Roger Ailes owns Cliven Bundy now: How dumb opportunism became a right-wing nightmare

[DonViejo]

Sean Hannity has been the racist rancher’s top backer, and Fox and the GOP made him a cause. Now he's their problem

JOAN WALSH

Cliven Bundy, the infamous welfare rancher, was holding forth at his Nevada homestead Wednesday, and apparently he had a lot to say about “the Negro.” Who could have guessed?

“I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro,” he told a small group of people gathered to see him, which included Adam Nagourney of the New York Times. Bundy told of driving past a public-housing project in North Las Vegas, “and in front of that government house the door was usually open and the older people and the kids — and there is always at least a half a dozen people sitting on the porch — they didn’t have nothing to do. They didn’t have nothing for their kids to do. They didn’t have nothing for their young girls to do.

“And because they were basically on government subsidy, so now what do they do?” he continued. “They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. And I’ve often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn’t get no more freedom. They got less freedom.”

Where to begin? “They never learned how to pick cotton?” Or “are they better off as slaves?” Or…take your pick.

more
http://www.salon.com/2014/04/24/roger_ailes_owns_cliven_bundy_now_how_dumb_opportunism_became_a_right_wing_nightmare/

[unblock]

1. "they got less freedom" than when they were slaves?

wow.

[Rex]

4. I hope he drags down Socknews with him. They are #1 with racists.

So how does one have less freedom than a slave?

[unblock]

11. arguments like slavery was the best thing that ever happened to "the negro" were widespread

among the pro-slavery population, particularly before the end of the civil war.

mostly those arguments were replaced with more coded, subtle, veiled claims.

it's rare to hear someone so explicitly pro-slavery these days, but a stark reminder that the battle for freedom never ends.

[Rex]

12. I agree, I don't remember the last time I heard a RWinger talk about slavery so openingly

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/03/15/1729331/cpac-slavery-minority-outreach/
but they do...I believe a large part of the GOP would be happy to go back to pre-civil war days.

[unblock]

13. absolutely. it's interesting how japan and germany learned their lesson but

certain descendants of the confederacy did not.

[el_bryanto]

2. Yeah - it's pretty amusing.

I wonder what Hannity will say/do. Will he double down? Or distance himself? Or shut up and hope nobody brings up Bundy.

Bryant

[MohRokTah]

5. I predict a double down.

Wingnuts can never say they were wrong.

[arely staircase]

9. absolutely nt

[DonViejo]

10. I'm betting he will attack Jon Stewart in retaliation for Stewart's

blast of Hannity last night.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017188433

and then Hannity will do the same thing he did over his willingness to be waterboarded...he'll shut up and hope no one brings up Bundy.

[MohRokTah]

3. Fox and the GOP must be scrambling to synch up talking points right now.

They've got to all be on the same page after the blatant racism was laid out for the world to see.

[Fred Sanders]

6. So far all I hear is silence and backtracking by surrogates....no way out, they will have to resort

to name calling.

[spanone]

7. just went to fox website...no mention of mr bundy's assessment of 'the negro'

guess it doesn't play into their narrative...which is lie. lie. lie.

[leftyohiolib]

8. give him more rope

[ProSense]

14. More than "dumb"

Political figures who rallied to defend Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy must have known they were taking a risk. Indeed, much of the Republican establishment chose to do the exact opposite precisely because they were afraid to gamble on a man who doesn’t recognize the legitimacy of the United States government.

But some prominent GOP officials rolled the dice anyway. Fox News and Glenn Beck celebrated the rancher as a hero, while U.S. senators like Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.) cheered Bundy on, calling him a “patriot,” even as he declared an ability to ignore laws and court orders he doesn’t like.

It’s become increasingly difficult to maintain this posture. For one thing, anyone relying on the threat of violence to act above the law hasn’t earned the backing of anyone in the American mainstream. For another, some of the basic elements of Bundy’s claims now appear to be false.

<...>

Frankly, it was pretty obvious before that federal lawmakers like Rand Paul and Dean Heller were making a huge mistake rallying behind Bundy. When it comes to choosing a proper cause celebre, it’s best not to choose a man who’s said, “I don’t recognize (the) United States government as even existing,” and whose supporters appeared prepared for a confrontation – a potentially violent confrontation – with American law enforcement.

- more -

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/bundy-i-want-tell-you-one-more-thing

IOW, they were dumbasses for jumping on this lunatic's bandwagon. What does it say when U.S. Senators become apologists for lunatics who declare they don't recognize the U.S. government?

[leftyladyfrommo]

15. It's kind of like that Duck guy.

People liked him until they heard him spout off what he really believed. His popularity is sinking like a stone.

[uponit7771]

16. unnnn, I don't think this is a nightmare for them... FAUX News embraces Americas Clive Bundies

[brooklynite]

17. How burned was FNC by supporting George ZImmerman?

Personally I don't think the average American has a clue that Bundy's "protest" is occurring.