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Post-Racialism in the Republican Party

Posted by KATHY KATTENBURG in Politics, Society.
Jun 15th, 2009 | View Comments

Rumor has it South Carolina’s Republican leaders are trying to persuade African-Americans to revise their overwhelmingly negative opinion of the GOP and maybe actually consider becoming Republicans.

Here is a progress report:

A prominent South Carolina Republican killed his Facebook page Sunday after being caught likening the First Lady to an escaped gorilla.

Commenting on a report posted to Facebook about a gorilla escape at a zoo in Columbia, S.C., Friday, longtime GOP activist Rusty DePass wrote, “I’m sure it’s just one of Michelle’s ancestors – probably harmless.”

Busted by South Carolina political blogger Will Folks on his FITNEWS blog, DePass told WIS-TV in Columbia, “I am as sorry as I can be if I offended anyone. The comment was clearly in jest.”

Then he added, “The comment was hers, not mine,” claiming Michelle Obama made a recent remark about humans descending from apes. The Daily News could find no such comment.

That is such a sincere apology, don’t you think?

… Because gee, who would be offended by a white politician comparing a black woman to an ape?  Also, it’s not really his fault, because he based it off of something that she said!  Which she didn’t actually say, and which wouldn’t excuse the remark even if she did.

And here is another post-racial Republican:

… Mike Green, another Republican activist who works for gubernatorial candidate Adam Piper had this wonderful comment.

 

 

 

  • DaGoat
    I think I'm lacking in the capacity for nuance. As far as I can tell, Kathy and I agree with respect to the two obscure GOP activists.
  • jwest
    DaGoat,

    See, there is just no pleasing them. Once their tunnel vision is locked, it wouldn’t matter what you said or did, since you are not one of them you are evil.
  • kathykattenburg
    My calling them dumb asses wasn't enough for you? You want me to firebomb their houses?

    You said you were "hoping to see a discussion of how the GOP might attract minorities instead of quotes from two dumb asses." I suggested to you that such a discussion might begin with a conversation about the need for the GOP to crack down on the dumb asses. Put in slightly different words, that means that my response to your expressed hope that we might see "a discussion of how the GOP might attract minorities instead of quotes from two dumb asses" is as follows: We are already having that discussion that you would like to see when we quote from two dumb asses and talk to one another about how that might possibly affect the way minorities view the GOP.

    Your new comment, in reply to mine -- My calling them dumb asses wasn't enough for you? You want me to firebomb their houses? -- does not appear at first glance to connect in a logical manner with my thoughts as expressed (see above).

    I could say all this in much shorter, more concise form, but I am trying to remain both civil and kind.
  • DaGoat
    Ummm, well.. maybe by coming down hard on any GOP dumb asses who compare Michelle Obama to a gorilla, or who "joke" that the Democrats are going to raise taxes on aspirin by 40% because aspirin is white and it works?

    My calling them dumb asses wasn't enough for you? You want me to firebomb their houses?
  • kathykattenburg
    I actually was hoping to see a discussion of how the GOP might attract minorities instead of quotes from two dumb asses.

    Ummm, well.. maybe by coming down hard on any GOP dumb asses who compare Michelle Obama to a gorilla, or who "joke" that the Democrats are going to raise taxes on aspirin by 40% because aspirin is white and it works?

    That might make a good start.
  • roro80
    "The best Republicans can hope for is not the screw up and insult someone and no matter what they go"

    See, the thing is, superdestroyer, people who aren't actually racist and therefore don't find racist humor funny don't worry about whether or not they accidently sent an offensive racist "joke" to the wrong people on their mailing lists.

    "Would it be racist to laugh in the face of every black person who complains high taxes and bad government?"

    Um...yes, actually.

    The point I was trying to make in my previous comment is that minorities are going to vote democratic every time, whether it's in their economic interests or not, for as long as it is made so obvious and clear that Republicans pretty much hate them, or at best just wish they would go away.
  • jwest
    DaGoat,

    We should aspire to be better than that.

    Because in the liberal world, it’s the intention that matters, not the results. So, in the mean time, let’s have a little fun at Michelle Obama’s expense.

    Hanging around a liberal site like this has caused some of their “sensibilities” to rub off on me.
  • DaGoat
    Come to think of it, there is absolutely nothing about conservatives that liberals don’t routinely make fun of in the cruelest of fashion.

    Sooooooo....we should be better than that.
  • jwest
    DaGoat,

    It’s hilarious to make fun of people’s appearance. Just ask any liberal.

    Come to think of it, there is absolutely nothing about conservatives that liberals don’t routinely make fun of in the cruelest of fashion.

    Until the mainstream media can make up their collective minds if Michelle is the world’s most beautiful or most brilliant woman, I think few shots from peanut gallery of reality might help bring them back to earth.

    Of course, I would never go into the “missing chromosome” territory that those on the left frequent about right wingers, but a couple of well placed barbs that counteract the left/media’s current storyline are the backbone of political satire.
  • DaGoat
    jwest, I don't mean to sound like the PC police but making fun of people's appearance is not helpful.
  • jwest
    Zzzzzzz, Kathy,

    The reason I haven’t commented on this subject earlier is that I didn’t actually read it until now. As one of the few moderate conservatives that follow TMV, I already had a few threads going along with living an actual life in the background.

    So, the media was able to find a person in South Carolina, a private citizen who is not an elected official, who made an unfunny comment about Michelle Obama’s looks. This is pretty much proof positive that anyone associated with the Republican Party is a lynch-ready racist. I mean, how could you possibly argue differently?

    Naturally, when someone makes insensitive racist statements or “jokes”, it is basically revealing their true inner feelings in a moment of candor. We should call these people out for the bigoted fools that they are………….or elect them Vice President.

    Oh, and Michelle doesn’t resemble a gorilla at all. We’ve been having this argument at Ace of Spades for months. There is a group who feel she most looks like Chewbacca, while the more perceptive of us think the resemblance is more Klingon than anything.
    http://minx.cc/?post=285342
  • superdestroyer
    This shows why minority outreach is a waste of time for Republicans. Blacks are the most liberal group in the U.S. and have the best organized grievance industry. The left wing blogosphere cranked up this story. Yet, the NAACP refuses to let the media attend its meetings because they are afraid of what will be report at those meetings.

    This shows why Republicans should never go to black organization meetings, why they should never campaign in black neighborhoods, and should not waste resources appealing to the most liberal group in the U.S. The best Republicans can hope for is not the screw up and insult someone and no matter what they go, they will never get blacks to vote for Republicans.

    Would it be racist to laugh in the face of every black person who complains high taxes and bad government? Would it be racist to ask them why they expect when they keep voting for the most liberal politicians in the U.S?
  • elrod
    You missed our wonderful GOP here in Tennessee. A staffer for a Middle TN Republican State Senator passed around a picture of the Presidents with Obama's picture replaced by a black square with big white eyes - just like in the minstrelsy days.

    Scratch a Southern Republican a bit and you'll this kind of garbage in no time.
  • DaGoat
    I actually was hoping to see a discussion of how the GOP might attract minorities instead of quotes from two dumb asses.
  • rfyork
    Once again I am SHOCKED, SHOCKED to hear such appalling talk from a Southern Republican.

    (Strom or Jesse, anyone?)
  • skylights
    "Because gee, who would be surprised by a GOP politician from South Carolina comparing a black woman to an ape?"

    Fixed it for you.
  • kathykattenburg
    Ditto that re jwest. I'm actually a bit surprised there aren't any comments here from conservatives or right-wingers saying this guy is just an anomaly and we're just playing the race card by commenting on it.
  • Zzzzz
    Where is jwest? Wasn't he suggesting there is NO reason to believe that the right-wing might have a higher concentration of rascists in that museum shooter piece? Yet, he manages to somehow miss that every few months someone in the leadership of the Republican part does or says something, at best, racially insenstive and sometimes outright rascist. Granted, if you look under enough rocks, you can find some leftists who are equally rascist, but they are VERY rarely in leadership positions. Of course, that is only true in the last couple of decades, when most of the rascist Dixiecrats decided to become Republicans.
  • Ryan
    Maybe someone could ask him whether he meant that Michelle and the ape share a common ancestor instead. $10 says a SC Republican would take the racist option instead of associating himself with evolution.
  • EEllis
    Damn that's stupid
  • tidbits
    The problem with free speech is that someone might be listening.
  • This is funny on so many different levels...
  • roro80
    It's such a no-brainer. Republicans wonder, wide-eyed, why won't those minorities vote for them? They blame it on things like welfare reform and not wanting to coddle poor people, all in the name of fiscal conservatism. Um...that's probably not it. It's probably that there are fringe bigots like this, and they find safe harbor and leadership roles (!) in the Republican party.

    Statements like these cast a great deal of doubt over the motivations behind a lot of the Republican talking points. When you see legislation voted for by the GOP -- legislation that will negatively and disproportionately affect minorities -- one always hears that it's not because they're racist that they're voting for it, it's because they're fiscally conservative, or some blabber about "bootstraps". That sort of statement would be a lot more credible if party leadership weren't our black first lady to apes, or implying that black people don't work.
  • dogjudge
    I am fairly certain it's a Mark Twain quote. "You can keep your mouth shut and let people think you're an idiot, or you can open it up and take away all doubt."

    Anyone care to take a bet that these two also will complain during the next election when their candidates don't get votes from minorities?
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