Republicans slam Rep. King for what they call racist remarks

[crocoduck_hunter]

WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Thursday criticized a fellow GOP lawmaker for making what they said were "racist" comments.

Rep. Steve King of Iowa was quoted in The New York Times saying, "White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?"

The comment drew a denunciation from members of House Republican leadership.

Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 Republican, said King's remarks were "abhorrent and racist and should have no place in our national discourse."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...id=mailsignout

Holy carp! Republicans are actually calling out another Republican for racist remarks, and not in a "being politically correct means you're the real racist" way.

[E. Q. Taft]

I don't think referring to "Western civilization" is racist, unless perhaps you try to imply that it's the only civilization. (Or the only one that matters.)

[crocoduck_hunter]

"Defend Western Civilization" has been a racist dog-whistle among white supremacists for a while.

[Gutter Monkey]

Originally Posted by crocoduck_hunter

"Defend Western Civilization" has been a racist dog-whistle among white supremacists for a while.

A bunch of politicians who ran on anti-Muslim platforms in Australia (including several former Prime Ministers such as Tony Abbott) put together a fund and approached two of the most prestigious universities in the country to create a degree in "Western Civilization", offering up $50 million for new facilities and scholarships, with members of the fund overseeing the degree somewhat, having seats on the selection committee, etc. Tony Abbott wrote an opinion piece for the local media where he discussed the proposed degree, complaining that the current curriculum was "pervaded by Asian, Indigenous and sustainability perspectives" and lacked "any sense that cultures might not all be equal and that truth might not be entirely relative."

After months of fairly fierce debate the university eventually said "Thanks but no thanks."

(But a much less prestigious university recently accepted the deal.)

[Mouse]

As the immortal Samantha Bee points out, Steve King has always been terrible.

[crocoduck_hunter]

It's interesting, and very telling, how little media attention this has been given compared to Rashida Tlaib's use of "motherNFBSKer."

[dfresh]

Originally Posted by crocoduck_hunter

It's interesting, and very telling, how little media attention this has been given compared to Rashida Tlaib's use of "motherNFBSKer."

He is a guy, telling it like it is. She is supposed to be a lady.

[erwins]

Originally Posted by crocoduck_hunter

It's interesting, and very telling, how little media attention this has been given compared to Rashida Tlaib's use of "motherNFBSKer."

https://twitter.com/mmfa/status/1083...008533505?s=20. A comparison of time spent on King embracing white supremacy vs. Tlaib using the MF-word.

[Blatherskite]

Originally Posted by crocoduck_hunter

"Defend Western Civilization" has been a racist dog-whistle among white supremacists for a while.

Whereas 'white nationalist' and 'white supremacist' are racist fog horns.

ETA: unless you're just talking about them as concepts, rather than justifying the concepts of course!

[Darth Credence]

Originally Posted by crocoduck_hunter

Holy carp! Republicans are actually calling out another Republican for racist remarks, and not in a "being politically correct means you're the real racist" way.

Meh. King has been racist for a long, long time, and they have had ample opportunity to call him out on it and not allow him to run as a Republican. They aren't calling out the other open racists in their party, such as Trump, so I'm not giving them any credit for this.

[E. Q. Taft]

Originally Posted by crocoduck_hunter

"Defend Western Civilization" has been a racist dog-whistle among white supremacists for a while.

Yeah, that I can see.

I am grimly amused by the Republicans calling him out. Images of Claude Rains being shocked that gambling is going on here come irresistibly to mind.

[crocoduck_hunter]

Originally Posted by Darth Credence

Meh. King has been racist for a long, long time, and they have had ample opportunity to call him out on it and not allow him to run as a Republican. They aren't calling out the other open racists in their party, such as Trump, so I'm not giving them any credit for this.

I'm not giving them credit. I'm just shocked that they're actually bothering to say anything aside from chastising liberals for being impolite or saying that calling King a racist makes you the real racist.

[Psihala]

House votes to reject white supremacy after outrage over Rep. Steve King comments

The House of Representatives voted 424-1 on Tuesday to reject white supremacy after outrage over Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King questioning why using the term is considered offensive.

https://abcnews.go.com/beta-story-co...ry?id=60391884

He's also apparently been stripped of his committee assignments, and won't be offered any others in the future.

~Psihala

[Mouse]

Originally Posted by E. Q. Taft

I am grimly amused by the Republicans calling him out. Images of Claude Rains being shocked that gambling is going on here come irresistibly to mind.

The same here. This feels like something of a sacrificial lamb sort of thing. Don’t get me wrong, King is terrible and deserving of shame, but he has been terrible for a long time. I wonder if the reason the GOP is coming down on him more because “This White Supremacist BS might ruin our brand,” than, y’know, moral objections. In coming down on King, the GOP has an example they can point to and be all, “See we are doing something about the White Supremacists in our party,” while still maintaining access to Trump and his ilk, and not alienating their base too much. Thanks to the Southern Strategy, the racist idiot vote has been their traditional margin of victory. They’d get creamed if they didn’t play to those idiots, so of course, the GOP is going to do so, until it’s no longer politically expedient.

[thorny locust]

Anybody else reminded of the mess around Trent Lott's praising Strom Thurmond?

Not as if they hadn't known all along what Lott was like, or what Thurmond was like. But Lott made the mistake of coming out and saying it a little too clearly.

[E. Q. Taft]

To repeat something I've said in the past: I don't believe all Republicans are racists. (Or at least, not in the conscious/active sense of racism; when you get into subconscious racism, I think it's rare to find any human being who is not at least a little susceptible.) However, it's clear that, at least since 1970 or thereabouts, an overwhelming majority of (white) racists in this country vote Republican. (Go back another decade or two and things are quite different.)

Further, and more to the point, is that I believe Republican politicians are very much aware of this and are rarely willing to do anything to upset such voters; and are often willing to play to them in coded, marginally acceptable ways. And I find that deplorable.

However, it's also apparent that this is coming home to roost in the Trump era. The praise of his willingness to be blunt and "politically incorrect" and so forth has emboldened the racist and nationalist elements to creep out of the woodwork, and to demand their voices not be suppressed. Naturally this is alarming to the more rational Republicans who understand quite well that this is a path to marginalizing the party in the very near future -- but at the same time, they still are reluctant to confront it too directly, because they still need that support to have any chance of holding on to power at all.

I don't know where the answer is for them, or exactly what's going to happen, but it's likely to be messy, and the mess will (and has) inevitably spilled over on to the rest of us.

[GenYus234]

I would agree that not all Republicans are actively racist. But continuing to support a party that is so blatantly racist makes them passive participants in racism, not merely subconsciously racist. They may have other reasons to support the Republican party such as a genuine belief that doing so is better for the economy or security, but being willing to trade the rights of others for such purposes is still supporting racism.

[crocoduck_hunter]

Yeah, it's saying that you don't find the blatant racist's behavior intolerable and you're willing to keep associating with.

[DawnStorm]

Originally Posted by crocoduck_hunter

Yeah, it's saying that you don't find the blatant racist's behavior intolerable and you're willing to keep associating with.

Sounds like the 'Some of my best friends are...'
G-you are judged by the company you keep though.

[crocoduck_hunter]

Kind of the inverse of "some of my best friends are...", really. There you're trying to prove you're not biased against a group by claiming to associate with members of that group, this is the fact that you're willing to associate with someone in spite of their behavior indicates a lack of concern regarding their behavior.