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The Race in the Race
Author: BobR    Date: 01/06/2012 13:46:41

The politics of race in the political races is something that has been constant through the years. The blatancy of it, however, has declined through the years, with euphemisms replacing more obvious words (for example: nigger -> negro -> black -> urban). The term for using code words like this is dog whistle racism, because most people hear the words, but the REAL message is still delivered to those who are meant to hear it. This political season, however, the whistle has been tossed out, and replaced with a klaxon horn.

Take for example the latest Santorum slip-up ( ). While addressing a group of Republicans in Iowa on Monday, he said "I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them other people’s money". After most people picked their jaws up off the floor, the reaction was swift and focused. How dare he say that in pure direct English? What was he thinking? He backtracked initially saying he meant to say something else and had a brain fart in mid-word, and it came out "bleurgh people". No one bought it. THEN he clarified that he said "blah people". Really? Has anyone asked what word he really MEANT to say? I'm pretty sure it wasn't "blah".

Everyone is already pretty familiar with Rick Perry's hunting cabin named "niggerhead". There's no mincing around THAT one, although he certainly tried, claiming that he didn't notice it, despite it being blatently painted on a rock right at the entrance - for YEARS.

Ron Paul has had his past come back to bite him as well. He put out newsletters in the late 80s to early 90s containing some nasty racist rhetoric. He's been backpeddling during this race, but past evidence belies his current claims of innocence.

Newt Gingrich, however, has been the Grand Wizard of this campaign season. He's said that poor children from poor neighborhoods have "no habits of working" nor getting paid for their endeavors "unless it's illegal". He's also suggested these poor children be allowed to work as janitors at their school, swabbing out toilets. His most recent blatant comment, however, was saying "the African-American community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps". This has created the expected (and deserved) outrage, with the VP of the NAACP pointing out that the greatest percentage of welfare payments go to whites, not blacks. Maybe the white community should be demanding paychecks too... Oh wait - they are (along with every other color of the rainbow - see Occupy Wall Street).

The biggest question - and the one to which we may not like the answer - is will these comments hurt the candidates? Will they be rejected by the electorate?... or will the voters look the other way? I think it's safe to assume there is a small minority that will actually embrace these comments. It leaves me a little cold to think that, but I am in touch with reality.

Ultimately, there will be one Republican candidate that goes up against President Barack Obama later this year. If we are to judge that person by the content of their character, here's hoping we are not left wanting.
 

61 comments (Latest Comment: 01/07/2012 02:29:57 by TriSec)
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Comment by TriSec on 01/06/2012 14:00:06


Comment by Mondobubba on 01/06/2012 14:02:10
:Grunt:

Comment by wickedpam on 01/06/2012 14:09:51
Morning

Comment by velveeta jones on 01/06/2012 14:20:31
MORNING!!!!!!

(sorry about the shouting, still getting used to having a teenager).

Comment by BobR on 01/06/2012 14:35:00
blog is up

Comment by TriSec on 01/06/2012 15:01:46
Posting a blog killed the blog. How interesting.



Comment by Raine on 01/06/2012 15:10:58
good morning!

I'm waiting for Mitens to break out his who let the dogs out, woof woof song again.

Comment by Scoopster on 01/06/2012 15:13:08
Mornin' all..


Comment by TriSec on 01/06/2012 15:14:00
Comment by Scoopster on 01/06/2012 15:17:29
Quote by TriSec:
Boston Globe does not endorse Romney

*chortle*

I'd be willing to bet the Herald doesn't either.

Comment by Mondobubba on 01/06/2012 15:26:18
Great blog Bob. Race and (more importantly) class resentment have been on my mind a lot of late. I just finished reading a book about lynching of Schwener, Chaney & Goodman (look it up) and I'm currently reading a book about lynching by one of the co-authors of the book on Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman. These comments that have been made by Santorum and Newt are 21st Century versions of waving the bloody shirt. What tjhey are designed to do is stir up class resentment against African-Americans by grabbing on the the classic trope of welfare is a thing that only blacks get. Which is entierely untrue. Something like 80% of the people who are getting assisstance are white. Try explaining that to someone who is stoked up on fear, anger and hate though.

Comment by Will in Chicago on 01/06/2012 15:27:03
Good morning, bloggers!! BobR, thanks for an excellent blog!

Sometimes people reveal who they truly are. Or the masks fall away. In the case of too many in the GOP, that mask is a hood from a very ugly past. To me, it sounds like Santorum said "black" not "blah" or "blighted". It almost sounds as if Santorum suddenly was catching himself as he said the remark and could not take it back.



Comment by Mondobubba on 01/06/2012 15:29:15
On a lighter note, I am totally stoked for the season premiers of "Portlandia" and "The Increasingly Poor Descions of Todd Margret" on IFC tonight.



Comment by Mondobubba on 01/06/2012 15:31:16
Comment by Mondobubba on 01/06/2012 15:34:01
Good economic news killed the blog? Wow it is a delicate beast!

Comment by Raine on 01/06/2012 15:45:02
On the Front page of WaPo today

Printed title: Role as D.C. insider made Santorum a millionaire

Web title:

Santorum plays down long history as Washington insider

Still, that is the FRONT page. Nice.

Comment by wickedpam on 01/06/2012 15:46:01
Quote by Mondobubba:
Good economic news killed the blog? Wow it is a delicate beast!



kinda lurky this week

Comment by Raine on 01/06/2012 15:46:51
Quote by Mondobubba:
Good economic news killed the blog? Wow it is a delicate beast!

NAw, it's just working this morning!

Comment by Raine on 01/06/2012 15:53:47
Also on the front page of WaPo?

This picture
http://img.wpdigital.net/rf/image_296w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2012/01/04/National-Politics/Images/Huntsman_2012_065dd.jpg


with this caption: GOP hopeful Jon Huntsman Jr. meets Bill Higgins and Izak the goat, who gave him a little nip in the knee. Hunsman took it all in stride.

In N.H., face time is a primary requirement

Evidently NH has a goat vote!

Comment by Raine on 01/06/2012 16:02:03
Via Nancy pelosi's office:
This morning, Speaker Pro Tempore Jeff Denham, under orders from Speaker Boehner, refused to allow Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn to speak on the floor and call for the payroll tax cut conference committee to get to work.


Comment by Raine on 01/06/2012 16:12:17
Comment by Raine on 01/06/2012 16:17:33
Wow. Caller just equated lesbianism to bring home a dead baby and handing it to children. Wow.

Comment by Scoopster on 01/06/2012 16:22:21
Quote by Raine:
Wow. Caller just equated lesbianism to bring home a dead baby and handing it to children. Wow.

I guess she never met the Santorum family then..

Comment by wickedpam on 01/06/2012 16:23:25
I get that the guy is saying that everyone grieve's differently, BUT you don't bring the body home to young children. As an adult and parent you are supposed to use better judgement. Yes, you want them to understand what happened. Yes, have a memorial or funeral to honor the loss. But they went the step too far

Comment by Raine on 01/06/2012 16:33:44
Truth be told-- I am far less insulted by the image comparison than I am calling the First Lady Mrs. YoMama.

Great, he apologized for the picture -- but sending the letter with that message is wrong wrong wrong.

Comment by TriSec on 01/06/2012 16:34:24
Say gang...didn't FDR make a certain speech on this date?



Comment by Raine on 01/06/2012 16:39:05
Quote by TriSec:
Say gang...didn't FDR make a certain speech on this date?


I did not know that!

Comment by wickedpam on 01/06/2012 16:40:43
wait - I'm getting a free house? can I upgrade?

Comment by Mondobubba on 01/06/2012 16:45:42
Quote by Raine:
On the Front page of WaPo today

Printed title: Role as D.C. insider made Santorum a millionaire

Web title:

Santorum plays down long history as Washington insider

Still, that is the FRONT page. Nice.



NPR made mention of that this morning as well.

Comment by Raine on 01/06/2012 16:58:39
So does anyone find this interesting? President asked for Congress to have a meeting about raising the debt ceiling... and accepts a delay from congress about it...
Because Congress won’t be in session in the next 15 days, Obama agreed to the joint request from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, and House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican. The House of Representatives is scheduled to return on Jan. 17 and the Senate plans to reconvene on Jan. 23.
And then Obama turns around and does a few recess appointments.Why? Congress said they weren't in session wrt to Debt ceiling.

They are whining out of both sides of their mouth.

Comment by TriSec on 01/06/2012 16:59:17
Penn State reacts badly to new coach.

And Bostonians are provincial and closed-minded? Pshaw!



Comment by Raine on 01/06/2012 16:59:51
Quote by wickedpam:
wait - I'm getting a free house? can I upgrade?

Wouldn't it be fun to take a copy of that transcript and walk into a bank making that request?

Comment by wickedpam on 01/06/2012 17:03:52
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
wait - I'm getting a free house? can I upgrade?

Wouldn't it be fun to take a copy of that transcript and walk into a bank making that request?



that it would - just to see the looks on their faces

Comment by Raine on 01/06/2012 17:19:42
Quote by TriSec:
Penn State reacts badly to new coach.

And Bostonians are provincial and closed-minded? Pshaw!

This comment: "I don't want to be affiliated with the university if they don't choose a Penn State guy "


Uhm -- not for nothing, but wasn't a big problem wrt to what happened there part of a culture of nepotism, etc?

A lot of people KNEW what was happening to children and a lot of people covered that up because of that culture at the school.


Comment by Will in Chicago on 01/06/2012 17:27:49
Quote by TriSec:
Say gang...didn't FDR make a certain speech on this date?


Indeed, he did. Here is a link and an excerpt.

The Four FreedomsThe first is freedom of speech and expression -- everywhere in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way -- everywhere in the world.

The third is freedom from want, which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants -- everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear, which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor -- anywhere in the world.

That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called “new order” of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.


In some news closer to home, my registration for the Massachusetts test is in the mail. First choice of a test site is Quincy, while the second is Braintree. (I will be staying in that area for a few days.)

Comment by livingonli on 01/06/2012 17:28:18
Good day everyone. Feeling very sleepy this day. Cat is sleeping on the floor but I still have to work tonight and just hope since I am doing the Knicks game tonight that they don't give Washington their first win. A couple of losses to really mediocre teams does not look very good.

Comment by TriSec on 01/06/2012 17:46:29
Quincy is nice - it's on the water, has a nice downtown, and has a bunch of historic sites. (2 presidential birthplaces and the USS Salem.) It's on the Red Line to downtown, plus you can get the commuter boat, too.

Braintree is the next town south; it's far more of a bedroom community.



Comment by Mondobubba on 01/06/2012 18:05:24
Quote by TriSec:
Quincy is nice - it's on the water, has a nice downtown, and has a bunch of historic sites. (2 presidential birthplaces and the USS Salem.) It's on the Red Line to downtown, plus you can get the commuter boat, too.

Braintree is the next town south; it's far more of a bedroom community.




Quincy is the home of an outpost of the Mighty Tompson Reuters Media Empire. Tompson and Tompson their trademark research comany headquatered there. I know this because in the dim mist of the past, I worked for them. Good times, good times!

Doesn't Quincy also have quarries? Or had I should say filled with spill from The Big Dig, yes?

Comment by Raine on 01/06/2012 18:22:26
Will, Do you know when the test is going to be?



Comment by TriSec on 01/06/2012 18:42:03
Quincy Quarries today

I've been up there, but it's not my favorite part of the Blue Hills. It is very nice; soccer fields and such, and a terrific view north to the big city.



Comment by livingonli on 01/06/2012 19:09:33
Momma's on Thom Hartmann right now

Comment by livingonli on 01/06/2012 19:15:19
That was quick

Comment by BobR on 01/06/2012 19:33:35
work has swallowed me today - sorry for the lack of communications...

Comment by Raine on 01/06/2012 19:40:17
Quote by livingonli:
That was quick
I missed it! oh well...



Comment by Mondobubba on 01/06/2012 20:03:53
Quote by BobR:
work has swallowed me today - sorry for the lack of communications...



Work! Get those stored procedures in line! Make sure the database calls embeded in the customer interface are working properly!

Comment by TriSec on 01/06/2012 20:09:28
Hey gang, you're looking at the new Sons of Liberty District Training Chairman!

Other things are happening that I am not at liberty to reveal quite yet that will make this possible. I may also re-consider dissolving my campaign committee at this time.

<-- huge hint

Comment by Will in Chicago on 01/06/2012 20:10:16
Quote by Raine:
Will, Do you know when the test is going to be?



Yes, as I had to make my travel arrangements -- and a friend in Boston set everything up for the trip and the hotel.

On March 2nd, I arrive in the AM. My test is on March 3rd from 7:45 AM to 6 PM. (I do get a lunch break but will stick around the test site.) I will leave Boston for Chicago's Midway Airport late Sunday afternoon.


Comment by Will in Chicago on 01/06/2012 20:11:57
Quote by TriSec:
Hey gang, you're looking at the new Sons of Liberty District Training Chairman!

Other things are happening that I am not at liberty to reveal quite yet that will make this possible. I may also re-consider dissolving my campaign committee at this time.

<-- huge hint


TriSec, a patient man knows when to wait. Sometimes a feast tastes better just by savoring the smells and anticipating it.

Comment by Raine on 01/06/2012 20:36:33


That is all.