Saturday, October 27, 2012

The GOP big tent: mysogyny and racism


Andy Borowitz gets it right:
With less than two weeks to go until Election Day, there is a deep divide among Republican leaders over whether to emphasize misogyny or racism as the campaign’s closing theme.

In one camp is the Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, who says that his view that God is sometimes O.K. with rape is “gaining real traction with a key demographic: men who don’t like women very much.”

“I can’t tell you how many misogynists have come up to me at my rallies and said, ‘Thank you for saying what you said,’” he told reporters today. “I think they’re like, finally, someone’s taking a more nuanced position on rape.”

But in the other camp is the former New Hampshire governor John Sununu, who worries that the Republican Party’s emphasis on misogyny is threatening to drown out its “winning message of racism.”

“I understand the appeal of Mourdock’s anti-woman theme, but I worry that it’s going to overshadow our core value of racism, which is still our best shot at winning this thing,” he said. “In politics, you’ve got to dance with the one who brung you.”

Hoping to heal a possible rift with so little time left until Election Day, the R.N.C. chairman Reince Priebus said today that there is room for both views in today’s Republican Party: “Our ‘big tent’ message to voters should be this: come for the misogyny, stay for the racism.”

I tend to think it's the other way around, that Republicans came for the racism and stayed for the misogyny, but hey, they're a diverse bunch, right?

Lately, we've been hearing a lot about the misogyny...


... But let's not forget the racism, with our first black president - that 'Kenyan,' that 'Muslim,' that 'socialist,' that 'anti-Christ' - causing absolute hysterics among the GOP.

But this time, it must have seemed perfectly logical to former-governor John Sununu:
"Frankly when you take a look at Colin Powell whether that's an endorsement based on issues or whether he's got a slightly different reason for preferring President Obama," Sununu told CNN.

"What reason would that be?" asked host Piers Morgan.

“Well, I think when you have somebody of your own race that you’re proud of being President of the United States, I applaud Colin for standing with him," responded Sununu.

I mean, it only makes sense, doesn't it, that you'll always vote for your kind?

Sununu also pointed out that George Bush supports Mitt Romney. Well, of course! The white guy supports the white guy. Heck, that's why John Sununu supports Romney, isn't it, because they're both white?

And that's one of the Republican Party's leaders! Imagine what the GOP base thinks of this!

I got the following link from Indecision Forever:
For it's an iron law of politics that whenever an African-American endorses the president, the good people at the Free Republic will make you want to cleanse your eyeballs with soap…

... but I dipped into that cesspool myself to bring you these examples of comments there:
"Colin Powell will endorse Barack Obama for president again today. Just came across the AP Wire. No link just yet hut [sic] it is fact... And of course, no surprise."

"Gee, I wonder why."

"Powell’s a racist!"

"Color is thicker than water."

"It’s a black thing."

"Obama’s still black."

"Now we know. He places race ahead of all else."

"One black man endorses another. That’s news." [But it's different when one white man endorses another?]

"Race before country."

"He’s a racist for sure."

"what you do expect? it’s not like Obama changed color these past 4 years! Powell is a traitor."

"It is becoming increasingly clear that Obama is an enemy of this country and when someone with Powell’s level of awareness chooses to side with him, it has to be because he is also an enemy of this country and seeks its destruction. May they all rot."

"Birds of a feather. Affirmative action guys got to stand together."

"Powell just has melanin envy." [I'll bet this commenter was really proud at his own cleverness, don't you think?]

"No surprise there. Does anyone really give a rat's ass about what the "equal opportunity" general has to say about anything? I think not." ["Equal opportunity" in scare quotes? Really?]

"Mulattos [sic] got ta stick together ya know."

"He's an angry, racist, half dimwit who is only where he is because of the color of his skin- and hates the system that promoted him on his race." [Yeah, these 'mulattos' are just one-half dimwit, huh? Gee, I wonder what he means by that?]

"Color before country.."

"Powell’s a racist! This is really the only logical conclusion"

"Anybody see Condi Rice’s utter refusal to see anything negative about Benghazi and explicit throwing of Republican platform social concerns under bus? On Greta last night."

That's when they locked the thread, preventing any new comments, after less than two hours. As with Todd Akin, Republicans aren't supposed to tell people what they really think. Because that might, you know, turn off sane voters.

But the only logical conclusion to Colin Powell supporting Barack Obama is that he's a racist, huh? Well, those ni black people are all alike, aren't they?

Of course, every political party has its crazies, I'm sure. But only in the GOP do the crazies run the show. Only in the Republican Party are their leaders among the craziest of all.

As I've said before and will keep repeating, this is a result of their 'Southern strategy,' of that deliberate appeal to white racists in their attempt to take the Deep South from the Democratic Party.

Well, politically that was wildly successful, and the Republican Party has used that power to give tax cuts to the rich and otherwise turn our country hard right. But filling a political party with racists, with religious nuts, with unrepentant Confederates, with conspiracy theorists and gun nuts, has consequences.

Meet today's Republican Party. It's not pretty.

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