Madness.
Gingrich campaign strategist Rick Tyler opened his mouth last night and a whole lotta stupid fell out. The below clip demonstrates that Republicans really do live in an alternate reality where up is down, the sky is green, and asking a question about racism ipso facto makes you racist.
It’s surreal:
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As karoli over at Crooks & Liars put it:
It’s as though the last 30 years of barely-veiled hate has bubbled up and is erupting like a volcano filled with the hottest, stinkiest, most disgusting offal we’ve seen. They’re spewing it all over the nation, because they’re that desperate to see our first African-American President fail.
Indeed.
I can’t help but think that the GOP is getting desperate, and that their desperation is causing a sort of political schizophrenia. On the one hand, Republicans believe that black folks are lazy, unemployed, food stamp hustlers, who are taking the hard-earned tax dollars of “ordinary” (white) Americans. On the other hand, they’re pandering to black folks in an absurd attempt to win us over by trying to convince us that Democrats are bad for us; that Democratic policies don’t work; that Democrats are keeping us enslaved to the almighty hand-out; that Democrats are killing us through abortion genocide or eugenics.
The GOP psyche is splintering and causing Republicans to spew incongruous talking points.
So what’s the deal? Are there too many of us or not enough? Do you want us to keep breeding and producing future food stamp hustlers or not?
Operation Spite Babies, ladies. Wait for my signal.
UPDATE: I meant to add a partial transcript for those who can’t watch video. Here it is:
Rick Tyler: I don’t understand this. The president sings, the president — Newt Gingrich makes a little thing, and all of a sudden it’s a racist thing. More people are on food stamps today because of Barack Obama. They fail in the schools, you can ask Al Sharpton, the democrats have failed in the public schools with the African-Americans , they abort their babies, they’ve done nothing to lift them out of poverty. I hear all the time the democrats have these great intentions, but their policies fail. Maybe we have good intentions too, but our policies haven’t been tried. Maybe we should try our policies that put people back to work and not give them a handout. Live in public housing, and shut up and vote for the democrat.
Al Sharpton: That’s not what Newt Gingrich said. He brought race up in this campaign.
Rick Tyler: Tell me when he did, Al.
Al Sharpton: I’m getting ready to tell you, he said, and I’m quoting here, that he would go to the NAACP and tell black people to stop being satisfied with food stamps, he didn’t say people on food stamps, he said black people. Don’t be satisfied with food stamps, they should demand jobs. Black people in communities, youngsters don’t have role models. This is not what he said when he went on the tour that president Obama asked him to go on. He’s brought race in the campaign by name. You cannot then turn around and act like Rachel or I’m bringing up racism. Wait and minute, I’m going to let you finish, but I want to finish this part. He brought up race, now you have to answer. If he didn’t want to deal with race, why did he bring up race. It is a patent untruth that president Obama has more people on food stamps — more people went on food stamps under George W. Bush than president Obama. Would you call him a food stamp president?
Rick Tyler: We’re not running against George W. Bush, we’re running against Barack Obama.
Al Sharpton: If more people went on food stamps under George W. Bush, you just said that Obama had more, that is factually incorrect.
Rick Tyler: 98% of African- Americans vote democrat, okay? What have they gotten for it, poor schools, poor neighborhoods, crime ridden neighborhoods, a destruction of the family, and the democrats want to abort their babies. That’s their position, I’m not going to defend that.
Al Sharpton: People vote democrat — black people vote democrat because the Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act and many of the members of congress –were the Abe Lincoln party and the party of Little Rock, we voted republican like anybody else in America, sir. We vote our interests. Republican or not. Why would we vote for people that call our parents criminals, that says that you can’t even admit you’re wrong on the facts of food stamps, we’re not sadists or Masochists.
Rick Tyler: I haven’t said the republican party has done a good job of reaching out to African- Americans. I think Newt Gingrich is trying to reach out to African-Americans, there’s an upset. There are better schools, there’s a way to prosperity, a way to earn a paycheck. There’s a way to get ahead in life, and it doesn’t mean depending on the democratic party for hand outs. He’s brought it in to appeal to African- Americans, that they might vote for a different way, that republicans may have good intentions, just like democrats do, but your policies fail, and our policies work.
[cross-posted at Balloon Juice]
Spite babies!
OMFG. I don’t think I’ve ever wished more for the power to reach through my monitor and throttle someone. What a fucking asshole. And I love how he just throws out soundbites about the supposed GOP anti-poverty programs and doesn’t actually name specific policies and whatnot…because of course, there aren’t any. Their policies are pro-poverty, when you look at outcomes…
But fuck yeah Al Sharpton, talk about giving someone what for. I’m amazed he stayed as civil as he did…
It’s like they are blowing every whistle they can think of to see which one can be heard best by their base. And the Republican base is pretty damned base.
I was glad to see the folks at MSNBC give this dumbass cracker a much deserved beatdown. Me, I would have just pulled off my shoe and beaten him with it. Asshole…
Watching a Republican try to play a race card is like watching a monkey that’s gotten ahold of a field researcher’s cell phone and is imitating her motions to try to make the voices come out.
They think for all the world that they’re doing exactly the same things, but it just doesn’t work, and they don’t understand why it isn’t working, and it’s JUST NOT FAIR!
So they shriek a lot and throw poo.
I’ve often thought that Barack Obama’s life story and his high-level of success would have wingnuts eagerly quoting him and using him as a cudgel against Libruls — if only he was a pro-athlete and knelt down periodically, Tebow-style, to ask the Lord for a win.
Product of a mixed-race family, father left early on, mother struggled financially and emotionally, raised by grandmother, overcame his lower-middle-class background to go to the finest schools in the country, and attained the top level of his field. And has a weird name.
But the football field or the basketball court are one thing. When it comes to the White House, the wingnuts believe the prime occupant better stay White and Male, or else they’re going to throw a fit and dedicate themselves to his downfall — even at the cost of their own sanity.
“So they shriek a lot and throw poo.”
Yup. That’s exactly what they do…
How can Republicans be so dumb to think anybody thinks, “Hey, I’ve got food stamps so I don’t need a job?” They’re saying that black people simply won’t go to work until they are starving to death.
Arrrrgh!
Basically what we have here is somebody denying what they’ve done. Rick Tyler knows that both Rachel and Al are right. Gingrich is employing a strategy perfected by Lee Atwater in the ’70s and ’80s. Tyler’s in denial.
However, there are only two things that Tyler said throughout that entire exchange with a basis in fact : 1) Abraham Lincoln was indeed a Republican and the party in the 1860s was one of reform and 2) Republicans in Congress did support the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in higher than Democrats.
Yet, Tyler had to go back 150 years to find any instance where GOP policies benefitted African Americans. And then, the Civil Rights Act was also supported by the vast majority of Democrats as well. Support among the GOP was higher, but not by much. Support for Civil Rights was cut along regional (not party lines). Democrats and Republicans in the North overwhelmingly supported it. Democrats and the only 2 Republicans in the South opposed it. Honestly when Tyler began to rattle this old, tired Republican talking point (which is ancient – it’s been around for at least 20 years) – I did a major eye roll.
And of course, he forgot the Southern Strategy that convinced all those disgruntled Southern Democrats to go Republican. But, this is to be expected since Gingrich is trying to use the same playbook. A playbook written by Lee Atwater.
The GOP coded language is breaking down. So, of course, there’s denial. Either way, Rachel and Al were great. And even Lawrence got in a punch. Ha!
@nabsentia23
I agree with you that Al, Rachel, and Lawrence did a great job with this guy. As election day approaches, I just wonder how well this kind of stuff will be covered in mainstream venues (Sunday morning shows, late night talk shows, etc.), when moderate/non-ideological voters are paying more attention. I wonder how those voters will view conversations like the one we just watched between Rachel et al and Rick Tyler.
Why don’t they ever bring up Lee Atwater in any of these “news” programs? They could also bring up the relationship between Jack Off, Norquist, and Super Christian Ralph Reed. One is almost tempted to believe there is some collusion going on.
Atwater has been dead for 20 years. He died of a brain tumor at age 40. So, it’s understandable that nobody mentions him anymore. I even forgot about him until I saw the documentary, “Boogie Man.” The documentary reminded me how prolific this man was inside the GOP. So much of what the GOP is doing now was based on Atwater and for many years, it worked for them. However, it is ironic that Atwater does have a connection to Abramoff, Norquist, and Reed through Karl Rove. Rove was Atwater’s protegee.
Atwater actually sickens me more than Gingrich because he was an avid blues fan and played the guitar. As a result of this fondness for the music, he befriended many blues musicians who were black. Yet, he turns around and uses white resentment towards blacks to help Reagan and Bush 41 win elections. This was the man behind the infamous “Willie Horton” ads who then has a jam session with blue musicians (all of them black) at Bush 41′s inauguration celebration. Atwater even gives Bush a guitar with a “Rocker in Chief” inscription.
And to add insult to further injury, Atwater had the nerve to get himself on the board of Howard University. Then, he’s shocked when the students at the historically black college stage a massive sit-in asking for his removal.
At least Gingrich knows that he’s burned bridges. Atwater had the nerve to think he could be liked by many blacks while using racism to help politicians win elections. I remember one of Atwater’s friends saying that the Howard University students would have “liked” him if he had been allowed to serve on the school’s board. I shook my head in disgust. Heaven forbid if Howard University students would reject to having their race being depicted as violent criminals in political campaign ads?
Many speculate that Bill Clinton may have not become President if Atwater had lived. Atwater saw the threat from Clinton long before others in the GOP did, but he was too sick to do anything about it. It’s a shame that Atwater died at such a young age, but honestly, if he had lived, the country would have been in worse shape than it is now. Atwater was more effective than Rove. This was mainly because he was way more likeable. He had a charm that had even his opponents and critics liking him. The guy was that dangerous. The ultimate snake oil salesman.
I’m willing to bet that Willard Romney believes many of the same things, though he’ll only “discuss it in quiet rooms” – most likely only with people who look like him.
Wwwwwwwow.
Nine months to go, folks. Who’s anxious about how blatant and horrible they’re going to get as we approach election day? Remember, this stuff is what’s out in the open. The clandestine stuff that’ll be generated during the run-up to the general election — the whisper campaigns spread via email, freeper boards, and FoxNation comment threads, etc. — when that stuff begins to surface and get exposed in mainstream, it will be absolutely heinous. We’ve already seen outrageous; can it get worse? I’m sure it can, and I worry about where this will go.
I saw the video after hearing about it. It seemed to me that it was just another set of dog whistles that he was pretending was the oddest attempt at outreach in the history of politics. The only outreach going on there was to the usual bigots that make up what’s called the GOP base these days.
All i can say to Rick Tyler is to eat a dick, you fucking fuck, eat a sack of baby dicks.
Its true, the Republicans was the progressive party back then, but that fell apart after Reconstruction.
When Nixon had the chance to meet with MLK and form a coalition to get the black vote, he sided with the racist, and JFK took advantage. Then when LBJ passed the Civil Rights Act of 64 and Voters Rights Act of 65, all these racist ass democrats left the party, and who came in and swooped them up, good ole Tricky Dick Nixon in 68, and thus was born the Southern Strategy, which this fucking fuck and Gingrich are using today. For this fuck, who knowingly uses tactics to demonize blacks to gain racist white support, then bitch about why black folks want nothing of the GOP, is god damn psychotic.
So gain, Rick Tyler, you fucking fuck, eat a dick, eat a sack of baby dicks, you fucking fuck.
his reaction to Rev. Al being there seemed to be one of shock….did you think you could, yet again, USE BLAQ/AFRICAN AMERICANS AS YOUR PUNCHING BAG and not get called out on it?
Seeing what’s happening to our President reminds me of what my late great dad would tell my sisters and me about what Jackie Robinson went through that first year in the majors…..we’re witnessing the same thing, folx….living history….
denying that racism exists is the NEW racism…
I have to hope that the dogwhistles are failing to win any new or undecided voters over to the GOP, though. I have to hope that all it’s doing is making the unhinged racists of the right feel more justified in their rage — and I have to hope that the more they show their asses on these issues, the more the rest of America will figure out where the stench is coming from.