Former Sen. Al D’Amato To GOP Guest: “Shut Up, I Listened To Your Racist Bullsh*t”

[47of74]

Source: Mediaite

But after Burkman reiterated his ‘unskilled Nigerians’ argument, D’Amato went in for the kill. “You are a nasty racist,” he said. “That’s a bunch of bullshit. And you should be ashamed of yourself and have your mouth washed out. What the hell are you talking about?”

After Burkman tried interrupting: “Shut up, I listened to your racist bullshit.” Check out the video below for one bonus ‘bullshit’ comment!

Read more: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/former-sen-al-damato-to-gop-guest-shut-up-i-listened-to-your-racist-bullsht/

---

And as a relative of several postal employees, here is my response to Mr. Burkman,

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Wow! Things are really getting out of hand when Al D'Amato is the voice of reason...

[MannyGoldstein]

2. You stole the words from my mouth

I remember when Fonzie was considered a far-right loon.

[unkachuck]

48. those were happy days....sorry....n/t

[leeroysphitz]

72. No, they weren't all happy days.

[madinmaryland]

4. Ironic, coming from a guy who mocked asians 15 years ago on live radio.

Too funny!

[CreekDog]

28. Yup, Judge Ito during the OJ Trial

which was interesting because Judge Ito has definitively American dialect, almost broadcast quality in fact, than D'Amato has.

[elleng]

5. YOU SAID IT, Bklyn!!!

[Wilms]

9. You got that right!

Nice!

[JerseygirlCT]

37. I was just thinking that

Strange days, indeed.

[ProudDad]

39. He was the "voice of reason"

until he came out with his "private-public partnership" bullshit! :puke:

[Historic NY]

53. "Pothole Al".

[pitohui]

58. what brooklyn liberal said

holy christ on a crutch

[wake.up.america]

59. That was what I was thinking. Al was absolutely correct in this case.

[Hissyspit]

61. VIDEO from Olbermann:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x505798

[BrklynLiberal]

66. Thanks...

[pattmarty]

70. Well, I wouldn't go that far.

[brendan120678]

3. LOL at one of the comments at that site....

"Mr. Burkman must have something against Nigerians.
A multi-million dollar banking deal that fell through, perhaps?"

LOL...

:rofl:

[47of74]

6. LOL!

Good point!

:spray: :rofl:

[BrklynLiberal]

7. Brilliant!!

[blm]

8. Burkman's the same jagoff who tried to pay two lesbians to have a threesome with him.

He's one of the biggest and dumbest jagoffs in all of politics.

[47of74]

14. Ewww...didn't need to know that.

[DeSwiss]

17. Yep, you nailed his stupid fucking racist ass....

...and while Faux Snooze is touting the advantages of the cyber age http://wonkette.com/181266/republican-strategists-sex-myspace-and-pride-a-heartwarming-dc-tale">click http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1586855">this http://wonkette.com/181389/soliciting-strategist-scandal-the-smoking-card">Jack!

[blm]

19. why thank you, DeSwiss....

good to remember what gigantic HYPOCRITES and SLEAZEBALLS these GOP hacks are...and always have been.

[RavensChick]

50. Nice job finding this!

He's in Arlington? Good Lord. To all the DU'ers in Northern VA you have my sympathies.

[electricray]

10. Hmmm...What if...

A comment up thread got me thinking. BrklynLiberal said

Wow! Things are really getting out of hand when Al D'Amato is the voice of reason...

What if this is the beginning of a strategy to take the racism tag off of the Tea Party Republicans? Start a blatantly racist meme (such as all of the Nigerian, Kenyan nonsense), then put a spokesmoran out to spew it while a "real republican" gets all indignant and looks moderate by comparison?

If this gets good press for D'Amato, I wouldn't be surprised to see every Republican launching "heartfelt anti-racist" tirades against the chosen sacrificial lambs.

[TheEuclideanOne]

65. Not at all

The perception here, at least from me, is not that D'Amato is anti-racist and hence we should conclude that Republicans now are trying to shed their Racists tag. Instead, it shows that Racism is so prevalent in conversations between republicans that they don't even think twice about sharing their racist views in just about any conversation. Here, we had a simple conversation about the Postal Service and I think that it was assumed that it was in "friendly territory" because it was on Fox and automatically assumed that there would be like-minded folks involved. But it has become so bad that even Republicans had to take a stand. Of course, in this case, it was a "guest" on Fox that took a stand. If this was the normal Fox crew, they would have just laughed about it and carried on.

This Right wing tool reminds me very much of Kramer(Michael Richards), when he went on his "He's a Nigger!!! He's a Nigger!!!!" rant that ruined his career. You have to realize that Kramer must have had years of conversations among like minded types where the word "Nigger" is used in common conversation and nobody bats an eyelash. It is only when somebody like Kramer uses it outside of these circles does he get the wake up call.

[lisa58]

11. D'Amato has actually turned into a nice guy since retiring...

...my husband (who is left of me) has met him a few times through work and though he (D'Amato) tells my husband he's too liberal he has certainly mellowed. My husband chalks it up to him becoming a grandfather...

[pattmarty]

71. No, it's senility. D'Amato is a fucking ass hole.

[Uncle Joe]

12. I believe they're just setting up a psychological box here, no one was there

to dispute the allegation of the U.S. Post Office losing money as compared to FEDEX,etc. they were all in agreement and their audience will no doubt end up believing that the Post Office should be totally privatized.

The racism argument allowed them to make distinctions among them selves as if they were truly having a debate about the pros and cons of the Post Office vs privatized delivery.

This is not to say that racism should be tolerated, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was a setup from the beginning.

Thanks for the thread, 47of74.

[fascisthunter]

35. I Noticed that too and disagree with D'Amato's Idea of Privatizing the Postal Service

even if it is partial. He allowed those hacks to get away with a lie. I'm glad he said what he did, but I don't how he agreed with them.

[John Kerry VonErich]

13. I wonder if there are any white nigerians?

nt

[valerief]

15. Too much Fox bullshit. Want to privatize Homeland Security? Abolish it!!!!

Want more McDonald's than post offices? We should abolish McDonald's!!!!!

Oh, that was painful and I didn't even get halfway through.

[47of74]

20. Did you fast forward to the good parts?

[valerief]

21. I couldn't stand to listen to anymore of it. nt

[ProudDad]

40. I couldn't listen to the whole thing...

I did hear the good parts...

I think that we should abolish BOTH the bogus "Fatherland Security" dept AND mcdonald's!

[wordpix]

16. "shut up, I listened to your racist bullshit!" I love it! Jackoff deserves it

[DeSwiss]

18. K&R!!!

Jack Burkman is a fucking asshole.

- EOM

[ThomasQED]

22. I tried to watch it, I really did

but I couldn't get past the heinous woman talking about government-run agencies who sees more value in a McDonald's than a post office...


argh.

[Quantess]

26. The panel was so "fair and balanced", wasn't it?

:eyes: All four of them basically agreed with each other, except for the racist comments.

And, just because she doesn't use the post office doesn't mean other people don't.

[matt819]

23. Some observations

Not about the name calling, but about the postal service.

I run a small business and have used UPS almost exclusively for more than five years. I've begun to switch to the Postal Service because their rates are lower, delivery to long distance locations is quicker. When rates are lower via UPS, I use UPS. If the Postal Service raised its rates and was comparable to UPS, I'd switch back to UPS. Why? To avoid the daily inconvenience of driving to the Post Office. Yes, I know the Postal Service will pick up, but it's next day, and I want my packages ready to go to be on their way by the close of business.

Of course, all of that is neither here nor there. If you base your package shipping decision on price, the Postal Service comes out ahead. Can they outdo UPS and FedEx on marketing? Probably not. And there seems to be a built-in bias against the Postal Service. The points made in the video about postal workers being low-skilled jobs is probably right, but that's no reason to be gratuitously insulting or racist. I my area, all postal workers are caucasian, and most are quite pleasant, friendly, helpful, etc. Are they worth their salaries? Good question. Valid for discussion. But there's no need for insults.

Next. Although UPS does have some sort of bulk letter mailing and return shipping service in conjunction with the postal service, they do not have a daily commitment to deliver mail to every single address in America. If they did, you'd probably see postal rates go up and those $1 and $2 billion profit figures cited in that video exchange come down. Sure, an awful lot of Americans no longer depend on the US Postal Service for things they counted on them for years and years ago, including me. But sometimes you just have to mail a letter, and sending one for 44 cents is far more appealing that sending one by Priority Mail or UPS for 10x to 30x more money. So the anti-union and anti-government types on the right are conveniently ignoring the fact that they are comparing apples and oranges. It's one thing for my UPS driver, for example, to make 2 or 3 deliveries a day to homes on my street - there are maybe 30 of them. It's another to require them to make all 30 stops - every day - and expect their profits or mailing rates to stay level.

Also, the RW goes into the same endless loop about how they don't need the service - whatever that service is - and so others don't either, or can just do things the way they do things. Not everyone has a computer. Not everyone can afford courier shipping rates. What should we do? Kill those people? Deport them? Ship them off to North Dakota and let them fend for themselves. It's just like the health care issue. A neighbor recently mentioned that they are self-insured and negotiate their charges at the local hospital and with local doctors, and then pay cash. And that's the way it should be for all of us. Hey, nice work if you can get it, but most of us don't have that kind of cash lying around and need some other sort of safety net, whether it's one payer or decent, affordable insurance. But I guess, again, that the answer is, well, fuck those less fortunate. That attitude, already prevalent, is the precursor to a Lord of the Flies mentality.

[alfredo]

24. Rave on Brother!!

[lurky]

25. Wait, are we talking about the same Al D'Amato?

The one who got in trouble for doing that hideous Japanese accent impersonation? I can't find it on YouTube, but it's got to be around somewhere.

What is going on here?

[Fire1]

27. Same ole neo-conservative mantra! No more government

so there will be no need for regulation and everything will be privitized and Black folks can go back to picking cotton! THE END

[fascisthunter]

29. conservatives have been defunding the Postal Office to the Point

where they can then point out it's flaws.

When that bobble-head stated that the post office was behind the times, she should have been reminded that her party in particular has been trying to destroy it and the concept of a publicly financed postal system for years from within the government. The reason why it is where it is today is because of deliberate underfunding. Fuck you conservative lying douchebags! You need to lie just about everything because your ideology is bankrupt and because you know no shame as would any soulless sociopath.... ya have nothing but brought this country down.

[byronius]

30. None of these schmucks know their history.

Benjamin Franklin was the first Postmaster, and he addressed this issue quite clearly. Privatizing the post office is a recipe for disaster. Idiots.

[fascisthunter]

34. yup

it's embarrassing to see adults lie and say shit that isn't true just to get what they want. They aren't just ignorant, they are programmed assholes who would do anything just for a buck.

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

31. comparisons of the USPS to UPS and FEDEX is stupid

postage is so cheep that i can't even remember what a stamp cost, but I am pretty sure they are less then 50 cents. The last overnight envelope, i sent to california was almost 30 dollars. So these privatizer's will get us $3.00 stamps.

Now do i need to have snail mail put in my box 6 days a week, Well i do not even empty it once a week so maybe they can cut back on residential service.

[pattmarty]

73. AND, Fedex is NON UNION AND NOW LOSING MONEY..............

........UPS is union, the post office is partially union and pays "decently". Have you seen those Brown bail out ads? This is all about backing Fedex (a NON union company) against a union company (UPS) and the post office. Anybody with an IQ over 40 knows that if the USPS is "privatized" that people and business in "low population" areas won't get the same service as the larger cities. Most importantly though, is that privatization ADDS cost to a product just because of the "for profit" thing. All of these privatization ass holes from Blackwater to health insurance costs MORE than government run entities. For christ sake, the PO is "partially" privatized already. Look at the way they move "air mail" through private airlines and the way the move "ground" mail through private carriers. I want to make the word "privatize" a dirty word in the same vein that the conservatives tried to do the same with "liberal". It is common sense, privatization COSTS FUCKING MORE than a efficiently run government entity.

[rasputin1952]

32. No love lost between D'Amato and I...

but I've got to hand it to him...he beat the crap out of that Jack bonehead...:D

[Deb]

33. Oh my!

Burkman got a famous NY "Altomato" smack down. Haven't heard one of those in years, must say those BSs make em all the bedda. :rofl:

The filthy GOP can't even discuss the US Post Office without flinging shit can they? So typical of their kind

[subject]

36. Video has been disabled

AAAhh I really wanna see this....But I think FOX took it down

[alp227]

38. Wasn't there a similar (frontpage?) story several days back?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4539861

But D'Amato=badass with this one.

[liberation]

41. Hell yes! let's privatize the postal Office just like we did with health care...

... so we can have the most expensive delivery service in the world which ranks at the very bottom in quality when compared to any other industrialized country!

Oh, wait....

BTW, how come no one in that panel of degenerates made the case for Wall Street to be fired en masse and become cab drivers? They received more public money over a year ago, than the Postal Service has ever gotten through its entire history.

[MrModerate]

42. Not only is Burkman a slimy pig, he's flat-out wrong.

The social effect of "pushing the postal workers down" would be broad economic carnage with trivial return to the public purse. This whole discussion also highlights why government services are -- usually quite sensibly -- not determined by purely market forces.

Sure the Postal Service could stand a reform of its business model. Fed-Ex and UPS have skimmed off the money spinners, leaving the USPS the responsibility for home delivery of mail, where it's impossible to make a profit. Simultaneously, email and social networking technology have just about killed the personal letter and much of the bulk-mailing traffic that could contribute to profitability. Some rethinking of the USPS mission is clearly in order.

However, I'd like to draw attention to how it's done in Australia, where I currently live. Here there's a presumption that full-time employment comes with a salary that lets you live decently. Waitresses, security guards, farm workers, grocery clerks -- all sorts of limited-skill positions -- attract wages that make it possible to live a decent life: rent or buy acceptable housing, clothe and educate your children, and even have something left over for recreation (don't get me started on how Australian healthcare -- imperfect as it is -- removes the utter dread with which Americans must view illness in the family).

So, my first note to Burkman: market Darwinism is *not* the sole answer to zillionaires' problems with their slightly reduced net worth.

Second note: see photo above.

[lib2DaBone]

43. This is more GOP Goldman Sacs Supply Side Bull Shit...

Fire all the postal workers and privatize it... for gods sake. Ya.. do that and they raise the price of a letter to $2.00. AND... bring in Foreign Nationals H1B1 workers to work in their "Privatized" post offices. Pay them crap wages.. no benifts and work them to death while they take the profit and go to the Cayman Islands, pay no taxes and ruin America. SAME OLD STUFF!!

No thank you.. leave the post office just the way it is.

Republicans are Egg Sucking Dogs.

[herbm]

44. A lot of FED EX is shipped via the USPO, fer crikes sakes!!!

[davidinalameda]

49. the PO delivers Fed Ex packages in my town

my town only has like 1500 people but still

UPS delivers their own packages

[butterfly77]

45. I see the biotch..

put back on her glasses again,she's pretending to be an intellectual..

[butterfly77]

46. What's the cause Al ?

pretending not to be racist is your cabbie a Nigerian..

[pleah]

47. K&R

:rofl:

[RavensChick]

51. WOW!!!

Al has got mondo balls to say that! Good for him!

Guess there's hope yet for this country.

[McCamy Taylor]

52. Amazing!

[autorank]

54. My former Senator k*r

For a few years when I lived in NY. Good grief, D'Amato just peeled the bark off of the guy. And what about that
comment about these unskilled workers should have been "shoved down" to the lower class. What scum.

Al, I didn't vote for you but you've got my admiration.

[Thrill]

55. I cant listen to that Fox Business crap

All they do is try to hit on any business that is union friendly. They do it all day everyday

[Jefferson23]

56. LOL, I 'm enjoying watching the implosion. Would be nice to think

Al actually gave a damn, maybe he does. I tend to think he just knows they can't win big with overt racism.

They need to cloak it better, like Al knows how....freaking schmuck.

Now this should be a Republican T shirt to bash their T Baggers who are ruining their political chances.

"Shut Up, I Listened To Your Racist Bullshit”

[Chulanowa]

57. I'm trying to follow the logic they are using here

USPS workers are "unskilled" - but UPS / FedEx workers are skilled?

And what definition of "waste" are they using here? There's a huge difference between "operating at a loss" and "waste" - of course the USPS operates at a loss, it's a non-profit government service that pays employees.

[MickeyD]

60. Wow.

Just wow.

[markpkessinger]

62. I wouldn't lavish too much praise on d'Amato just yet...

While his criticism of Burkman was absolutely on the mark, keep in mind that the former Senator was not disputing Burkman's argument concerning privatizing the postal service. In fact, he fully agreed. While I certainly hope he was sincere in his criticism, he said something that made me wonder a bit. It was something along the lines of "I agree with you, but you don't serve your cause well by bringing racist remarks into the discussion." (That's a paraphrase, not an exact quote.) While that remark is probably quite true, I had to wonder whether D'Amato's chief concern was the racism itself, or the potential damage of such overt racism to the conservative cause. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt in this instance; but I would add that I don't exactly recall D'Amato being a paragon of racial sensitivity while he was a senator.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

63. My poor brother tried to get a job with the post office, and was cut cause he wasn't fast enough.

:( He was hoping to get it mainly for the benefits. I think we need the post office public in order to keep postal rates in check. Privatization promoters never mention that.

Just remember the telecommunications act of 96. Cable rates went through the roof and have never come back to earth since.

[Vidar]

64. Obama could take a lesson from this.

[maryf]

67. Way to make amends!

I could find hundreds of statements that show D'Amato to be a complete jerk, this is something...he's not a complete jerk now I guess...

[live love laugh]

68. This "Nigerian" bullshit is code for the N-Word IMHO.

Really, how close to the N-Word can you get than the word Nigerian and who else are they referring to other than non-Nigerian African Americans? I'll bet the N-Word stems from the word Nigerian.

[RoccoR5955]

69. Wow! I never thought I'd say it but Al is correct!

The more these teabaggers get news play, the more people find out just how dumb they are. I hope that they remember when they go to vote. I know that I'll remind them, will you?

[Faryn Balyncd]

74. K&R

[Faryn Balyncd]

75. Most remarkable is the blatancy with which Burkman says the "middle..SHOULD HAVE BEEN PUSHED DOWN" :

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9158397


(and the fact that every single panelist shares his desire to privatize the post office, his contempt for postal workers, and his desire to adopt policies that WILL push down Americans in the middle and working classes, even as these privatization policies result in both higher prices AND higher costs to taxpayers (who have to foot the bill for the social services & healthcare costs for the workers deprived of benefits by the privatized entities.)

[Jim_Shorts]

76. You guys miss the forest for the trees

D'Amato will be buying Burkman a beer right after the show. It's FOX - It's business news. They are both on the SAME page to privatize the post office, further dismantling the middle class and helping create more monopolies for their buddies. If they can get more press by doing some racist skit, it furthers their cause.

They are LAUGHING THEIR ASSES OFF AT THE MSM for helping them.

[SOS]

77. Unskilled labor should be "pushed down for market reasons"

There's the GOP view of honest hard-working Americans.
They should be "pushed down".

Minimum wage, no benefits and then stomp on their throats for good measure.

Except for the top 1%, there is no future.

[No Elephants]

78. So...is this supposed to redeem D'Amato's racist ass? Fuck Burkman AND D'Amato.