CNN Mischaracterized As A ‘Liberal Media Outlet’ On Booker Rising

The anatomy of a misguided statement from the Booker Rising blog:

Asks liberal media outlet CNN, about alleged racial insensitivity. Included in its article are two black conservative Republicans, who are no strangers to regular Booker Rising readers. “Lenny McCallister is African-American, a Tea Party member and a conservative Republican. He says Republicans ‘have to speak out against this stuff because it does not fit our principles, morals or values. At the same time we cannot alienate the most active aspects of the conservative base at this time.’ He’s calling on conservatives to help the Republican Party walk that tightrope in a way they did not in 2009.”

CNN is far from a liberal media outlet. In fact, CNN at times bends over backward to accommodate guests with a variety of opinions and bends over backward to balance its discussion panels.

To refer to CNN as a “liberal media outlet” as the blog Booker Rising did is ridiculous. It seems almost a spiteful reply to the obvious fact that Fox News is a right-wing outlet (to be fair: MSNBC’s prime-time commentators are to the left).

A Letter I Got Today From Color Of Change About Far Right Hate

You’ve probably heard about Tea Party members shouting “Nigger!” at Black Congressmen during a protest in Washington, D.C. last weekend. One of the protesters spat on Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver, while another called openly gay Representative Barney Frank a “faggot” as the laughing crowd imitated his lisp.¹

But Saturday was just the most recent example of the intolerance and hate coming from right-wing extremists this past year. At times it’s been instigated by Republican leaders. When not, it’s usually condoned and seen as part of a strategy to score politically. Either way, it’s completely unacceptable and has to stop.

It’s time to confront Republican leadership and force them to take responsibility for the atmosphere they’ve helped create. Join us in drawing a line in the sand, and ask your friends and family to do the same:

http://colorofchange.org/hate/?id=1651-835564

We’re calling on RNC Chair Michael Steele, House Minority Leader John Boehner, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to publicly do two simple things:

1. Unequivocally condemn bigotry and hate among their supporters, and make clear that those who embrace it have no place in their party.
2. Make clear that they will not tolerate fear-mongering and coded appeals to racism from officials in the Republican party, at any level.

Republican leaders publicly denounced Sunday’s ugly scene, but they failed to acknowledge that this is only the latest incident in a pattern of violent rhetoric, racially charged imagery, and paranoid conspiracy theories at Tea Party rallies.² Many Tea Partiers aren’t simply about dissent — they use fear and hatred to assault the very legitimacy of our elected leaders. It’s the worst America has to offer.

Despite this, Republican leaders court the Tea Party movement while methodically supporting, exacerbating and exploiting their fear and anger for cynical political ends.³ This is nothing less than a betrayal of American values, and it’s up to us to force the Republicans to stop aiding and abetting this enterprise:

http://colorofchange.org/hate/?id=1651-835564

The Tea Party movement has been marked by racially inflammatory and violent outbursts since its inception a year ago. GOP leaders are trying to pass off this weekend’s assaults on Congressmen Lewis, Cleaver, Clyburn and Frank as isolated incidents. But when so-called “isolated incidents” crop up again and again, a pattern starts to emerge. The examples are numerous.

At rallies held to protest tax day last year, Tea Partiers carried signs that announced “Obama’s Plan: White Slavery,” “The American Taxpayers are the Jews for Obama’s Oven,” and “Guns Tomorrow!”⁴ The Republican National Committee had endorsed the rallies, and RNC Chairman Michael Steele encouraged Tea Partiers to send a “virtual tea bag” to President Obama and Democratic Congressional leadership.⁵ After reports of the fear-mongering signs surfaced, Steele did nothing to distance his party from the lunatic fringe. He has even gone so far as to say that if he didn’t have his current position, he’d be “out there with the tea partiers.”⁶ Some Republican governors even planned a “Tea Party 2.0″ for the following month in an effort to build on the rallies’ momentum.⁷

The Tea Party’s venomous rhetoric picked up steam over the summer, when angry mobs flooded town hall meetings legislators had organized as sites for rational, civil debate on health care reform. After one meeting in Atlanta, a swastika was painted on the office of Congressman David Scott (D-GA), who had also received a flier addressed to “nigga David Scott.” ⁸ Some protesters showed up at town hall meetings carrying guns, including at least one man who was armed at an event where the President was speaking.⁹ Again, Republicans responded to these tactics with silence, doing nothing to denounce them.

Similarly, there was no public outcry from Republican leadership when Mark Williams, a leader of the Tea Party movement, was exposed for having described the President as “an Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug and a racist in chief” on his blog.¹⁰ Instead, members of the GOP continued to show up to and endorse Tea Party rallies. And as recently as Sunday — the day that the historic health care bill passed the House — Republican members of the House riled up the same Tea Party crowd that had earlier harassed their fellow members with hate and bigotry.

Our country deserves better than this. No matter what party one supports, we should all take strong action to support civil, honest, and respectful public debate. Can you take a moment to call on Michael Steele, John Boehner, and Mitch McConnell to denounce the racist rhetoric and fear-mongering that have been ongoing, significant characteristics of the Tea Party movement, and tell those who embrace these divisive and un-American beiefs that they have no place in their party, as members or leaders? And when you do, please ask your family and friends to do the same:

http://colorofchange.org/hate/?id=1651-835564

Thanks and Peace,

– James, Gabriel, William, Dani, Milton and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
March 23rd, 2010

1. “Tea Party Protests: ‘Ni**er,’ ‘Fa**ot’ Shouted At Members Of Congress,” Huffington Post, 3-20-2010
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/127?akid=1397.868165.igiepL&t=7

2. “10 Most Offensive Tea Party Signs And Extensive Photo Coverage From Tax Day Protests,” Huffington Post, 4-16-09
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/128?akid=1397.868165.igiepL&t=9

3. “Memo Reveals GOP Plan to Exploit Fear of Obama,” AOL News, 3-4-2010
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/137?akid=1397.868165.igiepL&t=11

4. See Reference 2

5. “Tax Day Tea Parties Officially Endorsed By Republican Party,” Huffington Post, 5-15-2009
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/138?akid=1397.868165.igiepL&t=13

6. “Steele: I’d join the tea parties,” Politico, 1-15-10
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/136?akid=1397.868165.igiepL&t=15

7. “GOP govs plan Tea Party sequel,” Politico, 5-12-2009
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/131?akid=1397.868165.igiepL&t=17

8. “Rep. David Scott’s (D-Ga) office spray-painted with Swastika,” Daily Kos, 8-11-2009
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/132?akid=1397.868165.igiepL&t=19

9. “Armed and Dangerous?” Talking Points Memo, 8-11-2009
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/133?akid=1397.868165.igiepL&t=21

10. “Tea party leader calls Obama a welfare thug,” The Loop, 9-15-09
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/134?akid=1397.868165.igiepL&t=23

The Latest WTF Moment: Republican Congressman Says Blacks Are Worse Off Now Than During Slavery

Add Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) to the list of far-right nuts making absurd claims about black people and the issue of race. From the realm of the extreme far right comes Franks, who is out of the mold of fellow hate-driven talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh. Franks, in one of the most absurd comments ever, suggests that blacks were better off in slavery than they are now under current policies in the U.S.

FRANK: In this country, we had slavery for God knows how long. And now we look back on it and we say “How brave were they? What was the matter with them? You know, I can’t believe, you know, four million slaves. This is incredible.” And we’re right, we’re right. We should look back on that with criticism. It is a crushing mark on America’s soul. And yet today, half of all black children are aborted. Half of all black children are aborted. Far more of the African-American community is being devastated by the policies of today than were being devastated by policies of slavery. And I think, What does it take to get us to wake up?

Come on, now. Where are these far-right morons coming from with this unbelievably divisive rhetoric? Is it any wonder why the Tea Party gatherings are so diversity challenged? Honestly, why would black people want to be a part of a movement so extreme, hateful and antagonistic in its rhetoric. But, this is about more than just Tea Party turkeys. This is also about the far right and its constant yearning to pick at the scabs of racism to create fresh wounds from old wounds.

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/02/26/franks-slavery-abortion/

John McCain … Maverick In Name Only

Sen. John McCain always tried to portray himself as a so-called “maverick” while he was on the campaign trail. But, during and after Wednesday’s State of the Union address from President Obama, for former candidate for the White House proved that he is just another Washington insider playing the game of politics. In other words, Sen. John McCain is a politician like all the rest, as he proved again when he went on Sean Hannity’s far-right Fox News show and uttered the words below.

“What we’re hearing tonight is ‘BIOB’ — let’s call it that from now on. Blame it on Bush. Whatever has gone wrong, let’s blame it on Bush. I think the people of Massachusetts last Tuesday pretty well rejected that line of conversation.”

Voters rejected Sen. McCain’s message during the campaign and should reject it now. The campaign is over and John McCain has revealed his true self as a right-wing partisan who struggles to see any good from the other side and mistakes facts for blame.

John McCain (who wears his far-right cap when he goes on Fox News) must have missed the part where the president accepted the blame for the portion of the deficit he claimed responsibility for last night.

Also, Sen. McCain is misguided. Massachusetts voters likely rejected that Democrats have not done enough to bring the radical change they expected (we’re still in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Democrats are not standing firm on health care, etc.).

Is Sen. McCain crazy enough to think that Massachusetts are troubled by Democrats holding President Bush (whose approval ratings where somewhere around the high 20s to low 30s when he left office) accountable for what happened on his watch? Come on, now!

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/01/27/mccain-sotu-obama/

For Scott Baio, These Happy Days Are Not Your’s And Mine

Right winger Scott Baio, an actor of the former hit comedy television show Happy Days, took a cheap shot at first lady Michelle Obama and the backlash has been blistering.

Like many on the right wing, even as hundreds of thousands of Haitians are dying and suffering in the wake of a massive earthquake, Baio has been celebrating the U.S. Senate victory for Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts. While basking in the glow of Brown’s victory, and confident in their efforts they hope will result in the destruction of proposed health care legislation, Baio attempted to take a cheap shot at Michelle Obama.

Baio tweeted, about the first lady, “WOW He wakes up to this every morning,” and posted the below photo for the added shot:

Check out the Huffington Post article because it gets particularly interesting when Baio goes to a variation of the “I’m-not-racist-because-I-have-black-friends” handbook. Somewhat to Baio’s credit, however, he found a new (or perhaps rarely read) chapter, “I’m-not-racist-because-my-wife’s-best-friend-is-black.”

I’m not saying he’s a racist, now. In fact, I think he really is just the typical far-right kind of individual. Arguably, that might even be more disturbing than being a straight-up racist.

Also, from Huffington Post:

“I’m NOT racist for posting a pic of M.O. My WIFE’S BEST FRD IS BLACK,HELLO” he tweeted.

And: “Do I look like I’m racist? This is Renee’s BEST frd. STOP USING THE RACE CARD!!!” Here is a picture Baio tweeted of himself with said black person:

Baio next Tweeted a photo of him hugging his wife’s black female friend. Nice touch.

I do find it interesting how much time Scott Baio seems to be wasting defending himself from the charges of racism.

I also find it interesting that he accuses others of playing the race card before turning around and playing it himself by saying he is not racist because his wife’s best friend is black.

Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/21/scott-baio-tweets-michell_n_431214.html?fbwall

Republicans Refuse To Speak Out Against Racism, Race Baiting In Their Midst

I am coming to the conclusion that far too many people in the Republican Party simply don’t want black people up in their house.

The latest example of telling black people to back their black asses up is Minnesota State Senate candidate Mike Parry, who had a Twitter message about President Barack Obama that read, “Power Hungry Arrogant Black Man.” All I can say is that is amazing that Republicans will not stand up to racists and race-bating haters like Parry who use race to divide people and do it with not even a drop of shame.

Parry apparently tried to simply erase the message from his Twitter account. But, not the sharpest pencil in the bag, Parry failed go realize that when it is out there it is subject to someone screen-grabbing it and showcasing it for all to see.

Sadly, there are a lot of people who will vote for this guy.

From Huffington Post:

Confronted by reporters, Parry owned up to the Obama post and tried to explain himself — but he didn’t admit to writing, “what’s with Dems and Pedophiles?” after the passing of the Matthew Shepard Act.

“My opinion is that our president is arrogant and angry. The fact is that he is a black man,” Parry said. “Now if the Democratic Party and the liberals want to take my opinion and the fact and mix it together and use it to bring a bad light about me and keep them away from discussing the real issues they can do that all they want. They’re grasping for straws.”

Parry is telling Obama to shut his uppity black ass up.

It’s amazing how some people just let their own racism slide off of them without even so much as blinking while blaming the victims and those who call him out for his racism.

Candidate Parry was reminding people that there is an uppity black man in the White House.

A vote for Parry is pretty much a vote for racism.

Yeah, I wrote it.

Conservative Politicians Will Try To Use President Obama As Weapon

According to an article in POLITICO, Republicans are attempting to use President Obama as a weapon in the upcoming 2010 elections against Democratic rivals.

This strategy is no big secret. In fact, this is merely Republicans being slow to the punch with a strategy Democrats used (successfully) against George W. Bush during the previous eight years. But, this is more than just the politics of President Obama at play. Many of these political haters had already solidified their feelings for Barack Obama before he was even elected president. Make no mistake about it: the racial angle is difficult to ignore. From a pure political standpoint, it is the gift that keeps on giving for the most hardcore of conservatives. This is not about health care, budget deficits or wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (all of which were problems long before Barack Obama was elected president a little less than 14 months ago). Face it, a significant number of were (and still are) quite a bit uncomfortable with a black president. This secret strategy, from far-right conservatives, seeks to exploit that feeling (on top of the usual politics that are to be expected with any president).

This strategy helps fire up that highly conservative base by plastering images of President Obama all across TV sets and print publications.

There are other factors. Included in the other factors is payback. Republicans and conservatives seethed as they felt President Bush was attacked over and over again (he was attacked quite a bit) in the twilight of his presidency. Like a football game, the hardcore Republicans and conservatives were on defense against a juggernaut of an offensive attack strengthened by the momentum of the game. Now, they have the ball and they are on offense. The right wing now has the ball, but it has little game plan (beyond anger and fear).

Anger and fear will not win elections and will not help Republicans as this country increasingly becomes multicultural.

Check out this comment from the POLITICO article:

“For candidates who are running in Republican gubernatorial primaries, it would be a mistake not to contrast their ideology vis-à-vis the president,” said Brad Todd, a GOP ad man who is a veteran of governor’s races. “We are begging for a national election. It will benefit Republicans in every race where that nationalized dynamic is in place.”

Again, this is the old strategy used against the second President Bush. In general, this national strategy will not work as President Obama still enjoys pretty strong ratings. But, in some isolated pockets of the country, such a strategy will work effectively (as it did during the election of 2008). Many pockets of this country still exist where the men and women continue to hate Barack Obama (some even more so) as they did the minute he became the Democrat frontrunner in the primary in 2008.

POLITICO:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31128.html

Declaring Victory … Before It’s Over

I find it interesting (even amusing) how a large number of people on Fox Republican News Channel are declaring that this week’s election results are the beginning of this great renaissance for the GOP and the beginning of the end for President Barack Obama. All day, on the network Republicans love, host after host has been crowing about how great this is for the GOP and how the party is on the way back. We’ve been hearing stuff words and phrases like “winds of change,” “Republican revival” and “blueprint for success” as reported by Media Matters for America. So, tonight I tuned in to watch the O’Reilly Factor and Billy painted this as a smackdown for President Obama (wishful and biased GOP thinking), how people are rejecting him, rejecting so-called big government and going for the things Republicans supposedly stand for. It was all a bunch of laughable nonsense. Look, these elections are fought on the local level and state levels with local and state candidates. It’s not about President Obama, President Bush, President Clinton, President Lincoln or President Washington.

Former Reagan Official Frank Gaffney: Barack Obama Should Be Called The First Muslim American President

As if we needed another example of how some in our country use racial politics to divide us. Along comes a right-wing nut named Frank Gaffney, a former Reagan Administration official, who is once again trying to use race, religion and the politics of fear to divide people. This is one of the primary reasons why the Republican Party is becoming increasingly isolated from the realities of what real Americans are feeling all over this country. Think Progress has a blog up today about some comments Gaffney (an almost legendary figure in moronic conspiracy theories) made during a Take Back America conference last week during which Gaffney (in the presence of some Republican lawmakers) spouted off some of the following garbage as part of a panel discussion on “How to understand Islam.”

GAFFNEY: If Bill Clinton, on the basis of special interest pandering and identity politics, was properly called the first Black American President, on that same basis, Barack Obama should be called the first Muslim American President. […] But there is evidence that a lot of Muslims think he is Muslim. But whether he is or whether he isn’t, the key to me, is is he pursuing that is indistinguishable in important respects from that of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose mission ladies and gentlemen, we know from a trial in Dallas last year, is to quote to destroy Western civilization from within by its own miserable hand. That’s what we need to keep our eye on.

BILL FEDERER: In Islam, if your father is a Muslim, you’re automatically a Muslim. Since Barack’s father, stepfather, and grandfather were all Muslim, the Muslim world views him as Muslim. Mohammad allowed his warriors to say they’re not Muslim to gain advantage and um, but he’s uh, Islam permits you to lie to advance Islam, Saul Alinsky allows you to lie to advance your communist agenda, you can put them together.

WALID SHOEBAT: I came from an American mother, Obama came from an American mother. I came from a Muslim father, Obama came from a Muslim father. […] Did you know that your President knows how to do the call to the prayer in eloquent classical Arabic? […] No one can do this in classical Arabic language unless he grew up and was raised as a Muslim.

These wacko conspiracy theories are designed to scare conservative whites of privilege and conservative whites in middle America into thinking people of color are out to get them and President Obama is their new leader. This is the kind of garbage far too many people believe and champion (this absurd notion that President Obama is a Muslim and this even more idiotic idea that it is a bad thing to be a Muslim/all or most Muslims are terrorists. It’s pure insanity, but it has been somewhat, and sadly, effective with some extremists on the right).

It seems as though these nuts just fall off trees and far too many moderate right wingers pick up the nuts and tolerate them.

The arrogance and bigotry of some of these extremists is staggering.

During the panel, Shoebat advocated entering Arab countries and converting Muslims to Christianity. He also went on a rant about how Muslims in meat packaging plants are contaminating America’s food supply because their hands are unclean.

What is laughable is that they refer to people in other countries as the extremists.

President Carter Has Harsh Words About Rep. Wilson, Tone Toward President Obama

Only Fox News would accuse President Jimmy Carter of playing the race card while (on a daily basis turning blind eyes and deaf ears to Rush Limbaugh’s almost daily racial rants).

Carter, the former president of the United States, had some harsh words related to Rep. Joe Wilson’s angry, hate-driven and irresponsible outburst during President Obama’s speech before a joint session of Congress. Fox News, as you might expect, had a headline on its homepage that charged Carter with playing the mythical so-called “race card” with his comments about Rep. Wilson (Fox News links to an AP story with a more fair and balanced headline to describe the story, “Carter: Wilson’s Outburst ‘Based on Racism’”).

Here is a portion of the AP story Fox News posted:

ATLANTA – Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson’s outburst to President Barack Obama during a speech to Congress last week was an act “based on racism” and rooted in fears of a black president.

“I think it’s based on racism,” Carter said in response to an audience question at a town hall held at his presidential center in Atlanta. “There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president.”

The Georgia Democrat said the outburst was a part of a disturbing trend directed at the president that has included demonstrators equating Obama to Nazi leaders.

“Those kind of things are not just casual outcomes of a sincere debate on whether we should have a national program on health care,” he said. “It’s deeper than that.”

Wilson, a South Carolina Republican, was formally rebuked Tuesday in a House vote for shouting “You lie!” during Obama’s speech to Congress last Wednesday.

The shout came after the president commented that illegal aliens would be ineligible for federal subsidies to buy health insurance. Republicans expressed their disbelief with sounds of disapproval, punctuated by Wilson’s outburst.

I am not sure Rep. Wilson’s undisciplined and out-of-control outburst is directly based in racism (although he does have a bit of a checkered past relative to issues regarding race). But, I think it is based on a strong lack of respect for this particular president (the reason for that lack of respect is certainly up for debate), who merely is making proposals for healthcare. Rep. Wilson’s anger seems disproportionate to the kind of legislation that President Obama is simply proposing (as little if anything is actually set in stone). So, I think President Carter may be a bit off base with Rep. Wilson, specifically, but in general I think he is on the money with some of the more outspoken people on the far right as far as their motives are concerned.

This also is from the story:

“I think Joe’s conduct was asinine, but I think it would be asinine no matter what the color of the president,” said Dick Harpootlian, who has known Wilson for decades. “I don’t think Joe’s outburst was caused by President Obama being African-American. I think it was caused by no filter being between his brain and his mouth.”

Harpootlian said he received scores of racial e-mails from outside South Carolina after he talked about the vote on FOX News.

“You have a bunch of folks out there looking for some comfort in their racial issues. They have a problem with an African-American president,” he said. “But was he motivated by that? I don’t think so. I respectfully disagree with President Carter, though it gives validity to racism.”

I think that is more the issue: Rep. Wilson’s outburst emboldens the racists and far-right nuts who hated (or at the very least were uncomfortable with) Barack Obama the first time they saw him (long before anything came out of his mouth).

Rep. Wilson’s thoughts have inspired the haters and racists. Moreover, Rep. Wilson’s unwillingness to formally apologize for his disgraceful actions before Congress makes me think two things: 1. He is not really sorry for his actions. 2. He now is officially playing politics (by forcing primarily Democrats to reprimand him). 3. He is willing to be a martyr for those who hate President Obama.

Teabaggers Planning Protests

I saw this headline from a Media Matters for America entry:

Kilmeade predicts that “[t]ens of thousands of people from across the country” will participate in 9/12 protests

By the way, that is right winger Brian Kilmeade, of Fox News, referenced above.

Are right wingers, these tea baggers, really planning to exploit the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001 to launch yet another partisan attack on President Obama?

It sure seems that way.

Media Matters for America:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200909110001

White House Addresses Hate Coming From The Far Right Using Term ‘Nazi’

This kind of rhetoric was bound to happen as the extremists on the far right gain more and more power and influence. The hateful Rush Limbaugh, the de facto leader of the Republican Party, has gone off the deep end with his ridiculous talk comparing President Obama to Hitler and comparing (presumably) the Obama Administration to the Nazis. This is a dangerous time in our nation and the anger is reaching high DEFCON status thanks to men like Limbaugh, who have made a career out of hate. With our nation’s first black president, the anger we’ve seen at illegal immigration (almost exclusively for the nation’s southern border … and I’ll give you one guess as to why) and more, it’s dangerous to hear this kind of rhetoric coming from people of influence … people who could spark the next Timothy McVeigh to commit heinous and deadly acts of terror.

Rush Limbaugh has been right at the forefront of this hate as he tries to harness and direct anger coming from extremists on the far right (many of which have been in full view at these tea parties and now organizing to aggressively disrupt town hall meetings around the country). Take a look at the pattern of hate coming from Limbaugh as he repeatedly goes to Nazi references. Sadly, this is a disgrace of a man that many people listen to and believe in.

But, this Nazi talk is very dangerous and a slap into the face to those who suffered at the hands of Nazis (not that Limbaugh would necessarily care since his objective seems to be to scare whites into being afraid of this new black president).

Here is a response from White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs as posted on Huffington Post:

“I know the president feels strongly that we can discuss these issues without personally maligning… that we are doing so in a way that respects the dignity of each individual,” he said. “I think anytime you make references to what happened in Germany in the 30′s and 40′s, I think you are talking about an event that has no equivalent. And I think anytime anyone ventures to compare anything to that, they are on thin ice, and it is best not employed.”

“But I think what the most important thing is, is that we can have a discussion in our democracy about where we want to go,” he added. “The president strongly believes we can do so without yelling at each other, pushing at each other or degrading each other. We have seen some stuff, I mentioned it a week ago, we have all seen imagery that just shocks and surprises us and I think the best thing to do is just take that temperature down a bit.”

It’s hard to appeal to the conscience of a proven bigot like Rush Limbaugh.

Here’s another comment about Limbaugh’s crazy words:

DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee)spokeswoman Jennifer Crider issued the following statement in response to Rush Limbaugh’s outrageous comments comparing Democrats to members of the Nazi Party and use of the Nazi swastika:

“Rush Limbaugh’s comparison of the Democratic Party to the Nazi Party in World War II is as disgusting as it is shocking. Limbaugh’s use of the Nazi swastika in attempting to make a tasteless political comparison has no place in the public discourse.

“Just this past weekend, Minority Whip Eric Cantor said that the GOP ‘needs’ Mr. Limbaugh. He should immediately condemn Limbaugh’s hateful rhetoric in the strongest possible terms and encourage Republican Members to do the same.

“At a time when families need real solutions to rebuild the economy and make health care more affordable, Rush Limbaugh is attempting to sidetrack the important debate through his use of symbols that are synonymous with murder and intolerance. Americans deserve better.”

Fear of Limbaugh has pretty much paralyzed far too many of the true good people in the Republican Party.

The de facto leader of the Republican Party needs to have his title taken away, but it won’t happen until the good people in the GOP get some guts.

Republican Nuts Still Doubt President Obama’s Citizenship

Need more evidence of how nutty some on the far right of the political spectrum have become with their obsessive hatred of Barack Obama, our president?

Has any president in the history of the United States of America had his citizenship questioned as much as Barack Obama has – in spite of overwhelming evidence of his being born in Hawaii?

Huffington Post:

Less than half of Republicans believe that Barack Obama was born in the United States of America, a new public opinion poll finds.

Only 42 percent of Republican respondents in a Research 2000 survey, conducted for the liberal website Daily Kos, said they thought Obama was a natural born citizen; 28 percent said they did not believe Obama was born in the United States; 30 percent said they were not sure.

The responses, which were gathered after several prominent conservative media personalities fed suspicion that Obama was unconstitutionally holding office, show the extent to which the conspiracy has taken hold in the GOP.

That only a plurality of Republicans were willing to acknowledge the president was born in America is nothing short of astounding, considering the preponderance of evidence that confirms his Hawaiian birth.

This is so sad, but hardly a surprise. The far-right extremists have hijacked a once-great party and turned it into a crude caricature.

Check out the article’s later portion to see, from a geographical standpoint, where the birthers are most obsessed and extreme.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. … A Republican? Maybe He Was, But …

This is not necessarily breaking news that there are some on the conservative side of the political spectrum who assert that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. may have been a Republican. Whether he was or was not, however, mostly is irrelevant. This issue is back in the news as a group of black conservatives have sponsored a billboard that has brought the debate back into focus.

Really, this is nothing new, however.

Many blacks affiliated with the Republicans until they felt as if they were abandoned by the party and thus moved to the Democrat Party.

Here is how the Fox News story begins:

Who knew?

A billboard proclaiming that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Republican has stirred a religious and political hornets’ nest in Houston, where a church leader is trying to draw black voters into the Republican Party.

The jumbo-sized roadside ad made its contentious claim for about a week — until a local black activist charged that the sign unjustly politicized King’s legacy and was hurting his community by telling a “blatant lie.”

“Martin Luther King may have very well believed in some of the Christian principles of the Republican Party, but Dr. Martin Luther King was not a Republican or a Democrat,” said Quanell X, who heads the New Black Panther Party in Houston.

“Dr. King was bigger than a political party – he was a humanitarian, and so to attach him exclusively to any party is to devalue his humanitarian global status,” he said. “We were insulted … by the billboard because it was a blatant lie.”

I don’t know if it’s a blatant lie, but it certainly is old news. The Republican Party that existed during the day of Dr. King does not exist today.

More from the Fox News story:

Quanell X told FOXNews.com he was pleased that he had succeeded in getting the billboard removed. He added that King would never have embraced the present-day GOP, which he said had “racist elements.”

“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would not be with the party of Newt Gingrich, he would not be with the party of Sarah Palin, he would not be with the party of Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage or Sean Hannity,” he said.

The Republican Party is not one that looks comforting or inviting to many minorities.

Perhaps this will spark some dialogue, but hopefully that dialogue begins within the Republican Party by following the Michael Jackson song and take a look at the “Man in the Mirror.”

Maybe a dialogue is a good thing if Republicans seriously ask themselves why they do not appeal to minorities (and, no, this did not just start with Barack Obama) and, in particular, blacks.

Rather than ask was Dr. King a Republican, a better question might be: Would Dr. King be a Republican if he was alive today?

I don’t think so.

Martin Luther King a Republican radio ad:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/18/AR2006101801754.html

Martin Luther King billboard:
http://www.mofopolitics.com/2009/07/12/video-martin-luther-king-jr-was-a-republican-billboard-causes-uproar/

Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wires/2009/07/13/martin-luther-king-jr-was_ws_230729.html

Essence:
http://www.essence.com/news_entertainment/news/articles/martin_luther_king_jr_was_he_republican

Biased Sen. Jeff Sessions Hammers Away At Tired Talking Point About ‘Wise Latina’ Comment

Impaired byprejudice, Sen. Jeff Sessions went to work appeasing his base by targeting Judge Sonia Sotomayor with the out-of-context “wise Latina” comment that has been blown out of proportion in an effort by conservatives to paint her as racist.

From an Associated Press story on Yahoo News:

WASHINGTON – Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor stoutly denied racial bias Tuesday at her Senate confirmation hearing and said an oft-criticized remark about her Hispanic heritage affecting her decisions was a rhetorical device gone awry.

An attempted play on words “fell flat” in a speech in 2001, Sotomayor told Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., referring to remarks in which she suggested that a “wise Latina woman” would usually reach a better conclusion than a white male.

“It was bad because it left an impression that I believed that life experiences commanded a result in a case, but that’s clearly not what I do as a judge,” Sotomayor said.

Sessions, the senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee, sounded unconvinced.

“As a judge who has taken this oath, I am very troubled that you would repeatedly over a decade or more make statements” like the one in 2001, he said.

Of course Sessions is unconvinced. The man had his mind made up before the hearings even started. Sadly, that is pretty much all Sessions and other members of the Grand Obstructionist Party have in their efforts to smear Sotomayor.

POLITICO Contributor Has Interesting Take On Day One Of Sonia Sotomayor Confirmation Hearing

This is a piece from Julian E. Zelizer, a professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton as published on POLITICO:

It’s Joe the Plumber all over again.Republicans are not going after Judge Sotomayor, they are actually going after the angry white male voters. Senator Graham made that very clear when, talking about her speeches outside the courtroom, he said: “I can just tell you one thing: If I had said anything remotely like that, my career would have been over. That’s true of most people here….” Reduce…

The Republican focus on the New Haven firefighter’s case will amplify these kinds of attacks. One needs only to watch Alexandra Pelosi’s fascinating film on the 2008 election to understand what kind of anger the senators are trying to stir up. If the GOP is serious about remaking itself and appealing to a broader part of the electorate, this is not the way to do it.

My take: I agree and have stated similar things repeatedly about Republicans being dragged (kicking and screaming) into a more diverse future. Sen. Graham has indeed seemed to be working to appease his base of highly conservative and old white men by pounding away at the overblown “wise Latina” comment and (in some other instances) the New Haven firefighters case. Monday was a part of the confirmation hearing where the politicians get to show off for the cameras and the people with their long statements. When it comes time to vote, you will see the prejudice out there and (contrary to what you heard from Sen. Graham) race will play a factor in this decision (it already has by pounding away at the “wise Latina” comment, which generally is taken out of context, and by the portrayals of her based on the New Haven case).

Think Progress Updates On Rep. Steve King’s Inexplicable Vote

Losing 399-1 might change the opinion of some people, but not to pig-headed individuals like Rep. Steve King, a Republican from Iowa.

I blogged earlier about Rep. King’s absurd vote and Think Progress updates on King’s rationale as he tries to spin his idiotic “no” vote.

Here is what King said as he went into damage-control mode:

KING: I would just add that there were about 645,000 slaves that were brought to the United States. And I’m with Martin Luther King, Jr. on this. His documents, his speeches – I’ve read most of them. And I agree with almost every word that came out of him. Slavery was abhorrent, but it was also a fact of life in those centuries where it existed.

And of the 645,000 Africans that were brought here to be forcibly put into slavery in the United States, there were over 600,000 people that gave their lives in the Civil War to put an end to slavery. And I don’t see the monument to that in the Congressional Visitor Center, and I think it’s important that we have a balanced depiction of history.

Here, briefly, is how Think Progress, responded:

The Capitol Visitor Center is simply trying to recognize the work of those who built the Capitol. But King is apparently concerned that slaves are being unduly recognized while Union soldiers who fought for their emancipation are not getting any credit. He simply needs to open his eyes and look around Washington, DC. If he steps right outside the Capitol, he’ll see the Ulysses S. Grant memorial, a monument that commemorates the former general of the Union Army.

This guy is ridiculous.

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/07/09/king-slave-labor-vote/

Rep. Steve King Not Interested In Recognizing Work Of Slaves In Building Capitol

Rep. Steve King, an infamous Iowa Republican, was the lone member of the House of Representatives to vote against (399-1) a resolution designed to recognize (with a marker) the role that slaves played in the construction of the United States Capitol Building. The resolution’s text hardly comes across as something that should in any way be offensive or controversial.

Whereas enslaved African-Americans performed the backbreaking work of quarrying the stone which comprised many of the floors, walls, and columns of the Capitol…

Whereas recognition of the contributions of enslaved African-Americans brings to all Americans an understanding of the continuing evolution of our representative democracy; and

Whereas a marker dedicated to the enslaved African-Americans who helped to build the Capitol will reflect the charge of the Capitol Visitor Center to teach visitors about Congress and its development…

Here is what Rep. King said the following as an explanation:

In the Capitol Visitor’s Center, we agreed to change the name of the Great Hall – which honored the immigrants that came legally to America – to Emancipation Hall to honor the 645,000 slaves and their descendants who were brought to the United States more than two centuries ago.

Last night I opposed yet another bill to erect another monument to slavery because it was used as a bargaining chip to allow for the actual depiction of ‘In God We Trust’ in the CVC. The Architect of the Capitol and liberal activists opposed every reference to America’s Christian heritage, even to the extent of scrubbing ‘In God We Trust’ from the depiction of the actual Speaker’s chair in the U.S. House of Representatives.

This is just the latest example of a several year effort by liberals in Congress to scrub references to America’s Christian heritage from our nation’s Capitol. Liberals want to amend our country’s history to eradicate the role of Christianity in America and chisel references to God or faith from our historical buildings.

Our Judeo-Christian heritage is an essential foundation stone of our great nation and should not be held hostage to yet another effort to place guilt on future Americans for the sins of some of their ancestors. Christian abolitionists gave their lives by the hundreds of thousands to end slavery. Great American leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. worshipped God just as our Founding Fathers did. We must never forget this important aspect of our heritage or use it as a political bargaining chip.

Isn’t Rep. King using it as a political bargaining chip? It kind of seems like it. At 399-1, his vote was insignificant in terms of the final outcome, yet fairly symbolic in the statement it makes.

This vote kind of gives a glimpse into what darkness exists in the heart and soul of Steve King. It’s sad Rep. King would spit in the face of hard-working slaves who made such an important contribution to building the U.S. Capitol Building. He then smears liberals by saying they “want to amend our country’s history to eradicate the role of Christianity in America and chisel references to God or faith from our historical buildings.” That’s just plain stupid. He then tries to help his own futile cause by invoking the name of Dr. Martin Luther King. If Rep. King feels so strongly about the religious aspect then he should speak up, but to spit on the hard work that slaves put in to help build a historical part of this country (to play partisan politics) is disgraceful.

Here is an update from Talking Points Memo:

DCCC national press secretary Ryan Rudominer gives us this statement: “Steve King’s lone vote against acknowledging the role slaves played in the construction of the United States Capitol is a slap in the face to the very sacrifices and contributions African Americans made to our nation. This is the latest in a long line of erratic behavior from King that has made him an embarrassment to Iowans and to the Republican Party.”

Talking Points Memo:
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/07/steve-king-i-opposed-yet-another-bill-to-commemorate-slavery-in-order-to-protect-judeo-christian-her.php

Check out the Think Progress story that documents some of Rep. Steve King’s history: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/07/08/steve-king-slavery-capitol/