In today’s NYT Op-Ed, Bob Herbert blasts the GOP for their racist ideals and actions; most recently, their blocking of the appointment of a Congressional seat to the District of Columbia in the U.S. Senate. Right wingers are sure to point to Condoleeza Rice and Colin Powell as shining examples of how the GOP reaches out to minorities by appointing them to the most powerful positions in the U.S. Government while Left wingers are sure to mirror the arguments of Mr. Herbert…
From The New York Times:
The Ugly Side of the G.O.P.
By BOB HERBERT
I applaud the thousands of people, many of them poor, who traveled from around the country to protest in Jena, La., last week. But what I’d really like to see is a million angry protesters marching on the headquarters of the National Republican Party in Washington.
Enough is enough. Last week the Republicans showed once again just how anti-black their party really is.
The G.O.P. has spent the last 40 years insulting, disenfranchising and otherwise stomping on the interests of black Americans. Last week, the residents of Washington, D.C., with its majority black population, came remarkably close to realizing a goal they have sought for decades — a voting member of Congress to represent them.
A majority in Congress favored the move, and the House had already approved it. But the Republican minority in the Senate — with the enthusiastic support of President Bush — rose up on Tuesday and said: “No way, baby.”
At least 57 senators favored the bill, a solid majority. But the Republicans prevented a key motion on the measure from receiving the 60 votes necessary to move it forward in the Senate. The bill died.
At the same time that the Republicans were killing Congressional representation for D.C. residents, the major G.O.P. candidates for president were offering a collective slap in the face to black voters nationally by refusing to participate in a long-scheduled, nationally televised debate focusing on issues important to minorities. …”
(Snip!)
“… The Republican debate is scheduled for Thursday. But Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson have all told Mr. Smiley: “No way, baby.”
They won’t be there. They can’t be bothered debating issues that might be of interest to black Americans. After all, they’re Republicans.
This is the party of the Southern strategy — the party that ran, like panting dogs, after the votes of segregationist whites who were repelled by the very idea of giving equal treatment to blacks. Ronald Reagan, George H.W. (Willie Horton) Bush, George W. (Compassionate Conservative) Bush — they all ran with that lousy pack. …”
(Snip!)
“… In 1991, the first President Bush poked a finger in the eye of black America by selecting the egregious Clarence Thomas for the seat on the Supreme Court that had been held by the revered Thurgood Marshall. The fact that there is a rigid quota on the court, permitting one black and one black only to serve at a time, is itself racist.
Mr. Bush seemed to be saying, “All right, you want your black on the court? Boy, have I got one for you.” …
It’s a STINGING, ANGRY piece, and all TRUE. The GOP and its power players all fit the mold Mr. Herbert is accusing them of; it is what it is. HOWEVER; Mr. Herbert is forgetting is the fact that the Democratic Party black Americans continuously vote for hasn’t REALLY done a damned thing for them in decades. Another thing being left out of the argument is the FACT that the Republicans of today don’t necessarily discriminate against black Americans nearly as much as they do underprivileged Americans — a segment of our society which is growing exponentially, courtesy of THEM and their policies.
I would argue that, were Washington D.C.’s population composed of mostly white, low-income blue collar union workers, the GOP would have voted the exact, same WAY against progress, representation and fairness. Go ahead and tell me I’m WRONG — I dare you; just be sure to tell me why I am wrong.
When will black Americans realise their lack of representation in our “Gub’mint” today is shared by the vast majority of their fellow Americans of all colors — the shrinking middle class — and we’re all in this thing together? And when will ALL Americans realise the Democratic Party and its authoritarian, Nanny-State, wannabe DICTATORS are good for nothing aside from the occasional pro-black, pro-union, pro-disadvantaged, pro-underprivileged “talking point” that keeps the American middle class, including the vast majority of black Americans voting them into office again and again and again with few actual RESULTS? We all know full-well the GOP is composed of a huge group of racist, biggotted, Police-State bunch of CREEPS, but the time has come to realise the Democratic Party is no better at all; yet, they demonstrate at least a slight DEGREE of more potential.
We must purge our nation from these authoritarian scoundrels on both sides of the aisle if we wish to progress. It starts with purging our favorite party and goes from there. Or, even better, perhaps the time has come for ALL working class Americans — ALL colors and creeds — to consider establishing and empowering a TRUE populist party to represent them to their Government…
“Big Brother” comes in TWO colors — RED and BLUE — and that, my friends, is a cold, hard FACT.
***
More blogger commentary, hand-picked, H/T in part to MemeOrandum: Lawyers, Guns and Money (Left – Adult language); QandO (Right); Shakesville (Left); Matthew Yglesias (Center); Kevin Drum (Left); Captain’s Quarters (Right); Drudge Retort (Left)
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1:31 pm on September 25th, 2007 1
[...] Bloggers: The Gun Toting Liberal™, The Mahablog, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Flopping Aces, QandO, Macsmind, The Sundries Shack, Friends [...]
1:45 pm on September 25th, 2007 2
GTL: “underprivileged Americans — a segment of our society which is growing exponentially, courtesy of THEM and their policies.” —
When will Americans stop blaming other people for their situations and start taking responsibility for themselves? Blaming anyone, democrat, republican, white, black, brown, blue only serves to perpetuate the situation by convincing everyone that people cannot take care of themselves. If someone doesn’t have as much as the other guy, the government must be to blame, because there is nothing the poor guy could do to improve himself. That’s the kind of thinking that caused this mess.
It’s the lack of foresight, the lack of thinking about the potential results of any given action, that brings people to desperate conditions. Take the GM strike for example. Doesn’t the striking union or the individual workers realize what could (and probably will) happen as a result of this strike. Even if it is settled, NO ONE WILL BE BETTER OFF WHEN IT IS OVER. No one, that is, except the folks at Toyota, Honda, Nissan, etc. Chances are that many more U.S. jobs will be lost overseas as a result of this strike. The people who lose those jobs will probably blame the government (instead of themselves, for striking against a company that is losing money hand over fist). And then the taxpayers will end up paying their way for some period of time until most eventually find LOWER PAYING jobs somewhere else…
Or take some guy in a bad neighborhood who drops out of high school. Doesn’t he realize that by doing so he has just sentenced HIMSELF to a life of poverty? Yes, in some areas staying in school can be tough, but dropping out and spending the rest of your life poor is even tougher.
To paraphrase GTL – THINK PEOPLE, THINK !
2:19 pm on September 25th, 2007 3
[...] Original post by The GTLâ?¢ [...]
3:30 pm on September 25th, 2007 4
GTL
So what are YOU, the Constitutionalist saying? We should ignore the Constitution and give DC a Rep.? If DC wants a Rep. I say fine, go ahead and do it right and amend the Constitution.
Every day that goes by I appreciate the framers more and more. They foresaw so many of the things that plague modern governance. One of those would that the Capitol would accrue a permanent group of people with a vested interest in growing government. They wisely chose to not let these folks have a say in how the other folks were taxed. If only the could have forseen government employee unions and lobbyists….(sigh)..but I’ll forgive ‘em for small oversights.
4:39 pm on September 25th, 2007 5
“there is a rigid quota on the court, permitting one black and one black only to serve at a time, is itself racist.” Change “court” to NYT Op-Ed page, and you’ve got a larger truth than token uncle tom Herbert spews anywhere in his bucket of monkey vomit above.