Tea Party, Birthers, and Racism

[Anonymous]

Now blood libel still has meaning. As in calling everybody a racist. Same as calling everybody a nazi. No more teeth in it. Done too much. Tiring, boring, all too common.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Conservative here, yup, that's racist. Guy was a dick for circulating that, has publicly apologized, if in sort of a weaselly half-assed manner, and he was called out for it by other Republicans. What else can be done? It is of course not appropriate to tar the Tea Party as a whole with that nonsense, as so many here want to do. But do go on believing that all conservatives are racist.

First, I didn't say that all conservatives are racist. I said that birthers need to get their house in order.

Second, welcome to movement politics! Do you think it was easy for blacks in the civil rights movement to get their ranks dressed in sunday clothes, singing church songs, not holding up ridiculous signs, and taking beatings without fighting back? Hell, no, it was not easy. It's a tough job getting a movement focused around a cohesive set of issues. It is hard to deal with the loudmouths. But any good movement needs to define what it stands for, and what it does not stand for. Your movement has not done a good job of communicating with your own people You tolerate bigotry in your ranks and it's not right. The only reason this circulating email, and many like it, got attention is that a public official became involved. That's not enough.

Conservatives have never given liberal movements a free pass. We are made to be responsible for every marxist hippie that shows up at one of our rallies. Clearly no one can be responsible for a lone individual. But when you have a widespread sentiment in your ranks that is antithetical to your goals, you have to address it. The birther movement is not. And the Tea Party does not.

We know you are new at this, but get with the program.

[Anonymous]

Saying its widespread is blood libel.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Now blood libel still has meaning. As in calling everybody a racist. Same as calling everybody a nazi. No more teeth in it. Done too much. Tiring, boring, all too common.

Sort of like calling everyone a socialist or a communist or considering "Muslim" to be a synonym for "terrorist".

[Anonymous]

Just because Teabaggers are willing to say what all good Aryans in America are thinking--specifically, that he's a stinky, semi-literate, black-as-midnight pan-African nationalist subversive who's out to undermine the decent Christian values our nation was founded upon--does not make them racist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry but it is quite funny.

It makes me sick that we breath the same air

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Saying its widespread is blood libel.

This is fact-based. According to a poll in 2010:

"Eleven percent [of surveyed tea party organizations] said that Obama's race, religion or ethnic background was either a 'very important' or 'somewhat important' factor in the support their group has received,"

What data do you have to the contrary?