Chaos On The GOP Convention Floor

The following commentary is by Chauncey De Vega from the We Are Respectable Negroes blog.  I want you to take a look at this loony bin insult at a poised delegate who was about to give her speech yesterday.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

A Particularly Low Class of White People: Republicans Throw Nuts at Black Folks; They Heckle the "Foreign" Delegate from Puerto Rico









Their forefathers were John Birchers. Their grand-pappies and grandmas likely spent time at the monthly lynching tree. Some of them were members of White Citizens Councils, the "polite" racists, who stood against civil rights for black folks and upheld Jim and Jane Crow. Earlier this year, the most zealous among them booed gay soldiers, howled in glee at the prospect of a person being executed by the State, and cheered the idea of some sad soul dying because they did not have health insurance.



This is the contemporary face of the Republican Party.



When Republicans heckled Zoraida Fonalledas, the representative from Puerto Rico to their own convention with nativist chants earlier today, they reminded the American people who and what they really are...again.



When a black CNN reporter had nuts thrown at her, and was told "this is how we feed the animals," the Tea Party GOP showed up who they have always been...again.



And do not buy into the excuse-making: Chants of "U.S.A." have nothing to do with an internecine conflict between Ron Paul and establishment conservatives. Rather, this episode has everything to do with white conservative xenophobia and anti-immigrant zeal by a group of mouth-breathing Right-wing troglodytes who believe that Puerto Ricans are dangerous Spanish speaking "foreigners."







In all, the racist and xenophobic ugliness on display during Tuesday's meeting of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida should not be a surprise. The elites and opinion leaders of the Right have created this witches brew; now, they will either be saved by their monster or the beast will consume them.



My mother's people are from North Carolina. My grandmother and other elders would often talk about "good white people." The ability to distinguish between white people who would kill you, discriminate against you at will, or put you out of house and home because they could, was a practical life skill. We may no longer have The Negro Motorist Green Book, but black and brown folks still give their kids "the talk" about how to survive a routine traffic stop by the police. Cultural memory is deep and a gift. I am so very glad (and lucky) they passed on their wisdom and life skills. In turn, if so blessed, I will them down to my children as well.





It is true that white supremacy has evolved over time; but the lives of people of color are still expendable, and subject to arbitrary violence in America by White Authority (and those overly identified with it--see George Zimmerman).



For people of color in the United States, skillfully and successfully navigating the color line meant (and means) protecting your own life, as well as that of your children and family. Those of us who are not part of the in-group, or otherwise marginalized by Power, have to learn this skill set if we are to survive and do well in this society. Consequently, black and brown folks have to become expert students on the ways of white people.



I do wonder if Whiteness and White Privilege permits our white brothers and sisters to realize how much people of color know about them and their particular ways.



To point: as my parents and other elders have taught me, the "U.S.A" chanting cowboy hat wearing white populists who heckled Zoraida Fonalledas represent a particularly low class of white people. They may have money, but this group of white people has no decency. The low type of white person exemplified by the neo-John Birch base of the Tea Party GOP are also bigots. All that they have to comfort them is a weak type of nationalism which is emboldened by silly chanting, and the psychic wages of whiteness that happen to come with being arbitrarily categorized as "white" in this society.





The slogan "free, white, and twenty-one" got this class of white people through many decades of life in America. In an increasingly globalized world, with a black president, and a multicultural leadership class, such a slogan is approaching obsolescence. For many white people this is a terrifying prospect.



By comparison, Senator Priebus and Mitt Romney represent a slightly "better" class of white people. The latter is most certainly a racist. The former is likely one as well given his enabling of his party's Southern Strategy 2.0 and race-baiting against Barack Obama, the country's first black president. Together, both are "polite" racists. They have no love for what was once called "poor white trash." Elite whites such as Romney and Priebus use materially disadvantaged and racially resentful white people as a tool in order to maximize their own wealth and resources. The white reactionary populists who form the base of the Republican Party in the Age of Obama have not yet woken up to this old school con.



This brings us full circle. What of Zoraida Fonalledas? How do make sense of her awkward moment? On one hand, the better and more generous part of my soul has pity for her. It must hurt to realize that you are viewed with contempt by your own political brethren and comrades. As I suggested several here, she, and other conservatives who happen to be black, Latino, Asian, Native American, or Other, are sick with a delusion that they are "special" or "different" in the eyes of the White conservative gaze. Tuesday's happenings could perhaps be her wake up call.



The more cynical and less noble part of my soul smirks and smiles. Zoraida Fonalledas made her bed and now has to lie in it. Yes, the money and gold are substantial. Nevertheless, I struggle to understand how any self-respecting person of color could ally with the Tea Party GOP, the country's de facto White political party, and an organization whose electoral strategy increasingly consists of mining white racism and anxiety towards people of color to secure electoral victory.



I think that I will just smile. Zoraida Fonalledas experienced her own "Lisa broke Ralph's heart moment" on a national stage. The question remains: will Zoraida Fonalledas, and other non-white conservatives like her, keep coming back to the Tea Party GOP for more abuse?







I think we know the answer. They are almost to the one, sad pathetic souls.

Stick & Stones: GOP Name Drops Obama More Than Romney!

The Romney Campaign despise "fact checkers" correcting their statements. Vice Presidential Nominee Paul Ryan spoke at the Anti-Obama National Convention. Many reporters found that the nominee told a fiery speech going after the president. Ryan's critics think he's misled the public with statements that come off as not true.

From the Republican nominee all the way down to the Fox News Channel, you've gotten individuals so obsessed with dropping President Barack Obama's name. The people who support Mitt Romney for president can't think of anything positive about him. They can only say "he's better than Obama". They drop the name of the president more than their nominee!

The Huffington Post keeping track of the coverage of the Republican Anti-Obama National Convention in which the leader of the political party Mitt Romney takes the helms as their nominee.

When I gotten the opportunity to listen to vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, the congressman of Wisconsin. I've listened to Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Governor Chris Christie (R-New Jersey), Tim Pawlenty, Artur Davis, Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-New Hampshire), Governor Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin), Governor John Kasich (R-Ohio), Governor Susana Martinez (R-New Mexico) Rick Santorum, Mia Love, Ted Cruz, Condoleezza Rice, Mike Huckabee, Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), and numerous small business owners.

Each of them told a story about how they gotten here and why it's not the best of times with Barack Obama as the President of The United States. They have used cliches and misquotes to paint the president as a failure.

They've taken on the "WE BUILT THAT" theme after the president make the "You Didn't Build That!" comment in Roanoke, Virginia.

These guys mislead the president's message on bipartisanship. We go back to the Republicans objective back in 2008 - 2009. We're mad at Barack Obama! We're not going to allow him a victory.

The Democrats had a few months of a supermajority. The president couldn't get his policies passed because of some Democrats siding with Republicans. The Republicans stood firm in opposition.

Now the Congress is split between the Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Democrats in the Senate. They can't even get a compromise with a House passing legislation they know the president is going to veto. The Senate can't get nothing done if Republicans filibuster debate.

This attack on the president show desperation.

President Barack Obama is anticipating that their negativity will turn independents off.

The Republicans are going the all out strategy. They will make this a "red meat" issue.

The war in Afghanistan is off the table. Improving stock market is off the table. George W. Bush is off the table. Bipartisanship is off the table.

The only thing that keeps this bunch of lunatics going is dropping Barack Obama, banning abortions, banning gay marriage, repealing regulations and safety nets, welfare reform, defense spending, and getting Obamacare repealed.

Here's Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin), the Republican vice presidential nominee.

Michelle Obama: A Naked Slave?

Freedom of speech or just another offensive caricature of First Lady Michelle Obama?

La Reyna covered this earlier today. 

A Spanish magazine cover is getting buzz across the ocean. The Fuera de Serie depicts the First Lady of the United States as a naked slave woman.

The Toronto Sun reports the first lady's face superimposed over the famous 1800 painting "Portrait d'une Negresse" by French feminist artist Marie-Guillemine Benoist.

The doctored image is not the magazine's creation. It was taken from the "Famous Nudes" series by artist Karine Percheron-Daniels, who describes her work as trying "to offer an alternative unexpected reality to allow the viewer to re-examine his unique subjective experience and general understanding and view the world and people in a different way."

The description of the article, titled "Michelle: Great-great-granddaughter of a Slave, Owner of America," on the magazine's website  appears to describe a positive profile of the former lawyer and first African-American first lady.

"In the shadow of the U.S. president is a person whose popularity ratings exceed those of Barack. This person is none other than his wife Michelle, who stars in the cover of the magazine this week," reads the description as roughly translated from Spanish.

It continues, "To find out how Michelle has managed to seduce the American people, the journalist Paul Scarpellini details the secrets of women who not only won the heart of Barack Obama."

But many Americans are offended by the controversial depiction of their first lady.

"Let's be clear: This image has nothing to do with acknowledging Obama's enslaved foremothers, and everything to do with reinforcing and extending the historical denial of black women's individuality and agency," wrote Clutch Magazine 's Althea Legal-Miller.

Brande Victorian of Madame Noire  said the image reinforces "the idea that Michelle Obama is and always will be a slave in far too many people's eyes, no matter how far we're removed from physical enslavement, and how high of a position she's climbed to in society."

TheFrisky.com called the cover "tasteless."

"Plenty of absurd things are 'artsy,' like crafting Jesus on the cross out of elephant feces or giving birth inside an art gallery as a live-action installation. But a drawing of Michelle Obama topless on the cover of Fuera de Serie is plain old tasteless," wrote Jessica Wakeman.

"In my opinion, they have every right to depict her artistically, even in poor taste. But that doesn't mean they should do it," wrote Wakeman.

I am going to honest. I never seen any depictions of former First Ladies Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, Barbara Bush, Nancy Reagan, Roselynn Carter or Betty Ford.

How come it has to be the first African American woman to hold the title?

Why are White people so angry?

Why can't they look at President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as human beings first!

Why is the Republican Party stuck in the 20th Century?

Yet Again !!!!!

Totally Offensive!

GOP Attendee: That's How We Feed The Animals!

The anti-Obama Convention already drawn controversy with one of their attendees harassing a Black camerawoman.

The Republican Anti-Obama National Convention is underway. The delegates gather together to make Mitt Romney their nominee and leader of the party. During yesterday's festivities, you've heard the president's name dropped more than their nominee. The speakers couldn't find anything inspiring about their nominee. Even wife, Ann tried to paint a millionaire like her husband Mitt as a "regular guy".

Rick Santorum, famously said that he doesn't want his money to make "blah" people's lives better went onstage trying to paint the president as aloof and determined to destroy the fundamental Christian values that makes the Republican Party whole. Yet, nothing about his former rival.

Artur Davis, a former Democratic congressman went forth with the most harshest attack on the president. He made the case that his former party has spent all their time attacking Romney. But yet what is Davis doing?

Current TV the home of liberal agitators Stephanie Miller, David Schuster, Bill Press, Eliot Spitzer and Jennifer Granholm.

David Schuster tweeted:


  @DavidShuster  
David Shuster

GOP attendee ejected for throwing nuts at African American CNN camera woman + saying "This is how we feed animals."@TakeActionNews  #TAN 

August 29, 2012 12:35 am  via Twitter for iPhone  Reply  Retweet  Favorite 

That's right!

 "CNN can confirm there was an incident directed at an employee inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum earlier this afternoon," the statement read. "CNN worked with convention officials to address this matter and will have no further comment."

There was no immediate mention of the attack on CNN's air.

The incident would be ugly anywhere, but it is especially troubling for a party whose nominee attracted 0 percent of the black vote in a recent NBC poll.

And wake that FightBigotry jackass. There's an incident that involves one of his own throwing peanuts at a Black person calling her an "animal". 

White Like Cocaine!

The message of the Republicans: Snort Coke And Then Blame Obama For The High!

Republicans are White like cocaine!

Why?

The party is nearly 90% WHITE, 10% everything else.

Cocaine is a powerful drug.

These people are fucking doped up on ignorance and bigotry. They're not patriots! They're a bunch of pain inducing morons with language that comes off as condescending, sexist, racist, Islamophobic, homophobic and outright stupid.
 
Right off the bat, the Republican National Convention isn't packed. I mean seriously, I am watching it and see how the audience of the first day of this so-called jamboree of right wing agitators and legislators is not a packed house.

If you listen to the Republicans, all you hear is the negative talk about President Barack Obama. They have no solutions to match his "failed" policies. They can't tell you what Mitt Romney's policies are! All you hear from the Republicans and their conservative allies is basically they hate Obama and they want him gone!

Mitt Romney and the Republican Party: Where being anti-Obama is a right! Not an option!

Hurricane Isaac has put a damper on the festivities. The president, the Democratic Party and his progressive allies are gleeful that the worst is happen to Mitt Romney and his party.

When Reince Priebus cut back the event by a day, that left the Republicans scrambling to put forth speakers who will not draw controversy. Meaning those lovely Tea Party activists who spoke highly of not being represented by the two respectable parties were cut. That created a mess within its ranks.

The Republicans are trying to send a message to the embattled President Barack Obama, either "We Built That!" or "You're Fired!" I don't know which message is clear, but I know the controversial issues that fall forth are simplistic.

Watching Republican governors Terry Branstad (Iowa), Scott Walker (Wisconsin), John Kasich (Ohio), Bob McDonnell (Virginia), and Chris Christie (New Jersey) brag about their declining unemployment rates in their states.

You got to understand this. If they're bragging about the success in their states, that means the president's policies are working! These morons are so obsessed with blaming the president for the mess he inherited. And yet they're taking credit for the successful policies enacted by the president. That's probably why the Romney campaign wants them to avoid mentioning the economic successes. These states were carried by Barack Obama in 2008. Each state is considered a toss up in regards to the electoral map.

Congressman Todd Akin (R-Missouri) screwed up and now it's likely a toss up for the Missouri senate seat occupied by Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri).

Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-New Hampshire) makes a ridiculous statement comparing the president handling of the economy to running a lemonade stand. Of course, she's one of the many members of the Republican fold willing to stop the progress so she could steal the tip jar and lemonade.

Standing Tall.

Former senator and presidential candidate Rick Santorum goes right into attack mode. He revisits his failed strategy of blaming President Barack Obama for welfare and food stamps. Criticizing the single mother, gay marriage and public schools. Typical nonsense from a rabid right wing asshat.

Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) and Mitt Romney are the nominees for the Republican Party.

Many still haven't gotten to know the former governor and perennial candidate for president. They're still undecided on him. They do feel confident that he is more able minded to fix the economy. But they think he's either condescending or not concerned with the middle class. Thursday, Mitt Romney will take the mantle as the leader of the Republican Party. We can only hope that he can inspire the nation!

People we're looking at Berry Goldwater 2.0.

We are seeing the Pat Buchanan in the GOP.

Rush Limbaugh is the leader of the Republican Party.

Get use to four more years of your sworn enemy President Barack Obama.

My Honest Opinion Of Mitt Romney!

Sigh! Ann Romney will introduce the world to Mitt Romney. The first Mormon to take the mantle of the Republican Party. Could Mitt Romney be destined for political failure?

As the first American Mormon to ever get the nomination of a major political party, I want to share my thoughts and honest opinion of this candidate. I wish his campaign well, but I really think he's potentially destined for political failure.

When he first ran for President of The United States, I was then working on making YouTube videos in support of the lunatic perennial candidate for president, Ron Paul. At the whim of a late friend, I was introduced into the Ron Paul Revolution. I never heard of the Texas congressman, but I got an opportunity to meet him and the nominee of the 2012 Republican Presidential Campaign.

I participated in the 2007 YouTube challenge. I was working on a video talking about the situation in my community. I was hoping that my impact would help get my message out there. As CNN was venturing into new opportunities to make politics interesting, they've decided to partner up with YouTube to make an event  worth while.

YouTube selected twelve people to participate in the YouTube Democratic and Republican Debates being hosted by CNN. I missed my first opportunity to meet then Senators John Edwards, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

I was one of the winners of the contest to have my video played on CNN. YouTube's parent company Google sent me down to St. Petersburg, Florida at the Mahaffey Theater.

I had an opportunity to see CNN host Anderson Cooper, Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter and Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas).

I got to meet actor/conservative activist Chuck Norris, then governor Charlie Crist, the founders of YouTube and many others in attendance. I've gotten the opportunity to shake hands with Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Duncan Hunter.

Retired military officer Keith Kerr, rocked the forum by asking a question about their opposition to LGBT men and women in uniform not being allow to serve. This caused great outrage on Fox News, The Drudge Report and CNN.

The Republicans were making the case to become the president. Unfortunately, they've proven they were no match for the economic turmoils under the watch of President George W. Bush. The media was rooting for either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama to win.

The media was invested in the historical run of a woman and an African American running for president.

Mitt Romney lost the first time running for the Republican nomination. The nomination went to John McCain. He didn't pick him as a vice presidential candidate. McCain picked Alaskan governor Sarah Palin. They went on to lose to Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Mitt Romney has ran for higher office for years. Once as a U.S. Senator. He lost.

Once as a state governor. He won. He managed to serve one term as the governor of Massachusetts. He managed to sign a law that granted healthcare to state residents. He allowed his state to become the first to legalize same-sex marriage.

He tried to run for president, the first time. He lost. He's been trying to regroup and urge many of the party faithful to join him in unison to oppose President Barack Obama. He is now becoming the Republican nominee.

Okay, now many aren't familiar with him. Many think of him negatively. He and his wife Ann are trying to revamp his image.

I am not going to be nice when I say this about Mitt Romney and his family. They were really are irritating. They come off as a bunch of assholes. They act like they're a normal family. What the fuck?

You're running for the freaking President of The United States. You can't live a normal life, Mitt!

You act like President Barack Obama is a demon sent from the depths of hell. You think he was summoned to come and destroy the United States and Israel.

Some conservatives worry that Romney could damage the brand.

You're a weathervane. You swing around whenever the wind blows.

You're a boring loser. Your father is a loser. Your mother is a loser.

You could win, I give you that! The economy isn't improving fast enough and people are very unhappy with the progress of the president and Congress. But if it wasn't for a bunch of assholes with a vendetta to deny the president a victory, we wouldn't be in this mess.

You can call upon Matt Drudge, Karl Rove, Sean Hannity and the rest of the conservative agitating media to do your dirty work and yet you call the president the panderer of hate.

I'm sorry. If he wins, White people are forever etched in stone for subtle racism.

Blacks would look upon this as a testament to how White people are not comfortable to the notion of a Black person, a woman, a Hispanic/Latino or a gay president.

Mitt Romney and his family go on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. This softball interview goes right into the problem with this guy. He can't figure out how to be a "regular guy".

He's so fake. It's not even funny!

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