I really don’t understand why the GOP has so much trouble attracting nonwhite voters. I mean, sure, a Republican activist said an escaped ape was “one of Michelle [Obama]’s ancestors,” then blamed the whole thing on a statement by Michelle Obama that did not actually exist. And sure, a GOP operative posted a tweet that said, “JUST HEARD OBAMA IS GOING TO IMPOSE A 40% TAX ON ASPIRIN BECAUSE IT’S WHITE AND IT WORKS.” And sure, a staffer for a Republican Tennessee State Senator sent out this image of the 44 presidents:
And then when given a chance to apologize, said staffer said “she only felt bad about sending it to the wrong list of people.”
But I just can’t understand why people think the GOP is a party that coddles racists. It’s so confusing.
Yyyeeeeaaaahhh…
They just can’t seem to stop can they? At least the party is so kind enough to continually remind me what they think of me and why I should support them.
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JUST HEARD OBAMA IS GOING TO IMPOSE A 40% TAX ON ASPIRIN BECAUSE IT’S WHITE AND IT WORKS
This is news? Where have you been? I heard Leno tell that joke in his monologue 3 or 4 months ago. So a GOP operative sent it out to his/her buddies. Big deal.
Where have you been? I heard Leno tell that joke in his monologue 3 or 4 months ago.
Cite please. I’m sorry, but if Jay Leno actually told that joke in his monologue, it would have been huge news, and he would not be getting a brand new prime-time talk show. I’m not simply going to accept as an assertion that he told that joke.
Was that joke making the rounds among racists? I’m sure it was. But I can guarantee you that joke wasn’t made on a late-night talk show.
Evidently RonF doesn’t get the difference between a racist and a non-racist joke about Obama’s taxing aspirin.
LENO: “But you learn a lot about the system. You know, like, people say, ‘Oh, where do hospitals get the nerve to charge $10 for an aspirin?’ See, this is why President Obama wants to do something about healthcare in this country. See, under his plan, hospital aspirin only costs a dollar maximum. Of course, there would be a $9 tax on it.”
Both jokes about Obama taxing aspirin. How could someone be offended by one and not the other?
Both jokes about Obama taxing aspirin. How could someone be offended by one and not the other?
How silly of me. It’s like they’re the exact same joke! Except one is a joke about taxation, and the other is horribly racist!
At least the republicans are showing their true colours. It’s worse when people fake it only to turn around and act on their racism.
Jeff, the “when given the chance to apologize” link 404s.
Jeff, the “when given the chance to apologize” link 404s.
Fixed! Stupid HTML…. :P
Lilian said:
(Disclaimer: this post may be a bit rambling… but I swear: I really do have a point)
This is where my issue lies as well.
In the thread about the radio show hosts that made a joke about “beating the trans” out of their, theoretical, trans children, I commented about how I was almost more disgusted at the hypocrisy of their apology than at the actual offense.
Myca pointed out that (paraphrasing considerably here): “Well yeah, it sucks that they said it at all, but at least we’ve reached a point where they had to apologize.”
And I agree. It is a good thing that they eventually had to apologize, despite their initial resistance to it.
But it doesn’t stop them from using their bigotry to inform other actions they take that are not so apparently motivated by such their bigotry.
Now, in the case of radio show hosts, that probably doesn’t mean much… but in the case of politicians and other government figures, like those the OP is about, it means a great deal.
It causes me intense frustration that this person and her bosses think that her “apology” stating that she’s sorry that she sent it to “the wrong list of people” counts as an apology at all (when it’s really just a mocking “sorry I sent it to one of you wimpy PC liberals”) and then try to pretend that this sort of behavior and thinking isn’t going to have any influence on the way they govern.
And that’s the thing… in some ways, we’re just teaching them to keep those bigot thoughts to themselves and carefully veil their villainy under, say, a concern regarding “big government” or “the war on drugs” when they refuse to enact social welfare programs or insist on enacting radically disparate punishments for what is, effectively, the same drug (crack vs. cocaine).
Yeah, I’m know for a fact that many Republicans have serious and perfectly valid (non-bigoted) concerns about “big government” and “the war on drugs”… But actions like the one under discussion in the OP just reinforce two things:
1) Republicans have a disproportionate number of bigots among their politicians and constituencies;
2) How many of the “good” Republicans are just bigots that have been smart/cunning/lucky enough to not have exposed themselves yet?
Those latter guys are the scary ones that get to keep looking clean and shiny while invoking the party line and screaming “NO NEW TAXES!!” when what they really mean is: “I HATE NON-WHITE/NON-CHRISTIAN/HOMOSEXUAL/FEMALE/ETC. PEOPLE!!”
At least until they screw up and call a non-white person “Macaca”… but, by then, it’s too late, because they’ve already influenced policy.
I agree, it’s frustrating. But what’s a body to do?
You know what the really, really funny thing about the email that the staffer of the Tennessee senator sent out is? That it’s not even funny. Seriously, not funny. Where is the humor? Oh wait, I get it. Bush killed the economy and the photographer could not afford to pay his electricity bill thus the picture was taken in the dark. That is why we can only see President Obama’s eyes. Oh yeah… that is funny.
What’s funny was her response that she sent it to the wrong list. Apparently she sent it to the contacts list labeled “people who might be offended by ignorant, racist, unfunny emails”, instead of the list titled “right wing racist friends who are entertained by ignorant, racist, unfunny emails and would never go public with this because I work for a Republican senator.”
And if anyone is a close descendent to an escaped ape, it has got to be former President George Bush. I do not mean that in a racist way, rather an I.Q. way.
People like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly, I think are fooling the public. They are in it for the money. Similar to gangster rappers turned television, movie stars and Dr. Pepper pitchmen. I can understand that money is guiding their motives. But for these poor idiots who are not the mouthpiece of their beloved parties, but who accidentally become the center of the storm by saying or doing something blatantly racist, I have no pity for. I hope they get what they deserve.
If Obama weren’t black, THAT would have been funny. Oh, and ERCOT (the electric grid folks here in Texas) are struggling with a horrible heat wave, so we’re being warned about possible power outages.
But back to being on topic, so much of GOP racism isn’t even adult racism. “Ha, ha, ha — you can only see his eyes!” is just so 5th or 6th grade. The joke about taxing aspirin because it works and is white — much more mature racism. “B” for creativity, “A” for subtlety and “A-” for being completely racist. The “eyeballs only” photo? No where near that high of marks.
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