McCain Campaign Fumes Over Paterson's Racism Claim

[Nambe]

Source: CBS

N.Y. Governor Says Palin's Repeated Use Of 'Community Organizer' Is Another Way Of Saying 'Black' ...
.."I think the Republican Party is too smart to call Barack Obama 'black' in a sense that it would be a negative. But you can take something about his life, which I noticed they did at the Republican Convention – a 'community organizer.' They kept saying it, they kept laughing," he said.

Paterson referred to McCain's running mate Sarah Palin who compared her work experience to Obama's.

"So I suppose a small town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except with real responsibilities," she said at the convention. ...

Read more: http://wcbstv.com/politics/paterson.mccain.palin.2.813646.html

[Democat]

1. Obama needs to find video of Palin saying the "N" word!

That is what they need. Maybe they have it already and they're just waiting for the right time to release it.

[calimary]

2. No, they just need some way to confirm the "Sambo beat the bitch" quote.

http://www.laprogressive.com/2008/09/05/alaskans-speak-in-a-frightened-whisper-palin-is-%e2%80%9cracist-sexist-vindictive-and-mean%e2%80%9d/#more-954

[radfringe]

18. why confirm it?

just put it out there

if mccain-palin can distort obaman's vote on child predator education - why not just put the same crap out about them?

[calimary]

20. Well, we ARE putting it out there.

I talked to my friend who co-runs the LA Progressive website which was one of the places that picked this up. She said they went from about 400 views to 150-thousand straight away. She said there were 400-thousand hits by now, and btw - not all of them friendly. She said she was actually somewhat scared by the vitriol in some of them.

And I talked to a friend of mine who's not quite as politically rabid as I am on the internet, and she'd seen it, too, and knew quite a bit about it. Kept asking me - "WHY can't they get the waitress to speak about it? Can't they get her to go public? Can't someone get her to go public?" I told her the waitress was probably REALLY afraid of retribution, and besides, if it's her word against America's Hockey Mom, who do YOU suppose would win? Besides, if it's not on tape, it'd be hard to prove and this one we'd have to be able to prove. We had video of that arrogant jerk george allen flat-out saying "macaca" several times and Jim Webb beat him fairly narrowly.

[radfringe]

21. put this out there too

McCain wants YOUR CHILDREN to see PORN!
http://www.llrx.com/congress/0398.htm

The backbone of the legislation is the universal service program, established by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which subsidizes Internet hook-ups for schools, libraries and rural health care specialists. The subsidies are gleaned from payments made by telephone companies and some of their customers into a fund administered by the Federal Communications Commission. The amount of money at stake here is considerable. The FCC has stated that it will provide a maximum of $2.25 billion a year in subsidies for schools and libraries, and rural health care providers could receive up to $400 million. For many school and library systems, the subsidies determine the type and level of online access they can afford.b] Sen. McCain opposed both the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the universal service program.


The legislation is very straightforward. In order to receive the universal service subsidies, schools must certify to the FCC that they are using or will use filtering software on all computers with Internet access. Libraries need only certify that one or more of their Internet access terminals has filtering software and is available for use by minors. S. 1619 stresses that the choice as to what type of filtering technology is utilized is placed completely in the hands of the library or school system (and not the federal government). Consequently, they can make an informed decision based on the needs of their particular community or student body. Filtering technology is also eligible for the universal service subsidy.

[Zech Marquis The 2nd]

25. when she joked about community organizers

I took that as her secret code for saying ,"black" or in Palin's case, a cute way to say the N-word without actually saying it. It was and still is that simple.

[Gillian]

3. Community service - court ordered - black

Speaking redneck is just a big step down from a Texas trailer park.

[cosmicone]

22. welcome to DU n/t

[Kitty Herder]

4. Paterson doesn't mince words.

That's one thing I admire about him.

[VWolf]

27. No he doesn't ...

and he "sees" an awful lot more than many who aren't legally blind.

[Kitty Herder]

39. I agree. nt

[Indi Guy]

5. Obama's tone at the convention was never condescending & snarky...

Palin was reading the script of the snidely arrogant GOP boilerplate.

He who laughs last, laughs best.

[The Croquist]

8. Obama is not running against Palin

He is running against McCain. Comparing him to Palin is exactly what the Republican's want us and Obama to do and he is doing exactly that. He should ignore her.
Obama has been completely off message since Palin was announced and the polls are reflecting this.

[bigscott]

10. Like Kerry ignored the Swifboaters?

until it was too late

hit back hard - it does not have to be BHO who does the hitting but somebody fucking better

[Dorian Gray]

28. I actually agree with this

the more Obama or people who support Obama compare him to Palin, the VP candidate, the more it damages his Presidential Aspirations.

He needs to go after McCain and not Palin. Palin's candidacy is secondary to McCain's. The more attention given to Palin, the less to McCain, and the more damaging overall to Obama's presidential aspirations.

[yardwork]

38. THanks for your concern. Obama has not been off message and he's doing fine.

[and-justice-for-all]

6. Ha! busted'em out on their code talk bullshit! nt

[John Kerry VonErich]

7. Maybe I should vote for Cynthia McKinney

Becuase I won't be called racist or sexist.

[The Croquist]

9. I wrote Cynthia in 2 years ago

after she lost the primary runoff to Hank Johnson, a fine man, but perhaps the most boring politician on the planet.

It was as much to figure out how to do a write in on the new machines as anything. It was pretty easy. You pushed a button and a keyboard popped onto the screen. The poll worker I asked even knew the answer.

[liberal N proud]

11. Every time they use the sexist card...

The Obama campaign should point out something they are doing that eludes to racism.

Beat them at their fucking game or lose.

[WillParkinson]

12. Racist?

Sorry, I don't see it. Any more than I saw Mr. Obama's comment as sexist (since he was not talking about Ms. Palin anyway.)

[unblock]

13. "So I suppose a small town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except with white people"

slight rephrasing to make it more obvious.

[WillParkinson]

17. So I suppose a small town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except with women

We can twist a quote anyway we'd like it. That doesn't make it true, and certainly does not mean it makes sense.

Not everything is racist, sexist, homophobic, or whatever other terms we'd like to apply to them, even as much as we'd like to believe otherwise.

[adamuu]

24. It doesn't matter whether or not it is accurate or makes sense

It was merely a comment by the Governor of New York. People are allowed to make speculation and ask questions. other people are free to see the connection or not. it doesn't matter.

What matters is McCain's wild overreaction to it.
See?

[unblock]

33. of course it's not overt. the point is to fly just below the radar

overt racism doesn't play well.
they just hint at it, enough to send the signal but not so much that you can't deny it.

what is racist or sexist, and to what degree, depends on context and the hints involved.

[Tutonic]

19. I see it. Why the laughter after Palin and Guiliani said it? The

Republicans are smarter than Democrats who refuse to step out of the bubble.

[WillParkinson]

36. Guess we all see what we want...

Just like the Republicans are trying to work up a furor over Mr. Obama's comments. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

[fasttense]

14. Do you know that beauty contest Sarah Palin lost?

Well, it turns out that a beautiful black woman beat her.

Some times your karma catches up with you.

[zazen]

15. suggesting a black male is sexually corrupting our young is also code n/t

[vssmith]

16. When they say elitist they mean "uppity n*gger"

[adamuu]

23. I love how I didn't hear about this until McCain reacted to it

and Paterson is my Governor!

this is the way it should be... minor episodes we don't hear about until the opponent over-reacts and looks like a big baby.

[ohtransplant]

26. ALL Dem surrogates should be on the offensive like this.

It's crunch time. And the surrogates should be out in droves.

All accusations must be rebutted and their lies must be exposed.

It's not enough to rebut once and assume folks will see it for what it is. These points must be repeated until they're common knowledge.

The surrogates should be using the most simple direct terms possible - such as lies, pretenders, dishonor, pandering, afraid (as in why Sarah won't answer questions), corrupt, etc...You get the idea.

Dems have been on the defensive too long. It's time to go on offense.

Let's be careful out there.

[wilt the stilt]

29. Republicans never run on race

calling a spade a spade.

[Vogon_Glory]

30. Community Organizer Is Also Right-Wing Code Word For...

"Community organizer" isn't just a right-wing code word for saying "black," "Mexican-American," or "minority." "Community organizer" is still a code-word for what callous, greedy Chamber of Commerce types see as those "rabble-rousing" members of less-fortunate neighborhoods who stand up and vehemently object to their misusing eminent domain to push residents out of their neighborhoods, neglecting schools in poorer neighborhoods, keeping neighborhood parks in good repair, demanding better transit service in their communities, and other activities that interfere with the C of C types efforts to line their pockets or conduct "business as usual."

:grr:

:dem:

[Ian David]

31. "My friends, when I was a POW, they kept us in the dark where we were all black, my friends." n/t

[tilsammans]

32. The Governor calls it as he sees it!

I agree -- mocking community organizing has clear racial overtones.

:grr:

[wvbygod]

34. Community Organizer' Is Another Way Of Saying 'Black'

I guess one could make the association, but then what do we say when someone says...
"You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It's still gonna stink."
in reference to a woman?

The only difference is we can cheer one and condemn the other. After many years of
hearing words twisted to suit a political need, it comes down to some will see it, and
some won't.

Neither address the issues we need to be focused upon. Economy, jobs, heathcare, future.

[wryter2000]

35. I love the smell of faux outrage in the morning

How do they find the time to manufacture it all?

[agentS]

37. McCain Fuming over racism claims? HAR HAR HAR!

This is coming from the McCain camp, the same guy who called Vietnamese the "gooks", the Mexicans "wetbacks" and Blacks every name in the book.

And if you think that's bad, wait till you see his voting record.
Voted against MLK holiday multiple times, voted against civil rights, voted against investigating the Katrina disaster, voted against providing Medicare funds...and so on and so forth.

Paterson is spot on with his message and the McCain camp is mad because it's one that sticks.