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Scootaloo

(25,699 posts)
Wed Oct 3, 2012, 02:31 AM Oct 2012

My take on "the tape."

Today has been "racism day" for the right wing. They were pumping the bellows this morning; George Will comes out and insists that voters will tolerate the "failed president" because he's black.

Then comes David Horowitz with Obama Would Never Be President if He Weren’t Black.
http://www.loonwatch.com/2012/10/horowitz-obama-would-never-be-president-if-he-werent-black

Limbaugh joins the horny bullfrog chorus with calling obama ‘an affirmative action hire’.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/10/02/limbaugh-sides-with-george-will-and-calls-obama-an-affirmative-action-hire

Now we've got this guy, John Hawkins, saying "a white woman voting for Obama is like a black woman voting for the KKK"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=1455129

All that was the lead-up for tonight's big Hannity / Drudge exposé that reveals, to their shock (shock, I say!) that Obama is a deep and hateful racist because he once spoke on the subject of race, and praised Jeremiah Wright.

Now, there are a few things that "aren't allowed" in American politics. One of them is simple; black people aren't allowed to talk about racism. There's this belief that only white people can discuss the subject "seriously," that black people (or Latinos or Native Americans, or whoever) can't give the subject matter credible thought, since they are "interested parties" and, of course, only white people can ever truly be rational thinkers in the first place, don'cha know. (Preferably a white man, but if a woman is sufficiently angry and bloodthirsty, she might get the gig - thus Ann Coulter's popularity; "she's a woman, but she talks sense!&quot

What's all this add up to? Portraying the president as a lazy freeloading yard-ape, a trecherous, dangerous radical nigger, and a shifty good-for-nothing darkie who doesn't know his proper place - and I apologize for using those words, but damn it's exactly what these fuckers are saying.

They are trying to appeal to White Fright, in other words.
Fright of the "thugs" that the NRA is always saying will bust into your house and rape your chaste white daughter.
Fright of the brown-skinned man who got hired instead of you because he's brown (because god knows, brown people are never actually qualified right, white guys?)
Fright that "black radicals" are somehow going to "punish whitey" (a term it seems only racist whites ever use, go figure) for slavery through, well, "white slavery" or "reparations" or of course, good ol' rioting in the streets.
Fight that, oh shit, coloreds moved in next door, better be sure to lock the bikes in the garage at night!

Now to the credit of the American people at large, most of us can see (or at least, are starting to see) this shit as the disgusting, racist drivel it is, and are turned off by it. In short, this campaign from the right, to throw racism at obama and hope it sticks... isn't going to stick. And I think they have to know this; the GOP is crazy, but they're not stupid (well, some of them are, of course, but you get what I mean.)

By now, the numbers have crystallized, and the election is already won for Obama; the only movement in the polls has been for Obama, and against Romney. This effort is not only doomed to fail, but it's very likely to result in worse results for Romney. So... Why do it?

Because they're not campaigning against Obama anymore. On the face of it, it may look that way, but they're not. They've given up that fight, ceded victory without putting it into so many words; it's over. No, this race-smearing campaign is not even really about Obama.

It's the Republicans trying to preserve their base.

As some of us have been noting for a few months now, the Republican Party has been circling the drain; its demise seems imminent and barring an absolute miracle, unavoidable. Maybe not this cycle or the next, but they're doomed. And they know it as well as we do. Their base has been, if anything, lukewarm about the party of late. A surprising number of so-called "moderate" Republicans have been coming forward to speak against their party and even go so far as to declare their vote for Obama. Basically after this election, the entire party could fracture into fighting shards, and thus become an irrelevant force in American politics.

By ginning up fear and loathing of black people - and pointing out, hey, the president is black! - the GOP isn't trying ot pull votes from obama; anyone swayed by that stuff wasn't voting for him anyway. Rather, it's the Republicans saying to their racist core, "look, we're still on your side," while at the same time trying to scare the shit out of nervous and ignorant (if maybe not outright racist) whites who might be having second thoughts about the Republican Party's current incarnation. A voice of assurance for the Stormfront faction, a voice of intimidation for the suburbanites.

After all, remember this line?

“The demographics race we’re losing badly,” said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.). “We’re not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term.”
--Washington Post, August 29, 2012
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2012/08/29/b9023a52-f1ec-11e1-892d-bc92fee603a7_story.html


That's what this shit is all about folks. They're not out to beat obama at this point... they're just trying to keep their fucking doors open!
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Drunken Irishman

(34,857 posts)
1. They pulled this same stunt in 2008 around this time...
Wed Oct 3, 2012, 02:45 AM
Oct 2012

I don't think they get it. They're stuck in a bubble where they believe most Americans think like they do. While I believe the economic crisis helped Obama in '08, and he certainly benefited from McCain's erratic campaigning and his own solid campaign ... I also believe the polls shifted because Americans collectively said, "we're tired of your racist bullshit." - at least a majority of 'em did.

Yes, there will always be racists. Yes, they're not voting Obama. Yes, they make up a significant portion of the Republican Party and the country as a whole ... but they're fading. These people are quickly becoming irrelevant.

I think Romney, and the Republicans, are all setting themselves up for a huge backlash come November. Americans don't like Obama because he's black ... they like Obama because he's a good, honest guy. That shit transcends color. If we were all for voting solely because of Affirmative Action and white guilt, Jesse Jackson would have been president by now.

Republicans just can't grasp that Americans like Obama. I said it last week that Romney's campaign woefully overestimated the hatred out there because they can't get outside their own bubble who's hated Obama since '08. Well guess what? Those assholes didn't vote for him four years ago and they were never going to vote for him this go around.

But by doing this, the Republicans are seriously going to alienate middle class white voters who have so gotten over this whole race-baiting bullshit by the right.

 

Spitfire of ATJ

(32,723 posts)
9. "They're stuck in a bubble where they believe most Americans think like they do."
Wed Oct 3, 2012, 05:10 AM
Oct 2012

It's the Authoritarian thing. They can't understand why it's not working anymore.

They forgot about Iraq.

America didn't.

Baitball Blogger

(46,765 posts)
10. True that.
Wed Oct 3, 2012, 05:40 AM
Oct 2012

I think some of my Repub friends have just opened their eyes to figure out I'm not white either, much less Republican.

It's sad really. They expected us to bridge their comfort zones, which we did way back when. And they made the wrong conclusions that meant we were just like them.

JDPriestly

(57,936 posts)
4. I am reminded that when dealing with people of color and recent immigrants, Republicans
Wed Oct 3, 2012, 03:23 AM
Oct 2012

use signs of Martin Luther King and boast that he was a Republican.

He may have been a Republican, but he was very proud of his African-American heritage.

What a two-faced, bunch. They are just users. They will use the image of Martin Luther King when it serves their purposes and then criticize Obama because he genuinely acknowledges his racial heritage.

I hope that Republican bigotry will be rejected as never before this November 6.

It is so important the women, people of color and homosexuals vote this year. This our chance to put an end to this bigotry once and for all. The Republicans are making gender, race, ethnicity and sexual preference their primary issues. We have to defeat them if we are to end the bigotry.

 

Spitfire of ATJ

(32,723 posts)
8. "black people aren't allowed to talk about racism."
Wed Oct 3, 2012, 05:05 AM
Oct 2012

Extend that.

Iraqis aren't allowed to talk about Iraq. Afghans aren't allowed to talk about Afghanistan. Palestinians aren't allowed to talk about Palestine, Libyans aren't allowed to talk about Libya,...etc...

Only White Males in multi-thousand dollar suits sitting at a big desk get to have serious discussions on those topics.

After all, it's their decision.

They're in charge.

Donkees

(31,476 posts)
11. Their Puppet-Masters know:
Wed Oct 3, 2012, 08:12 AM
Oct 2012

Their Puppet-Masters know: Puppets have limited emotional range...


...either HATE or boredom, and boredom doesn't motivate them to vote.

BelieveMe3

(134 posts)
12. been there done that
Wed Oct 3, 2012, 08:22 AM
Oct 2012

Apparently this tape was released back in 2007-yawn. There's nothing there. Even Frum says there's nothing wrong with what Pres .Obama says in this tape. They are desperate.

Turborama

(22,109 posts)
13. K&R Excellent analysis
Wed Oct 3, 2012, 08:26 AM
Oct 2012

Not sure what will happen to them after the election, but it sure ain't gunna be perdy.

tarheelsunc

(2,117 posts)
15. They're just recycling their attacks now
Wed Oct 3, 2012, 10:57 AM
Oct 2012

This time they're partying like it's 2008 by bringing Reverend Wright back into the mix. If Obama gets asked a question about this at the debate, he should ask what Mitt Romney's 2007 tax returns looked like, or how many of his issue stances have changed since then.

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