Jim Stillman
Nevar
Take a reactionary to lunch.
October 14th 2009 00:57
You really have to feel sorry for the Right fringe; perhaps we should each pick an acquaintance who believes that the President was born in Kenya, is a fascist, socialist, commie dupe of evil traitors and evil-doers and that any government operated health care option or program is a program that should be eliminated (but please don't touch my Medicare) and invite them for lunch. They have had a bad couple of weeks and warrant sympathy.
The heroes and spokesmen of the far Right have, in their desperation to find fault with Barack Obama, “jumped the shark”; they have demonstrated to the world that they are buffoons at best and racist at worst. All of their protestations that they are patriotic Americans and sincere advocates for the principles of freedom and liberty that are part and parcel of the American history and experience have been shown to be false.
Let me offer a few specific examples.
First, the fiasco surrounding the award of the 2016 Summer Olympics to Rio and not Chicago as President Obama had urged. This was trumpeted by the Right as proof that the entire world had recognized the president to be weak, disliked, not respected, a joke. The Right expressed absolute glee over the alleged repudiation of its president and, by extension, its country. (After, all, the American people had elected Barack Obama as president and therefore a repudiation of the man was a repudiation of the entire country.) Rush and Glenn and their followers explained that Mr. Obama had destroyed the image of the country by criticizing some of its acts; therefore what organization would ever want to ever schedule an event here.
Then, within a week or so, that sneaky commie, foreign born, fascist, socialist tool of an idiot, to whom no one in the international community gave respect, went and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Now that put their panties in a wad. The Prize was granted, in the words of the Committee making the selection, strictly in accordance with the terms of Alfred Nobel’s will, to a person who, in its opinion, shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations. The outreach by the Obama campaign and administration to the world community was being applauded because of the contrast to the unilateral policies of George Bush.
People may agree with the Nobel Committee or they may disagree. But to suggest that the choice was an example of affirmative action was just pure hate! Every child is taught by his or her parents that the appropriate response to the award given to any American is to offer congratulations followed by silence. Instead, the conflicted Right was left to fume over the fact that its president, and by extension, its country, was awarded the world’s most prestigious honor.
No wonder they’re royally pissed.
But, it gets better and better.
The Republican National Committee decided to create a new website, much to the delight of Democrats who read the posted material. For example at first, the RNC had a page for the listing of Future Leaders of the party. It was quickly removed, perhaps because of the ridicule that would have been forthcoming at the name and picture of Sarah Palin. Or perhaps because of the admission that Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck are the “future leaders”? The best part of the site is the listing of Republican Heroes. Allow me, please, to name a few of the cited individuals.
One of the prominent of Republican Heroes is Jackie Robinson, the brave man who broke the color bar in professional baseball. The only problem with naming Mr. Robinson is that he was violently opposed to the modern views held by most Republicans.
Jackie Robinson, in his autobiography, states that he did not consider himself a Republican but rather an Independent. He was far from what it now considered a “proper” Republican. He had ties with a branch of the GOP that was repudiated and treated viciously by the leaders of the party; he was an admirer and supporter of the Nelson Rockefeller wing of the party (as many of us were) and held a personal admiration for the New Yorker who would end up being vice president under Gerald Ford. In his biography, Robinson said that as the Republican Party leadership tilted towards Barry Goldwater conservatives, he began to have "a better understanding of how it must have felt to be a Jew in Hitler's Germany." This is a Republican hero?
In 1968, Robinson campaigned for Democrat Hubert Humphrey. He wrote,
In writing about the 1964 GOP convention that marked the end of the moderate wing of the party, Robinson wrote
The RNC website has some funny aspects.
There is a section devoted to “Republican Accomplishments”. The list starts in 1860 when, it is said, the GOP established the Transcontinental Railroad! The list ends in 2004, thereby acknowledging the fact that the GOP has done nothing of note over the past five years. In between, the GOP is taking credit for some strange items.
The GOP site asserts that the 15th Amendment was adopted by Republicans, granting African-Americans the right to vote; the years of the Civil Rights protests were marked by GOP opposition to school desegregation, the elimination of Jim Crow laws. The difference is explained by noting that, in 1860, the Republican Party of Lincoln was the “liberal” choice of party. After 1964 with the ascension of the Goldwater wing of the party and the repudiation of the moderates, and the adoption of the Nixonian “southern strategy”, the GOP became the party of the wealthy, the prejudiced and the reactionary.
But enough of meanness towards our brethren; take a conservative to lunch.
The heroes and spokesmen of the far Right have, in their desperation to find fault with Barack Obama, “jumped the shark”; they have demonstrated to the world that they are buffoons at best and racist at worst. All of their protestations that they are patriotic Americans and sincere advocates for the principles of freedom and liberty that are part and parcel of the American history and experience have been shown to be false.
Let me offer a few specific examples.
First, the fiasco surrounding the award of the 2016 Summer Olympics to Rio and not Chicago as President Obama had urged. This was trumpeted by the Right as proof that the entire world had recognized the president to be weak, disliked, not respected, a joke. The Right expressed absolute glee over the alleged repudiation of its president and, by extension, its country. (After, all, the American people had elected Barack Obama as president and therefore a repudiation of the man was a repudiation of the entire country.) Rush and Glenn and their followers explained that Mr. Obama had destroyed the image of the country by criticizing some of its acts; therefore what organization would ever want to ever schedule an event here.
Then, within a week or so, that sneaky commie, foreign born, fascist, socialist tool of an idiot, to whom no one in the international community gave respect, went and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Now that put their panties in a wad. The Prize was granted, in the words of the Committee making the selection, strictly in accordance with the terms of Alfred Nobel’s will, to a person who, in its opinion, shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations. The outreach by the Obama campaign and administration to the world community was being applauded because of the contrast to the unilateral policies of George Bush.
People may agree with the Nobel Committee or they may disagree. But to suggest that the choice was an example of affirmative action was just pure hate! Every child is taught by his or her parents that the appropriate response to the award given to any American is to offer congratulations followed by silence. Instead, the conflicted Right was left to fume over the fact that its president, and by extension, its country, was awarded the world’s most prestigious honor.
No wonder they’re royally pissed.
But, it gets better and better.
The Republican National Committee decided to create a new website, much to the delight of Democrats who read the posted material. For example at first, the RNC had a page for the listing of Future Leaders of the party. It was quickly removed, perhaps because of the ridicule that would have been forthcoming at the name and picture of Sarah Palin. Or perhaps because of the admission that Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck are the “future leaders”? The best part of the site is the listing of Republican Heroes. Allow me, please, to name a few of the cited individuals.
One of the prominent of Republican Heroes is Jackie Robinson, the brave man who broke the color bar in professional baseball. The only problem with naming Mr. Robinson is that he was violently opposed to the modern views held by most Republicans.
Jackie Robinson, in his autobiography, states that he did not consider himself a Republican but rather an Independent. He was far from what it now considered a “proper” Republican. He had ties with a branch of the GOP that was repudiated and treated viciously by the leaders of the party; he was an admirer and supporter of the Nelson Rockefeller wing of the party (as many of us were) and held a personal admiration for the New Yorker who would end up being vice president under Gerald Ford. In his biography, Robinson said that as the Republican Party leadership tilted towards Barry Goldwater conservatives, he began to have "a better understanding of how it must have felt to be a Jew in Hitler's Germany." This is a Republican hero?
In 1968, Robinson campaigned for Democrat Hubert Humphrey. He wrote,
"I was not as sold on the Republican party as I was on the governor, Every chance I got, while I was campaigning, I said plainly what I thought of the right-wing Republicans and the harm they were doing. I felt the GOP was a minority party in term of numbers of registered voters and could not win unless they updated their social philosophy and sponsored candidates and principles to attract the young, the black, and the independent voter. I said this often from public, and frequently Republican, platforms. By and large Republicans had ignored blacks and sometimes handpicked a few servile leaders in the black community to be their token "niggers." How would I sound trying to go all out to sell Republicans to black people? They're not buying. They know better."
"I admit freely that I think, live, and breathe black first and foremost. That is one of the reasons I was so committed to the governor and so opposed to Senator Barry Goldwater. Early in 1964 I wrote a Speaking Out piece for The Saturday Evening Post. A Barry Goldwater victory would insure that the GOP would be completely the white man's party. What happened at San Francisco when Senator Goldwater became the Republican standard-bearer confirmed my prediction."
"I admit freely that I think, live, and breathe black first and foremost. That is one of the reasons I was so committed to the governor and so opposed to Senator Barry Goldwater. Early in 1964 I wrote a Speaking Out piece for The Saturday Evening Post. A Barry Goldwater victory would insure that the GOP would be completely the white man's party. What happened at San Francisco when Senator Goldwater became the Republican standard-bearer confirmed my prediction."
In writing about the 1964 GOP convention that marked the end of the moderate wing of the party, Robinson wrote
"I wasn't altogether caught of guard by the victory of the reactionary forces in the Republican Party, but I was appalled by the tactics they used to stifle their liberal opposition….I was a special delegate to the convention through an arrangement made by the Rockefeller office. That convention was one of the most unforgettable and frightening experiences of my life. The hatred I saw was unique to me because it was hatred directed against a white man. It embodied revulsion for all he stood for, including his enlightened attitude toward black people."
The RNC website has some funny aspects.
There is a section devoted to “Republican Accomplishments”. The list starts in 1860 when, it is said, the GOP established the Transcontinental Railroad! The list ends in 2004, thereby acknowledging the fact that the GOP has done nothing of note over the past five years. In between, the GOP is taking credit for some strange items.
The GOP site asserts that the 15th Amendment was adopted by Republicans, granting African-Americans the right to vote; the years of the Civil Rights protests were marked by GOP opposition to school desegregation, the elimination of Jim Crow laws. The difference is explained by noting that, in 1860, the Republican Party of Lincoln was the “liberal” choice of party. After 1964 with the ascension of the Goldwater wing of the party and the repudiation of the moderates, and the adoption of the Nixonian “southern strategy”, the GOP became the party of the wealthy, the prejudiced and the reactionary.
But enough of meanness towards our brethren; take a conservative to lunch.
| 38 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
