It just isn’t fair. First, the Democrats nominate a ni–er, one of them to be president. Then America votes for the guy. And now the Republican Party has abandoned its principles, and made their leader a ni–er, one of them:
Steele is a passionate supporter of affirmative action programs that racially discriminate against tens of millions of White Americans. He also supports increased discrimination against White owned businesses in the awarding of non-merit and non-bid minority contracts. He is opposed to the death penalty and thinks that it is disproportionately applied to Blacks even though it is applied to White murderers at 500 percent higher than it is to Black murderers. He is also an advocate of more gun control legislation as well as a draconian, massively increased enforcement of the current laws. He is a servile dog of Israel and has condemned Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorists and yet said not a word of compassion for the 5,000 (half of them women and children) who have been maimed and murdered in Gaza by Israel’s weapons of mass destruction. He says that he would still support the Iraq War and the loss of 50,000 maimed Americans, 4500 killed and trillions in cost, even though the reason for the war (Weapons of Mass Destruction) was proven to be a lie.
When a reporter for the Washington Post interviewed me on the appointment, this is what I said:
I am glad these traitorous leaders of the Republican Party appointed this Black racist, affirmative action advocate to the head of the Republican party because this will lead to a huge revolt among the Republican base. As a former Republican official, I can tell you that millions of rank-and-file Republicans are mad as hell and aren’t going to take it anymore! We will either take the Republican Party back over the next four years or we will say, “To Hell With the Republican Party!” And we will take 90 percent of Republicans with us into a New Party that will take its current place!
Aw, David, did it turn out that most Americans aren’t racist fucktards? Did it turn out that even the Republican Party, as full of racists as it is, could manage in 2009 to select a non-white chairman again? Is your ideology consigned to the dustbin of history, still alive and kicking, of course — but in smaller and smaller groups, with less and less influence by the day?
Don’t get me wrong — I agree with Pam that Duke does speak for a certain segment of Republicans, the ones who were shouting “terrorist” at McCain-Palin rallies. And while I don’t believe that’s 90 percent of the GOP, it is a good 10-15 percent, certainly enough that their petulant stomping away will hurt.
But it couldn’t happen to a better group of people. If there’s one ideology that has been thoroughly discredited, it’s racial segregation. And all that’s left of it now is the still, small whine of the racists, who hoped that the Southern Strategy meant that the bad old days could still return. But those days are gone forever, and they’re not coming back.
And me without my tissues. Nothing would make me happier than to see these asshats start their own party!
I understand that this is a forum for the discussion of sexism, racism, etc., but I personally don’t think David Duke needs any publicity. Besides being the grand poobah of racism, he has no claim to fame.
Starve him of attention, cut him off from publicity, and his group of followers just might (okay, this is a stretch) slither back into the slime from which they came.
I find myself having the same general reaction as SusanE, though I understand that there’s an argument to be made about the value of awareness. Still, lacking a great deal of analysis, this feels like an unwarranted post of a large section of text (written by Duke) that could serve as publicity as much as anything else.
In direct response, though, I’m not quite as optimistic about the state of the Republican party in Congress, which is now comprised mostly of Dixiecrats and fundamentalist Christians. When I read his statement claiming 90 % of the party, I have to admit that I felt a bit fearful. I think it remains to be seen what will happen there, but the direction that the Republican party took over the past eight years is…Well, at a minimum, it’s alarming.
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Oh, I disagree; sunlight is the best disinfectant, and the more often Duke is held up for ridicule the better. Leaving him alone with his minions is far less desirable than holding his foolishness up for the mocking it deserves.
The fact that the guy who sent around the “Barack the Magic Negro” CD had to drop out because he couldn’t get enough signatures to get on the ballot, coupled with Steele’s (who condemned the CD, while Blackwell shrugged at it) election, gives me more hope for the GOP than I’ve had since Palin’s selection for VP. I’m finding it disturbing how often I’m wishing that WFB were still alive. Sure, he was a racist homophobe (and a jackass about his will), but at least he was a literate racist homophobe.
Mr. Fecke, I usually enjoy your commentary. I object to your use of the word “fucktard,” however.
Me too.
I do agree with the antiseptic comment.
Yeah, why stigmatize fucktards? Yuk, yuk, yuk.
Seriously, guys: we’re better than this.
I appreciate Fecke bringing us an intriguing story about the extent to which people choose whether to battle to “reform” an institution from within or without. Plenty of people on this list have expressed similar frustrations about the corruption and pandering and lack of nerve among Democratic leaders; I would expect at least a glimmer of recognition and compassion from people here.
But even if we can’t muster that, at least I hope we wouldn’t stoop to pure ad hominems.
What exactly did Duke say that is so far beyond the pale? He opposes Affirmative Action and minority set-asides in contracting. He favors the death penalty, and disputes the idea that it is applied disproportionately to blacks. He opposes gun control. He objects to Israel’s latest incursion into Gaza, and believes that Steele has demonstrated insufficient compassion for the people of Gaza. He thinks the Iraq War was not worth the cost, and feels betrayed that we were led into the war on false pretenses. He believes that blacks can exhibit racism, and that Steele does so.
Oh, yeah, and there’s that. Except I don’t see where he discusses that.
Note that Duke isn’t the one using words like “fucktard” and “nigger” here. Ok, “servile dog of Israel” is … well, weird; is he trying to sound like a Cold-War propagandist?
I may not share Duke’s views on most issues; indeed, with respect to the death penalty I believe he’s factually in error. But as far as I can tell he’s mostly stating mainstream Republican opinions, and pointing out the incongruity of Republicans appointing as their chairman a man who disagrees with so many of these opinions. If these same words were coming out of Rep. Roy Blunt’s mouth, would anyone even raise an eyebrow?
Yeah, Duke was a member of the Klan. And Klansmen are wrong, wrong, wrong! Heck, there’s no point in even trying to understand what they have to say because, well, everything they say is wrong! Therefore, we’re compelled to conclude that the Iraq War was … right?
The merits and challenges of Affirmative Action policy, etc., exist independent of Mr. Duke. He’s not the issue – except to the extent you choose to make him one. And what’s the point of that?
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nobody.really:
I thought the sentence was oddly thrown in myself, since nowhere in the quoted part did he say that. I just assumed it was from some other things he has said in the past (I’m not that familiar with David Duke).
I think you made some good points nobody.really. Duke can have good points about public policy independent of his racists beliefs. It may be unlikely but possible. He’s opposed to Iraq war, seems to me that’s a good thing, no? Even if everything he says is utter crap (which as far as racial thinking probably is), I find it much more preferable to attack those ideas than to attack him.
Those ideas may be incongruous to the Republicans now, but as with any political party, those ideas will change if the Republicans find out it’s necessary for them to survive.
If you could be bothered to read the entire quote by reading a link from Jeff’s link, you’d see the bit where Grand Wizard Duke writes:
Now that that’s settled, perhaps we can discuss.
Um, guys.
Isn’t David Duke a Democrat? Or was one.
Historically, the Democrats were the party of segregation and racism. The current propensity of blacks to vote Democrat it because they are historically ignorant and because the Democrats are the party of Welfare.
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I don’t think posting here is going to work out for you, Parallel. Please don’t comment on this blog again.