I know you are, but what am I?

(From July 19, 2010)

In response to charges that the Tea-Party movement tacitly condones racism from within its ranks, movement leaders have invoked the age-old schoolyard defense of 'I know you are, but what am I?'

The Tea Party Federation's New York organizer, David Webb most directly echoed the grade school affirmation by saying; "A false charge of racism is itself, racist."

Tea Party Express leader, Mark Williams went further; "They (The NAACP) make more money off of race than any slave trader, ever. "  He also declared that; "It's time groups like the NAACP went to the trash heap of history where they belong along with all the other vile, racist groups that emerged in our history."

Allegations of racism began flying in the fall of 2009 when Mark Williams famously called President Obama; "our half white, racist president."  Before that, groups like the NAACP had generally not taken a position on the fledgling Tea Parties.  Williams also stated that the "Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug and a racist in chief"  "Mubarak Hussein Obama is a Nazi."

It's not clear if Williams' accusations of President's Obama's alleged racism fit with David Webb's pronouncement that false charges of racism are in and of themselves racist.

Excuse me. Are you the Judean People's Front?
Fuck off! We're the People's Front of Judea.  

In an effort to be more civil and distinguish themselves from their more 'Express' or 'Federated' counterparts, a leader of the Tea Party Patriots, Robin Stublen said; "Mark Williams is not someone I would want being my spokesman.  In politics, people like Mark Williams are a dime a dozen, even when you factor in inflation."  She also went on to show her greater civility by calling Williams "an arrogant, self promoting, egotistical jerk."

Not to be outdone Tea Party Nation group also released a statement repudiating racism and inviting all patriots regardless of race to join their numbers. To be clear, as Ms. Stublen tried to stress in distancing herself from the Tea Party Express, not all of the tea-partiers are racist.  But Williams and Webb are doing a bang up job convincing the sane world that they all are.

Williams is on record as making 'non-racist' pronouncements such as the predominantly black and impoverished New Orleans victims of Katrina "didn't have the necessary brains and common sense to get out of the way of a Cat 5 Hurricane and then when it hit them- stood on the side of the convention Center expiring while reporters were coming and going."   

Yes, this from a man who describes himself as a "humanitarian" and his GOP astro-turf organization as a "Human rights movement."  Williams says that  "it's impossible for these people to be malicious or to be racist." 

Note to self: Patriotic American humanitarian Tea-baggers feel that it is NOT malicious to mock the victims of disaster.  This must be the compassionate conservatism that President Bush spoke so glowingly of.  Who knew?

Williams doesn't only limit himself to subjects involving race, he also pronounced Cindy Sheehan a traitor and said that by protesting President Bush, "she is aiding and abetting the enemies of this country and the people who killed her son." But to be fair, Williams said this before protesting the President became a patriotic duty.    He added without malice that she "is on a mission to figuratively urinate on her son's grave and make his death stand for nothing."

Nope.  No malice there.  And I can see the slogans now.  'Humanitarians for War!'

The tea-baggers denied that there was any malicious behavior or spitting involving their members, but of course when confronted with actual evidence to prove them wrong, they change their tune and instead claim that the belligerent behavior is caused by Democratic 'plants' among the purely humanitarian, non racist, non-malicious patriots in the crowd in the video.

Williams claims that it is "impossible for (tea-partiers) to be malicious or to be racist..." so he must think that hurling epithets and spitting on members of Congress isn't malicious at all.  See the video yourselves and decide whether you think that the behavior of these tea-partiers can possibly be considered malicious. 

The right-friendly Politico website had a very interesting informal poll on its site a few days ago, asking the question:  "Do you think members of the tea party should, as the NAACP asks, condemn "racist" elements of their movement?"

The responses were rather predictable, but telling. (As of the writing of this post) Respondents were split between "Yes. We can't have hateful language in political discourse." (45%) and "Where's the evidence of these "racist" elements?" (45%)

Almost half believe there is no evidence of racist elements at all. The poll doesn't ask if they thought that the Tea Party movement was a racist movement, only if people thought that there were "racist elements."

They don't believe there is evidence of racist elements?

Republicans like Senator John Cornyn of Texas fear the wrath of the tea-baggers and the hatertainers of Wingnutistan who trumpet the movement so they also claim ignorance of any elements of racism.

Mitch McConnell whose hand picked GOP establishment candidate was trounced by the Tea Party darling Ayn Rand Paul in Kentucky demurred, choosing instead to remain mute on the subject, rather than risk the further ire of the baggers.

Wacky Michelle Bachmann believes that calling out the racists of the Tea-Party is a Democratic strategy to marginalize their political opponents.  In a way she's right, but the Land O' Lakes Loon still doesn't say anything to refute that those political opponents spew racially tinged hate speech; in fact she's still trying to harness that energy to promote herself, announcing that she would be forming a tea party caucus, with her serving as the chair, of course.

Cornyn called the resolution by the NAACP "slanderous", and said that there was "there's just no basis" for any allegations of racism.

No basis at all?

The mere fact that half of the respondents to the politico poll don't accept that there is even the slightest bit of evidence of racism among the Tea Party is indicative of the level of denial that the tea-baggers specifically, and the greater Republican family in general are living in.

Here's some evidence.

Mark Williams went all-in this weekend with a 'parody' blog post he published in which he wrote as NAACP chair Ben Jealous, whom he 'satirically' referred to as the "Head Colored Person of the group and "Tom's Nephew."  That's Tom as in Uncle Tom for anyone who didn't get the 'joke.'

In the blog, Jealous, writes to Abraham Lincoln to "condemn the abolitionist spirit called the 'tea party movement'."  Jealous, who Williams portrays as speaking like an 19th Century slave asks Lincoln; "What kind of massa would ever not want to control my life?"  He goes on to assert that "As Coloreds we must have somebody care for us otherwise we would be on our own, have to think for ourselves and make decisions!"  He continues to ask; "How will we Colored People ever get a wide screen TV in every room if non-coloreds get to keep what they earn? Totally racist! The tea party expects coloreds to be productive members of society?"

The implication of this 'parody' is that Williams believes that black Americans are NOT productive members of society but instead WANT a rich white people to think for them so that don't have to and can sit a home and watch television all day.  That's hilarious.

Oh, but there's more.

Williams writes that "Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the reward."  What this Lenny Bruce of the Looney Right is saying is that the 'reward' for emancipation was having to actually work for a living - a 'consequence' that black people didn't expect.  Williams suggests that black people would prefer to be slaves, subject to subjugation, physical abuse, rape and humiliation rather than get a job.

He proposes that Jealous, the NAACP and all black Americans believe that Lincoln was 'the greatest racist ever" for having being so cruel as to sign the Emancipation Proclamation.  Somehow I think this is Williams projecting his own feelings here.   In his 'satire' Williams implies that black people believe they had a "great gig. Three squares, room and board, all our decisions made by the massa in the house."

He closes by having Jealous ask Lincoln to "Please repeal the 13th and 14th Amendments and let us get back to where we belong."

Biting satire, huh? No racism there.

Mark Williams became completely unhinged when he was called out for his hateful race baiting and threw everything and the kitchen sink at the NAACP, playing his ridiculously childish game.   Even David Webb couldn't dismiss this example of craven bigotry and on Sunday 'formally' severed ties between the Tea Party Express organization and the Tea Party Federation after the Tea Party Express refused to "officially remove (Williams) from the ranks of the Tea Party Express," and for his expulsion to be announced in a press release.

The only people we hate more than the Romans are the fucking Judean People's Front.

But Williams must have recognized that his drivel crossed the line because he himself removed his 'satirical' letter to Lincoln from his own website, stating that "the continued controversy over this post can only dectract (sic) from the discussions."  But unable to let go he goes on to champion the cause of harmony, by calling on the NAACP to drop the term 'Colored' from its name, calling it a racial slur.  Thank goodness black people have the likes of Williams in their corner.

By Sunday evening, in an attempt to save himself, he abruptly cancelled several cable news appearances and declared that he would no longer speak on the subject of race.

The real kicker is that the more the racist elements within the Tea Party movement get exposed for what they are, the louder their protestations and denials become.  Their hysterical shrieks of denial of the existence of racist element within the movement evoke the famous Shakespeare line from Hamlet;  "The lady doth protest too much, methinks."

They obfuscate, claiming that their main raison d'être is shrinking government, lessening government control in the private sector, and lowering taxes - as if Images of Obama as a bone-in-the-lip savage are logical and legitimate expressions of opposition to his policies, when in fact they have nothing to do with politics and everything to do with hate.

The responses are predictable.  The comments sections of articles on this issue are filled with shocked indignation and transference:  The NAACP are the real racists.  The Democratic Party is the party of the KKK.  The Republican Party freed the slaves. Al Sharpton, Farrakhan, Jeremiah Wright. Islam.  On and on.   Classic 'I know you are, but what am I?' rationale.  Brilliant strategy.

The abject refusal by many people in the GOP and Tea-party to entertain the idea that SOME of their movement could possibly be seen as racist is laughable and attaches the stench of tacit agreement upon all them.

Why are they so loath to admit that there is even the slightest possibility that a racist sentiment subsists among the legitimate positions of the movement?  I think the answer is clear.