The Republican Party... 2013

When is enough enough? After Barack Obama was elected president, we were treated to a barrage of e-mails of black face pictures, caricatures of the president and his wife as monkeys and many other assorted veiled racially tinged attempts at humor. The common thread in all of these was that the people sending them were associated with the Republican Party at either federal, state or local levels. What was also common was that we never heard from our nationally elected GOP leaders a word of real condemnation. Never once did we hear them step to a bank of microphones and declare what most people knew... that these attacks were not politically motivated, but rather racially motivated. Put simply, President Barack Obama and his wife were not being caricatured because of their political stances, but because of the color of their skin. You don't like a politicians stance on an issue, that's fair game, but in 2013, we should not be seeing the kinds of racial political stunts that were common in a less enlightened era.  But perhaps that is to be expected in a country that has a rich history of racial tension and animus. Which brings us to todays little ditty, pictured above... courtesy of the Chairperson of the Republican Party of Yellowstone County in Montana, Jennifer Olsen.  Now I am certain that in a day or two Ms. olsen will make a heartfelt apology, claiming she is not racist and was just passing along what she thought was a funny little joke. But really, would this picture have tickled her fancy if the president was white? And so I ask, at what point will the national leaders of the GOP step up to the plate and publicly condemn this type of behavior? At what point will they go beyond the "It's a local issue" and "I would not have done that" boilerplate responses and call this what it is... a pure and blatant example of racial politics from a Republican leader? For weeks since the election last November, we've heard GOP leaders saying they will not win elections being, as Bobby Jindal put it, the party of stupid.  And for weeks, the rank and file state and local leaders have kept right on going, with nary a word from John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Linsey Graham or anyone else. After the US was attacked on 9/11, many in the GOP dominated Congress and Senate asked why moderate Muslims remained silent as the more militant branches of Islam struck time and time again in cowardly terroristic attacks across Afghanistan and Iraq. Right-wing bloggers joined in the chorus along with many FOX television personalities to say that a reluctance of moderates to be critical of extremist Islam signaled acceptance and agreement with what the terrorists were doing. To them, there were no moderate Muslims. Isn't it fair to judge the current national Republican Party by the same standards? You tell me?

Where are the GOP Leaders? Is What we are Seeing the Fringe, or the Mainstream?

You be the judge. Last night before some friends arrived, I was watching the GOP Debate from Florida. Most of you know I tend to lean more to the left politically than many of my friends. However, you also know I am not reflexively anti-GOP, have worked on Republican campaigns in the past, and on occasion, when I believe it is the best option, will vote Republican. But last night, I was stunned. After hearing GOP partisans cheer the death penalty a few weeks ago, I was taken aback. After hearing people say "Yeah, let him die" if someone does not have health insurance, I wondered how far the GOP might go. Last night I got my answer. The crowd in attendance booed a US Serviceman serving in Iraq, simply because he said he was gay and was in support of the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. If you don't believe it, follow this link to Andrew Sullivan's commentary where he has posted the video. And just like in previous debates, not one candidate for President from the GOP said that type of response was wrong. We have watched over the years as many conservative pundits and politicians have tarred and feathered Muslims for their faith. We have been told that in the absence of any public rebuke of extremist Muslim views, that we can safely view the entire religion as extremist. We have been told that at least 10% of the Muslim people are terrorists. And we have been told that we, as Americans, have a right to look suspect on an entire people group. Why? For two reasons. One, a relatively small number of the followers of Islam have gone off the deep end and believe in terrorism. And two, the apparent lack of Muslim leaders who will publicly say that the actions of that relatively small number of terrorists are wrong and have no place in civilized societies. It is time that those that advocate this type of stance, step forward and accept their due. Unless and until we see national leaders from the Republican Party stand up and disavow the words and attitudes of people like Mr. Santorum and the crowds that cheered the death penalty, said "yeah, let him die" and then booed a gay serviceman, it is safe to assume that these views are representative of the entire party. Where are the national GOP leaders that will say these people do not represent our party? Where is one elected GOP congressional leader who will publicly state that what we have been watching the last three weeks is wrong? Republicans, this is your dancing in the streets Palestinian moment. Your masses are booing US Servicemen, celebrating the death penalty, and saying let 'em die to your fellow citizens. In the absence of any leaders stepping forward, why should we not tar your entire party with the same brush you have used for years to tar Muslims?

The War on Extremism

A friend of mine shared this with me today. It is written by one of my favorite authors, Donald Miller. Sadly, he is not related. I am just posting a snippet for you here. Follow the link, read the entire article, and let me know what you think. A few nights ago, twelve friends and I attended the lighting of the Portland Christmas tree in Pioneer Square. My friends had all flown in for Thanksgiving, and we decided to join ten-thousand others who walked from all over downtown for the event. What we didn’t know is the spot where we squeezed into the crowd was 25 feet from a van filled with what a young man believed were six, fifty-gallon barrels of explosive material. As you know, the FBI had staged a sting, and as the young man made a call on his cell phone from the train station across town that would detonate the bomb, we were singing Christmas carols well within the blast zone. We didn’t hear about the threat until the following morning, and didn’t even know how close we were to the bomb until I saw a picture in the paper, taken only a few steps from the corner of Pioneer Square where we had been standing. read more...

Just a Little Humor for Your Weekend

After the last few weeks of political battles, I thought it was time for a couple of pics designed to make you laugh. The first one is a little subtle. I can understand the anger towards Harry Reid, and I've even commented on it in past blogs, but even Reid haters should be able to laugh at this sign that was prominently in south east Las Vegas in the days before the election. An educated electorate is a good thing. And then a good friend sent this over to me, appropriately titled... "Adam and Eve in the Garden of Islam" Have a great weekend...