Friday, October 25, 2013

Song of the South

" If it hurts a bunch of lazy Blacks that want the government to give them everything, so be it.” 

Said North Carolina state GOP executive committee member and precinct chairman Don Yelton, about the new, more restrictive voting laws  --  and there you have it, the cornerstone, the key assumption, the basis of Republican philosophy.  I can't say, as much as it might seem otherwise, that there's been no progress in the old, old, quest for recognition of people of color as fully human; as real citizens with the same rights and privileges and responsibilities as white, Anglo-Saxon Americans.  After all when I was a kid, he wouldn't have said "lazy Blacks."

Barack Obama is of course all about buckets of chicken, watermelons, welfare checks and leering at white women, or at least he is in the imaginations of people like Yelton who is after all, the sad remainder of what was once a political party.  All else, all that purports to be principle, philosophy, policy and patriotism is simply camouflage. It's not a coincidence that what others might think of as undeserving categories of white people aren't mentioned, the kind of folks that a previous generation subjected to forced sterilization so that they wouldn't pass on their inferior genes. Undereducated, malnourished, uncivilized, unmotivated, intoxicated made dependent by welfare and ill-suited for informed citizenship, they're nevertheless white and at the very least more nearly all right.  In fact so many of them vote Republican they're needed, if for no other reason.

People that may have been Dixiecrats back before the civil rights movement alienated them from the Democratic Party,  have been feeling sorry for themselves since before the Civil War, burdened by the requirements of modern civilization which they see in terms of their hard earned money and privilege being taken away by the damn Yankees and given to the "takers."

And now one of "them" has taken the presidency. Ain't gonna let that happen again!

I often think of Republicans like Winnie the Pooh without the charm: as creatures of very  little brain, but of course they have their wicked wizards, smart enough to fire people like Yelton who make too much noise from behind the curtain and expose the game.

The County GOP Chairman, in firing Yelton's ass this week said in a statement to a local TV station that Yelton's statements were:

“offensive, uniformed and unacceptable of any member within the Republican Party.
“Let me make it very clear: Mr. Yelton’s comments do not reflect the belief or feelings of Buncombe Republicans, nor do they mirror any core principle that our party is founded upon, This mentality will not be supported or propagated within our party.”
Except of course in practice.

11 comments:

  1. Perhaps the worst piece of news from North Chinalina is the "voter registration vigilante provision " in the new voter suppression law. It allows ANY citizen to challenge the voter registration of ANY citizen! Can you imagine how this provision can be used and abused by a disciplined and well organized group of racists and segregationists to disenfranchise whole voting blocs and rig an election! Yes, the situation is worse than worst. Worse than a return to Jim Crow, worse than the old confederacy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "... nor do they mirror any core principle that our party is founded upon. ..."

      The republican party at one time did stand for principle, even as late as the 60's, 70's, and early 80's. It has been down hill since for the party and likely it is now so far gone the party is beyond the point of no return.

      We can only hope that a viable opposition party to the democrats will emerge and provide balance to our system of governance.

      Delete
    2. This state has just gone wild with GOP backed garbage. It is getting scary to live here. I will be watching closely for any abuse of this part of the law when I go to the polls. My plan is to challenge anyone who challenges another. I will also have all my various licenses, passport and SS card. Unlike many I have my card from when I was married. I also have an immunization record showing my maiden name. And report cards! I may have to carry a briefcase.

      Delete
  2. I have to keep reminding myself that this is not some new America, it's the old one.

    In my grandfather's day a presidential candidate was put in jail for questioning our participation in WW I, there were vicious race riots worse than anything we've seen since, terrorist bombings every other week. In my youth you could be ruined for having had an exploratory interest in Marx, even if you'd never heard of him and unscrupulous bastards and Republicans were turning in their business rivals as subversives for the most ridiculous of reasons and we all bought into it 'cause the commies was gonna get us and hypnotize our kids.

    Indeed after the Internal Security Act of 1950 the batshit brigade could and did restrict the right to travel of liberals. The disgusting Communist Control Act of 1954 essentially stripped anyone of any rights if someone could claim they were 'pinko' and The Nation told us the Democrats were neurotic and soft on communism for complaining. Who was behind it? REPUBLICANS, REPUBLICANS AND REPUBLICANS.

    Linus Pauling was refused a passport for his "leftist" views and denied the right to attend a meeting of the Royal Society and it wasn't the first or last time this damned country was exposed as a cesspool of idiots and madmen. And we brag about our fucking 'freedom'

    Hell they should take all those empty slogans off the money and put Hobbes on the dollar bill. e pluribus unum my ass, this is America and it's Bellum omnium contra omnes. This is the United States of hate, the land of stupid and the home of the coward. Core principle? It's win, win, win at all costs, it's power to the powerful and ever more of it while they whine like Engels about the state and its oppressions withering away. It's 'take the money and run' It's 'let them eat cake' It's "let them die and decrease the surplus population" while we call it "opportunity" and "personal responsibility"

    Keep them barefoot and pregnant, keep them away from the polls, too ignorant, too misinformed, too poor to protest and you're damn right we're whistlin' Dixie.

    ReplyDelete
  3. And then this from North Carolina as well ( have they all gone mad in that part of the country?):

    Republican North Carolina state Rep. Larry Pittman said, “Someone had posted something with a picture of Barack Obama and across it said ‘traitor.’ And, you know, I don’t always agree with the guy, I certainly didn’t vote for him but I gotta defend him on this one. I just don’t think it’s right at all to call Barack Obama a traitor. There’s a lot of things he’s done wrong but he is not a traitor. Not as far as I can tell. I haven’t come across any evidence yet that he has done one thing to harm Kenya.”

    ReplyDelete
  4. have they all gone mad in that part of the country?)

    Not all of us.

    The Chatham county Democrats have been called the most liberal (in the dictionary way) county in the country and we meet every month to expose and combat what's been happening to our rights as citizens under the Republican "leadership" in our NC General Assembly.

    Several weeks ago our Attorney General, Roy Cooper, a really terrific guy, told us that he was considering running for Governor to our loud cheers and applause. We're all on Roy's bandwagon to take back our state.

    Thanks for keeping our predicament publicized.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cirze, we should keep in touch so that perhaps we can get a statewide voter ID assistance program going with volunteers driving voters to register, running fund drives to help pay for documents and day of voting rides.

      Delete
  5. Good to hear from another NC liberal. I know you're not the only one. Keep up the fight!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I don't think I believe the County GOP Chairman who, in firing Yelton said his statements were “offensive, uniformed and unacceptable of any member within the Republican Party". I think he got fired because he told the truth... not a truth that is acceptable to every member of the Republican Party, but certainly a truth that is acceptable to a fair number. And then there is the fair number that don't believe what Yelton said to be true but use it to their advantage anyway (spreading stereotypes to rile up the racist among their base).

    ReplyDelete

We welcome civil discourse from all people but express no obligation to allow contributors and readers to be trolled. Any comment that sinks to the level of bigotry, defamation, personal insults, off-topic rants, and profanity will be deleted without notice.