OK, yes, Newt Gingrich is batshit crazy. That's been obvious for a long time. But has he completely lost his mind? Has he suffered a stroke or something?
Or is this just pandering to the Republican base, where you simply can't be too crazy? Or too dumb? Is it actually impossible to be too dumb for the Republican base? Or does Newt Gingrich think that, anyway?
I know that nothing should surprise me anymore, but... yes, this surprises me. It's beyond stupid. It's beyond crazy.
For the record, here's that Robert De Niro "controversy":
In introductions to the first lady before she addressed the crowd of about 85 people, De Niro quipped, "Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?" According to a pool report from the evening, the line drew a roar of laughs, and De Niro added, "Too soon, right?"
Anyone want to claim that's racist, or even inappropriate? Or has Newt Gingrich just completely lost his mind?
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4 comments:
My guess is he's pandering.Gingrich knows his audience. And this is his audience:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuI2LEKHGiQ&feature=related
Or is THIS his audience?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myhnAZFR1po
I thought De Niro's joke deliciously ironic. But I suppose conservatives are saying, "Shouldn't all jokes about race be off limits because we don't get it and when we make jokes about race we end up shooting ourselves in the foot."
Yup. Even Newt Gingrich isn't this dumb. He's just pandering to the Republican base (while maintaining plausible deniability with the rest of America).
Yes, I think so, Jim. Conservatives tend to be absolutely clueless when it comes to racism. I can't tell you the number of times I've heard someone indignantly deny being racist, and then turn around and say something incredibly racist.
"Hey, I'm not racist! But black people need to stop being so lazy, and get jobs like us real Americans!"
Have you ever tried to teach a dog something, and they just don't get it? Sometimes, that's how I feel. When it comes to race, many conservative white people just don't get it.
Republican leaders understand this, and they use it to their advantage. After all, their "Southern strategy" wasn't about being blatantly racist, but about using codewords as a dog-whistle.
Racists could hear it very clearly, but it still left Republican leaders with plausible deniability. And yes, race is still a huge issue in America, even among those people who don't think that they're racist and really don't want to be.
It's just easy to think the worst of people who are different from you. When Republicans call Barack Obama the "food stamp president," they know how white people will interpret that. Well, there's that black guy giving special treatment to "his people," right?
Everything they do is designed to make white Americans - pretty much the only people who will even consider voting Republican these days - think that Barack Obama isn't a "real" American. When it's a black man with a foreign name, this isn't too hard.
At any rate, I think you're right, Jim. Conservatives just don't get racism, and they're almost always unhappy about being called racist. So they're very, very eager to turn the tables.
Unfortunately, since they don't get it, they just end up making themselves look even more foolish. But for Republican politicians, this is a tried and truth path to popularity with the GOP base.
(However, it's a lost cause for Gingrich, who has far too much baggage for this to help him much.)
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