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Is Michael Steele Acceptable as RNC Chair?

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No more quota hires

Submitted by superdestroyer on Fri, 12/26/2008 - 09:58.

One would think that after the debacles of Alphone Jackson, Harriet Miers, Alberto Gonzales, Condoleezza rice, Elaine Chao,Mary Peters, CarlosGutierrez, and the racist pro-amensty minority pandering Mel Martinez in chage of the Republican Party that Republicans would finally learn their lesson about quota hires.  If the Republicans are every going to be taken seriously again, then the quota hires have to end along with the nepotism that seems to domiante conservatives.

Michael Steele in incapable of discussing issues or policy, seems incapable of understanding economics, is so inarticulate that he cannot explain to anyone why conservative policies are good.  Michael Steele was a complete failure as head of the Maryland Republican Party and is only being discussed because he is black.  How can theRepubicans be oppose to 8a contracting, minority set asies, forced busing, separate and unequal race based strandards when a quota black is head of the party.

Harriet Miers?

Submitted by NextRightNando on Fri, 12/26/2008 - 10:06.

In your twisted, race-hate filled mind, what unfairly-privileged minority group does Harriet Miers represent?

And Michael Brown, from FEEMA?? I guess he was incompetant becasue he was, you know, brown??

minority group

Submitted by catach on Fri, 12/26/2008 - 20:49.

what unfairly-privileged minority group does Harriet Miers represent?

I was assuming the group was "women."

Michael Steele is More Articulate

Submitted by roddyreta on Fri, 12/26/2008 - 19:48.

than most of the white males he's running against.   Just because you don't like him doesn't mean it's a quota hire. 

The problem with the Republican party is that it's almost 100% white.  Many minorites think it's a bigoted party.  Sad, but true.  Given the demographic changes in this nation, it would be a disaster for the GOP not to diversify.

pandering to minorities is too expensive for conservatives

Submitted by superdestroyer on Fri, 12/26/2008 - 20:29.

The problem with trying to appeal to blacks and Hispanics is that it always ends up being a  pander.  Eight years after Bush was elected and six years of Republicans in control of Congress, the federal government still requires minority set asies, affirmative action, race norming.  It was a miracle that Michigan voted down affirmative action after the pro-diversity Republicans decided that pandering to blacks was more important than being conservative.   Also, look how Republicans ran away from the forced busing issue when it was in front of the Supreme Court.

The Repubicans have to decide if they are going to be the conservative party or the Democratic-lite party of racial panders.  Having Michael Steele in charge of the Republican Party is a clear signal that people who desire fiscal restriaint, smaller government, and an end to government sponsored racism need to find another political party because pandering to the most liberal groups in the U.S. is more important than being loyal to the middle class whites who have been loyal to the Republicans.

pandering, right.

Submitted by quiet on Sun, 12/28/2008 - 18:23.

The problem with trying to appeal to blacks and Hispanics is that it always ends up being a pander.

Alternately, you could change the culture of the party to stop condoning racism. "Barack the Magic Negro" is just another log on the fire of Trent Lott, Jesse Helms, Strom Thurmond, George Allen, and who knows how many others. How long was it before a Republican criticized that Christmas album? 18 hours? 24? And it's still tentative--no one's got their hearts in it, I imagine because everyone's thinking "Oh, c'mon, it's just a joke!".

It's not pandering to treat people with equality and respect.

You should have stayed

Submitted by Mytheos_Holt on Sun, 12/28/2008 - 18:39.

You should have stayed "quiet." You clearly haven't the foggiest idea what "Barack the Magic Negro" is actually parodying - namely, Al Sharpton and a Los Angeles Times columnist for using the phrase to describe Obama as a sort of sanitized "perfect black guy." The song's poking fun at the racism of liberals and their "not black enough" garbage, not calling Obama a negro, except via quote.

It is pandering to apologize when you did nothing wrong.

Let assume, for the sake of argument, that what you are saying

Submitted by NextRightNando on Sun, 12/28/2008 - 19:00.

Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that what you are saying is true - that there is some "context" here that makes "Barack the Magic Negro" something other than a race-based insult to the PE. However, anybody who doesn't know that context is going to hear the title and think "wow, that is vile".   And the vast majority of people don't know the context, which means that the vast majority of people are going to think "wow, that is vile". Ergo, Saltsman was a BLEEPIN' IDIOT to distribute it.  If he does not have the wisdom to see where this might have lead, he isn't the right man for the job.

I'm sure Superdestoyer will come on and say that it doesn't really matter becasue minorities won't vote for Republicans in any circumstancfe (this despite the fact that GWB got >40% of the Hispanic vote in 2004).

Let's assume, again for the sake of argument, that what he is saying is true. Aren't you at all worried about repelling the vast majority of white voters who are offended by racism??

Oh, don't get me wrong. I

Submitted by Mytheos_Holt on Sun, 12/28/2008 - 19:07.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I think what Saltsman did was idiotic. But this poster wasn't arguing that what Saltsman did was tactless. He was arguing that the GOP had a pattern of racism, and was using Barack the Magic Negro as his example. I'm just pointing out that it was a bad example. I agree that the song title is very impolitic (hence why it was more at home on Rush Limbaugh's show), and not intended for consumption by a non-self selecting audience. Also, even without the title, the song might backfire for the GOP because, if you listen to it, you'll find yourself liking Obama a lot more because Sharpton is complaining about him.

I can't find "Ivory and Ebony"...

Submitted by quiet on Sun, 12/28/2008 - 22:47.

...though the title doesn't sound hopeful. But "Star Spanglish Banner" is possibly worse than "Barack the Magic Negro".

I'm not sure what "racism of liberals" you're talking about: "authentic blackness" is a conversation pretty strictly limited to blacks (which I'm not), and seems to have died down quite a bit in any case. I don't really care what Al Sharpton says, about Obama or anything else.

The fact is that because of the history involved, there's a double standard, and if a bunch of overprivileged white men, especially from the Party of the South, make an album full of racial stereotypes, it generally comes off as racist. It's not a matter of specific context, because there's an wider, overriding cultural context. A racist joke kept among friends who think it's funny is still racist. And yes, the double standard isn't fair. The historical circumstances of oppression and discrimination also weren't fair. We're grown-ups, we can suck it up and deal.

Insisting the GOP doesn't have a racism problem is a perfectly valid opinion, and I respect your right to it. I hope the future GOP leadership agrees with you, and I wish you all the best of luck with your minority outreach.

I was simply pointing out

Submitted by Mytheos_Holt on Sun, 12/28/2008 - 23:37.

I was simply pointing out that if you actually listen to "Barack the Magic Negro", that particular song is not racist at all (unless you think mocking Al Sharpton for being paranoid is racist). I can't speak to "Star Spanglish Banner" having never heard it.

And you must be disingenuous if you think there's no "liberal racism" problem. I could mention Robert Byrd or the "soft bigotry of low expectations" or the fact that the basic liberal rhetorical strategy on affirmative action or English expectations is to claim that they're racist basically because it's expecting too much of minorities, but I think we both know about those things.

The GOP has had racial issues, but I don't believe those issues define the party, and I suspect that most conservatives of the internet generation would agree. I actually joined the GOP in part because I thought their attitude about racial minorities was less offensive than the patronizing, "they're too stupid to live up to the same standard as everyone else" attitude of the Democrats.