RNC Chair Michael SteeleThe last time Republicans tried to show they were as broad-minded as Democrats, the country got Sarah Palin. Introduced as the Republican answer to Hillary Clinton, Palin was expected to syphon off the votes of all those disgruntled Hillary-heads and prove Republicans value women more than Democrats do. Instead, it was almost immediately evident they had selected one of the most anti-choice, anti-feminist, anti-“vagina-Americans”* ever to crawl out from under an oil pipeline.
So what have they done this time? Trotted out former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele, an African American, to lead their party. And as Wattree at epluribusmedia notes, it’s the same old Republican stuff.
What I would personally like to see is a Republican Party that INCLUDES minorities, not use them…[A]nyone with an ounce of sense can see that this is a gimmick. Republicans were defeated so badly in the last election, and Obama is so popular, that they figure Black must be the political flavor of the season, so they went out and “got them one”–it didn’t matter who, just long as his skin was dark…
The American people didn’t elect President Obama because he’s Black, they elected him because he demonstrated that he was an intelligent, competent, statesman. He was also elected so overwhelmingly because for the past eight years the Republican Party has clearly demonstrated that it was overflowing with corruption, incompetence, and greed. So while it’s hard for the RNC to believe, for the very first time, we had an election that was based strictly on the issues and relative competence, and not race.
Their election, on the other hand, was all about race. One contender, former Tennessee GOP Chair Chip Saltsman, made it crystal clear with his Christmas gift. The audio CD contained the now-famous “Barack the Magic Negro” as well as “Ivory and Ebony†and “The Star Spanglish Banner.†It was satire, we were told, not racism. What better way to prove it than to select a black man to lead them? That Steele, unlike their other candidates, has no party-building experience is secondary.
I don’t yet know Steele’s opinions or views but this move seems almost as good as choosing a female misogynist to run as vice president. And we all know how that worked out.
* In the words of The Daily Show’s Samantha Bee
Yup, the repubs are pretty danged obvious!
A couple of points:
Sure Obama is black, but he is also white.
(Democrats are playing the race card as well)
With that reasoning, instead of saying “The first BLACK president, we could also say the 44th WHITE president”, couldn’t we? But, but, that would be stupid(!) you say! Well, so is saying Obama is the First BLACK President!
and
For the above reason (and more) the “Barack the Magic Negro†moniker Saltsman labled Obama with is not only RACIST it’s absolutely MORONIC. Saltsman should be SHUNNED by his peers, but instead he’s ADMIRED by them. What does that say about the neocon republicans? My parents were both republicans and my dad would have whipped my a$$ had I said something like that! Political dissent was AOK, but RACISM was NOT ALLOWED in our house!
Even if (approx) half of the USA doesn’t appreciate Obama, at least the rest of the world does, and we at least now have a shot at some intelligent, knowledgable adult dialogue!
ALERT! Look out America!! Republicans may have been hoodwinked and may have elected an Islamic terrorist sleeper agent as RNC Chairman…or at least someone who might be ‘palling around’ with terrorists! After all, he’s black and must have met some Muslims in his life…what if he secretly is one??!!
Someone should check into the claims he changed his name to an American sounding name as a 7 year old after he was secretly planted there by Islamic terrorists who are going to ‘activate’ him now that he’s in charge of the Republican party!!
:)
OK…I’m obviously being snide and sarcastic…but hope it makes the point that so many Republicans MISSED during the campaign for President. Do they NOW realize how stupid, ignorant and ugly they sounded when they tried to hang those labels on Barack Obama?? Probably not…but I had to try to point it out anyway! :)