(Ward) Connerly Criticized for Klan Comments ("God bless them")

[Newsjock]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/11/04/politics/p182117S32.DTL

DETROIT, (AP) -- Opponents are criticizing a key backer of a ballot initiative to end public affirmative action programs in Michigan after he made comments that appeared to welcome the Ku Klux Klan's support.

Ward Connerly, a California businessman who is pushing the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative and helped to get similar measures passed elsewhere, was quoted in a documentary examining affirmative action. The measure on Tuesday's ballot would ban the use of race and gender preferences in state government and university admissions.

In a video posted to the Web site YouTube.com, Connerly is shown saying, "If the Ku Klux Klan thinks that equality is right, God bless them. Thank them for finally reaching the point where logic and reason are being applied instead of hate."

[AlCzervik]

1. Connerly is like a bad penny, he keeps turning up.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

6. And like a bad penny, cheap and useless.

[KingFlorez]

2. He must really hate himself

Any black person who would say that about the Ku Klux Klan must really hate themselves.

[Toots]

12. You disagree that equality is right?

Just because the thought is from a hate group does not mean the thought is necessarily wrong. What they have applied that thought to though is questionable. I am a very strong believer in equality and I suspect most here are as well.

[jaybeat]

13. You think the Klan wants equality?

Of course they don't. Perhaps that's why they support this measure?

[KingFlorez]

14. I don't think you get it

The KKK isn't against Affirmative Action because of equality, they are against it because they hate people.

[struggle4progress]

21. Quoting a hate group approvingly = supporting the hate group

It's that simple.

[Toots]

23. You know that is just plain BS

The truth is the truth no matter who says it. We are for equality, I am for equality and if any hate group wants to say they are for equality I will applaud them for it. I won't believe them based upon their past but will applaud the words they say because they are right. If you want to say you are against equality just because a hate group said they were for it then it shows you are quite shallow. IMO

[Solon]

27. Being against AA is being against equality...

So both Connerly and the KKK are against equality.

[Toots]

29. I am not questioning nor arguing for either of them

I am only talking about the statement about being for equality. I know and you know they do not mean that in the slightest but just because they don't believe the statement they made does not make the statement false. I don't care who utters those words I will agree with them on that one thing. I am for equality but sometimes it is very difficult to distiguish what is equal and what is not. For instance,certain native Americans are allowed to do things other Americans are not, like the taking of marine mammals. Even if a person of another race lived in the exact same village and lived the exact same lifestyle so to speak they could not do the same things as the native Americans. I guess in ways it is similar to Affirmative Action and permitted for the betterment of our country. :shrug: It is not all black and white for sure

[Solon]

32. Actually that's a sovereignty issue, not a civil rights issue...

The United States recognizes the limited sovereignty of many Native American tribes, as a result most are exempt from many state laws, and they are allowed to self govern themselves and pass their own laws. Its a complicated issue, but one that has been recognized through treaties since the late 19th century. This isn't to say that the United States has acted in good faith, in all cases, it has not, but, at least today, they do try to keep their side of the bargain. Also, just a side note, some tribes have standards about how you can be recognized as a member, some are extremely strict, others have more liberal standards.

[Toots]

33. When Roosevelt passed the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 they had the opportunity

to make a choice of becoming American citizens or not. Once they chose to become American why should they still be considered a sovereign nation? One American citizen is treated different than another American citizen Should all people with duel citizenship be granted additional rights that other US citizens are not allowed? We no longer live in the eighteen hundreds and those Native Americans no longer hunt with bows or fish out of canoes. They use high powered remington rifles from brand new aluminum boats with large outboard motors and most have access to modern supermarkets and McDonalds. Their needs are no longer as they once were yet they continue to kill animals that are protected throughout the world. Some of the Native Americans I am referring to have never entered into any treaties with the US government. All I know is it sure ain't "equality", but then again neither was how they were treated up until the early sixties.

[Solon]

34. Like I said, its a complicated issue...

There are 3 tiers, so to speak, to Americans in General in the nation. There are those who are Citizens, these are people who are naturalized or born as American Citizens, they are obligated to pay federal and state taxes, have representation in Congress(in theory), and are obliged to follow all laws within the nation. Most are residents of the 50 incorporated States outside of the District of Colombia.

Then there are American Nationals, these are a different tier altogether. To the INTERNATIONAL world, there is no difference, they carry US Passports, and are allowed to travel to any part of the nation without restrictions. However, they are NOT obligated to pay State or Federal Taxes, do NOT have Representation in Congress(some are allowed non-voting members), and are allowed limited autonomy over their own territories. These include residents of Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and the various territories of the Pacific, in addition to Indian Reservations. However, this is just a basic rundown, relations with the Federal Government varies for each, and different circumstances allow for different "tiers" within this framework.

Then there are Washington DC residents, they are basically Nationals who can vote for President, but have to pay federal taxes, and do NOT have any autonomy over local government. This is the reason the most popular license plate motto for DC is "No Taxation without Representation".

Now, out of all of them, Washington DC residents get the short end of the stick, at the very least, and none are equal to each other. Note that, all of these are interchangeable, a Puerto Rican who moves to the Midwest gets all the benefits and penalties of Citizenship without having to pass any tests, etc. Same that a Citizen who moves to Washington D.C. may lose all benefits of Citizenship, if they don't maintain a residence outside the city, where they can absentee vote.

This also applies to most Native Americans, a Native American who moves off the reservation loses most benefits of sovereignty. Also, another note, not all Native American tribes are recognized by the federal government, and therefore receive no sovereignty over traditional lands. The most obvious example are native Hawaiians.

Is this a perfect system? No, of course not, in fact, I don't like it that much myself, however, bear in mind that all of these situations arose due to differing circumstances and are messy in general. Puerto Ricans are about evenly divided as to whether to become a state or not, and a minority want full independence, hence the status quo always wins out whenever a referendum is put up. Other territories don't even have the minimum population requirement to even have an option to be a state, some are small islands that are hundreds of miles apart from each other, and therefore consolidation is out.

[struggle4progress]

31. The political aspect is very simple: quoting someone approvingly...

... draws favorable attention to the source of the quote.

Although I am for equality, I generally don't feel the need for a quote to support that position. But if I should find myself needing a quote, I should quote someone who I thought deserved positive attention.

Frankly, I don't give a tinker's dam whether somebody who self-identifies as a Klan member claims a belief in equality. The fact of professed Klan membership speaks for itself. Anybody who joins a group calling itself the Klan, joins the long, vicious, and ugly history associated with the organizational name.

Sorry. Come hell or high water, there is no way I will ever be quoting the Ku Klux Klan, or the Nazi Party, or any like organization, with favor.

[gumby]

3. That dude is a certifiable mental case.

Is there any better example of exploiting 'affirmative action' for personal gain?

[JI7]

4. what a whore

not that i thought much of him before, but this relaly shows what a disgusting self hating piece of shit he is.

[Phredicles]

5. Darn, I thought he'd crawled back under his rock.

The guy wishes he were white even more than Michael Jackson does.

[HuffleClaw]

7. holy taken out of context batman!

wow.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Ian David]

10. The guy says that fighting against affirmative action is fighting for equality...

and that The KKK is therefore fighting for "equality."

Not really taken out of context.

[atommom]

11. Yes, it's a very Orwellian use of the word "equality."

And he doesn't deserve to be let off the hook.

[skypilot]

26. Sounds like a really...

...REALLY bad syllogism (sp?). I've never cared much for Connerly but I'd imagine that even he has enough sense to see his fallacy.

[FernBell]

8. deleted

deleted

[Yavin4]

15. Connerly Is 100% Correct

White people have neeeevvverrrr benefitted from preferences in university admissions. No sir, it's a pure meritocracy. Just ask President Bush. He was admitted to both Yale and Harvard because of his outstanding academic credentials. Why the man was a tireless, hard working student, and we see that brilliant education on display every time he speaks.

:sarcasm:


Okay sarcasm off, any African American who openly campaigns against Affirmative Action is a self-hater. Kids, we don't live in a meritocracy. We never have, and we never will. We live in a system of privileges and connections. You get ahead in America based on who you know, not what you know.

[struggle4progress]

22. "... Last month, the Grand Rapids Press reported about a photo showing Connerly shaking hands with

John Raterink, chairman of the Michigan Council of Conservative Citizens, which is considered a white separatist group ..."
Saturday, November 04, 2006
KKK backing welcomed
Prop 2 leader says he'll take support wherever he can get it to end affirmative action.
Ronald J. Hansen / The Detroit News
http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061104/POLITICS01/611040362/1022/POLITICS


Racist Groups Organize Support of Anti-Affirmative Action Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI)
October 13, 2006

The Michigan chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens and the United Northern and Southern Knights of the Ku Klux Klan are both actively encouraging their members to vote in favor of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative when it appears on the ballot on November 7 and organizing to build further support for the initiative. Ward Connerly has even had his picture taken shaking the hand of Michigan Council of Conservative Citizens leader John Raterink (Raterink has also subscribed to the newspaper of the neo-nazi National Alliance:

Image

http://www.mediamouse.org/features/101306racis.php

[Rage for Order]

16. And in other news...

Jews praise the efficiency with which Germans ran their trains in the early 1940's *sarcam*

[Garbo 2004]

17. Connerly didn't complain when he was awarded CA state contracts because he had a minority

owned small business. He was happy to benefit from public AA programs then.

[KamaAina]

18. Reminds me of the Dave Chappelle skit about the black Klan leader

who was blind, and raised in a school for the blind with white kids. Hence, he didn't know he was black, and thus saw no obstacle to becoming a Klan leader.

All was well, until his fellow Klansmen asked him to take off his hood at a meeting...

[NorthernSpy]

19. the rightists are all for singling out minorities for unequal treatment...

... just so long as the minorities recieve little or no benefit from it.

After all, conservatives have long defended the practice of racial or ethnic profiling in law enforcement and national security matters because they believe that subjecting individuals belonging to various minority groups to a special program of scrutiny and police badgering may make "society" (that is, white people like themselves first and foremost) safer. To achieve this purported common benefit of security, life may have to be made worse for some innocent persons fitting "a certain description".

Given that, what I want to know is this: what's their excuse for not applying that line of reasoning to the question of affirmative action? Do they really believe that society gains nothing from the creation of a black middle class, or from generally attempting to ameliorate the social divisions created by a long history of negative action against blacks who tried to acquire education and begin careers? If conservatives are comfortable telling the racially-profiled that sometimes the interests of some people will have to take a backseat to the common good, then why aren't they comfortable saying the exact same thing to a white student who feels wronged because a college chose a black kid from the Bronx whose SAT score may have been a few points lower than his?




(edit: typo)

[doubleplusgood]

20. Connerly helped friend's kid

When Connerly was one of the UC regents, he helped one of his friend's kids get into UCLA, as I recall. Good-ole-boy affirmative action in practice. Otherwise, screw you if you don't have any connections in high paces.

[noonwitch]

24. Is Ward like the blind, black klansman on Chappelle's show?

What an idiot.

[zreosumgame]

25. Ward has always beeing a dick-head

[oasis]

28. Michael Steele is the GOP's "new and improved" Ward Connerly. (eom)

[fujiyama]

30. Yep

Exactly who came to mind when I read this. Steele is just smarter and slicker...

What a bunch of hacks. I'm gonna have the pleasure of voting against Connely's Prop 2 tomorrow here in MI. I hate that motherfucker.