Southern senator: ‘My people’ dislike Obama because he is too ‘exotic’

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Raw Story

Southern senator: ‘My people’ dislike Obama because he is too ‘exotic’
By Eric W. Dolan
Wednesday, August 7, 2013 22:22 EDT

A southern senator said that his constituents disliked Barack Obama because the President seemed “exotic,” Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) told the editorial board of the Des Moines Register on Wednesday.

The comment from the unnamed senator came during a closed-door meeting about filibuster rules last month.

“And, not naming any names, but one senator got up from a Southern state and said, ‘You’ve got to understand that to my people down here, Obama seems like’ -– he thought for a second and he said -– ‘like he’s exotic,’” Harkin told the Des Moines Register.

“We kind of laughed at that –- what’s that mean? Exotic? That he’s just exotic, that he doesn’t share our values and that kind of thing. It was kind of a strange comment.”


Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/07/southern-senator-my-people-dislike-obama-because-he-is-too-exotic/

[PoliticAverse]

1. Clearly it was Obama's like of Dijon mustard that alienated them... n/t

[greymattermom]

2. I suppose Honey Boo Boo

isn't "exotic", right?

[Kablooie]

3. Honey Boo Boo is what those people aspire to.

[nil desperandum]

101. Ouch

Now that is an utterly depressing thought for the day.....

[Fridays Child]

4. Why would Harkin run cover for a racist?

[24601]

6. Speculating that if it had been a Republican Senator, there would be a name attached. By leaving

the Senator nameless, he wouldn't have to admit it if it was Landrieu or Nelson. So by implication, the other party is smeared since they have most of the southern senators.

[Drunken Irishman]

7. 'He' rules out Landrieu and Obama won Florida, so...

I'm guessing it is a Republican.

[happyslug]

72. When did Harkin call the Senator a Racist?

Harkin's comment relates to what the Senator said about his constituents NOT himself. My old representative, John Murtha, made the same comment of some of the people in his congressional district And he was from Johnstown PA). Making that observation did not make Murtha a Racist, and the same with this unnamed Senator.

To ignore that some people (and in the case of the South a high percentages of voters, not a Majority but a high percentage) are racists is what you are asking this unnamed Senator to do. Sorry, you have to acknowledge a problem before you are address it. Harkin by mentioned the incident is showing he acknowledge the problem AND how the unnamed Senator made the comment show the unnamed senator was doing the same thing.

[KamaAina]

73. It's the Senate.

"The world's most exclusive club". Harkin is old-school. You don't attack one of your colleagues like that. Or you didn't, anyway.

[Ash_F]

5. Well, that's a new one.

OK, not really.

[Brigid]

8. Translation:

"They don't like him because he's black." It's almost laughably transparent.

[BlueJazz]

17. Plus..His IQ is over 85

[Brigid]

27. Yep, that too.

How dare he?

[leftyladyfrommo]

41. He's not just black.

He's smarter than shit.

Besides, a little uppity is a very good thing.

[Moostache]

92. This clip is pretty much what they mean...

[Brigid]

93. Yes, that's right, folks.

A movie from almost 40 years ago is a near-perfect parody of what Obama has been dealing with for his entire presidency. Mel Brooks couldn't have done it better if he'd tried.

[JI7]

9. Pat Buchanan or some other racist said the same thing before

[Bernardo de La Paz]

12. Buchanan said Rep. strategy: "They're going to use the fact that he is exotic."

Right from the get-go in 2008:

http://mediamatters.org/video/2008/06/16/msnbcs-buchanan-called-obama-exotic-said-hes-li/143764

On the June 12 edition of MSNBC's Verdict, MSNBC political analyst Pat Buchanan said to host Dan Abrams, "Dan, I've told you all along, the only way the Republicans can win this when the whole country wants to throw the Republicans out, is raise questions, raise doubts about the alternative -- just like the Democrats did with Reagan in 1980." Buchanan then said of the Republican strategy against presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama: "And they're going to do it. And they're going to use his associations. And they're going to use his statements, his elitism. They're going to use the fact he's exotic." Democratic strategist Tanya Acker responded to Buchanan's statement by saying, "Exotic? What does 'exotic' mean? What's exotic? Is 'exotic' code for 'black'? I don't understand what exotic means." Buchanan then replied, "All right. Here's what it means. Listen. 'Exotic' is code for somebody who talks to people in Pennsylvania as though they're some stupid tribe holding on to their Bibles, guns, and bigotries, and telling that to a bunch of people in San Francisco behind closed doors."

Later in the segment, Acker said, referring to Obama, "[T]he notion that he is somehow exotic, that he's so different from the rest of America, I mean, I just have to take issue with that. He's really -- he's browner than a lot of America, but he's really not that different." Abrams then asked, "Pat, is the strategy to use code words? I mean, is the strategy going to be to use words like 'exotic' where people say, 'Well, I guess he wasn't saying that he's bad, but, boy, that sounds kind of funny' -- to use these words in the hope that they're going to stick?" Buchanan replied: "[W]hat do you mean, 'code words'? Barack Obama made these statements. It tells you where he is coming from. He is coming out of the left. He doesn't understand Middle America. He's like the guys in the Harvard faculty lounge. They don't know anything about their country. They sit up there and talk to one another." Responding to Buchanan, Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky said: "Wait a second, Pat. Pat, listen, Barack Obama is as American as you and I are, and these code words for exotic is exactly that; you're trying to paint him as some sort of a strange outsider."

[Bernardo de La Paz]

10. "exotic" = code word used by racists

Kind of obvious, but it has to be said.

[Orsino]

104. They are running out of words they can hide behind.

"Exotic" is pretty weak tea. In this case, it probably means "black and make me think and think hurty."

[DontTreadOnMe]

11. His exotic skin color!

you can't reign in the racism from these bigots, it just slips out so easily.
WHY can't SOMEONE just call them out as RACISTS on the HOUSE floor. Call them UNWORTHY for the office they hold.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

13. Because it was a Senator and it wasn't even on the Senate floor.

It was behind closed doors.

[greymattermom]

98. the person who as an exotic skin color

is John Boehner. I love looking at pictures of Boehner and Obama side by side in the same light.

[jtuck004]

14. I must be old now. I remember when exotic was a good thing, not racist code. 'Course, I remember

when a joint was a place to drink beer, too

These people are so small-minded, they really are of little consequence.

[handmade34]

22. ...

"...so small-minded, they really are of little consequence." ...unfortunately not, when they sit in a seat in congress and makes rules for we the people...

[jtuck004]

26. They only have the power we give them, and that's been true for a long time.

If enough of us felt strongly about it, we could just walk over them.

Maybe one day again we will, or maybe there won't be enough while they sit there. I never would have thought the American people would value The Voice, Duck Dynasty, Storage Wars, etc over freedom, but there's no accounting for taste.

Still, the tyrant has nothing except what we give them. We quit giving, they fall over.

[Hubert Flottz]

15. What does that mean?

Does the sayer mean that the president is a stripper?

[liberal N proud]

16. I swear there are more exotic dancer spots in the south than elsewhere

[bitchkitty]

32. Maybe not.

I've heard that per capita, Portland Oregon leads the pack in strip clubs.

[liberal N proud]

33. When I drive south, the minute you cross into West Virginia, there are strip clubs

And it doesn't stop there. All through the south you see them advertised on big billboards in rural areas. Only in the cities in the northern states do you see advertising for strip clubs.

Portland may have a high concentration, but then hey Portland prides its self in being different than the rest of the country and that could include strip clubs.

[Berlin Expat]

47. Portland has the

highest per capita number of strip clubs, if I'm remembering correctly.

[Alcibiades]

90. I had heard it was

San Diego.

[tclambert]

77. Unofficial motto: Keep Portland Weird

They have strong free speech laws + dancing is a form of expression = strip clubs are protected speech.

[bitchkitty]

80. I guess that's one way to look at it.

I like Portland, but not for the strip clubs. I like the Max, downtown, and I LOVE Occupy Portland. I miss Portland. I'm in Eugene now (sucks) and will be moving to Salem next week. At least I'll be closer!

[whathehell]

100. LOL!! n/t

[TBF]

18. These are the folks who watch Duck Dynasty. nt

[JHB]

19. Exotic is the new Urban

[Ganja Ninja]

20. Exotic is the new black n/t

[Berlum]

21. "We hate him because he pulled himself up by his bootstraps. Sneer." - Republicons

?w=604

[ceonupe]

29. Knowing obamas history as we all do

I would not call him a rags to riches or ignorant and poor to scholar story.

While not apart of 1% he grew up part of the next 9%.

He has achieved so much and I belive he has so much more to offer if given the chance but I don't consider Obama to be a bootstrap story.

Unless you acknowledge lots of his positioning came from bootstrapping himself to influential people in Chitown politics.

[Berlum]

31. In the face of Republicon fear and hate, I am licensed to 'Exaggerate for Effect'

[niyad]

44. LOVE this!!

[Hekate]

83. That doesn't really make sense at all. What's "the next 9%" even mean?

[awoke_in_2003]

91. That he grew up in the top 10%? nt

[Hekate]

95. You mean like Grandpa and Tutu Dunham were wealthy?

[awoke_in_2003]

96. I didn't say it...

just clarifying the response you originally replied to.

[nxylas]

97. They don't believe that he did

One of their charges against him is that, since a mere negro could never become editor of the Harvard Law Review and then POTUS through his own efforts, he must have had help from America's enemies, like Kenya. They're all Muslims in Kenya, right?

[perdita9]

23. Barack Obama does NOT share Southern values which include...

...demonizing anyone who disagrees with them, denying women health care and treating the poor like trash.

[freshwest]

81. They see all those as exotic and work for their extinction. They are endangered under GOP rule.

They are consistent in their pro-death ideology.

[Martin Eden]

24. Barack Hussein Obama. Black Kenyan father. Lived in Indonesia as a child.

That alone is enough to make a lot of Red State 'muricans believe He ain't one of us!!!

Add to that the 24/7 efforts of rightwing political strategists and talk radio, a sizeable chunk of the voting public fear and loathe him for reasons that have nothing to do with government policy or their own economic interests.

Then you have statements like the one below, from a man whom ignorant people view as an intellectual giant:

“What if he is so outside our comprehension, that only if you understand Kenyan, anticolonial behavior, can you begin to piece together his actions? That is the most accurate, predictive model for his behavior.”

In this context it's pretty easy to understand what "exotic" means, and it goes beyond the fact that this president is half black. He'd be a lot less exotic if he had two black parents who were born in America and never left the country. The brush that Gingrich and his ilk have painted Obama with is dipped in racism, but it's a more varied color scheme than that.

[JoePhilly]

25. When a racist realizes they are about to say something really ...

... racist ... that's the kind of nonsense that spills out of their mouth.

The racist thought was turning into spoken words.

And as the thought turned into spoken words, the little voice in the racist head is screaming "don't say that out loud!!!!"

And that's how you get "he's too exotic" on the end of that sentence.

[Skittles]

71. I agree with this assessment

they contort themselves like pretzels in a failing effort to avoid sounding like the racist assholes they are

[ehrnst]

28. He defies all their racist ideas by being intellectual, happily married,

calm, an Ivy League scholar.

To them, that's exotic.

Like the Cosby show was to so many who said that the Huxtables were not a realistic black couple.

[ceonupe]

36. Exactly

Let's not forget most black voters initially supported Clinton because they could not believe Obama could win. Many young blacks had a hard time even convincing our parents who were that first integrated generation in public primary/secondary schools that this was even possible.

Some will laugh but I bet most black posters know exactly what I'm talking about. In fact almost the entire black caucus initially supported Clinton.

[John2]

39. I don't think

many Black people, including myself understood the changes that were happening in America. I didn't vote for either one in the Democratic Primary, but was convinced by others, Obama could win in the General Election, after he took the Democratic Nomination from Clinton. I think many older Black voters agreed with her, whites, especially in the South would not vote for Obama. I also think that is why Republicans supported and some crossed over to vote for Obama over Clinton. They thought it was a sure win for Republicans, if Obama defeated Clinton.

I don't think Obama won the Presidency because racism died in this country. I think he won, because of natural forces, like this country is changing Demographically. More and more younger whites, are going to school and socializing with Black kids also. They are even marrying each other. So in a way, Integration has worked, just like Dr King prophecized. Affirmative Action has worked also. There wouldn't be an Oprah Winfrey or many of the Black professionals you see today. There would be no Supreme Court Justice named Clarence Thomas, if Affirmative Action never existed in the Past. He wouldn't have been able to enter any of those high priced Law Schools. He proably wouldn't even have his wife Ginny today.

[ceonupe]

30. Although not PC

This statement was probably a true statement for many and that's sad but honest.

I know prior to 2008 I thought we might see a non white male president sometime in my life but probably after i was 50+.

As a black male I admit I take great pride in obamas election for many like me that believed in his ability to win the presidency fighting with our parents who were solid democrats and were sodding with Hillary in the primary solely because the never beloved he could win the general I got in to a big emotional argument with my father. He told me I was crazy but then once he won the presidency I felt we crossed a corner as a black community .

But back to the people that call him exotic. He is to them never in their life could they have seen a black man being president let alone a mixed race man who built an amazing political machine that straight steamrolled their beloved GOP.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

34. Maybe he meant erotic.

[Myrina]

35. SMH ... just SM Fucking H

WTF America? C'mon, grow up.

[PD Turk]

37. "exotic"

"exotic".... code for "uppity".

end of story

[1BostonBeannie]

38. Why MY People Dislike Obama, and we voted for him!

Because he lied about passing EFCA, he lied about stopping telecom spying and has expanded government spying, because he lied about protecting whistleblowers, because he has offered to cut Social Security, because his Dept. of Justice has gone after tax fraud whistleblowers (Bradleu Birkenfeld) and gone after enviroenmental heroes (Tim deChristopher) but failed to criminally prosecute ANY banker at HSBC for laundering drug and terrorist money, he lied about transparency and diplomacy and is essentially just another military industrial complex war president, and most recently, because he announced he will eliminate the great New Deal Federal National Mortgage Administration (Fannie Mae) established in 1938 by FDR to help Americans realize the dream of land and home ownership. Obama has publicy declared in Phoenix his intention to replace Fannie Mae with greater access to affordable rental housing for Americas landless peasant class. Punishing Fannie Mae for the economic collapse is a lot like punishing a rape victim for the rape. I could go on but I think I've made my point. So sad this fraud was sold to us in the corporate MSM as a new version of FDR. He is the Anti-FDR.

[John2]

42. He needs to

respect the actual people that voted for him. So I agree with you. Nobody voted for him to placate to the Right and the Wealthy. The Press has fooled him about some mythical middle. Actually it is just a bunch of wealthy people and corporations playing both sides against each other for their benefit. You are either on one side or the other. He needs to look at the people who empowered him as we and not them. Nobody voted for him to be in the middle. They voted for a leader. I think that was what Clint Eastwood's gripe was, with the empty chair, Eastwood style.

[Hekate]

84. "Lied, lied, lied, lied, lied"? That's what you've got for your first post?

Your take on it is pretty much a distortion of his record.

[Coyotl]

87. Othering is a form of racisim too

MY People asd opposed to which others? We are ONE People on this planet, one family.

[leftyladyfrommo]

40. Actually, he's just too uppity. n/t

[Botany]

43. My guess is Sen. Jefferson Beauregerd "Jeff" Sessions

?w=500

Who once a year dresses up like people who faught to end the USA and for
the right to keep human beings as slaves/

[PlanetBev]

46. That almost could be a family member

Since there were two Jefferson Beauregard Sessions before him, as this present idiot has a III after his name.

I'll never forget when he was grilling Elena Kagan during her SC confirmation hearings. He asked her where she was on the Christmas day in 2009, when a failed bombing plot had taken place. She replied that she was probably doing what other Jews do on Christmas Day, going out for Chinese food. Most everybody laughed at the hearings, except old Jeff. He had a blank look on his face. You could just see that he didn't get it.

What's a Jewwwwwwwwwwwwww?

[Botany]

48. I remember part of his questioning of Kagan

He would ask a really long run on question and Kagan would answer him
in one word, either yes or no in such a way that he couldn't do shit. It was
like he thought he could "out lawyer" Ms. Kagan and she was light years
ahead of him.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

99. What? People who don't go to church on Sunday??

He has probably met Jews in Washington, but never found anything out about their culture or their religion.

He doesn't know what you do for entertainment on Christmas Day when you are in New York City. You go to the Jewish Museum, because it's open!!! (Been there, done that, gotten a couple of tchotchkes in the gift shop)

[B Stieg]

45. Ah, the never ending inventiveness of crackercode.

I still don't understand why, if these sorts of folks are so proud of their personal bias and support of institutionalized racism, why they just don't celebrate it out in the open instead of speaking in these "dulcet tones."

Doesn't that imply that they do know that what they believe about race is wrong?

Perhaps that's why they have to go making this stuff up.

[niyad]

75. this is the argument I make to bigots--if you are a bigot, be PROUD of it--don't hide behind

white or brown hoods (my personal favourite at local pride events) and code words. funny, though, they don't seem to want to be proud of their hate-filled ignorance.

[relayerbob]

49. Iowa is not the South

and ignorance and racism is not completely regional...

[Brigid]

50. Neither is IN.

But it isn't called "North Mississippi" for nothing.

[noiretextatique]

51. it did not happen in iowa

harkin, the senator from iowa, was talking about something another senator said in a meeting, i assume in washington, dc. and he probably was southern.

[relayerbob]

64. Sorry, yeah, I was reading too fast

[Stuckinthebush]

52. That is where Tom Harkin is from

He was telling a story about an unnamed Southern politician.

[DallasNE]

53. Phoenix Agrees, "Bye, Bye Black Sheep"

Everybody knows that in this context "exotic" is a racist epitaph. And whites are getting more open with their racism as yesterday's trip to Arizona showed with the chants of "bye, bye black sheep". Sen. Harkin should be pressed to identify just who that Senator is. My first guess would be Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

[Lugal Zaggesi]

54. Obama is from Hawaii

Republicans don't trust that exotic part of America... they look different... Hawaiians must be up to something sinister.

[center]

Israel "Iz" Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole [/center]

[AsahinaKimi]

67. Seen that video before..

its so cool, thanks for posting it again.

[Lugal Zaggesi]

79. You're welcome

Kimiko.

Such delicate, beautiful music from such a big "exotic" Hawaiian guy - this video just popped into my mind when I heard the Republicans "disliked" the exotic Hawaiian Obama... Beauty and wisdom can grow anywhere on the planet.

[gordianot]

103. My sincerest hope that the Universe has enough comedy upon death

of a rascist they perceive last the last vestage of conscious thought that God is exotic and different from them. Izzy and his "Over the Rainbow" are familiar enough to me I do not consider it exotic.

[tclambert]

78. Ed Zachary! Before you know it, why, they'll be hula dancin' in the White House.

An' playin' them teeny tiny geetars. An' puttin' pineapple on pizza. Will the madness never end?

[kelliekat44]

55. "exotic" is the new "black." nt

[kestrel91316]

56. "Exotic" is racist code for people of color.

[Arkana]

57. It's because he's Captivatingly Kenyan.

President B-Rock "The Islamic Shock" Hussein Superallah Obama in the hizzouse.

[tabasco]

58. But diaper-wearing scat boy senators are just our style

as long as they're white and republican.

[penndragon69]

59. Translation:

HE'S BLACK !

[VA_Jill]

60. I'm betting

it's either Saxby Chambliss, or more likely, Jeff Sessions.

(Oh, and by the way, Jeff....Ernie the Keebler elf called.......he wants his ears back.)

[Generic Other]

61. By exotic they mean mixed race

Y'all just need to quit pussyfooting around about it. They can't handle mixed race people because it violates their notion of race superiority and the necessity for ethnic purity. Some people -- too many people -- are so afraid that whites will be a minority that they are filled with hostility towards those who seem to tangibly represent their fears. That's why they hate Obama more.

He threatens white America because he too is white. It's not a color. It's a culture.

[eppur_se_muova]

62. {in Joan Rivers voice:} Oh, GROW UP !! nt

[Bully Taw]

63. I think its wrong that Harkin says something like that without identifying the senator who said it..

first, if a senator had said that, shouldn't people know who said it? Secondly, by not naming the Senator, there is no one to either accept or deny those allegations. Its wrong to throw something like that out there and leave it to speculation. You have the courage to say what happened, now have the courage to say who did it, Senator Harkin.

[Golden Raisin]

65. "Exotic" translates as "Uppity N-Word"

[NOLALady]

66. I've been called many things

by the "supremes", but never exotic.

I like exotic. It's a step up.

[olddad56]

68. "your people" like dislike who they are brainwashed to dislike. They are literally "your people"

Last edited Fri Aug 9, 2013, 11:20 AM - Edit history (1)

[struggle4progress]

69. "How comes we lettin all them Hawaiians into our country? I ain't got nothing gainst no Hawaiians,

some of my best friends is Hawaiians, but how comes they gotta come take over here, like all them New Mexicans? Folk what puts pineapple on they's pizza ain't never gonna fit in here -- because it's wrong and contrary what is wrote in the Bible"

[Posteritatis]

70. That's the most awkward way to say "he's black" I've seen in awhile. (nt)

[Rain Mcloud]

74. Denial is not a just a river in Egypt.

But Egypt is a land chock full of exotic peoples.
The last time i checked,Exotic People made up (+or- a fair bit)88% of the worlds population and the rest being descended from Casper the Philandering Ghost.
Strange then that they claim exotic people as being minorities and how ironic that they are the worlds second smallest minority group championing the worlds smallest minority group at less than 1% of the population.
One reason for their support of the 1% is that they the 1% effect 100% of the worlds wealth in one form or another,another is that they are ignant,superstitious and have suffered generations of genomic re-entanglement through inbreeding causing them to distrust anyone not pasty and with huge bulging heads and protruding jowls and eye ridges.

This is why the US is the home of the majority of the 1% and why your tax dollars support a 500 billion dollar a year military,it is the old mafia protection racket.
The US spends more per year on the military than the next 22 largest military nations combined and(Shockers)whom are also allies of the US.
So who is protecting whom here and from what?
The answer is You and Me and the Exotic People because when they have 100% of the money,they will need Battleships,Tanks,Drones,Submarines,Aircraft and advanced weaponry to protect themselves when we show up on their doorstep demanding our god damned money back that they stole out of the mouths of our children.
Ironic,isn't it?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

76. Amazing how these guys feel their "Red State" is set in stone....

Iowa voted for Clinton and Obama TWICE.

[Swede Atlanta]

82. Could these people be more racist?

Seriously, they may as well said that he doesn't like pork and watermelon like the rest of his people.

This is disgusting. As a northern transplant living in the South I can believe this comment. As well I can believe there are a large number of this senator's constituents that express these kinds of beliefs.

We have made progress in the area of race relations but we have a very long way to go.

Actually I think the people to whom the southern Senator refers are afraid of their own shadows - anything that doesn't look like themselves. If the person is not white, born-again, heterosexual, uneducated and poor they despise them.

It is a sad state of affairs where people close their minds to people whose life experience is different, whose background is different, etc.

But such is the sad state of affairs in this country. I have held out hope that we had a chance but I am coming to the conclusion that I will uproot myself and move somewhere else in the world where civility and sanity are in the majority.

[blkmusclmachine]

85. Let's be clear. With the GOPee, "exotic" means "ni66er"

[Mass]

86. He should have given names. My guess goes to Lindsay Graham, the same guy who asked Kagan

what she did for Christmas during her confirmation hearing. I loved Kagan's answer though.

[heaven05]

88. these

clowns are really what amerikkka is about these days. "Kinda laughed" Well I'm not laughing you ignorant, ignorant people. In the halls of amerikkkan political power this type of mentality prevails. I can't wait for the next mass klan march down pennsylvania ave in their little pointy head 'white knight' robes.

[the_sly_pig]

89. It makes me giggle the way people hide from their beliefs....

If you want to be a bigot, be a bigot. Hiding from your own quotes via anonymity; what are you? A four year old? The senator isn't concerned that Obama is 'exotic', his 'people' don't like Obama because he's black!

Dude shouldn't hide from his beliefs. Everyone has the absolute right to be stupid. Though this may be an unpopular position, I think everyone has a right to be represented in government including the uneducated, the simple and the unintelligent.

[W T F]

94. Gee, it's nice to know that, thanks to the republicans, the KKK's has a voice in Washington.

[unblock]

102. what's interesting is the dearth of "leaders" condemning the voters' racism.

we have plenty of politicians and pundits, usually republicans, who dog whistle or even say overtly racist things to appeal to racist voters.

we also have some other politicians and pundits, nearly always democrats, condemning those other politicians and pundits.


but where are the people telling the bigoted VOTERS that theirs is an unacceptable attitude? that hate and fear eat you up from the inside? that there's a better way?


as long as our society seems comfortable with a notable portion of the voting population basing their electoral decisions on racism and racist appeals; as long as the racist bloc is just another pool of voters and donors for politicians to compete over; as long as the anger and outrage is deflected on to the so-called leaders instead of the actual racist power base; we will never get past this problem and we will continue to have uncomfortable quotes and condemnation and maybe apologies or backtracking, meaning and accomplishing nothing.