Republican Racism Review: Birther SEALs, Dog Whistles, and the American Dream

Real button handed out at the 2008
Texas Republican State Convention

If you start keeping your eyes open for them, there are a terrifying number of news stories about Republicans being racist:

• Now some would call reminding voters that Obama found and ordered the death of America's Number 1 enemy who is universally despised the stupidest thing you could do if you were trying to hurt him in the polls.  Those people would be wrong.  The stupidest thing you could do would be to hire as the frontman for your Swiftboating operation an admitted Birther and conspiracy theorist.  Because nothing says level headed, well reasoned, rational opposition like a guy who thinks the President is a secret Kenyan Muslim usurper who secretly assassinated Andrew Breitbart.

• Oh, the other former Navy SEAL organization attacking the President for killing Osama Bin Laden is also lead by a Birther.  You know, for symmetry.

• Lauderdale County, Mississippi has started shipping suspended school children directly to jail to serve their suspensions.  Surprising exactly no one, the overwhelming majority of these children are African American, who are being "crammed into small, filthy cells and tormented with the arbitrary use of Mace as a punishment for even the most minor infractions, such as 'talking to much.'"  Because that is a sane thing to do to children who are loud.

• Speaking of cruelty towards minority children, Pat Robertson thinks it's ok to dump a woman solely because you find out her children are adopted from third world countries: "A man doesn't want to take on the United Nations...You don't have to take on someone else's problems.  I mean, you really don't." Now I seem to remember the Bible telling us that we are our brother's keeper and that Jesus said to "suffer the little children to come onto me and forbid them not, for such is the kingdom of God."  But what do I know, I'm not a big shot Religious Right leader like Pat Robertson.

• The Romney campaign is accusing Vice President Joe Biden of using racist "code words" in his comments about how Republican economic policies would unchain Wall Street and put the rest of us in chains.  Now I could go off on a tangent about how maybe when no prominent African American individuals or organizations have come forward saying the comments were inappropriate or asking for an apology and in fact the only people who seem to be upset are conservative white people, that maybe, just maybe, those comments weren't actually racist but just an uncomfortable truth.  But instead I want to congratulate the Romney campaign on figuring out the concept of dog whistle racism.  Maybe now they'll stop using it themselves.  For example not saying things like President Obama doesn't appreciate our special "Anglo-Saxon heritage."  Stuff like that.

• Joe the Plumber has an interesting solution to the illegal immigration problem: “I’m running for Congress. How many congressmen or people running for Congress have you heard, put a fence up and start shooting? None? Well you heard it here first. Put troops on the border and start shooting, I bet that solves our immigration problem real quick.”  Did I say interesting?  I mean sociopathic.  Then again I'm not sure why anyone would listen to a guy who calls himself "Joe the Plumber" who is not actually named Joe, not actually a plumber, and does not have the middle name "the."

• Meanwhile, Danny Tarkanian, a Republican congressional candidate in Nevada, defended himself of accusations of using broad racial stereotypes by accusing his African American opponent of pretending to be black.  Presumably he believes that the best defense against accusations of racism is doubling down on the racism?  Closet racists really must hate the prevalence of camera phones.

• RNC Chairman Reince Preibus believes that the "Mitt Romney Story" best represents "the American Dream."  I mean sure the child of an interracial marriage, raised by a single mother, coming from humble beginnings to become a constitutional law professor and later President of the United States SOUNDS good, but its no born to a multi-millionaire CEO and Governor who went on to be a corporate raider and then try to buy the Presidency multiple times.  Come on, this is the American Dream we're talking about.