Enraged, Maddow Explains ‘Racist History’ Tea Party Is Embracing
Wow. Rachel Maddow will not be giving the Tea Partiers any sort of free pass. While there has been a noticeable shift in the mainstream media of late to respectfully treat the Tea Partiers as the newest incarnation of the GOP and a force to be reckoned with come this November, Maddow is not budging much in her criticism and once you watch this you will likely understand why. Specifically, she is criticizing (actually, she’s eviscerating…no joke) what she calls the Tea Partiers “embrace of racist history.”
On Saturday Maddow referred to Rep. Tom Tancredo — whom she described as a “failed presidential candidate” and “professional anti-immigrant” — as having opened the Tea Party Convention with “a big, loud racist bang” because of his assertion that President Obama was elected by “people who could not even spell the word vote, or say it in English” and then proposed bringing the literacy test back.
At the time Maddow rightly (and righteously) noted that literacy tests were frequently used in the South during segregation to keep African Americans from voting. Last night she picked up where she’d left off on Saturday with a long, more damning description of the shameful practice. Maddow read aloud from Alabama’s literacy test from 1965 (can you answer any of these questions) before declaring her awe and disgust that something similar was proposed just this past weekend.
This isn’t the plot of some Kudzoo and Klansmen short story. This isn’t a theoretical for first year law students. This isn’t some State Dept. report on some tin-pot dictatorship halfway around the world that we can’t pronounce. This is American history. This is really, really recent American history. As in this lifetime for a lot of people, American history. And the opening night speech at the National Tea Party Convention this weekend proposed bringing the literacy test for voting back. And that proposal got a warm round of applause.
Maddow continues:
The whiplash, wake-up point here is not that somebody with a record like Tom Tancredo’s would suggest something like this; he’s made a living out of this shtick for quite some time. What’s important here is that a suggestion like that would be greeted with cheers from an American crowd: ‘Hey, let’s go back to the ways we used to keep black people from voting in this country.’”
Video below. Watch till the end. Perhaps Glenn Beck will be inspired and focus his next “historical” documentary on American Civil liberties instead of communism, etc. Apparently, some people are dearly in need of a refresher.
86 comments
The Real Royal King says: I know many like to attack Maddow, simply because she is not some Gwyn Beck, but she has an excellent argument here. The racism of the some of the Tea Partiers and the “movement” as a whole is frightening. As a Southerner, I can tell you the legacy of the literacy tests (How many bubbles will a box of soap powder make? was one of my “favorite” questions) is shameful. For some idiot to call for the revival of these selectively given tests is despicable. Good for Ms. Maddow.
Democrats should play Tom Tancredo’s speech everywhere in this next election season. Putting harsh light on the cockroaches like Tancredo typically sends them under the refrigerator.
The Real Royal King says: A very good point, Mr. Adkins.
Any word whether FOX intends to offer him a position?
timzank says: Ms. Maddow thinks everyone who is not like her, is a racist, homophobe, and all around nazi sympathizer. As I pointed out to Bill Adkins on another post, every group has their nutz, she’s one of yours.
I think Tancredo did more harm than good with his screed and I think his rhetoric was over-the-top. But what he meant by “people who could not even spell the word vote, or say it in English” is the Democrat’s practice of picking up every hobo, crackhead, ex-con, maid, gardener, and mental patient within city limits and driving them to the polls to vote for Democrats. People who can’t speak a lick of English or homeless people who will pull whatever lever you tell them to in exchange for a sandwich and a 40oz of Old English. It pollutes our democracy and taints our elections.
same2u says: Teabaggers are the new Klan.
The Real Royal King says: Yes, Chris. We all know Republicans never lose elections because they get fewer votes. They are simply victims of a huge conspiracy. If only there were more tin foil in America.
timzank says: same2u….You won’t see the Tea Party folks bribing & jamming buses and vans full of crackheads, illegals, and homeless people on election day. That, my friend is OWNED by Democrats. And of course the obituary voting bloc as well. You guys can scream racist all ya want, it’s a theory you have that isn’t true and cannot be proved. Democrats documented history for decades of bribing voters, using dead voters, and acorn to rig elections is all fact. Go ahead and argue the emotion, it’ll rile your whacko base to do whatever they deem necessary (illegal of course) because the ends justify the means and lying, cheating and stealing is prerequisite to being a member of your self righteous party.
Your lifelong mission to make as many poor people stay poor has been pretty successfull, but now that you guys and the Messiah have started bleeding the middleclass dems dry, they are gonna turn on ya big time. Most of them bought that hopey changey mantra until they noticed their own income tanking and no relief in sight as Barry & Congress write check after check for trillions that isn’t helping anybody but those already in office.
You idealogues don’t sense the outrage yet, but you will.
germ says: Same2u is the new C*cksucker.
The Real Royal King says: Interesting screed Tim Z. Ank, but you neglect to mention the only demonstrably stolen election in recent US history: Florida, 2000, which led to the Supreme Court’s appointment of W. History, you say? So are the purported events you’re whining about.
“Hopey – changey”. Really! I thought you better than some self-adoring, half-cocked Drop Out Governor. What a dreadful let down.
Socalgal says: There is a huge difference between being concerned about the ILLEGAL alien situation in the US and being downright racist. The position the Tea Party has always taken is in keeping the Constitution at the heart of our law-making. They see that our Gov’t both Republicans and Democrats have both been losing sight of that which explains their collectiove frustration with both parties.
Where it concerns illegal immigration, they see both parties doing nothing with our borders, they see sanctuary cities harboring law-breakers (last I read, crossing the border to live here was against the law), they see politicians pandering to the groups who support law-breakers for votes, and they see their states (ca. spending 10-15billion per year for services to illegals) trying to financially absorb these law-breakers possibly seeking to push amnesty when there are many immigrants who are willing to abide by our sovereign laws of proper immigration to go through the process of citizenship legally.
It is far easier for a Rachel Maddow to cry “racist” than to actually try to understand to real reasons why the Tea Party is gaining such strength. It serves her brand to demonize something she has no idea about.
She’s just one of the reasons why MSNBC is tanking.
timzank says: Dems like TRRK aren’t concerned with laws, they are concerned with co-opting any vote from any source. It doesn’t matter if they are here illegally, it’s a potential vote. Liars, thieves and cheats oh my!
What I’ve always wondered is how these guys go home at night, look their kids in the eye, and then actually sleep at night. My guess is over time, lying to yourself, your family and others just gets easier.
The Real Royal King says: You’re right Socalgal. There is a difference between racism and xenophobia. Fortunately, the (White) Tea Partiers embrace both.
germ says: TRRK,
They enjoy it about as much as you enjoy c*cksucking.
timzank says: Isn’t repeatedly referring to the Tea Party as “white” being racist?
AikidoJoe says: TRRK,
Do you not differentiate between legal immigration and illegal immigration? Or, do you think when people speak of illegal immigration it’s just “code” for racism? You just ignored the points that Socalgal made, which were reasonable.
The Real Royal King says: What I’ve always wondered is how these guys go home at night, look their kids in the eye, and then actually sleep at night.
—
I’m doubly burdened as my children each have two (2) eyes.
The Real Royal King says: Aikido Joe: I do understand the difference, in theoretical and practical terms. I, too, live in a border state. Because I understand that difference and because I recognize our borders are porous and will forever be so, I accept a reality. Once here, the distinction between legal and illegal becomes a legal nicety and nothing much more. The (Lou) Dobbsian illegal alien hysteria only complicates the issue and detracts and derails us from finding solutions to a very real problem. And, yes, SoCalGal may be neither racist nor xenophobic, but the greater majority of those so preoccupied are racist and xenophobic or panderers to this group.
germ says: TRRK,
may be neither racist nor xenophobic, but the greater majority of those so preoccupied are racist and xenophobic or panderers to this group.
And your evidence of this is what? I love how the left throws out generalities like this and nobody ever calls them on it.
The Real Royal King says: Germ: I’ll make an exception to my policy for the purpose of fully and finally dealing with you. I do not respond to purveyors of vile and vulgar language.
writer says: “Stolen elections”, every white person is a racist, blah, blah, blah. No other country on earth simply opens its borders and tells everyone to come on it. Yet the left considers it evil when we don’t do it. Anyone complaining about the possibility of illegal immigrants voting gets the usual “racist, anti-immigrant” charge thrown at them. The left is constantly preaching that it’s wrong to smear a whole group for the actions of a few. I guess that rule is applied very selectively.
writer says: Typo. Meant to say “come on in.” But it works either way, doesn’t it?
Socalgal says: Timzank,
“Obama Stash.” A particular news report on the people waiting in line for fictional government checks. The line was long and when one such person waiting in line was asked where the money she was waiting in line was coming from, she hadn’t a clue, “Obama. I don’t know. It’s coming from Obama stash.” We love Obama.
Yes we do.
The truth hurts. It’s one of the reasons why Tancredo and the Tea Party need to be so vehemently demonized by the MSM.
The Democrats have created a culture of dependant slaves in the welfare minority groups. They dangle the “Obama Stash” in front of minorities for votes and in return give them one of the worst Public Schools system in the developed world. But who would dare question the success of such a comfy relationship the Teachers Unions and the Democratic party have…
Handouts remove incentives. Failing education fails to inspire. So who are the real racists here?
germ says: Hahahah TRRK that is funny coming from you. The “King” of vile, hate filled comments.
I only started that because I was tired of you, Same2u, and Roxy having free reign of your vile, sick, and vulgar comments.
timzank says: As is evidenced by the comments, those on the progressive left, have no discernable level of fact comprehension. It’s just always emotion and always has been. TRRK, for example could be on the 10th floor of a burning building with smoke billowing up the elevator shaft, and a guy next to him, with a Tea Party button on his lapel could say “quick, take the stairs, there is no smoke or fire there” and he’d stop, look at the button, think about it, and take the elevator to his eventual demise. No common sense and a blind mistrust for anyone that espouses a different school of thought is standard equipment.
writer says: Germ, it’s sort of like Arianna Huffington slamming Glenn Beck for name calling, then appearing on Keith Olbermann’s show. Yet the left never sees the hypocrisy. You almost feel sorry for them. Almost.
Socalgal says: The Real Royal King -
Either we are a sovereign country with laws or we aren’t. It’s very simple. There are immigrants still abiding by our laws coming in through the proper channels. It has nothing to do with racism it has all to do with Americans wanting their laws repected. Are they not entitled to this respect? Are Americans not subject to the immigration laws of other countries? You bet we are.
writer says: According to the left, only Americans are to be considered evil for wanting to enforce their immigration laws.
Funny you should bring up Beck, writer.
PeeWee Herman + crack pipe = Glenn Beck
Jelperman says: I notice that NO ONE in this thread has disputed the facts of what Rachel Maddow said. Which can only mean that she’s right.
writer says: More hard facts from the far left.
germ says: Another insightful comment comming from Bill Adkins, Attourney at Law – he convicts without seeing your record!
Socalgal says: Dispute the facts?
No facts were presented, only her warped perceptions. She’s proved nothing concrete therefore there’s nothing to dispute.
If you think otherwise, go for it. Prove it.
Oh, I’ve seen Beck’s record. He’s on radio and TV for all to see. Crawl out from your cave, germ.
germ says: Bill, You’ve stated yourself before that you have never listened to or watched his show. So where are you getting his record? Media Matters?
writer says: Bill gets his info about Fox from the same place Rachel does. The totally unbiased Daily Kos.
JimW says: Rachel Maddow is a screwed-up and hate-filled as any WP skinhead who just likes to blather on about the Jews. Socalgal is right: “No facts were presented, only her warped perceptions.”
timzank says: “Socalgal is right: “No facts were presented, only her warped perceptions.”
+100
PureFreedom says: Because your white and you dont like where the government is going your racist . According to the left on this blog and the little boy (Maddow) you are if you dont lock step with the liberals.
How do you think we broke away from the British and established a new government? Dont you think the Britsh tried to say bad things about our fore fathers or the people who objected to taxes and big government . They also tried to make them look like stupid. This is what the liberals are doing today… Read your history.
Socalgal says: Read up on Saul Alinsky for the tactics Progressives take when their arguments have no merit.
It may have worked for awhile, not so much anymore.
Purefreedom,it’s not hard to make the Teabaggers look stupid – they ARE stupid. And Germ, I never said I never watch Beck – but I can’t take stupid in large doses like you can.
But then, even the chairman of the Evil Flying Monkey Party recognizes some reality – you knew this would be a rocky mariage: “I don’t see stories about the internal operations of the DNC that I see about this operation,” (Michael) Steele said. “Why? Is it because Michael Steele is the chairman, or is it because a black man is chairman?”
ex politicalmedia hack says: When you use race to win, and attack and label any of your opponents or their supporters as racist, do you really expect that race issues will disappear? If anything, the constant racist accusations made race relations worse. People supporting Hillary were called racist, but barely a mention that Obama carried 98% of the African American vote AFTER team Obama started race baiting the Clintons in the primaries. (which is what civil rights heroes john lewis and andrew young said the obama campaign did).
Hillary supporters were called uneducated, racist hicks (who cling to their guns and bibles). and it worked the media….now team Obama uses race baiting to attack anyone who dares to oppose him. Think.that helps race relations?
Hillary 2012 – We Told Ye So!
AikidoJoe says: The Real Royal King says:
February 9, 2010 at 11:50 am
Aikido Joe: I do understand the difference, in theoretical and practical terms. I, too, live in a border state. Because I understand that difference and because I recognize our borders are porous and will forever be so, I accept a reality. Once here, the distinction between legal and illegal becomes a legal nicety and nothing much more. The (Lou) Dobbsian illegal alien hysteria only complicates the issue and detracts and derails us from finding solutions to a very real problem. And, yes, SoCalGal may be neither racist nor xenophobic, but the greater majority of those so preoccupied are racist and xenophobic or panderers to this group.
————————————————————————————-
You are trying to have it both ways. You can’t be upset that some of the people in anti-illegal groups are praying on a small majority of people’s racial fears and excuse the ones on the Left of the same thing. La Razza, for example, is a racist group that encourages illegal immigration. The American Left, and more specifically pro-amnesty group, encourage and play on their fears saying how all opposition to their agenda is racially motivated. That is simply not the case. Illegal immigration is not exclusive to Mexican’s. The Left tries to frame the argument as such but it’s not true. We have illegal immigrants from all over the world who are here. I’d like to see an entire over-haul of the INS and State Department but until we get the crazies on both sides out of this argument we will be at a stand still forever.
Socalgal says: Bill Adkins is clearly having the darnest time presenting a coherent argument, otherwise we’d see some evidence and less ad hominems.
Please keep trying Bill
germ says: Socal, You’d expect more from a lawyer, wouldn’t you?
writer says: Bill says all teabaggers are “stupid”. So out of those crowds of hundreds or thousands, we’re given a blanket indictment. Yet if someone were to say, for example, all black people are stupid, or all of those Mexicans are stupid, he’d go running for his crying towel, screaming at the top of his lungs about the evils of stereotyping. Must be hard keeping it straight, which groups can be stereotyped and which ones can’t.
felixw says: Typical Rachel Maddow. Plays the race card to deflect attention from the tea party’s real focus — on intrusive government and out-of-control spending in Washington. I would love to see her once — just once — engage in a real dialogue on the trillion dollar 1,000-page bills that Congress passes without reading. But Rachel knows she can’t defend that irresponsible behavior, so she plays the race card instead. How pathetic. How predictable. How intellectually dishonest.
Socalgal says: Germ – yes, I really would. I would expect a Lawyer to at least know that there are laws specific to immigration that apply to ALL people wishing to become American citizens.
The Real Royal King says: Two (2) points I’d like to make AJ, in response to your thoughtful piece. I have to recognize that I cannot look at this completely objectively. Texas, alone among the border states, has a reputation of being enlightened and tolerant when it comes to these matters. This may be the only area in which we are enlightened and tolerant. But, our history and geography have somewhat blurred the differences among us. Even linguistically, we have a blend of a type of English and a type of Spanish to which we often revert. The river course changes, a Texas settlement becomes a Mexican one, and Mexican settlement becomes a Texas one, but there is no change in the population. What so many see as illegal immigrants, many of us see as hard-working decent people simply trying to support their families. So, even in a rabidly rightist Republican town, the desire to close down a federal detention center which detained/imprisoned families, including children, was very strong, and the center has closed down. Seeing how the INS tears apart families and terrorizes, yes, terrorizes individuals, has compelled me to get involved in the sanctuary movement. So, it is impossible for me, it would be untrue to myself, if I were to see a decent, hard-working mother trying to support her children as an illegal instead of as a decent, hard-working woman. The very concreteness of it for me, makes me less objective. But, I’m glad for that. Abstraction, in this instance, breeds hatred and contempt, or xenophobia. Xenophobia, by the way, has nothing to do with the immigrant, Mexican or otherwise, but with the fearful one whose fear causes him or her to lash out, often masked under the “America First” banality.
The Real Royal King says: Secondly, I do not disagree with the notion that we ought to over-haul the INS. I’d go a step further. Some governmental agencies or so corrupt, so inept, they ought to be abolished and simply start over. Examples of agencies which need to be significantly overhauled are the CIA, the FAA, the FBI, the FCC. Examples of agencies which ought to be abolished and replaced with new, carefully conceived and cutting agencies are the INS, the IRS and the TSA. The surest way to correct any immigration problems would be to re-form, in the correct manner, the INS. No fence you build, however tall, however thick, however fortified, will ever work. The Maginot Line was a spectacular failure, and so is the line, actually and metaphorically.
germ says: TRRK Translation:
Blah Blah Blah
Racsist Racist Racist
Blah Blah Blah
writer says: Royal, were you aware that Mexico’s immigration laws are very strict, and that El Salvadorans trying to sneak into Mexico are dealt with harshly? Do you also see the Mexicans as being racist or xenophobic? Or are such traits the sole providence of the white race?
germ says: I’ll help TRRK out here. I lived in Dallas while I went to college. Mexicans in Dallas don’t like other Mexicans that learn English on the fact that they are turning their back on their heritage. So no, it is not a trait left to “one” party or ethnicity, no matter how much the left on this blog want to make it so.
The Real Royal King says: I am well aware of Mexico’s immigration laws. You are correct. They are harshly drawn and applied. Mexicans are generally not racists. Only the self-proclaimed “Castilians” claim any sort of racial “purity” and they are not xenophobic in the same way Norte Americanos are. Their unity is based upon their vision of themselves as a people with a common heritage. Paisano. By it’s very nature, that’s exclusionary, but not xenophobic. That same concept doesn’t work for us, does it? We don’t have a common heritage. We’re Irish-Americans, Italian- Americans, German-Americans, Mexican-Americans in an endless litany. Our strength is in our diversity for it causes us to find unity in purpose.
writer says: Yes, Royal. Even our white people aren’t what you could call homogenous. That’s why it’s so out of whack when the left acts like all white people are the same, and only whites can be racists. You don’t have to look far on here to see posts saying “all you white people” or especially “all you southern whites” are like this or that. Isn’t the left always telling us we shouldn’t make these broad generalizations? If someone generalized about blacks or Mexicans the way you do about whites, you’d have to be placed on life support.
Socalgal says: What of the immigrants who come into the US legally? Are they not also hard-working? Does proximity give one group of people rights over another for a piece of American pie? Yet they follow the rules and laws of our country.
Your arguments are based on emotion and not reality. Reality bites at times but in order to HAVE order we have to be real.
Seeing as how you base your position on altruistic leaning I might assume that you would have no immigration laws at all? I could be wrong but based on your comment I might infer that you’d like this type of equality. Were that to be the case, run that though your mind a bit. Do you see any strain at all economically for the country, educationally? (Many south and central Am countries do not teach English at all in their schools). How about jobs? Any strain on the Healthcare system? Welfare? Medicaid/Care? Housing? Law enforcement? Right now 70% of criminals (unrelated to immigration laws) in border states are non-citizens. What would absorbing such quanities of people do to our infrastructure? How about taxes?
If you choose to ignore reality based issues that is your choice but you cannot label those who choose to consider these REAL issues, “racists” or xenophobic and expect them to think you have a fully functioning brain.
Socalgal says: TRRK: “Mexicans are generally not racists.”
But you are able to brandish everyone else racist? Do you want to appear credible or not?
Nachi says: GOP Intelligensia marches ever onward.
The Real Royal King says: SoCalGal, you’re more than a bit moronic in asking someone who just advocated that we have a wholesale remake of the INS if he wants no immigration laws. I think your Dobbsian dislike of Hispanics is making you blind.
germ says: Another classy comment from the Real Royal Shit.
writer says: More explanation is needed , Royal. Instead of seeing someone who has sneaked into the country as being illegal, you see them as “hard working”, and any attempt to send them back is cruel. (And of course cruelty is a trait of America in general and the white race in particular. Never mind that a good number of border guards are Mexican-Americans who came here legally.) So indeed, the gist of your post does seem to suggest that we do nothing when people come here illegally, and your idea of INS reform is to let everyone in, no matter what.
Socalgal says: TRRK –
More ad hominem. Having to think realistically must be frustrating you.
Yes, you also used the word abolish. Which is it? Abolish or reform? State your reforms. Any ideas on reforming jus soli as well?
The Real Royal King says: I specifically said abolish the INS and start a new agency. It surely can’t be so hard to understand that concept.
writer says: No, that’s easy enough. So how would they enforce the borders?
The Real Royal King says: No Writer, I never said that. As far as the “gist” goes, it doesn’t exist in the fashion you envision. I’m actually in favor of rather stringent laws. But, we can’t enforce those laws given our current, outmoded, Red Peril, frame of mind. Why are you so fearful of true reform? Reform that takes into account our abilities to enforce? Wouldn’t that more likely produce a reliable, effective system? We’re too centered on a false notion of racial and ethic purity, and we never address the real issue head on. What’s wrong with doing so?
Socalgal says: Speaking of concepts, what of the concept of Sovereign Law? Do you understand that concept? Do you understand the word Sovereign?
Socalgal says: You are very wrong TRRK. We CAN enforce our laws. The will is not there. And it is not because our Politicians give a damn about these immigrants, it is because those who advocate for them and open borders represent a powerful voting block all of which support the Democratic Party.
See how that works?
Socalgal says: The end. Nothing more to see here.
writer says: Why does “racial and ethnic” purity enter into it? It’s said that in fifty years the majority of the country will be Hispanic. So if we still have laws limiting the number of Mexicans (or people from any other country for that matter) that we allow in, will it still be racist? Or will limits on immigration be okay then, since white people are no longer in charge? No other country on earth simply opens its borders, but because we still have a white majority, and we border a country of non-whites, our immigration rules must be racist.
marigrace says: Madcow, once again didn’t fail to deliver, her idiocy.
AikidoJoe says: TRRK: “Mexicans are generally not racists.”
Whites are generally not racists. We, in America, tend think that racism is exclusive only to whites. That thinking is ridiculous on it’s face and has a racist tinge to it. One of the points I was trying to make above was how liberal sub-groups try to gin up racial animosity amongst Mexicans, (even though illegal immigration isn’t exclusive to the Mexican population). The more racist elements of the Mexican population then seize on that sentiment and try to exploit for their own purposes (La Razza). That is something the black population also battles. I’d recommend reading Race and Culture and White Liberals and Black Rednecks by Thomas Sowell for more on those subjects. They are super awesome books and they really had a big impact on how I view racial issues.
I’m not advocating the tearing apart of families and the terrorizing of families of the INS, either. I’m not even saying that law abiding families can’t stay, providing they pay a fine and any taxes owed in a reasonable amount of time. That would be, if I ruled America, addressed in my INS over haul. I am saying though, that illegal immigration is not a racial issue, no matter how much the Left likes to pretend it is.
I agree with everything you wrote in your second post directed at me. I’m not sure we would reach the same conclusions, though.
AikidoJoe says: Should read “by the INS” not “of the INS”.
Jelperman says: No facts were presented, only her warped perceptions[sic].
Do you dispute the FACT that so-called “literacy tests” were in fact designed and used to keep non-whites from voting? If so, you’re no different from Holocaust deniers.
She’s proved nothing concrete therefore there’s nothing to dispute.
The historical record says otherwise.
If you think otherwise, go for it. Prove it.
No, you are claiming that the historical record is false. You made the claim, so the burden of proof is yours.
Ben Linus says: Wow. Why is everybody upset about this? Maddow’s ratings are in the toilet. She can say what she wants, and it doesn’t matter how wrong she is — no one is watching.
No not upset at Maddow and her piss poor ratings, rather a good way to point out how people in the progressive movement and in liberal media point and call people racist, when all the racisim comes from their side… This is not Tea party members mind you, but the progressive left spewing hate and racisist comments.. Wonder how this will be refuted!?
Harry Reid was wowed by Obamas oratorical gifts and believed that the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama — a ˜light-skinned African American ˜with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one, as he said privately.
In the article published Wednesday, Biden is quoted evaluating presidential rivals Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-New York, former Sen. John Edwards, D-North Carolina, and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois. His remarks about Obama, the only African-American serving in the Senate, drew the most scrutiny.
“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” Biden said.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. Hillary Clinton drew criticism Tuesday for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day speech in which she told a mostly black audience at a Harlem church that Republican leaders have run the House “like a plantation”
A series of comments from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, her husband and her supporters are spurring a racial backlash and adding a divisive edge to the presidential primary as the candidates head south to heavily African-American South Carolina.
The comments, which ranged from the New York senator appearing to diminish the role of Martin Luther King Jr. in the civil rights movement — an aide later said she misspoke — to Bill Clinton dismissing Sen. Barack Obama’s image in the media as a “fairy tale” — generated outrage on black radio, black blogs and cable television. And now they’ve drawn the attention of prominent African-American politicians.
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews is under fire for a comment he made after President Obama’s State of the Union Adress. The host of the show Hardball said following the speech:
“I was trying to think about who he was tonight. And uh, it’s interesting. He is post-racial, by all appearances. You know, I forgot he was black tonight for an hour….
On Tuesday’s “Countdown,” Olbermann awarded O’Reilly both the “worser” and “worst” person in the world awards to his higher-rated competition at the Fox News Channel. O’Reilly, Olbermann thundered, is a 59-year old “passive-aggressive racist” for his recent remarks about his visit to a soul food restaurant.
Yet 16 days earlier, Olbermann narrated over a highlight reel of the September 9 Buffalo Bills/Denver Bronco game with an odd word-play involving a black wide receiver’s first name: With the Denver drive having stalled, Roscoe Parrish on the punt return. Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles at its finest.
MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann on Monday night made a comment that many Hispanic-Americans are sure to find racially offensive.
Discussing Sunday’s Super Bowl on “Countdown,” Olbermann told his audience: “New York Senator Clinton and adopted Giants fan watched the game in Minnesota and told The Associated Press, ‘Super Bowl, Super Tuesday — we have one down, let’s get the other.’
“This as her husband watched the game in New Mexico with the former [sic] Governor Bill Richardson, possibly asking Richardson for an endorsement and then would you please pass the guacamole.”
Lizette J. Olmos, communications director for the League of United Latin American Citizens, told Newsmax that Olbermann’s remark “was not necessary and could be perceived as being insensitive to Hispanic viewers.”
There is no doubt that Richardson himself, a Hispanic-American, would find fault with the use of the word “guacamole” in that context.
He was unavailable for comment today, but he did respond to a similar comment made by Hillary Clinton in January.
During a campaign stop in Las Vegas, Hillary Clinton — making the point that the problems American face are connected — told a largely Hispanic crowd: “We treat them as though one is guacamole and one is chips.”
“You cannot go to a 7-11 or Dunkin Donuts unless you have a slight Indian Accent.”
-Senator Joe Biden
Mahatma Gandhi “ran a gas station down in Saint Louis.”
-Senator Hillary Clinton
Some junior high n*gger kicked Steve’s ass while he was trying to help his brothers out; junior high or sophomore in high school. Whatever it was, Steve had the n*gger down. However it was, it was Steve’s fault. He had the n*gger down, he let him up. The n*gger blindsided him.”
– Roger Clinton, the President’s brother on audiotape
“You’d find these potentates from down in Africa, you know, rather than eating each other, they’d just come up and get a good square meal in Geneva.”
– Fritz Hollings (D, S.C.)
“Is you their black-haired answer-mammy who be smart? Does they like how you shine their shoes, Condoleezza? Or the way you wash and park the whitey’s cars?”
– Left-wing radio host Neil Rogers
Blacks and Hispanics are “too busy eating watermelons and tacos” to learn how to read and write.” — Mike Wallace, CBS News. Source: Newsmax
Black on Black
“In the days of slavery, there were those slaves who lived on the plantation and [there] were those slaves that lived in the house. You got the privilege of living in the house if you served the master … exactly the way the master intended to have you serve him. Colin Powell’s committed to come into the house of the master. When Colin Powell dares to suggest something other than what the master wants to hear, he will be turned back out to pasture.”
– Harry Belafonte
“Republicans bring out Colin Powell and J.C. Watts because they have no program, no policy. They have no love and no joy. They’d rather take pictures with black children than feed them.” — Donna Brazile, Al Gore’s Campaign Manager for the 2000 election
(On Clarence Thomas) “A handkerchief-head, chicken-and-biscuit-eating Uncle Tom.” — Spike Lee
“He’s married to a white woman. He wants to be white. He wants a colorless society. He has no ethnic pride. He doesn’t want to be black.”
– California State Senator Diane Watson’s on Ward Connerly’s interracial marriage
Comments From The Past
“Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.”
– Former Klansman and current US Senator Robert Byrd, a man who is referred to by many Democrats as the “conscience of the Senate”, in a letter written in 1944, after he quit the KKK.
“I am a former kleagle of the Ku Klux Klan in Raleigh County and the adjoining counties of the state …. The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia …. It is necessary that the order be promoted immediately and in every state of the Union. Will you please inform me as to the possibilities of rebuilding the Klan in the Realm of W. Va …. I hope that you will find it convenient to answer my letter in regards to future possibilities.”
– Former Klansman and current US Senator Robert Byrd, a man who is referred to by many Democrats as the “conscience of the Senate”, in a letter written in 1946, after he quit the KKK.
“These laws [segregation] are still constitutional and I promise you that until they are removed from the ordinance books of Birmingham and the statute books of Alabama, they will be enforced in Birmingham to the utmost of my ability and by all lawful means.”
– Democrat Bull Connor (1957), Commissioner of Public Safety for Birmingham, Alabama
“I’ll have those n*ggers voting Democratic for the next 200 years.”
– Lyndon B. Johnson to two governors on Air Force One according Ronald Kessler’s Book, “Inside The White House”
(On New York) “K*ketown.” — Harry Truman in a personal letter
“I think one man is just as good as another so long as he’s not a n*gger or a Chinaman. Uncle Will says that the Lord made a White man from dust, a nigger from mud, then He threw up what was left and it came down a Chinaman. He does hate Chinese and Japs. So do I. It is race prejudice, I guess. But I am strongly of the opinion Negroes ought to be in Africa, Yellow men in Asia and White men in Europe and America.”
-Harry Truman (1911) in a letter to his future wife Bess
“There’s some people who’ve gone over the state and said, ‘Well, George Wallace has talked too strong about segregation.’ Now let me ask you this: how in the name of common sense can you be too strong about it? You’re either for it or you’re against it. There’s not any middle ground as I know of.” — Democratic Alabama Governor George Wallace (1959)
On Jews
“You f*cking Jew b@stard.” — Hillary Clinton to political operative Paul Fray. This was revealed in “State of a Union: Inside the Complex Marriage of Bill and Hillary Clinton” and has been verified by Paul Fray and three witnesses.
“The Jews don’t like Farrakhan, so they call me Hitler. Well, that’s a good name. Hitler was a very great man. He rose Germany up from the ashes.” — Louis Farrakhan (1984) who campaigned for congresswoman Cynthia McKinney in 2002
“Now that nation called Israel, never has had any peace in forty years and she will never have any peace because there can never be any peace structured on injustice, thievery, lying and deceit and using the name of God to shield your dirty religion under his holy and righteous name.” — Louis Farrakhan who campaigned for congresswoman Cynthia McKinney in 2002, 1984
‘Hymies.’ ‘Hymietown.’ — Jesse Jackson’s description of New York City while on the 1984 presidential campaign trail.
“Jews — that’s J-E-W-S.” — Democratic state representative Bill McKinney on why his daughter Cynthia lost in 2002
On Whites
“I want to go up to the closest white person and say: ‘You can’t understand this, it’s a black thing’ and then slap him, just for my mental health.”
– Charles Barron, a New York city councilman at a reparations rally, 2002
“Civil rights laws were not passed to protect the rights of white men and do not apply to them.” — Mary Frances Berry, Chairwoman, US Commission on Civil Rights
(I) “will not let the white boys win in this election.”
– Donna Brazile, Al Gore’s Campaign Manager on the 2000 election
“The old white boys got taken fair and square.” — San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown after winning an election
“There are white n*ggers. I’ve seen a lot of white n*ggers in my time.” — Former Klansman and Current US Senator Robert Byrd, a man who is referred to by many Democrats as the “conscience of the Senate” in March of 2001
“The Medicaid system must have been developed by a white male slave owner. It pays for you to be pregnant and have a baby, but it won’t pay for much family planning.” — Jocelyn Elders
The white man is our mortal enemy, and we cannot accept him. I will fight to see that vicious beast go down into the lake of fire prepared for him from the beginning, that he never rise again to give any innocent black man, woman or child the hell that he has delighted in pouring on us for 400 years.” — Louis Farrakhan who campaigned for congresswoman Cynthia McKinney in 2002, City College audience in New York
“There’s no great, white bigot; there’s just about 200 million little white bigots out there.” — USA Today columnist Julienne Malveaux
“We have lost to the white racist press and to the racist reactionary Jewish misleaders.” — Former Rep. Gus Savage (D-Illinois) after his defeat 1992
“White folks was in caves while we was building empires… We taught philosophy and astrology and mathematics before Socrates and them Greek homos ever got around to it.” — Rev. Al Sharpton in a 1994 speech at Kean College, NJ, cited in “Democrats Do the Dumbest Things
“The white race is the cancer of human history.” — Susan Sontag
“Reparations are a really good way for white people to admit they’re wrong.” — Zack Webb, University Of Kentucky NAACP
Wow Democrat’s… We Hardly Knew Ya! -
Yea, this is the part that she leaves out when she calls the Tea party members racists… Thats so weird!!!! Isnt it?
stevelaw says: I was about to say that I think it’s unfair to lump Goldwater in there, on the same list with Buchanan, but then I realized that you merely said that he was “there with” those other conservatives, which is true. I agree that Buchanan is an interesting figure, and you are probably right about why his colleagues value him as a contrarian. I don’t agree with that judgement, i.e. I think they could find a contrarian who wasn’t so doggone WRONG about so much, but hey, it is interesting to watch, so it brings in the ratings. And his ‘absolute enthusiasm for raw politics’ is probably what just really clinches it for him with them. Seems like that Chris Matthews-style love for politics itself is almost a requirement for this game. I don’t hate it as much as i once did; it has its place. But, I can’t actually watch more than a couple minutes of it, either.
Chicago liposuction
The take-away isn’t WHAT Maddow is enraged over; it’s that she’s enraged. Remember, this was supposed to be Camelot; this was supposed to be Liberals’ ‘raining candy’ government. There’s no whining with all bits of government to your liking! But here she is, and there they are, apoplectic with rage on a daily basis. It tells you everything you need to know about Liberals and Liberalism: There people are NEVER happy.
The Real Royal King says: Interesting discussion of Buchanan and Goldwater. Some people believe that Buchanan’s speech at Poppy’s renomination convention gave the election to Clinton. I tend to think that Poppy was already sunk, but I do believe the speech underscored the serious fracture in the Republican party and led to the handing over of the party to the extreme right. It was an epiphany for those outside the party and a paradigm shift for those within it. The speech was truly transformational.
As for Goldwater, I wish we had him around today. He remained true to his conservative beliefs, but was not a petty, nasty individual, as so many rightists are today. And, he wasn’t an obstructionist, either. As aghast as he would be with health care reform, he’d be equally aghast with the Demented Turtle as majority leader of the Senate. Goldwater was a national treasure, and the man responsible for modern conservatism in America. Reagan, the Father of American Budget Deficits, did not form the ideological framework.
Azarkhan says: Stephen Hilton- great info-I copied it for future use. Here’s some more from that fool NO Mayor Ray Nagin:
“I can see in your eyes, you want to know, ‘How do I take advantage of this incredible opportunity? How do I make sure New Orleans is not overrun with Mexican workers,’”
“And I don’t care what people are saying in Uptown or wherever they are. This city will be chocolate at the end of the day. This city will be a majority African-American city. It’s the way God wants it to be.”
stehil912 says: Thank you very much sir. Hope it helps you in the future make some valid points.
Fidoohki says: I have a question that might be something of a stretch but I think fits this article. Is it possible to be a racist based not on hate or ignorance but on pity?
writer says: As someone said earlier, it must be tough being on the political left. When Bush was in office and Republicans controlled congress, Rachel was always angry and bitter. Now that Obama is president and Democrats control congress, she’s still angry and bitter. That can’t be heart healthy.
here2do says: **Rachel’s quotes regarding elections in Alabama 1965:
“The questions weren‘t about ABCs. They were—they were questions like this one, from Alabama‘s literacy test in 1965. ‘If a person charged with treason denies his guilt, how many persons must testify against him before he can be convicted?’…’Again, these are from Alabama‘s literacy test in 1965. It was applied selectively, of course, to black voters, to keep them from registering.’ ”
Rachel, Rachel, Rachel…do you know who the governor was, for the state of Alabama, in 1965? George C Wallace – Democrat. As a matter of fact, Democrat governors owned Alabama from 1874-1987, with the exception of a Populist Governor from 1896-1900.
**Rachel continued with another question this time from the state of Georgia:
“If you lived in Georgia in 1958, you would have faced questions like this one: Who is the solicitor general of the state judicial circuit in which you live and who is the judge of such circuit? If such circuit has more than one judge, name them all.”
“If you wanted to vote in Georgia in 1958, those are the questions you would have to answer. But, of course, not everyone would face those questions. The board of registrars had the sole authority to determine who got asked which literacy test questions and whose answers to those questions rendered them ineligible to vote. The idea was that black voters weren‘t being denied the right to vote based on race. That would be illegal. No, those voters just couldn‘t pass this literacy test.”
**Well, I’m going to ask the same question. Who was the governor of Georgia in 1958 and what was his political party? Answer – Samuel Marvin Griffin, Sr. – Democrat
**The third state that Rachel properly identifies as a state with laws meant to prevent blacks from voting. That was the state of South Carolina. Here’s what Rachel had to say:
“On September 12th, 1895, “The New York Times” reported on the state of South Carolina‘s attempts to suppress the black vote. The article was titled “Negroes Must Be Barred. White Supremacy Demanded by the South Carolina Convention.”
“Among the things South Carolina was considering to preserve white supremacy, to prevent black people from voting, was something they called the Mississippi plan, a plan which, quote, “requires an educational qualification, consisting of the ability to read or understand any section of the Constitution of the state, such ability to be determined by the registration commissioners.”
“The New York Times” explained at the time—again, this is 1895 — that the result would wholly abolish the Negro majority and any immediate fear of it.” And, of course, that‘s exactly what happened.”
“Literacy tests were how African-Americans were kept from voting in this country for some 70 years. This isn‘t ancient history. The Alabama test I quoted from before? That‘s from 1965. These tests were one of the main targets of the Voting Rights Act pushed by President Lyndon Johnson that same year.”
**OK, who was the governor of South Carolina during the systematic discrimination of blacks? John G Evans – Democrat!…Again!
That last minute crash research, Rachel did, of our (Democrats) racist history wasn’t very thorough. Rachel failed to mention or even hint on these facts while lambasting Tea Party supporters (whom are identified as conservative, even if they aren’t registered Republicans).
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Rahm Emanuel On 60 Minutes: “Fringe Group Has Taken Control” Of GOP
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was recently interviewed by CBS' Katie Couric for tomorrow night's episode of 60 Minutes, a short clip of which has been released online. In the clip made available, Emanuel briefly discusses the challenges of his political foes: the Republican Party, and says that they have their "own problems and fissures" and are "at the behest of a fringe group that's taken control of their own party." Video after the jump.
Obama’s Final Push On Health Care To Democratic Caucus On Capitol Hill
President Barack Obama spoke in the conference hall of the Capitol today about the health care reform bill which is coming close to meeting enough votes to pass in the House of Representatives, which earlier today decided not use the "deem and pass" strategy to railroad the bill through Congress. "I know this is a tough vote for some of you," said our president, adding "Don't do it for Nancy Pelosi, or Harry Reid, or me. Do It for the American People." Pay attention folks, this speech is definitely one for the history books.
More TV headlines:
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»Democrats Announce They Won’t Use “Deem And Pass” »8
»Rep. John Boehner: “This Health Care Bill Will Ruin Our Country” »1
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