Racism Denier Kevin Jackson Takes Shot At Nancy Pelosi

There is nothing wrong with being black and conservative and there is nothing wrong with being a black Tea Party person. It would be crazy not to think that there are blacks from all walks of life with political ideologies that run the full spectrum (from conservative to liberal). I used to be a conservative (not that most people would believe me), and not all that long ago. But, there is something wrong when you have far-right racism deniers like tea party “activist” Kevin Jackson trying to seemingly equate Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to a sort of slave master (reference the passage below as compiled by Media Matters for America):

O’Reilly hosts tea party activist who says it “would have been more symbolic had [Pelosi] had a whip.” On The O’Reilly Factor, tea party activist Kevin Jackson characterized the walk to the Capitol by Pelosi and other members of Congress on the day the House voted for health care reform as “this very wealthy white lady leading a group of black, you know, men up to the thing with her gavel in her hand. It would have been more symbolic had she had a whip.” [The O'Reilly Factor, 3/31/10]

Jackson, who ignores blatant racism associated with tea party activities, bends over backward to accuse Democrats of racism. His comment about the whip are a clear illustration that he has sold his soul and is willing to do and say whatever it takes to stay in good standing on the right … to retain most favored Negro status (right alongside Jesse Lee Peterson, who has a long and dubious history of making anti-black racist comments on Fox News, generally unchallenged, and on his own radio show).

Negro Please … O’Reilly Finds “Black” Tea Bagger To Defend Tea Parties

Fox News right winger Bill O’Reilly found his black tea bagger who took great pleasure in attacking civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis. This far-right nut then went on the attack against Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in a ham-handed attempt to portray her as some kind of racist. It was stupid and illustrates a few things: ignorance is color blind, there is always some Jesse Lee Peterson-like black man who will say whatever is necessary to earn most favored Negro status and Bill O’Reilly once again showed that he remains a biased right winger.

Once again, leave it to “fair and balanced” Fox News to come to the defense of the tea parties through a one-sided Bill O’Reilly interview.

Media Matters for America:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201003310050

Harris Poll Shows Just How Nutty Those On The Far Right Are With President Obama

A still fairly recent release of a Harris poll that put into sharp focus how ignorant some Republicans are when it comes to their views on President Barack Obama. Some of the revelations in the poll show the depth of the hatred that some close-minded Republicans have for this president. And, that hatred started long before he was president and long before he became the official nominee for the presidency in 2008. The hatred started before this nation knew much of anything about Barack Obama.

The findings of the Harris poll continue to reflect the hatred that exists in the dark hearts of some of these Republicans. Below are summaries of the Harris poll results as compiled by Media Matters for America.

According to the Harris poll, conducted of 2,320 adults between March 1 and March 8, a majority of Republicans believe President Obama:

• is a socialist (67 percent);
• wants to take away Americans’ right to own guns (61 percent);
• is Muslim (57 percent);
• wants to turn over the sovereignty of the United States to a one-world government (51 percent); and
• has done many things that are unconstitutional (51 percent).

It goes on:

• large minorities also believe Obama was not born in the United States and is therefore ineligible for the presidency (45 percent);
• many believe he is a racist (42 percent);
• and many believe he is doing many things Hitler did (38 percent)

There is your Republican party (still believing in thoroughly vetted and debunked garbage. It basically shows that everyday Republicans and tea baggers are like storm troopers from the Star Wars movies. They operate like robots taking their marching orders from right-wing extremists like Roger Ailes, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity.

Rep. Lewis, Rep. Cleaver Attacked By People For Being Called ‘Nigger’ And Being Spit On

It never ceases to amaze me the lengths that some conservative black people will go to protect racism at Tea Party rallies while attacking black leaders for being called “nigger” or being spit on by protesters.

That thought brings me to comments I read from conservative blogger Andre Harper, who proudly talks about himself as a black man who was at Tea Party rallies. Hey, that is fine by me. If he wants to hang with those individuals then that is no doubt his choice. If he chooses to ignore the racist language at many of these rallies, if he chooses to ignore that these Tea Party people were silent (nonexistent) prior to the election of Barack Obama as the first black president of the United States of America, then that is his choice. Again, where were these Tea Party people worried about big government, government spending, the loss of freedoms and all of this other stuff when George W. Bush was president? They were silent. But, we elect the first black president and all of a sudden these good and patriotic Americans are soooooooooo worried about freedom, government spending, deficits, the size of government, etc. It’s all a bunch of bullsh!t. To each their own.

But, it still saddens me when racism apologists/excuse makers you see people make comments like the following (from Harper’s blog):

Democrat puppets like representatives [Emanuel] Cleaver and John Lewis are nothing but frauds. They instinctively play the race card because that is how they have achieved their lot in life. No one should be surprised that they can’t prove these accusations. They never can. With all these videos surfacing, the large police presence and all the witnesses, I find it hard to believe that no one can identify or find any evidence of their claims. It’s disgraceful and completely unfounded for John Lewis to compare this peaceful protest to his experience on the Pettis Bridge. The situations and conditions are completely different. The truth is these cowards are always going to play the race card because they are weak-minded, cowardly individuals that exploit race by instinct.

The words are nothing short of disgraceful and ridiculous. Oh, and it’s the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Rep. John Lewis is a man who fought and bled for civil rights to allow men like Harper and myself to be able to blog with the kinds of freedoms black people of prior generations could not have imagined when they were young. Sadly, Harper uses his platform as a blogger to refer to John Lewis (and Emanuel Cleaver, who had a Tea Party person spit on him) as “Democrat puppets.”

Once again, we see the lengths that people will go to apologize for or make excuses for racism at Tea Party (that includes Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele).

Check out the full version of Harper’s irrational and racism-apologizing-for blog: http://andreharper.blogspot.com/2010/03/extreme-lie-conservatism-vs-liberalism.html

Nigger, Faggot Among Words Used By Tea Party People To Describe Democrats

Eugene “Bull” Connor would have been proud of some of the language being used by Tea Party protesters fighting against health care reform.

Tea Party protesters, using racist and homophobic language to attack men like Rep. John Lewis (pictured) and Rep. Barney Frank (among others), went on an attack that was regretfully reminiscent of the Jim Crow era in the United States of America (a chapter many in this country thought was long gone). Rep. Lewis was called a “nigger” by members of the crowd while Rep. Frank was called a “faggot” by Tea Party protesters. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver was spat on by a protester. Sadly, this was 2010 and not 1910. This was not 1957 when the Little Rock Nine were attacked as they did their part to desegregate Little Rock Central High School (where they were viciously confronted by racist protesters). This was 2010 with a distinguished civil rights leader like Rep. Lewis treated in a way that was a chilling and painful reminder of the hatred of the Jim Crow era.

Here is an excerpt from a Huffington Post story:

A staffer for Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told reporters that Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) had been spat on by a protestor. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a hero of the civil rights movement, was called a ‘ni–er.’ And Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was called a “faggot,” as protestors shouted at him with deliberately lisp-y screams. Frank, approached in the halls after the president’s speech, shrugged off the incident.

But Clyburn was downright incredulous, saying he had not witnessed such treatment since he was leading civil rights protests in South Carolina in the 1960s.

“It was absolutely shocking to me,” Clyburn said, in response to a question from the Huffington Post. “Last Monday, this past Monday, I stayed home to meet on the campus of Claflin University where fifty years ago as of last Monday… I led the first demonstrations in South Carolina, the sit ins… And quite frankly I heard some things today I have not heard since that day. I heard people saying things that I have not heard since March 15, 1960 when I was marching to try and get off the back of the bus.”

This is sadly indicative of the hatred coming from some on the far right who have simply come unhinged since the election of President Obama, the first black man to be elected president of the United States of America.

Rep. Lewis had this to say about the racial slurs he was subjected to after leaving a health care reform meeting on Capitol Hill.

Civil rights icon and veteran Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, said anti-health care bill protesters Saturday repeatedly yelled the “N” word at him as he left a heath care meeting and walked to the Capitol.

“I haven’t seen heard anything like this in more than 40 years, maybe 45.” Lewis said. “Since the march from Selma to Montgomery really.”

“Yeah, but it’s okay,” Lewis added. “I’ve faced this before. So, it reminded me of the 60′s. There’s a lot of downright hate and anger and people are just being downright mean.”

Rep. Lewis truly is a civil rights icon who has fought for justice before and will continue the fight. I doubt it was accidental that these Tea Party people went after him knowing what he represents as far as civil rights. That is what makes it all the more disturbing.

It’s a shame more conservatives (some have been forced to) are not stepping forward to condemn these kinds of racist attacks.

UPDATE: For those of you who wonder why I am always so critical of RNC Chairman Michael Steele, this is a good example. Appearing on Meet the Press, Steele referred to protesters who made racist and homophobic statements as: “a handful of people who just got stupid.” That is disgracefully inadequate on the part of Michael Steele, but I doubt it is the first time he has been thought of as inadequate.

Another Attempt To Come To The Rescue Of Justice Clarence Thomas While Attacking Black People

I have always tried to read opposing viewpoints to find out what people who might disagree with me are saying. Booker Rising is a fine Web site and I do check it quite frequently (even if I rarely agree with many of the opinions that are posted there from writers who are highlighted). But, as I was once a black conservative, I do have a bit of a soft spot for black people who learn right or dive blindly to the right going all in.

This all brings me to an entry I read at Booker Rising recently about a person who was upset at some negative feedback that Virginia Thomas (wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is getting for some affiliation she has with a Tea Party group. Personally, I could not care less what she is doing in our out of a Tea Party.

But, I did stumble across an article cited on Booker Rising with a few passages I found particularly interesting:

This new ‘post-racial’ world is GREAT!!! In effect, for some people their ‘infinite universe’ has doubled back on itself.  They are now stuck – chasing after their own tails. The gross hypocrisy and fraud has been exposed. We now see that while indeed they love ‘community organizers’ who work to get people engaged in the political process. They merely don’t like ‘citizens activists’ of the ‘Tea Party’ type. Despite the fact that no Black person has been lynched or beaten as a direct result of ‘Tea Party’ actions – those who are under the ‘Bitter Black Coffee Movement’ fear that the ‘Tea Party Movement’ is the biggest threat to Black voting rights and civil rights. They need no proof.

So, we should be grateful they are not (physically) lynching us?

Oh, speaking of lynching…

Anyone remember these words from Thomas (who at the time was a nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court)?

Can you imagine if a so-called liberal/progressive black used those words? The far right would accuse him or her of playing the mythical race card.

I supported Justice Thomas even though I could not possibly disagree more with his policies or much of a lot of what he stands for and is in support of.

Here is another passage:

In truth the Lampblack Yellow Journalists and their Snarling Fox White Liberal syndication sources (HuffPo and Rachel Maddow) merely operate to ‘self-chum’ the bigoted Black Quasi-Socialist Progressive-Fundamentalist Racism Chaser. They are more interested in the masturbatory impact of striking out at Brother Justice Clarence Thomas than they are in spotlighting the gross corruption that the Democratic Machines in Detroit, Chicago, Memphis and Newark and other places where Black folks live in  our highest concentrations. Again – they are members of the BLACK ESTABLISHMENT and thus their goal is to protect the establishment, not expose it. By exposing it to the open air they fear that their ideological enemies might sneak back into power. The fact that their ideological enemies have departed [for the suburbs], having no interests at all to return and continue the struggle over the resources within these cities is not enough for them to turn the spotlight upon these festering piles of compost where the methane gas streaming from them produce steam.

Based on the video above … who was the racism chaser when Thomas was a nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court?

The highlighted part is ridiculous. Far less people care about Virginia Thomas than cared about (from a Michigan standpoint) Monica Conyers and Kwame Kilpatrick (as examples). Those two were vilified for their alleged acts of corruption and have been, will be forced or will continue to be forced to pay for their sins. Those of us who live in or near Detroit know all too well that Monica Conyers and Kwame Kilpatrick have certainly gotten their fair share of highly negative and mostly deserved media (from people of all races) attention.

But, what really makes me shake my head is this: Stereotyping black people from big cities like Chicago Detroit, Memphis, Newark and elsewhere is a useless self-hating waste of time (one that perpetuates a myth of a sort of black-on-black crime).

Corruption is far from exclusive to any one race (no matter how much one blogger might try to imply).

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/

Fox News Finds A Few Black Conservatives Then Scoffs At Obvious Lack Of Tea Party Diversity

Leave it to Fox News to search high and low to try to find any way possible to position the tea party activists as being more diverse than they are in reality.

Sorry, but trying to portray the tea party people as some kind of diverse body miserably fails the laugh test. Frankly, sprinkling in a few specks of pepper in a mine of salt does not constitute any kind of real mixture. Of course, if you work for Fox and you can find a few black people who are conservatives then that forms diversity in a sea of angry white faces. There’s nothing wrong with being a black conservative, but I do find it disturbing when black conservatives gleefully allow themselves to be pimped out as models for a diversity-challenged organizations diversity. Lloyd Marcus and William Owens (and even a few hundred others) do not qualify this tea party movement (which obviously was nonexistent for all the previous white presidents) as diverse.

This all brings me to the tea party diversity story Fox News is trying to push on its Web site. So, the headline reads: “Black Conservatives Take Lead Role in Tea Party Movement” and the subheadline of this piece written by Judson Berger reads: “Though the tea party movement has attracted criticism for its supposed lack of diversity, minority activists who are involved say the movement has little to do with race, and that it is attracting a more diverse crowd every day.”

So, the subheadline seems to scoff at the notion (“its supposed lack of diversity” the article reads) that the tea party movement lacks diversity, but at the end champions that the tea party movement is “attracting a more diverse crowd every day.” That strikes me as a bit of a contradiction, but I guess we’re all entitled to our opinions (Fox News just dishonestly passes its opinions  off as legitimate news).

Here is an excerpt from the Fox News story:

To Marcus, President Obama’s policies perpetuate that dependency. That’s why, he says, it baffles him and other black conservatives when the tea party movement is dismissed as somehow anti-black, as a rowdy bunch of ignorant, white protesters who have it in for the nation’s first black president.

“This is the nicest angry mob I’ve ever seen,” Marcus said.

Marcus is one of a number of black conservatives who have joined up with, and helped lead, the conservative tea party movement since its inception. Though the movement has attracted criticism for its supposed lack of diversity — MSNBC host Chris Matthews recently called the groups “monochromatic” and “all white” — those minority activists who are involved say the movement has little to do with race, and that it is attracting a more diverse crowd every day.

“I think a lot of black people are waking up from their Obama night-of-the-living-dead fog,” Marcus said. “They were walking around like zombies going Obama, Obama, Obama.”

Right, you keep believing that Lloyd.

Marcus, I have no doubt, is genuine and strong in his conservative beliefs. There’s nothing wrong with being black and conservative. There is something wrong with allowing yourself to be used by a group that is largely opposed (and/or avoided) by the majority of blacks and minorities. Sadly, however, he is blinded by his own ideology that he misses the racial element. Of course the tea party people like him. He is the black man who functions against most black people. So, of course they are going to like him and welcome him mostly with open arms. He (in the minds of the tea party people) helps them deflect the racial politics. It’s version of the “I’m-not-racist-because-I-have-black-friends” defense.

Fox News, as expected, has rushed to the defense of the tea parties to once again prove its media brand of conservative activism.

Once again, Fox news uses its platform in the media to aid the Republicans and tea party activists … all while claiming to be “fair and balanced” with its programming.

Fox News:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/01/19/black-conservatives-lead-role-tea-party-movement/

Jon Stewart Is A Trip As He Calls Out Tea Baggers For Calling Out Black Hand!!

Good pick up by Jon Stewart’s team in regard to another one of these moronic Tea Party protests.

Tea Baggers are essentially saying “keep your black hands off of our health care.”

Is this just a coincidence or are people wanting black people (represented in their eyes and minds by President Obama) to keep their dark hands off of the health care of the USA (illustrated in red, white and blue colors)?

Good catch by The Daily Show. Be sure to watch the video, here.

Tea Baggers Want to Send Home European Immigrants?

The speaker is Robert Erickson, and he had some interesting things to say about illegal immigration, but I don’t think people got what he was saying until it was too late and by then they had already been apparently suckered.

Florida A&M Law Professor Dr. Jeremy Levitt Challenges Bill O’Reilly, Fox News On Using Race As A Weapon

Today, I am a big fan of Florida A&M University law professor Dr. Jeremy Levitt, who was on Bill O’Reilly’s far-right show and strongly challenged the conservative commentator as he declared, “Fox News and the far right have a race deck, and they play the ace of spades every day.” O’Reilly didn’t like that too much. Also during the segment, Dr. Levitt went through a bunch of statistics that showed death threats against the president sky high (a 400-percent increase), hate groups (have increased 4 percent) are growing (based on statistics he cited). Clearly, O’Reilly was not quite so comfortable (however, I do give Big Bill credit for inviting the doctor on the show). Credit goes to Dr. Levitt. I don’t know very many people who would have had the guts to go on national television and confront Fox News in its own backyard of bigotry based on its constant use of race to frighten and divide Americans.

O’Reilly frequently shouted down and/or talked over Dr. Levitt, and near the end mostly lied about giving the doctor the last word at the end of the segment and simply lacked the courage to challenge racial flamethrowers Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh (men who seem to frighten Bill). Throughout the interview, Dr. Levitt maintained his composure throughout and never allowed himself to be knocked off course.

Predictably, O’Reilly tried to spin it around as he brought up The New Black Panther Party and Louis Farrakhan to try and highlight racism on the left. Dr. Levitt countered with the Ku Klux Klan and O’Reilly came back by throwing Sen. Robert Byrd, a former Klansmen from way back in the day, under the bus. O’Reilly showed his partisanship right there as he made sure to declare Byrd was a Democrat. Throughout the segment, O’Reilly shouted down his guest, argued with him about everything, tried to dodge anything related to far-right extremists Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

Here is an excerpt from a Huffington Post article that chronicled Dr. Levitt’s visit to the No-Spin Zone:

Dr. Jeremy Levitt, a law professor at Florida A&M University, confronted Bill O’Reilly tonight over Fox News’ role in fomenting racial tensions regarding President Obama. Specifically Dr. Levitt cited Glenn Beck and the network’s role in encouraging the 9/12 protests, which featured an assortment of racist signs.

O’Reilly (like many other conservatives), as Dr. Levitt in essence was asserting, lacks the character to challenge those on the far-right using race to fire up its older, white and conservative base.

Since the segment probably didn’t go as well as O’Reilly wanted it to go, it’s not unreasonable to suspect that Big Bill might come back on a later show and attack Dr. Levitt while he is unable to defend himself.

Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/24/law-professor-confronts-o_n_299350.html

Tim Wise Asks When Are Republican Leaders Going To Stand Up To Extremists

Author and speaker Tim Wise, billed by CNN’s Don Lemon as an anti-racism activist, calls out mainstream Republicans for not standing up to the lunatics (like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh) who have hijacked the party and taken it to the heights of bigotry, intolerance and (in some cases or to some extent at least) racism. These protests that have come up since President Obama stepped into the White House have been intriguing to me and to a lot of other people who wonder where these “patriots” were when George W. Bush was in office and freedoms were taking a hit, wars were being started, deficits were mounting and lives were being lost. Wise, truly a dynamic and well-researched speaker, had an interesting conversation with Lemon about the topic of race as related to several current issues in this country.

Here is what Crooks and Liars had as a transcript from the show:

LEMON: OK. So we are going to continue our discussion now over the health care rallies and the tone of what’s going on in the country. Tim Wise joins us. He’s frequent here on the show. The author of “Between Barack and a Hard Place” and among the most prominent anti- racist activist in the country. Thank you, sir. Always good to see you.

TIM WISE, AUTHOR “BETWEEN Barack AND A HARD PLACE”: You, too.

LEMON: You heard the chairman from Florida say no, it is not race.

WISE: I did.

LEMON: It does a disservice. You heard David Sirota say it is the elephant in the room.

WISE: Right. Well like I said in the show before, it is the background noise of a lot of the opposition, not all of it but a lot of it. You know, when you have someone like Glenn Beck saying as he did about a month ago that the health care debate isn’t really about that. It is just reparations for black people, where you have Rush Limbaugh yesterday on the air saying first that community service is the first step towards fascism, which is bizarre even for him.

And then almost immediately after that saying one of the problems with America is too much multiculturalism. You wouldn’t say that unless you are trying to stoke white racial resentment. And so when you say those things, I want to know when are Republican leaders going to condemn that kind of rhetoric because that is where race is being interjected. It is interjected by us, it’s interested by the leading talk show hosts in this country.

LEMON: I mean, but is it knowingly or is it maybe unwittingly they’re doing it and maybe they don’t realize they are doing it.

WISE: Well, two things, it may be either or but it doesn’t matter. I mean, racism needs to be evaluated based on outcome. If you do something which has a predictable consequence, you have to be accountable for that consequence. So for example, when Glenn Beck lied and said that Van Jones was involved in the Los Angeles riots which was not true. That is a very clear, as David said, dog whistle politic moment.

You’re saying that because you know that the L.A. riots are viewed as this racialized rebellion and it scares white folks to death. So you say that about this man. It isn’t true. Glenn Beck had to know that wasn’t true. That is a way to scare white folks. Where race comes in, it is old fashion but it’s white racial resentment that they are trying to whip up.

LEMON: But you know, it is very – it is smart if you want to get your message out. So listen, as we’ve been saying, it’s the elephant in the room. Let’s talk about this Congressman Wilson thing.

WISE: Yes.

LEMON: One person wrote me on Twitter and said I think (INAUDIBLE) if it is not racism then I don’t know what it is, self-indulgence, selfishness, egotism or all the traits pure lack of thought. And then one person says I’m with Ron Reagan and Bill Maher. If Obama’s skin color was closer to his mom’s, talking about Joe Wilson, he would not have shouted out. And I have to tell you -

WISE: I believe that.

LEMON: I have to tell you, for the first time – last night I was watching “Real Time” with Bill Maher and I was like finally someone is talking about this. Finally is talking about this.

WISE: Right.

LEMON: Do you think that Joe Wilson would have done that to a president who was of another color?

WISE: No, I don’t.

LEMON: He may have done the same thing if it was a woman president.

WISE: I don’t know but I know here is a guy who is an avowed neo confederate who says Strom Thurman and (INAUDIBLE) segregation was his hero. There is some racial stuff going on, I hate to say it, with this congress person and it makes me wonder with that kind of background. It makes me wonder.

LEMON: But isn’t it – what is behind – I think that the thing that we are not getting to is what allows him to be – to feel that is OK to say it.

WISE: Right.

LEMON: Isn’t that what it is?

WISE: I think it is what David was talking about.There is a large segment of the American population, particularly a sizable amount of white folks, frankly, and in the Republican Party who do not view him as legitimate, the Berger phenomenon. Let’s be honest. If this man’s name was Oshanasi or O’Malley and I made a birth certificate that said he was born in County Court Ireland in 1961, nobody would care or believe it. But if you say he is from Africa, he has an African daddy. He is from Kenya. People will believe that.

They want to point him as a foreign outsider out to destroy America. And that kind of over the top rhetoric isn’t just about political disagreement, it is about an attack on his identity and his American- ness. Because some people simply can’t accept that we are not the only folks in this country, we are not the standard anymore for what an American is. It is a multiculture nation.

LEMON: I hear African-Americans all the time are used to when talking about President Bush and they would say not my president. That is not right, either.

WISE: Oh, it is not right. It’s not right. You know, I was at rallies where occasionally people had signs that would compare President Bush to Hitler. But you know, what, it wasn’t the leading spokespeople on the left doing that. It wasn’t our talk show hosts, it wasn’t our authors and our columnists and our commentators, it was folks on the streets. It is not right. But it is not equivalent. That is coming from the very top of the conservative mouthpiece community.

LEMON: Hey, listen, I got to go. Do you think this is good for us so because now we can examine and talk about it? It is out there.

WISE: Oh, I think so. It is bringing some things out of the woodwork. If we address it honestly, we can move forward but if we continue to stay in denial I don’t think we will.

LEMON: Denial, it is not just a river, right? Thank you. Tim Wise, it’s always good to have you on. Appreciate it.

Wise has helped shed light on these tea-bagger protests. Looking at some of the vile and disgusting racism we’ve seen from the images of these events you see anger from the far right (beyond the normal political partisanship). As Wise points out, there were nuts saying negative things about President Bush, but such sentiments were not coming from people in such prominent right-wing positions (like Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs, Pat Buchanan, Sean Hannity and others) of influence or organizations of influence (like Fox News). These are people with tremendous platforms and loud megaphones. These idiotic statements are, in essence, endorsed by high-profile conservatives and, in some cases, high-profile Republican politicians (who have, as an example, helped keep the birther issue alive by not denouncing it).

As a side note: Republicans who have stood up to Limbaugh have usually come back on their knees to beg for Rush’s forgiveness.

Perhaps normal Republicans are paralyzed by fear.

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

Right Wing Idiots Are Fast Approaching The Point Of Dangerous

The right-wing nuts are becoming angrier and more hostile as time passes on and President Obama is still less than a year into his presidency. Anger and hostility can lead to violence. Code words like socialist (and worse) are words that show just how frightening a path many from the lowest element of our country are headed. The enablers who shrug off the hatred and venom in these town hall protests and tea party protests (much of which masks a form of racism) was evident down a heated town hall gathering in Massachusetts where Rep. Barney Frank, a democrat, was a speaker (on the topic of health care reform).

Here is how Think Progress describes the wickedness and anger from some of these protesters (anger of us many saw coming as it became evident Barack Obama was going to become president):

At one point, Frank asked the crowd: “Which one of you wants to yell next?” Frank then excoriated a woman who asked a question while holding up a picture of President Obama defaced to look like Hitler:

QUESTION: Why do you continue to support a Nazi policy as Obama has expressly supported this policy? Why are you supporting it? [...]

FRANK: On what planet do you spend most of your time? … You want me to answer the question? Yes. You stand there with a picture of the President defaced to look like Hitler and compare the effort to increase health care to the Nazis. My answer to you is, as I said before, it is a tribute to the First Amendment that this kind of vile, contemptible nonsense is so freely propagated.

Well said by Rep. Frank. It’s moronic bigots like this person who confronted Rep. Frank, seething with hatred, who sadly benefit from the amazing freedoms we enjoy in this great country.

They’re more interested in hate (for this new president) than in doing something positive for those in our country who need it so badly.

Sadly, we have to put up with idiots like that so that many more can continue to enjoy freedoms.

AS A SIDE NOTE (you will understand this if you watch the video): I think Rep. Frank would have a better conversation with a dining room table than with that bigoted, hateful moron.

More Racist Imagery From Tea Party Protests

The racism hits just keep on coming as more imagery from tea parties pop up. These were from a poster who left a comment at Media Matters for America.

Below, check out the guy’s shirt and imagine what must have been censored on it …

NOTE: As correctly pointed out … the one image is from a McCain-Palin rally. But, as I say below, it all kind of blends together.

Michelle Malkin An Advocate For Bone-Headed Tea Party Movement

Conservative blogger Michelle Malkin was talking with George Stephanopoulos about these moronic and sparsely-attended tea parties we’ve seen sprouting up since President Obama has been in office. Malkin, as a far-right extremist, has been feeling the tea parties (a gathering of mostly far-right nuts who are using taxes as a way of attacking President Obama). Much like the birther morons, who are cloaking their racism with this birth certificate nonsense, the tea party bobbleheads are driving the Republican brand into extinction.

From Think Progress:

This morning, right-wing blogger Michelle Malkin joined the ABC roundtable on This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Asked what the conservative opposition strategy is going to be this coming month while Congress is in recess, Malkin said there is a growing “tea party movement — these counterinsurgencies amongst taxpayer rights groups” — that is fomenting opposition to Obama’s health care plan.

Malkin claimed the Obama administration has “vastly underestimated just how grassroots this movement is.” Lawmakers are going to face “townhalls-gone-wild,” she added.

The term “counter-insurgencies” does reveal the mentality of conservatives in opposition to Obama. Like Bill Kristol has said, the right wing is bluntly stating that it is going “for the kill.” Malkin has previously declare her hope that Obama fails.

Malkin has had a prejudice against President Obama from the beginning and it makes me wonder what her prejudice is truly based on. I am not sure it’s as obvious as her followers would like to believe. The administration vastly underestimated the high degree of hatred that is being felt by a number of people on the far right still struggling to come to grips with the first black president and what some people have described as the “browning of America” with the growing Latino population and the growing number of people who are biracial.

Let these birther and tea bagging nuts have their little townhalls so people can see just how extreme the right wing is going these days and how out of touch Republicans are becoming with blacks and Latinos (it will get worse with Latinos as Republicans continue to beat up on U.S. Supreme Court Justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor).

I doubt the Obama Administration is too concerned about the diversity-challenged and intellect-challenged tea party movement.

Are Tea Parties Fertile Recruiting Ground For White Supremacists?

Have these tea parties become a fertile recruiting ground for white supremacist groups around the United States of America? The Anti-Defamation League has an article about the tea parties that first sprouted up as “tax” tea parties around the nation on April 15, 2009.

An excerpt from the Anti-Defamation League article:

The Tea Party phenomenon, which began with anti-tax rallies staged across the country on April 15, 2009, will continue as activists in almost every state are planning similar events on July 4. Notably, white supremacists are again planning to participate. As they have done with other political and social issues, for example, promoting the Ron Paul campaign and using the immigration debate, white supremacists and anti-Semites are planning to exploit Tea Parties to disseminate their hateful views and recruit a larger following.

This is also from the article:

Stormfront, the most popular white supremacist Internet forum, is home to discussion between extremists eager to influence the events. In addition to circulating a list of local organizers and promoting planned rallies, Stormfront members are trying to find ways to involve themselves in the events. In posts to the forum, many voice their intent to attend the Tea parties for the purpose of cultivating an “organized grassroots White mass movement.”

So, have these tea parties become a recruiting base for white supremacist groups? It is difficult to know how effective a recruiting base it has been for such groups, but there seems little doubt that there are potential recruits for these groups to reach out to – people who might be receptive to their messages of hate. These tea party protests have been diversity challenged and clearly appeal mostly to individuals on the far right of the political spectrum (since I certainly do not recall such protests during the administration of George W. Bush).

Anti-Defamation League:
http://www.adl.org/main_Extremism/White_Supremacists_July_4_Tea_Parties.htm

Amanda Terkel, Of Think Progress, Calls Out Sean Hannity, Of Fox News, On Hypocrisy

Fox News cracks me up some days. Listening to right-wingers Sean Hannity and Dick Morris on the same show (nevermind the same set) is laughable. Hannity and Morris, of course, are whining about the jokes of comedian Wanda Sykes at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner. Listen to this exchange between these two:

HANNITY: Calling him a terrorist, comparing him to bin Laden, et cetera, et cetera, and then wishing kidney failure. Now for all the moral indignation and outrage over waterboarding, what would be worse, wishing an American citizen who has a different point of view that his kidneys fail and to waterboard a terrorist to get information? [...]

HANNITY: Now there is a double standard. Now can you imagine if we go through this list here of — what if somebody called Barack Obama, compared him to a terrorist? What if somebody wished him ill? That he wouldn’t do well? [...]

MORRIS: He would be carted off in handcuffs. And they should be. No one should make a joke about the president dying and frankly no one should make a joke about someone in political life like that dying.

Terkel correctly points out how Hannity often brings up the link between President Obama and Bill Ayers to try and push the image that President Obama is a radical terrorist sympathizer. Where was Hannity protesting so loudly when Fox News analyst Liz Trotta, as I pointed out in an earlier blog, was on the air and joked about knocking off Osama (bin Laden) and President Obama, during the presidential campaign? That was comparing him with a terrorist. Hannityseemed awful quiet when we saw all of those nasty signs at the tea party protests on tax day and compared him to a terrorist (signs that had some nasty things to say about President Obama).

Hannity asks if you could imagine someone wished “that he wouldn’t do well.” Who (Rush Limbaugh) would possibly wish something like that?

Think Progress (read more of Terkel’s entry on Hannity’s hypocrisy):
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/12/hannity-terrorist-compare/