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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAn article that simply CRUSHES Romney's NAACP appearance...
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/12/michael-tomasky-on-mitt-romney-the-race-baiter-at-the-naacp.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=cheatsheet_morning&cid=newsletter%3Bemail%3Bcheatsheet_morning&utm_term=Cheat%20SheetSnip: "Until yesterday, I thought of Mitt Romney as a spineless, disingenuous, and supercilious but more or less decently intentioned person who at least wasnt the race-mongering pyromaniac that some other Republican candidates of my lifetime have been. Then he gave his speech to the NAACP, and now I think of him as a spineless, disingenuous, supercilious, race-mongering pyromaniac who is very poorly intentioned indeed, and woe to us if this man sets foot in the White House as anything but a tourist."
Enjoy.
JustAnotherGen
(31,681 posts)But I disagree that it was spineless.
He went in know the cards were stacked against him. So he grew a back bone and told us some truths about WHAT he believes and WHO he is.
And - someone just posted at DU a thread about an NAACP leader who is stating that Romney had flown people in who are not members/affiliated with the NAACP so he could say, "Some black leaders support me."
Ahem - bullshit. Some Republican leaders who HAPPEN to be black support him - but the black community . . . which includes me - is not going to support someone who shows up at the NAACP to give "The Help a good little talking too."
progressivebydesign
(19,458 posts)There are black republicans, and probably libertarians, too. We all know that. But Romney did bring in people with him, who were not members of the NAACP, to bolster his appearance.
His choice of speeches was not a brave choice, nor particularly brilliant. He gave the same speech, supposedly, that he gives to every single audience, except for adding a bit of MLK (and then reading "end of quote" off the teleprompter which made it even more awkward.)
He's basically, politically tone-deaf. He does not have a spine in the least. He used a canned speech because frankly, I don't think the guy has the ability to even tailor a message or deliver more than one or two speeches in his lifetime. He's a fraud like Geoge II was. Born on third, thought he hit a triple.
JustAnotherGen
(31,681 posts)I think he's smug. He's smug and he doesn't really want the job - he just *thinks* it should be his . . . just because he was born.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)I think he makes tricky-Dick-Nixon look honest and fair. God help us should he be elected. George Bush lied. This guy would make George Bush look honest.
JustAnotherGen
(31,681 posts)That ANYONE could make Dummya look honest!
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)He's protected by his magic underwear.
malaise
(267,812 posts)Rec
spanone
(135,633 posts)magical thyme
(14,881 posts)so he was playing to his base? This late in the game, and he still needs to play to his base?
Too clever by a half.
He really thinks he can win by writing off entire, ginormous blocks of voters, and playing to a shrinking, bigoted minority?
Or that we're all so stupid that we think his appearing at the NAACP means he's not a racist? (And his pampered wife will charm the wymmins over with her, "I love it when mothers are forced to work while raising their children" or whatever the exact words were, the word "forced" being the key one that she definitely used.)
On the other hand, why in the world would anybody think this guy is "decently intentioned?"
ananda
(28,783 posts)Why would anyone EVER think Romney or any Reep was decently intentioned??????
JBoy
(8,021 posts)It's a lot easier for him to fire up a lazy racist and get them out to vote than to win over an African American.
SDjack
(1,448 posts)their choices for president are a Republican Mormon and a black Democrat. rMoney has to get them to go the polls and pull the lever for him. He showed them that he is just like them -- his Mormon values are the same as their Xian values. And, he showed his big GOP money donors that he has the "fire in the belly" to do whatever is necessary to win the election.
hay rick
(7,521 posts)They have to choose between a Mormon and a Muslim. And that's the obvious intent of Rmoney's NAACP gig- he still has to sell himself to the race-base.
siligut
(12,272 posts)The Republican attitude is that voting is too important to be left up to the people.
MissMarple
(9,656 posts)I love the fact that there are women out there who dont have a choice and they must go to work and they still have to raise the kids. Thank goodness that we value those people too. And sometimes life isnt easy for any of us.
The best I can say is that she probably THINKS she is being caring and sensitive. If you say you value someone then you really don't have to do anything more. But values are reflected in our actions. Saying doesn't make it so. The cognitive dissonance takes your breath away.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)Saying you value someone is a cheap way to avoid actually demonstrating that you value them. Kind of like my company substituting cheap trinkets and an annual free lunch for pay raises and decent working conditions. Fools nobody and leaves employees angry, exhausted due to insufficient staffing, and mistake-prone.
I don't see a single caring thing in her 1st statement. She loves that 1. some others don't have a choice 2. must go to work and raise the kids.
Furthermore, there is almost a dog whistle in her "choice" of words. It's a double-entendre, which may have been intentional or could be a freudian slip.
Basically, she is anti-choice, which forces *some other women* (who might otherwise choose an abortion) to have to work and raise kids. Unlike her class, who can choose to have kids or not (they can always leave the country, never mind state, if they want an abortion, and can choose to work or stay home and raise the kids.
Ship of Fools
(1,453 posts)I HATE the fact that there are women out there who dont have a choice and they must go to work and they still have to raise the kids. IT SUCKS, BECAUSE we value those people too. LIFE IS TOO EASY FOR SOME OF US." Works for me.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)seabeyond
(110,159 posts)and no, that does not excuse bigotry. that was all on romney, his choice. his bad.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)and show his true colors. Yes, it's fired up his base.
I suspect it's also fired up our side. I'm white, but I read what he said and my blood boils. (Then I look at the audience rx pix and :rofl I can't even imagine hearing his words if I were black...but then I look at those pix again.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)not perceptive of the author.
wandy
(3,539 posts)heaven05
(18,124 posts)this guys advisors know what they are doing. They are encouraging the virulent racists to come out from under their rocks and "take america back"
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)It wasn't until the late 70's that the LDS church stated that black people were actually human...
DallasNE
(7,392 posts)The bigger the smirky smile on Romney's face became. He could not have been more proud than at that moment. It was like hosing down the dog on the top of the family car.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)but I did get to see him on teevee when he exclaimed, "I LIKE firing people" while strutting around the stage. That was in front of "his" audience and even they were shocked into silence.
He really thought he had them in his hand with his macho tough-guy act. He was proud of that moment too.
But my perception was that it went over like a lead balloon. No sane, decent person likes firing people because sane, decent people know that means someone effed up big time somewhere and now there's a costly mess to clean up. Whether it was a bad hiring decision or some other bad management decision that led to business loss, it represents a big setback. Except, of course, when you're a vampire capitalist and firing people means raking their money into your own pocket.
And eventually he seemed to realize that nobody in the room shared his sentiment and he started trying to spin it into healthcare and choices. But it was too late. The spin attempt simply didn't make any sense.
Playing to the 1% and some percentage of rabid racist nutcases who share his belief that black people are "the help" at best and subhuman at worst isn't going to win it, not even with an effing humongous pile of election fraud.
My take is the more you see him strutting around smirking, thinking he's making a big mark, the more he turns people off....
kimbutgar
(20,879 posts)only black people use these programs. What he doesn't know that most members of the NAACP are middle and upper class black people who have jobs, own homes and live the American dream. The Fox/Rush talking point is that all black people are on welfare and use food stamps and that is probably about 10% of the black population. More white people are on food stamps and receive these so called "government handouts" is the irony.
progressivebydesign
(19,458 posts)Oilwellian
(12,647 posts)Thanks for sharing.
struggle4progress
(118,039 posts)Fox News ... You dont go into the NAACP and use the word Obamacare and think that youre not going to hear some boos. Its a heavily loaded word, and Romney and his people know very well that liberals and the presidents supporters consider it an insult ... When a candidates staffers are preparing a speech, they know very well exactly what line the press is going to lead with ..."
-- from the linked article
JustAnotherGen
(31,681 posts)I don't think it was spineless of him - I believe it was deliberate.
Who better to show us who he really is - then a group of people that have not voted in any large numbers for an Republican since Eisenhower . . .
NRaleighLiberal
(59,940 posts)Obamacare themselves - his premise is that it is akin to rehabbing the word "liberal" - so take Obamacare out of the Repub's hands as an insult, and work it to the Dems advantage. I was kind of taken aback - but there it is.
However, I agree with you that using it at that forum was indeed meant as code.
What a tangled web they all weave!
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)His speech wasnt to the NAACP, it was directed to the racists teabaggers: "see, I'm one of you".
PatSeg
(46,800 posts)that when he got to the word "Obamacare", his voice changed like he knew it would evoke a reaction. You not only could hear it in his voice, you could see it in his eyes.
Marie Marie
(9,999 posts)I was beginning to wonder if no one else noticed it. No one on television has said anything. Every time I hear the same clip it becomes even more obvious.
ellenfl
(8,660 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)ErikJ
(6,335 posts)lunatica
(53,410 posts)What will he be after he doesn't need our votes anymore?
I commented on this in an earlier thread this morning.
AdHocSolver
(2,561 posts)Republican strategy is to use race-mongering and other inflammatory rhetoric to fire up the right wing base while other Republicans in swing states work strenuously to disenfranchise African-Americans and others who would usually vote for Democrats.
My suggestion for all Democrats is to run against the Republican PARTY as well as their individual opponents. The moderate Republican party of Eisenhower no longer exists. It has morphed into a party of "take no prisoners" extremists. The electorate must be made aware of this fact, so that they understand for whom they are voting if they vote for ANY Republican.
Moderates of whatever persuasion must do to the name "Republican" what the right wing has done to the word "liberal".
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)it worked just perfectly.
Edit: BTW your suggestion is spot on. But as yesterday's highlight thread shows, too many Dems are too soft-hearted for that sort of fight. "My mom is a Repuke...so I can't be mean to them "
Politicub
(12,163 posts)I'm still surprised that he would go so far as to piss in the NAACP's pool so brazenly.
And I don't know who it was, but some Romney surrogate was on Chris Matthew's show yesterday saying that this behavior may win over 5% of the black vote, which would be "enough." Who are these people? And the pukes giving him vaults full of money?
I agree with the article. Woe be to us if Romney sets foot in the White House as anything more than a tourist.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)most of the blacks will have their franchise revoked by November anyway, and his next-day insult to the attendees will rally the 3-toothed Limbeciles who don't trust Willard.
Kalidurga
(14,177 posts)but I think that the fact that Mitt Robme insulted the audience by telling them if they want free stuff vote fore the other guy; should have been highlighted more. That was blatantly racist. Far more racist than calling the ACA the brainchild of Mitt Robme and the Heritage Foundation; Obama Care. I don't like the term Obama care myself, but interesting enough glad people use it, so I know right away when someone says that I am dealing with a crack pot.
BREMPRO
(2,331 posts)if you want a president who will make things better for the African American community you're looking at him...(glib smile as if to say that's right folks).. "you take a look!"
not only obviously wrong but creeeeepy! " you take a look! "?? what are we supposed to look at? some vaguely cobbled together image of romney as the savior of the black community? just go back to your 18 million dollar vacation compound on the lake in NH n jet ski around thinking u have any clue about the black community.. he has NO clue.. i'm of the camp that believes this intentional antagonism and inspired booing was planned and intended as red meat for the RW racists who believe all black people are freeloaders. plays to the narrative. such shameless BS.