Obama Plays the Race Card ... Alan Caruba

Obama Plays the Race Card
By Alan Caruba

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I was frankly surprised when Barack Obama was elected President in 2008. I thought his self-identification as a black American would tip the scales to John McCain in a nation that has had a long history of racial enmity towards blacks.


None of this is new. Race was a factor in American life in pre-Revolutionary days and slavery had to be papered over even in the writing of the Constitution. It took a Civil War to get amendments to end slavery and ensure the rights of citizenship were extended to blacks. It took another hundred years to make it real.


It is apparent in hindsight that a sufficient number of white Americans wanted to show the world that America could elect a black man President.


Well, they have succeeded and a year and a half into his term, a lot of them are having some serious buyer’s remorse. In the words of Spike Lee’s film, they were trying to “do the right thing.” Many are beginning to sense the feeling is not reciprocated.


Obama has benefited from the robotic, ninety-plus percent support of blacks in the Democrat Party. Even so, there are signs of discontent, not just among whites, but among blacks particularly in light of the disproportionate numbers who are unemployed. The “Get Out of Jail” card blaming George W. Bush has expired.


I suspect that the Obama administration will be seen by historians as no less racially divisive than its predecessors.


Americans got an initial glimpse of this when Obama deemed the arrest of a black Harvard professor “stupid” in the wake of his resistance when police arrived to investigate what could have been a break-in. That incident required a photo op in which the police officer, Prof. Henry Lewis Gates, and the President sat down for a beer together.


The pot really began to boil with the appointment of Eric Holder as the Attorney General. In February 2009 he said America was “a nation of cowards” who would not address racial issues. A lot of Americans thought we had.


Having lived through the Civil Rights era of the 1960s I thought that odd because thousands of Americans, white and black had participated in sit-ins and marches to achieve the 1964 Civil Rights Act. All displayed courage. Some even gave their lives.


The latest incident, largely ignored by the news media is the treatment accorded the New Black Panther Party, two members of which were caught on video clearly trying to intimidate voters in Philadelphia. Let go locally with a mild slap on the wrist, if a white duo had engaged in similar behavior, it would have been big news as a voting rights infraction.


Eric Holder’s Department of Justice ignored prosecution at the federal level and a staff member resigned in protest. He was heard by the Civil Rights Commission offering some very damning testimony about bias within the DOJ suggesting blacks would receive different treatment than whites.


There are two black Republican candidates running for Congress, Tim Scott in South Carolina’s first district and Allen West who is challenging Rep. Ron Klein (D) in Florida’s 22nd Congressional district.


West has been sharply critical of the Obama administration for declining to prosecute the New Black Panther Party on voter tampering charges. “The die has been cast in this election cycle,” said West. “Democrats and their liberal progressive socialist allies will continue to play the race card when it is politically expedient.”


If either West or Scott is elected, they will be the first black GOP lawmaker since Rep. J.C. Watts (R-OK) who retired in 2003. It is surely lost on no one that Michael Steele is the visible voice and face of the Republican Party these days.


Having lived through a period of rioting in many U.S. cities that were ignited by racial grievances, I am hopeful that the recent riot in Oakland is not a precursor to more. A court judgment finding a white police officer guilty of involuntary manslaughter of a black man served as little more than an excuse for looting.


President Obama has just over 900 days to go in his present term in office. Putting aside racial issues, he is failing on most counts and so spectacularly that an entirely new political movement, the Tea Party, has arisen independent of both political parties. The response from the Left has been to falsely accuse its members of being racists.


The undercurrent of divisiveness is being seen, heard and felt throughout America. It is far less about race and far more about fears that unwanted legislation is being forced on all Americans, that solutions put forth to invigorate the economy have failed, and that the nation is being shamed and embarrassed by the actions of the President.


A lot of progress has been made by blacks in America, but the White House and the judicial branch of government could set back the clock for reasons that are mostly political, but that have a disquieting racial element.


On the blog, WakeUpBlackAmerica, a recent post said, “As a black male, it was beyond embarrassing watching blacks in South Central Los Angeles destroying their city over a two bit hood rat drunk (referring to Rodney King in 1992) who was beaten by the LAPD. Now I have to watch black men making fools out of themselves yet again over an incident that wasn't racist in nature.”


“Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't the election of Barack Obama supposed to have ushered in the era of ‘post racial harmony’ or something like that?” Good question.

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Alan Caruba blogs daily at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com/. An author, business and science writer, he is the founder of The National Anxiety Center.

© Alan Caruba, 2010

Be Civil? ... by Frances Rice

BE CIVIL?

By Frances Rice
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It's a sure sign that Republicans are winning a debate on issues when Democrats, aided by well-meaning civility police pundits and activists, demand that Republicans stop showing their passion and "be civil.”

I am still waiting for those with such a keen sense of civility to demand that Democrats cease their unrelenting and uncivil, even racist, attacks on black Republicans. I won't hold my breath.

High on the Democrats' list of those to be denigrated are accomplished black Republicans who do not toe the Democrats' liberal agenda line. Shamefully, Democrats do not want poor black children to have as role models any black person who does not engage in victim mongering and works hard to become prosperous rather than become dependent on government handouts.

The message that Democrats gives to poor blacks is despicable. If you remain poor, uneducated and vote for Democrats, we will celebrate your victimhood. If you get a good education, get a good job and vote for Republicans, we will denigrate you as "acting white,” a "sellout", an "Uncle Tom", a "House Negro", a "House N-word", a "Lawn Jockey", and worse.

Brazenly, on the left-wing Internet website called "The News Blog," Democrats posted a doctored photograph of then Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele (now chairman of the RNC) when he was running for a Senate seat, depicting Steele as a "Simple Sambo" with a blackened minstrel-style face, nappy hair and big, think red lips. The cartoon caption read: "Simple Sambo wants to move to the big house.” This contemptible racist stereotype is the same one Democrats used to demean black men during the era of slavery and segregation.

In addition to other outrageous racist images of Dr. Condoleezza Rice produced by several Democrats, cartoonist Jeff Danziger depicted Dr. Rice as an ignorant, barefoot "mammy", reminiscent of the stereotyped black woman in the movie "Gone with the Wind" about the slave era black woman who remarked: "I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' no babies". This is the type of racist stereotype Democrats used to demean black women during the era of slavery and segregation.

Democrats now love Gen. Colin Powell, but spewed out racist attacks on Powell before he endorsed Obama and embraced the liberal agenda of higher taxes and a bigger government to provide poverty producing handouts to blacks.

A video was shot by WKRN Video Journalist Beau Fleenor at Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee that shows Al Sharpton demeaning Gen. Powell and Dr. Rice, when Sharpton was asked to give his opinions about whether Powell and Rice were "House Negroes". That video can be found on the Internet.

An article that appeared in a Portland, Oregon paper was one of many exposing how hardly a ripple of protest was made by black Democrats when Harry Belafonte publicly denounced Gen. Powell as a "House Negro".

With impunity, the late Democrat Senator Ted Kennedy called black judicial nominees, including Judge Janice Rogers Brown, "Neanderthals.” Democrat Senator Harry Reid slurred Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as an incompetent Negro who could not write good English. "Slap at Thomas stinks of racism," was the headline of the New York Daily News' December 7, 2004 editorial.

Even black Democrats will be maligned if they dare step off of the Democratic Party's political plantation. When black Democrat Juan Williams wrote his book entitled "Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-end Movements and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America" that exposed the deplorable conditions in black communities caused by the Democrats running those communities, Williams was denounced on national TV by another black Democrat as a "Happy Negro".

For details about how Democrats during the 1960's even smeared Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who was a Republican, see the article posted on the NBRA website. "Civility, Ours and Theirs" is an article that provides more details about how Democrats vilify black Republicans while wagging their finger at Republicans about being civil. Our political discourse can be elevated to the high standards demanded by the civility police only when Democrats are also required to play by the rules of civility.

Frances Rice
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Frances Rice, a retired lawyer and US Army Lieutenant Colonel, is chairman of the National Black Republican Association and may be contacted at: www.NBRA.info

Harry reid Must Resign! ... by Frances Rice

(The following is published on “INSIGHT on Freedom” with the permission of the author. … Ed)

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HARRY REID MUST RESIGN!
By Frances Rice

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Wielding a sharp racial sword, Democrats ruthlessly destroy the careers of Republicans on racial matters, accepting no apologies. Yet, using a glaring double standard, those same Democrats quickly give a pass to any Democrat, such as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who again displayed egregious racism.

Hardly a ripple of protest was made in 2004 when Reid shamelessly slurred Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as an incompetent Negro who could not write good English. "Slap at Thomas stinks of racism," was the headline of the New York Daily News' December 7, 2004 editorial.

Now, Reid has described then-Senator Barack Obama as "light skinned" and "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one." With this racial slur, Reid denigrates not only Obama, but also the entire population of black Americans as being uneducated Negroes who cannot speak standard English, the same type of disgusting remark he made over five years ago about Justice Thomas, a graduate of Yale Law School. A tribute to Justice Thomas that includes details about his stellar career is posted on the NBRA website.

Any American with an ounce of decency would not tolerate the type of disgusting racial epithets hurled by Reid at black Americans. If Reid had a scrap of politesse or common decency, he would apologize immediately to all black Americans, not just President Obama, and resign. It says a lot about his character and his innate disdain for blacks that he has refused to do so.

Obama's readiness to give Reid a pass is in sharp contrast to how Obama reacted in 2002, wasting no time issuing a challenge to the Republican Party to repudiate Republican Senator Trent Lott's remarks about Senator Strom Thurmond and seek his resignation as the Republican senate majority leader. The article "Obama in '02: 'The Republican Party itself has to drive out Trent Lott'" by John McCormack uncovers the following quote from Obama that was printed in the December 12, 2002 issue of the "Chicago Defender".

"It seems to be that we can forgive a 100-year-old senator for some of the indiscretion of his youth, but, what is more difficult to forgive is the current president of the U.S. Senate (Lott) suggesting we had been better off if we had followed a segregationist path in this country after all of the battles and fights for civil rights and all the work that we still have to do," said Obama.

He said: "The Republican Party itself has to drive out Trent Lott. If they have to stand for something, they have to stand up and say this is not the person we want representing our party."
In the arsenal of excuses for Reid not resigning, as did Lott, is the claim that Reid's racist comments were not of the same caliber as Lott's remarks made on the occasion of Thurmond's 100th birthday. Lott was criticized and later apologized for his favorable comments about Thurmond's life's work that encompassed his ill-fated 1948 presidential bid when Thurmond was a racist Democrat, and Lott was only seven years old. Thurmond died in 2003.

The fine line of racial calibration afforded Reid is never permitted any Republican under any circumstances. Resign! That's the universal cry from Democrats to Republicans, regardless of the nature of the charge of racism, and even when the charges are false. Further, Democrats are not shy about embracing or speaking well of their aging leaders who have engaged in horrendous acts of racism.

Democrats who called for Lott's resignation were silent when Democrat Senator Christopher Dodd praised former Klansman Democrat Senator Robert Byrd as someone who would have been "a great senator for any moment". Unlike Byrd, Thurmond was never in the Ku Klux Klan that was the terrorist arm of the Democratic Party. After he reformed on racial issues and joined the Republican Party - the party of freedom and equality for blacks - Thurmond defended blacks against lynching and the discriminatory poll taxes imposed on blacks by Democrats.

Egregiously Byrd, in March of 1968, while referring to the fact that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. left Memphis, Tennessee after riots broke out where a teenager was killed, called Dr. King a "trouble-maker" who starts trouble, but runs like a coward after trouble is ignited. This motivated Dr. King to return to Memphis a few weeks later where he was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

Byrd was also a fierce opponent of desegregating the military and complained in one letter: "I would rather die a thousand times and see old glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again than see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen of the wilds."

In the early 1970's, Byrd pushed to have the senate's main office building named after a former "Dixiecrat," Democrat Senator Richard Russell who was Senator Byrd's mentor and leading opponent of anti-lynching legislation and other civil rights laws of the 1950's and 1960's that were championed by Republicans. Recently, in 2001 Byrd was forced to apologize for using the N-word on television. During Byrd's last bid for re-election to the senate, Obama wrote a letter of support for the racist Byrd, and not one murmur of indignation was uttered about the fact that Obama was honoring a former Klansman. Democrats showed no shame when they heralded Byrd as "the conscience of the senate." Can we say hypocrisy?

Why is there omitted from most discussions about racism all the racists words and deeds of numerous other Democratic Party leaders, including President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, former President Bill Clinton and former President Jimmy Carter? Instances or racism on the part of these and other Democrats are detailed in articles posted on the NBRA website.

The new book by Wayne Perryman "Whites, Blacks & Racist Democrats" provides details about the origin and depth of the contempt Democrats have always had for black Americans, starting in 1792. In his book on page 184, Perryman reports what Democrat President Lyndon Johnson said to his closest friend, Democrat Senator Richard B. Russell of Georgia. Historical documents show that Johnson told Russell the following:

"These Negroes, they're getting pretty uppity these days and that's a problem for us since they got something now that they never had before, the political pull to back up their uppityness. Now we've got to do something about this, we got to give them a little something, just enough to quiet them down, but not enough to make a difference. For if we don't move at all, then their allies will line up against us and there'll be no way of stopping them.... It will be Reconstruction all over again..."

Until and unless we hold Democrats to the same standard of racial purity imposed on their political opponents, we will never end the Democrats' use of racial tactics designed to keep our nation divided along hyphenated lines.

The resignation of Senator Harry Reid would signal an end to the Democrats' era of race mongering for partisan political gain. However, all signs show that Reid will not resign, and the Democrats will never loosen their race-baiting grip around the throat of America.
So, it is up to the people of Nevada to vote Reid out of office during the November 2010 election, and the rest of us to kick the Democrats out of Congress, since they are determined to tax and spend our nation into a long socialist winter.
http://blackrepublican.blogspot.com/2010/01/harry-reid-must-resign.html

Frances Rice is a retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel, a lawyer and chairman of the National Black Republican Association. She may be contacted at: http://www.nbra.info/
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About the author:

Frances RiceLieutenant Colonel Frances Rice, United States Army, Retired is a native of Atlanta, Georgia and retired from the Army in 1984 after 20 years of active service. She received a Bachelor of Science degree from Drury College in 1973, a Masters of Business Administration from Golden Gate University in 1976, and a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law in 1977. In 2005, she became a co-founder and Chairman of the National Black Republican Association, an organization that is committed to returning African Americans to their Republican Party roots.

One Apology Too Many ... J. D. Longstreet

One Apology Too Many

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina should never have apologized the first time.

As a resident of North Carolina for nearly fifty years, and a native of South Carolina, I qualify as a “Carolina Boy.” I am as much at home in one Carolina as the other. Thus, you have my "bona fides."

If you paid attention in history class, you may have noticed that we “Sandlappers,” of South Carolina, are famous, or infamous, depending upon your viewpoint, for our hot tempers. It doesn’t take a great deal to set us off and then we tend to burn hot for rather a long time. The last time the men of South Carolina lost their collective tempers it took four years and a lot of blood, sweat, and gunpowder to quench it.

Nobody is completely sure of the source of all that passion. But never doubt it, we are a passionate people. We may speak a little slower than you folks in the cooler climes but we think and act just as fast. Our slow speech can be a little off-putting and disarming and we often use it to charm our way to a sought after goal. It has been said that if America had a natural warrior class it would be the southern male. South Carolina is justifiably proud of her son’s performance in all the wars America has seen fit to involve herself in whether within her borders or without.

When secession became imminent, back in 1861, South Carolina was the first state to vote for secession – and -- South Carolina was the only Confederate state to vote unanimously for secession. You see, in South Carolina, it is 100% -- or nothing. We don’t do anything half way.

I tell you this so you will not be surprised when Joe Wilson, the Congressman from South Carolina who called the President a liar, in public, does not apologize again. Many of us think his one and only apology was one too many.

I, for one, believe Congressman Wilson was correct. Why? Well, it seems that some of the folks over at the White House admitted, late last week, that ObamaCare would, in fact, need a verification system of some kind to keep illegal aliens from receiving free healthcare under ObamaCare. Now, here’s the problem. It seems that every time a verification system comes up in the discussions -- the democrats oppose it – effectively killing it. Last we heard, no verification system had been agreed upon. So, as it stands, illegal aliens WILL receive free healthcare under the current plans for ObamaCare! Of course, that is subject to change. Yeah. Right!

In an article titled: “Tea Party Crowd Stands Behind Republican Rep. Joe Wilson” CNSNEWS.COM reports the following: “The House bill -- in Title II, Subtitle C, Section 246 – states that there will be “no federal payment for undocumented aliens.” However, the legislation provides no mechanism for verifying the legal status of beneficiaries, making it difficult for insurers and medical personal to know who legally qualifies for federal subsidies under the plan.” You can read the entire article HERE.

Well, there IS another way to “fix” the problem and that is for Obama to kick his “amnesty for illegal aliens plan” through Congress and -- Walla! No illegals aliens, and -- they get free healthcare, too!

So – what is there for Congressman Wilson to apologize for -- the truth? Wilson told reporters: “"I've apologized one time. The apology was accepted by the president, by the vice president, who I know. I am not apologizing again."

Sen. James DeMint (R-S.C.) is reported to have said: “Joe apologized for saying what he did in that setting, but he proved to be right,”

Of course, the Democrats are having their usual conniption fits. They vowed to propose a resolution of disapproval this week if Wilson did not publicly apologize to Congress. Earlier this week the US House formerly rebuked Congressman Wilson. If a “rebuke” by THIS Congress were not so ridiculous it would be funny! If anything, Congress ought to be apologizing to the American people! Many of us REBUKE THEM daily!

As we have learned over the decades one can always count on the Democrats to play the “race” card at every opportunity. This incident presented a terrific opportunity for them to do so. They trotted out former President Jimmy Carter who promptly tossed the race card into the mix by reportedly saying: “I think it's based on racism. There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president." Carter, apparently upset at recent demonstrators who had compared Obama to Nazi leaders, is reported to have said: “Those kind of things are not just casual outcomes of a sincere debate on whether we should have a national program on health care." Carter went on to say: "It's deeper than that."

Just so we are clear here, if Jimmy Carter was still in the White House and was proposing the same healthcare program as Obama, I, as a conservative southerner, would be opposing him every bit as much as I oppose Obama! Further, if his actions and proposals resembled those of the Nazis, as a part of the loyal opposition, I would be derelict in my duty if I DID NOT point that out to the American people!

It certainly appears the democrats are extremely delicate. They suffer from a malady known as “thin skin.” It is manifest by the easily observable fact that they can dish it out – but they can’t take it!

Mr. Carter referred to “a sincere debate” over Obamacare. Mr. Carter KNOWS the last thing Obama and the democrats want is a REAL debate. The fact is, and they are fully aware of it, they cannot win by debating their proposals on ObamaCare! A debate will only allow the American public to learn more about ObamaCare. We already know the more Americans learn of the power grabbing, socialist, program called ObamaCare the less they like it.

According to a Rasmussen Reports article -- "... one week after President Obama’s speech to Congress, opposition to his health care reform plan has reached a new high of 55%. The latest Rasmussen Reports daily tracking poll shows that just 42% now support the plan, matching the low first reached in August.

Seventy-four percent (74%) of Democrats now support the plan while 80% of Republicans are opposed. Among those not affiliated with either major party, 67% are opposed." You can read the entire report HERE.

Many, many, questions about the constitutionality of ObamaCare are waiting for the Supreme Court to answer. When one compares ObamaCare to the Bill of Rights, one can readily see that a number of amendments are in jeopardy.

We southerners were expecting this kind of reaction if Obama was elected President. More than once, long before the election, I heard southerners lamenting the expectation that if they opposed a “President” Obama they would be derided as “racists.” You see, we KNEW it was coming. As a southerner, I do not hesitate to tell you that choosing between Wilson and Carter is not a difficult task. While Carter is an embarrassment to me as a southerner, I am proud to support fellow southerner Congressman Joe Wilson.

Now, I admitted that I am a Carolina Boy at the beginning of this piece and proudly so. As a result, I am sure that it comes as no surprise to you that I would defend Congressman Joe Wilson. At the same time, it should not surprise you that what troubles me about the entire incident is not Congressman Wilson’s conduct, but the less than honest conduct of the President of the United States.

J. D. Longstreet
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Racism+Nazi+Bill-of-Rights+Liberal+Socialists+Obama+Lies+Healthcare