincing those people whose grasp of civics and government is less than stellar, that the Democratic leadership and the administration are doing something nefarious, which also is not true.
It has been Republicans who have spoken of secession while campaigning for office in their home states. It was a Republican who chose a (patently unqualified in my opinion) Vice-Presidential candidate whose husband belonged to a secessionist movement in Alaska. It has been Republicans who have lately chosen to ignore the long-standing rules of decorum in the Congress by bringing their town hall meeting strategy into the chambers.
It was Fox News (Republicans) who promoted and sometimes funded Tea Party gatherings. It was Republicans that were invited to speak at these events and allowed to spew their particular brand of racial hatred and intolerance to those people assembled there. It was at tea parties and other right-wing events where guns were very much in evidence, another attempt to threaten and intimidate the public and ramp up fears against the government. I
t has been Republicans (and often, the Republican leadership) who have accused their political opponents of being communists, Marxist, fascists, socialists, and totalitarians. It was right-wing militia and extremist groups the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) warned the country about in the first part of this year. It was a right-wing militia with the goal of murdering police officers in a bid to start a war against the "anti-Christ," a label such groups and tea party supporters are fond of applying to President Obama and the Pope.
Several militia groups have the stated goal of starting a "race war" in the United States and have tied such a war to "the rapture" or the "second coming of Christ." Glenn Beck, yet another mouthpiece for conservative Republicans has called the President of the United States a "racist (which likely hasn't been true since Ronald Reagan left the office) who seems to hate white people." Who was that dog whistle moment for?
The governor and attorney general of Virginia removed civil rights protection for gays and lesbians in the state. Newt Gingrich opined that the Democrats will regret their decision to push for comprehensive health care reform, saying "They (Democrats) will have destroyed their party much as Lyndon Johnson shattered the Democratic Party for 40 years with the enactment of civil rights legislation in the 1960s." Who was that statement meant for? Day's later he was backing up from that statement as fast as his little legs could carry him, but he got it out there.
Can you discern a pattern yet?
No Republicans are countering these statement of this behavior. Why? Because most of the moderates have been purged from the party. There are many very good reasons why so many see the Republicans and the Tea Party movement as racist, intolerant, and more akin to the right-wing death squads in El Salvador than to the party of Lincoln.
It is the same impulse, tendency and lack of responsibility that lead to the death by suicide of 15 year-old Phoebe Prince. These things are connected. If you can't see how, you have really got yourself a problem. This is the kind of behavior we are modeling for our young people. Neither is this racially suspect tilt to the Republican party a new phenomenon. Check out this article entitled "Message to America from the Racist Republican Regime" from 2003 by Jackson Thoreau.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/03/01/10_racist.html
As long as the people of the Tea Party stand beside racists and extremists while failing to repudiate their messages, it makes it virtually impossible to receive any other message or characterization. Don't then be surprised when you are labeled racist or extremist.
Tags: America, Party, Republicans, Tea, common, domestic, honesty, politics, race, racism, More…
Views: 28
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Vernon Windsor on
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Jacquin, I think you are so right about the greatest threat coming from within the country in the form of divisions of the people. Folks who claim to want to strengthen the country are doing just the opposite. No one is even suggesting that those opposed to the policies of this administration need to be silent. It is clear, however, that the amount and nature of the hatred being spewed now, particularly given this country's history, is corrosive and leaves us vulnerable to attack from a variety of directions.
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Permalink Reply by Madhatterat60 on
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And just today, some fool not 100 miles from here was picked up for threatening to kill Sen Patty Murray. I know they get this kind of shinola on a regular basis...but the FBI took this one seriously enough to actually arrest the fool and charge him. As they hauled him off, he was still spouting the GOOP talking points about health care....
sigh -
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Permalink Reply by Boothby171 on
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" I know Obama's tricks! He's trying to distract everyone from what I'm saying by getting them to focus on me...me...me...me...I...I...I...I...me...me...me"
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I wonder if we've reached a historical cusp. I wonder, in the future, historians will look at the next few years and say "this is when their tolerance for freedom of speech became their undoing...when they declined to insist that those who exercised free speech also accept the responsibility of those words."
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I recall when Morris Dees and the Southern Poverty Law Center sued Rev Butler and the Aryan Church (not two miles from where I sit...sigh)...and won. The Nazi Party lost that compound. I can't help but wonder when someone will bring a similar suit against oxyRusty Limpnuts, Beck the Brick...or a few other of these right wing yammerheads who incite, then hide behind "free speech".
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Republicans, for the most part, refuse to tamp down any of this hateful rhetoric, probably because they think it will be useful to them. They think that it can't or won't touch them.
Responsible people would have come out long ago in a joint press conference and stood united in their opposition to hateful speech and threats from either side. The idea that the Republicans, who along with Fox News, have largely nurtured and fueled this escalation of violence through their overheated rhetoric, now refuse to take responsibility for it is shameful. And we all know how responsive the Republicans are to shame. -
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responsive the Republicans are to shame.
And responsibility.
I can't help but wonder what kind of backlash awaits. -
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I guess we have to wait until the bodies start piling up.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/22887392#36202542
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/22887392#36201318 -
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Butler needs to be made an example of...quickly and HARSHLY. Ten years in jail and a $10,000 fine is the max...and he needs to GET the max. Interesting thing about Federal Time vs. State Time is that under the Federal Guidelines there isn't much wiggle room for "good time" served. Nor do the Feds play around with "plea bargain" much...at least that was my experience when I served on a Fed Grand Jury. And the fool who called the Congressman from Georgia needs to be his cell mate!
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Permalink Reply by alienken on
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1. Outburst at townhalls where not created and deployed. They where real by real people who where fed up.
2. Joe Wilson's outburst had nothing to with race and you know it.
3. There was no racial hate speech at the Tea party speeches.
There is very little to no racism in the tea party movement and the republican party in general. We disagree with the president ON ISSUES! We can't get him and you libs to talk issues. Is it now hate speech when it's critical of the president?
Yall called it something different when Bush was pres. yall called it patriotism. Now we must hate black people...
Grow up! -
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Permalink Reply by Bull on
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/12/carl-paladinos-emails-tea_...
Carl Paladino, the Tea Party favorite for New York governor, is in hot water yet again.
As the Huffington Post uncovered last week, the multi-millionaire developer has a history of being "racially offensive" and putting forth derogatory comments. Today the blog WNYmedia.net published a series of bombshell emails that Paladino sent around or forwarded on to friends, associates and coworkers. -
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