Russ Steele
Below is our local lefty Torries irrational ranting against the Tea Party Patriots new web site here. This rant just extends attacks made by this group of liberals about something they called dog-whistle racism on Rebane's Ruminations [see comments at RR and his latest post on the Liberal Mind.]. I had to go to Wikipedia to find out what dog-whistle racism was. It appears to me all this dog-whistle racism is in the heads of our hardcore liberals, they appear to be the only ones capable of decoding these faux dog-whistle messages with their superior intellect. Flew right past me.
These liberals have only one weapon in their intellectual armory, that is to accuse the Tea Party Patriots of racism. Even if it only appears in their own smarmy brains. Now to the detail some of their ranting in the comments here. I want you to see what these intellectually superior Torries are thinking and writing about the Tea Party Patriots website, most likley without even reading what was written there by a black man in support of the Tea Party. Now the racist ranting:
Steve Frisch
I encourage all readers to go to the Tea People web site and read the article titled The Black Man:Progressives Trojan Horse
I’ll say it again, loud and proud, the TeaParty is an intentionally dog whistle racist organization, and we must fight these guys to our last breath.
jeffpelline
The link is here, and the article is the one at the very top:
http://nctpp.org/
Curtis Walker
You are 100k correct. Next the sheets?
Judith Lowry
Well, right off the bat, those cartoons! A psychologist would have a field day with these drawings.
The one of the black hand shoving a rather phallic looking object down a white man’s throat has serious homophobic hysteria overtones. Racist white men have historically been intimidated by the thought of the black man’s allegedly superior penis.Often these expressions often indicate a degree of fascination inconsistent with pure heterosexuality. Mr. Marcus has me wondering.
Yup. And it’s right at the top of our very own local tea party’s webpage as “recommended reading.” This, plus the perceived racist comments by tea party advocate George Rebane (“Dark Continent” and “ragheads”) that we’ve discussed here, that are swept under the rug by KVMR and The Union. In fact, they have given him a platform. Yuck and double yuck.
Mike Thornton
Wow! Mobs of angry white folks with swords and blood all over the place However, I just realized that I’m getting a little concerned over your continued use of the “perceived racism” phrase, Jeff.
Don’t get me wrong, I do think Rebane is a racist, though my guess is that he doesn’t think he is, but I’m not so sure that somebody’s “perception” of a statement should be the sole and only test of what that statement may mean. I realize that, this may sound like I’m trying to defend Rebane, which I’m absolutely NOT doing! I guess what I am trying to say is that “perception” is pretty subjective and can be used and/or cited for any number things, both good and bad. Maybe, if you really believe that Rebane’s statements are racist, you should just say that and drop the “perceived” part. Just a thought….
jeffpelline
Well Mike, sadly, I’m figuring that people like KMVR have concluded the comments only might be perceived as racist rather than being racist — or otherwise they would have apologized to the community or fired him as a news commentator for violating the KVMR mission statement. I would have broadcast an apology, just as NPR did, and reminded listeners of KVMR’s mission statement: “Promotes positive social values including equality, diversity, non-violence, a sustainable environment, and social and economic justice.” http://www.kvmr.org/about/mission.html
Rebane’s remarks in The Union column this weekend — downplaying the whole incident — also should not have gone unanswered. It’s disappointing on both counts. I have yet to see any elected, civic or business leader stand up and condemn it, however. So it will continue.
Over on the right-wing blogs Todd Juvinall (a former elected supervisor) and Russ Steele are just laughing it off. That’s a place John Spencer, another former elected supervisor, also goes to comment regularly.
Steve Frisch
Hey, let’s not forget that this is the home county page of national Tea Party Patriots founder Mark Meckler; that members of his family are intimately involved in the county organization; that KVMR commentator and The Union columnist George Rebane is intimately involved in the organization; and that what happens in Nevada County should have national implications.
The Tea Party has attacked the NAACP for questioning the acceptence of open racism in it’s midst; national Tea Party leaders only occasionally tried to distance themselves from this sort of race baiting behavior; and many conservative Republicans are embarrassed by Tea elements like this.
This sort of ugly, racially charged rhetoric has been part of the Tea Party communications all along. The Tea Party has countered that criticism by claiming that they are a national, grassroots, and largely disorganized movement, with no centralized control and little organization. That is nonsense. The Tea Party is not grassroots, it is grasstops, a creation of right wing Republican and libertarian leaning special interest groups, many of whom have vested business interests in deregulating their industries.
The Tea Parties are centrally controlled and funded by a loose network of funders including Freedom Works, Koch Industries, The Olin Foundation, Richard Mellon Scaife, Exxon-Mobile, Walmart and others. The message is repeated again and again through local and regional Tea Party organizations, then supported and provided with fake research by The Heritage Foundation, the National Rifle Association, the US Chamber of Commerce, the Cato Institute, Focus on the Family, the Hudson Institute, and the Manhattan Institute. Then the message is internalized by a bunch of mushy headed lost souls who feel like their privilege is slipping away, and it becomes “fact”. First sow discontent…….then provide the solution….
jeffpelline
And don’t forget the active involvement of Barry Pruett, Treasurer of the county’s Republican Central Committee, with the county tea party. His wife is the local liaison to Tom McClintock. I wonder if Tom condones this?
bob garza
Steve, if you create sufficient noise, diversion, and division, the middle and lower classes forget who is truly culpable because they’re too busy at odds with each other. I think that you, I, and others have seen this firsthand over the last 30 to 40 years. This isn’t some new right wing strategy but in its current version it is reaching new heights and coming through multiple channels in all flavors of hard and soft.
If you repeat a lie enough times, not only will others believe it’s the truth but you, the spinner, will too. If that’s true, then the lie becomes even more deceptive and powerful because it’s done with greater sincerity and belief. But it’s still a lie.
Pat Wynne
This guy is full of it. Info given for him is “singer, songwriter, author…” Does that qualify him as a person who is qualified to editorialize on the political scene in the U S? Do the keepers of the local T P website really think Marcus is a fitting opponent to set up as a counterpart to our Harvard educated President? Can they be serious? The good thing is that in this rant going out to other Tea Party supporters he is preaching to the choir, perhaps trying to sooth any egos ruffled by the many “racist ” accusations leveled at Tea Party (fully justifiec, my opinion). Seems to me he is trying to make a name for himself, get attention by putting himself in a position, as a rare Tea Party member who does not fit the typical Tea Party model of older, male, white, gun-toting macho man, as some one special and worth listening to. Guess he has never heard the “Uncle Tom” monicker generally applied to those of his ilk. Don’t think Marcus would find himself very popular in any largely African American community in the U S, or in multi-racial Hawaii, which gave President a 74 % vote in 2008. Marcus’ constant referral to our President as “black” rather than the more common term used now, and certainly more appropriate in Obama’s case, African-American, indicates that Marcus is pre-occuppied with his own self-designated racial identity of “black.”
Thanks for bringing this up, Jeff. Can’t say I would bother with the Tea Party website on my own, though I know they are influential enough that we should know what they are up to, even though I consider the movement to have little importance in the long run for the political scene in the U S, but they should be exposed and opposed.
If any of this dissappear from the Jeff's blog, I have a screen capture with all the dates and times.
