Nashville Post Politics: Interesting One Would So Freely Admit This

Nashville Post Politics

Interesting One Would So Freely Admit This

A California man thinks hanging Barack Obama in effigy would be beyond the pale. Sarah Palin? Not so much.

“I know if we had done it with Barack Obama, people would’ve probably thrown things through our windows,” Morrisette said. “The image of a hanged black man is a lot more intense than the image of a hanged white woman — for our country — in the history of our country.”

Morrisette said his display might be unacceptable any other month, but his subjects are fair game during the Halloween season. “It should be seen as art and it should be seen within the month of October. It is Halloween. It’s time to be scary.

OpenLeft: Egg Industry Shill Plays The Race & Class Cards On Prop. 2

OpenLeft

Egg Industry Shill Plays The Race & Class Cards On Prop. 2

The industrial egg industry has truly lost its collective head over the prospect of Californians passing Proposition 2, the legislation that would give farm animals the luxury of stretching their limbs.

Julie Buckner, the Californians for Safe Food spokesperson who went on Oprah to claim thatProposition 2 would destroy California’s egg industry, is trying a really tacky new tack,according to today’s New York Times.

Buckner told the Times that Winfrey’s implied support for the measure “only codified her sense that the ballot measure is being pushed by “wealthy, narrow-minded elitists” who do not understand its real-world consequences.”She went on to dis the Humane Society, who’s sponsoring Proposition 2, for being funded, apparently, by diamond-encrusted dog-loving dilettantes:

 

“This is an organization raising money from upper-middle-class white women writing $100 checks,” she said.”

Media Matters: KSFO’s Rodgers falsely claimed Obama “admits in one of his own books” that he would “stand with the Muslims” against “the Western world”

Media Matters

KSFO’s Rodgers falsely claimed Obama “admits in one of his own books” that he would “stand with the Muslims” against “the Western world”

Summary: KSFO’s Lee Rodgers falsely claimed Sen. Barack Obama “admits in one of his own books” that “in case of a confrontation between the Western world and the Islamic world, he will stand with the Muslims.” Rodgers’ assertion recalls a similar allegation in a chain email that has been previously debunked. As FactCheck.org documented, while discussing “my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans” in The Audacity of Hope, Obama wrote: “[T]hey need specific assurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.”

Hip Hop Republican: San Bernardino County Republican Party- Shame on You!

Hip Hop Republican

San Bernardino County Republican Party- Shame on You!

An example if how just out of touch our party is on the subject of race check out the idiots running “The San Bernardino County Republican Chapter” in Upland, California. They are in trouble after they ran an altered image (see above) of Barack Obama that utilized stereotypes of blacks and was labeled as a “food stamp.” The group used the picture in a newsletter it recently sent out to 200 members, along with the caption, “Obama talks about all those presidents that got their names on bills. If elected, what bill would he be on ????? Food Stamps, what else!” You stay classy, San Bernardino.

…

The idea that (presumably) educated people would think it’s a good idea to circulate such racist imagery kind of makes our brains melt. At least this Sacramento group’s sign, while still offensive, was nothing new and simply borderline juvenile. We have to give props to California Republican Party chairman Ron Nehring who expressed the proper amount of rage at both incidents when he said:

Any material that invokes issues related to race is unacceptable, tarnishes our party, diminishes the hard work of the tens of thousands of volunteers who are working hard every day for our candidates, and must be condemned. This material I’ve seen inspires nothing but divisiveness and hostility and has absolutely no place in this election, or any public discourse.

Still, we wonder how many more examples of this absurd bullshit we’ll have to endure over the coming weeks as November 4th draws closer.

Booker Rising: Foul With All Caps: GOP Group Depicts Obama With Watermelon, Ribs

Booker Rising

Foul With All Caps: GOP Group Depicts Obama With Watermelon, Ribs

Hat tip to the reader (I can’t remember who it was) for bringing this one to Booker Rising’s attention yesterday. A San Bernardino County (California) Republican group has distributed a newsletter picturing Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) dressed as a donkey on a $10 bill – called “United States Food Stamps” – adorned with a watermelon, ribs, Kool-Aid, and a bucket of fried chicken. Linking Obama to demeaning racist stereotypes drew denunciations from various GOP officials after the illustration appeared in the October newsletter of the Chaffey Community Republican Women Federated.

Diane Fedele, president of the group, said she had no racist intent. “I never connected,” she said. “It was just food to me. It didn’t mean anything else.”

…

My response: How is there no racist intent?! You just so happened to pick the food groups historically associated with black stereotypes?! Threw in the food stamps thing too?! Ain’t buying it. By the way, there is nothing wrong with liking ribs, fried chicken, Kool-Aid, or watermelon. I like all four of them. I will gladly take them over, oh say, a Wonder Bread mayonnaise sandwich, sauerkraut, Pabst Blue Ribbon, and Twinkies any day of the week. Ms. Raines should cancel her club membership.

Politics1: THE “BRADLEY EFFECT” POLITICAL URBAN LEGEND; PLUS THE USUAL SLEW OF DAILY POLLS.

Politics1

THE “BRADLEY EFFECT” POLITICAL URBAN LEGEND; PLUS THE USUAL SLEW OF DAILY POLLS.

BRADLEY EFFECT. Despite the frequent pundit references to the so-called “Bradley Effect” — 

the phenomena where 2-6% of white voters will purportedly lie to a pollster and claim to be voting for a black candidate when in reality they are voting for the white opponent — the “Bradley Effect” is simply a political urban legend. So says GOP political consultant Robert Wolfe, who was Southern California Political Director of the 1982 George Deukmejian (R) for Governor campaign against Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley (D). Wolfe told Politics1 that anyone who “claims there was a ‘Bradley Effect’ in 1982 has no idea what they are talking about. Tom Bradley actually beat us on election day, and by a significant margin, so there was no ‘lying’ to the exit pollsters. Deukmejian only won because of the absentee ballots. That was the first year California allowed the use of absentee ballots and that was our secret strategy. We piled up absentee ballots from Armenian Democrats, because Deukmejian was Armenian. They were not likely voters, so they were under-polled. But there were roughly 100,000 Armenian voters living just in the area around Los Angeles County — plus lots elsewhere in the state. It was that absentee effort that gave us the victory — and earned me a position in the Deukmejian Administration. If it was just the election day votes, we would have lost. The only place you would have seen any lying was among those voters who claimed they were ‘uncommitted’ but were really voting for Deukmejian. But there was really no lying with voters telling pollsters they were voting for Bradley. There just was no ‘Bradley Effect’ and people should stop claiming there was such a thing. Trust me, I was there.”

PFAW RightWingWatch: Racist GOP Newsletter in California

PFAW RightWingWatch

Racist GOP Newsletter in California

If people are up in arms over the latest mailing from the Virginia GOP, they ain’t seen nothing yet. 

Check out this report from The Press Enterprise in California:

 

The latest newsletter by an Inland Republican women’s group depicts Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama surrounded by a watermelon, ribs and a bucket of fried chicken, prompting outrage in political circles.

The October newsletter by the Chaffey Community Republican Women, Federated says if Obama is elected his image will appear on food stamps — instead of dollar bills like other presidents. The statement is followed by an illustration of “Obama Bucks” — a phony $10 bill featuring Obama’s face on a donkey’s body, labeled “United States Food Stamps.”

The GOP newsletter, which was sent to about 200 members and associates of the group by e-mail and regular mail last week, is drawing harsh criticism from members of the political group, elected leaders, party officials and others as racist.

The group’s president, Diane Fedele, said she plans to send an apology letter to her members and to apologize at the club’s meeting next week. She said she simply wanted to deride a comment Obama made over the summer about how as an African-American he “doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.”

“It was strictly an attempt to point out the outrageousness of his statement. I really don’t want to go into it any further,” Fedele said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “I absolutely apologize to anyone who was offended. That clearly wasn’t my attempt.”

…

Sheila Raines, an African-American member of the club, was the first person to complain to Fedele about the newsletter. Raines, of San Bernardino, said she has worked hard to try to convince other minorities to join the Republican Party and now she feels betrayed.

“This is what keeps African-Americans from joining the Republican Party,” she said. “I’m really hurt. I cried for 45 minutes.”

 

 

Santa Ynez Valley Journal: Is it time to talk about the race card?

Santa Ynez Valley Journal

Is it time to talk about the race card?

OK. Someone has to talk about it. It is time to object to the “race card” being played on the good people of the Santa Ynez Valley.

This anti-social tactic has been over-used so badly during the recent fiasco of the Governor-vetoed ID No. 1 water bill (AB 2686), that it can no longer be ignored. Let’s review the record.

It starts at the top with Assemblyman Pedro Nava’s office. His legislative aide reportedly said that Nava felt the opposition to AB 2686 was unrelated to water concerns — it was “because of the Chumash Highway thing.”

Another member of Nava’s staff reportedly called the valley opponents of AB 2686 “a bunch of uneducated idiots with nothing better to do …” and added,  “They’re all racists over there …”

…

Please don’t misunderstand — I am not saying that there is no racial or ethnic discrimination in America, or in the Santa Ynez Valley. Undeniably, there is — and undeniably it is wrong.

 

This discrimination shows itself in the act of treating people differently because of race. This discrimination works in favor of some people, and works against others.

It is not restricted to the benefit of white people. When my Irish ancestors arrived in America they were treated horribly by my English ancestors. Today, in northern New Mexico, discrimination against “Anglos” is not uncommon among the long-time Hispanic residents of the area.

Also, it does not always run to the detriment of minority groups. Affirmative action programs are examples of making racial or ethnic distinctions that favor minorities.

So, we need to be a bit more thoughtful in our analysis of racial or ethnic discrimination in America and in the Santa Ynez Valley.

 

In my opinion, a very small amount of discrimination in the Valley may run against the tribe in general, but an overwhelmingly larger amount certainly runs in favor of the tribe. Ask yourself this: If  casino expansion, removing property and businesses from the tax rolls, and immunity from county regulations were being proposed by a rich white guy like Donald Trump, would fewer people in the valley express objections? Or, would far more people speak out in protest?

Instead of continuing with this race card language, how about returning to a neighborly discussion of the merits of the issues, based on mutual respect.

We will all be better off when we do.

Latino Journal: Political mailer by police union stirs hate against Latinos

Latino Journal

Political mailer by police union stirs hate against Latinos

Richmond police union mailer draws fire
By Karl Fischer West County Times 10/02/2008

Richmond’s police union considered carefully before weighing in on the city’s controversial program of driver’s license traffic checkpoints, which detractors claim unfairly targets Latino motorists.

That effort showed in a four-page political flier that appeared in mailboxes across Richmond this week, stuffed with arguments supporting a pair of City Council candidates who support checkpoints and excoriating two who do not.

The mailer, which loosely connects local efforts to curb unlicensed drivers with the violence of Latin American drug cartels, now earns strong condemnation from both supporters and opponents of the checkpoints for what many consider a racist attack.

For example: “A pile of 11 headless bodies was recently discovered in the on-going (sic) orgies of violence!”

Officer Kevin Martin, president of the Richmond Police Officers Association, says he’s no racist. Rather, he said, the mailer seeks to expose Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and two council candidates she supports, Jovanka Beckles and Jeff Ritterman, for wanting “to identify a special class of people who are exempt from the rule of law.”

“And that is wrong,” Martin said. “I want to stress that the POA does not target or identify Latinos in any way, shape or form, and the checkpoints are not race-specific. But it is interesting that the only time they gain any notoriety is when we hold them on the west side of town,” heavily populated by Latinos and blacks

…

The mailer includes:

# The statement that “Most of the drugs sold in Richmond come across the Mexican border and are driven into Richmond by Latino drug dealers,” according to a testimonial from Martin. Police Chief Chris Magnus said that statement lacks empirical support.

# An arrow pointing at Richmond on a map, with the phrases, “Mexican drug dealers,” “Honduras (sic) drug dealers” and “El Salvadorian (sic) drug dealers.” A handgun, cash and a pile of drugs sit beside the dot on the map.

# Statements describing Mexican drug cartel slayings, attacks on police and government bribes. “The ‘Rule of Law’ is at risk in Mexico!”