Herman Cain’s bigotry
WASHINGTON — If we didn’t already know this, here’s what Herman Cain’s regrettable campaign for the Republican presidential nomination has taught us: Black Americans are as capable of ugly and inexplicable prejudices as any other group. Our collective history as victims of ugly and inexplicable prejudices has not made us immune to the virus of bigotry.
So you knew that already? So did I. Still, Cain’s reflexive animosity toward law-abiding Muslim Americans has served as an unnecessary reminder.
In a recent appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Cain told host Chris Wallace that the U.S. Constitution gives Americans the right to ban any mosque they don’t want built nearby. Having spoken out specifically against a planned mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn., Cain seemed oblivious to the fact that the people attempting to build the mosque are also entitled to First Amendment protections.
A retired Georgia businessman turned rightwing talk radio host, Cain had been building to that preposterous and discomfiting moment since he emerged on the campaign trail. In March, while attending a gathering of conservatives in Iowa, a reporter for a progressive blog, ThinkProgress.org, asked him, “Would you be comfortable appointing a Muslim, either in your cabinet or as a federal judge?” He said flatly, according to ThinkProgress, “No, I will not.”
That revealed not only deep-seated prejudices hardly befitting an American president but also an unsettling ignorance about the U.S. Constitution, which tea party supporters like Cain claim to venerate. There is no religious test for political office in this country. The Founding Fathers were attempting to steer their new republic away from the blood-soaked waters of state-endorsed religions.
While he flirted briefly with sounding more reasonable on the issue of Islamic Americans and their religious freedom, he couldn’t resist, in the end, reverting to nutty notions — common enough among paranoid ultra-conservatives — about Sharia law and an Islamic mandate to convert infidels. All the while, he insists that his bigotry bears no comparison to that he experienced as a boy growing up in the Deep South.
Cain was never going to win the Republican nomination. He’s politically inexperienced, ignorant about major policy issues and hardly highly-regarded among the big-time donors he’d need to fund a serious run. He enjoyed a brief boomlet among the GOP’s tea-party-adoring social conservatives, but he’s been eclipsed by their latest star, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Wisc.) It’s hard to see how Cain is more than an after-thought by the time the GOP primaries start next year.
But his candidacy will prove costly. He will leave the campaign trail having tarnished not only his personal reputation but also having contributed to the GOP’s difficulties with voters who are not white Christians. Ironically, Cain has managed to worsen the problems that the party has reaching outside its homogenous ranks.
Indeed, he perfectly illustrates the GOP’s current moment — an ever-shrinking tent of narrow-minded know-nothings who insist that those who come inside pledge absolute fealty to their most ludicrous pronouncements. As a black man, for example, Cain draws enthusiastic applause from rightwing audiences for his insistence that the tea party movement holds not a shred of racism. Perhaps Cain really believes that, but it sounds like the price of admission.
Moreover, he has enthusiastically castigated President Barack Obama, a tactic unlikely to lure many black voters, who take great pride in the nation’s first black president. Cain has not only cozied up to birthers, but he has also questioned Obama’s manhood, telling The New York Times that the president isn’t “a strong black man.”
Cain should have represented a breakthrough for the Republican Party, which hasn’t had much success luring substantive black men and women to its presidential trials. The GOP’s most memorable black presidential contender has been the clownish Alan Keyes.
As the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, Cain has serious business credentials. He should have taken the time to develop a substantive platform so he would have had more to sell than clichés about taxes, disrespect for Obama and Islamophobia.
Instead, he became one more member of the GOP’s lunatic fringe. Oh, well. I guess the fringe needs diversity, too.
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462 comments Add your comment
Arthur Blank (eye own the falcoooooons)
July 22nd, 2011
2:51 pm
Cynthia Tucker calls Herman Cain a BIGOT? Now thats the Black pot calling the kettle black 4 sure. LMMFAO!
georgedawg
July 22nd, 2011
2:52 pm
We’ve come to expect this type of stuuf from CM as the readfership and susscriptions tumble.
jimp
July 22nd, 2011
2:52 pm
Muslims blow up stuff every week and liberals keep looking the other way!
kurt cobain
July 22nd, 2011
2:53 pm
aubrey,
they both kill in the name of their religion, whether it’s the born-again draft-dodgin’ gw or obl(who reagan supplied with arms). No difference.
The Outlaw Josey Wales
July 22nd, 2011
2:53 pm
When CT said “ever-shrinking” maybe she got Republicans confused with AJC subscribers…
Partisay
July 22nd, 2011
2:54 pm
I wonder if these conversatives would like to ban Rev. Phelps and the Woodboro Baptist Church if they would like to expand here? You know, the “God Hates Fags” church that likes to picket funerals. Bet they wouldn’t….after all it’s a “Christian” church.
The Outlaw Josey Wales
July 22nd, 2011
2:54 pm
I would like to apologize for unfairly accusing curt cobain of smoking weed, when in fact he clearly is snorting coke.
The Welshman Josey's Inlaw
July 22nd, 2011
2:55 pm
“We’ve come to expect this type of stuuf from CM as the readfership and susscriptions tumble.”
What is “stuuf’?
Who is CM?
What are “susscriptions”?
Peadawg
July 22nd, 2011
2:55 pm
Cynthia calls someone else a bigot. Nice….
(FEAR) False Evidence Appearing Real
July 22nd, 2011
2:57 pm
Cain is simply fanning the flames of hatred and bigotry…and his base is slopping it up like pigs. He’s giving the people what they want. I hope he is not ignorant enough to sip his own kool-aid.
Partisay
July 22nd, 2011
2:57 pm
How about it Outlaw? Would you ban them too? Or do you just put little smartass posts up and not really get into any kind of discussion?
The Outlaw Josey Wales
July 22nd, 2011
2:57 pm
Cynthia is not a bigot. We know because Chris Matthews makes her go all tingly in the leg.
catdawg
July 22nd, 2011
2:58 pm
peadwag is the seabiscuit of the blogosphere.
Partisay
July 22nd, 2011
2:58 pm
With outlaw’s spelling, he must have been one of those little punks that never paid attention in school.
Goldie
July 22nd, 2011
2:59 pm
“Muslims blow up stuff every week and liberals keep looking the other way.”
jimp @ 2:52 — no, we don’t look the other way — we just know who exacerbated the whole problem by “spreading democracy” at gunpoint in the Middle East — so, we’re still thanking you and your GOP friends for bringing about all this death and destruction week after sickening week.
Katz
July 22nd, 2011
2:59 pm
No bigotry there. If you’d ask me, “would you hire a christian?”, I’d say, “HELL NO!,
Religious or ethnic persuasion should mean nothing in hiring or appointments.
A prospective employee/appointee should be measured on his or her INDIVIDUAL merits.”
ML King is rolling in his grave!
The only thing Herman is guilty of is opening his mouth before considering all the possible ramifications of his answer.
A friend recently commented that her goal is to become a successful black woman. I asked, “why limit yourself?”
williebkind
July 22nd, 2011
3:00 pm
Using CT’s reasoning then no one should blame the “white man” for their ills unless they are recognized as a bigot.
WOODSTOCK MIKE
July 22nd, 2011
3:00 pm
“I wonder if these conversatives would like to ban Rev. Phelps and the Woodboro Baptist Church if they would like to expand here? You know, the “God Hates Fags” church that likes to picket funerals. Bet they wouldn’t….after all it’s a “Christian” church.”
I guess the guy who posted this isn’t aware of Rev. Phelps political affiliation…
The Outlaw Josey Wales
July 22nd, 2011
3:00 pm
Partisay…
Every Christian I’ve ever talked to considers those people you speak of who protest at military funerals to be unspeakable morons.
If you want to have areal discussion, why don’t you tell us how you equate their constitutionally-protected free speech to flying jets into office buildings, and then having muslims world-wide dance in the streets in celebration?
red
July 22nd, 2011
3:01 pm
ignorance is catnip to the gop
williebkind
July 22nd, 2011
3:01 pm
Goldie
July 22nd, 2011
2:59 pm
How did Islam start and got spreaded throught out the middle east?
WOODSTOCK MIKE
July 22nd, 2011
3:01 pm
” so, we’re still thanking you and your GOP friends for bringing about all this death and destruction week after sickening week”
Sorry Goldie, that death and destruction was going on before the United States was even a country…
The Outlaw Josey Wales
July 22nd, 2011
3:02 pm
“With outlaw’s spelling, he must have been one of those little punks that never paid attention in school.”
I think I see one or two typos and zero mis-spellings in my posts there, big guy. Is that all you got? feeble…
williebkind
July 22nd, 2011
3:02 pm
red
July 22nd, 2011
3:01 pm
is that a drive by statement?
Cain is an idiot ... but he has somewhat of a point
July 22nd, 2011
3:02 pm
@Jack: “The Founding Fathers didn’t know about Muslims bombing our buildings.”
They knew about armed militias but didn’t know they would spawn nutty, fiendish baby-killers like Timothy McVeigh, now did they? What’s your point?!
David Toliver
July 22nd, 2011
3:04 pm
There are people you and I don’t like for any number of reasons. I don’t see how religion is barred from that criteria. Cultural differences are fair game in my opinion. Its not gender, race, or even sexual orientation (all of which are allegedly uncontrollable). What I read in the article and throughout the comments is that we’re allowed to not like him (disassociate ourselves from him) due to his personal stance and/or views that we find offensive or inappropriate but he’s not allowed to disassociate himself from people due to their personal stance and/or views that he finds offensive or inappropriate. There seems to be a double standard but when we (everyone: dems, repubs, inds, etc.) already have our minds made up about someone, we rarely even try to find their point of view but rather respond quickly and with a lot of venom. At least Ms. Tucker isn’t afraid to put her name to her view unlike almost all who comment on these news stories. Heaven forbid someone know where you stand. I read Ms. Tucker’s column often and appreciate her perspective even though I often times disagree.
The Outlaw Josey Wales
July 22nd, 2011
3:04 pm
“ignorance is catnip to the gop”
And still., curiously, as I stated above, it’s the GOP voters who can plan for their own retirement, provide their own health care, educate their own children, feed their own families, pay hteir own mortgages, etc.
LMAO
The Welshman Josey's Inlaw
July 22nd, 2011
3:04 pm
“How did Islam start and got spreaded throught out the middle east?”
The mayo on my sandwich got spreaded with a butter knife.
josey's outhouse
July 22nd, 2011
3:04 pm
based upon my experience, run from any organization that pushes Jesus. (homebanc)- biggest thieves on the planet.
The Outlaw Josey Wales
July 22nd, 2011
3:05 pm
“ignorance is catnip to the gop”
…and personal responsibility is kryptonite to democrats…
williebkind
July 22nd, 2011
3:05 pm
The founding fathers knew about the muslims and one made a comment about the muslims and it was not to promote their constitutional rights.
williebkind
July 22nd, 2011
3:07 pm
The Welshman Josey’s Inlaw
July 22nd, 2011
3:04 pm
Hey that instrument is close to what they used. In a liberal educational environment you might squeeze out a B
GreatATLGuy
July 22nd, 2011
3:07 pm
@woodstock mike – it’s Westboro Baptist, not Woodboro Baptist… but no churches should be banned in the U.S., including Fred’s….
The Outlaw Josey Wales
July 22nd, 2011
3:07 pm
Partisay, when you get done pondering my question about free speech rights vs. terrorism, maybe you would like to address my comments vis-a-vis calling the GOP “ever-shrinking” in light of recent election results.
Thanks in advance.
Willie
July 22nd, 2011
3:08 pm
Why in the world is Tucker talking about bigotry? Of all people! Those of us who have read her race driven columns through the years know that Tucker should staying far, far away from this topic lest we all remembrer her sad, hate filled Tucker has been race baiting in Atlanta for a long, long time.
Do you remember that Tucker knows what percentage of the crowd is racist just becasue they don’t look like her?
Talk about a bigot.
-_-
July 22nd, 2011
3:08 pm
@welshmen…. It was supposed to, thank you. I am also glad that you have a capacity for selective reading and the ability to completely miss the entire point of my post. The point was to mirror Cynthia’s language but from a conservative p.o.v. That kind of ignorance doesn’t sound so good, unless of course a liberal is speaking it, then its ok. Hey Everyone, call yourself a liberal and you have a free pass to bash anyone you want to!
John
July 22nd, 2011
3:08 pm
The Outlaw Josey Wales – LMAO!!! Good posts. Maybe the Liberals will wake up before we loose everything!
Goldie
July 22nd, 2011
3:09 pm
and y’all are somehow thinkin’ that banning mosques in America are going to save you from… what, exactly??? Other than showing your prejudice against someone practicing their own religion, what are you accomplishing? And y’all really think our Founding Fathers didn’t know about religious tyranny back in the good ole 18th century when they wrote the First Amendment to begin with– Really???
audi 5000
July 22nd, 2011
3:09 pm
the outlaw was home-skooled(ha-ha) in a double wide….
The Outlaw Josey Wales
July 22nd, 2011
3:10 pm
“based upon my experience, run from any organization that pushes Jesus. (homebanc)- biggest thieves on the planet.”
Barack Obama calls himself a Christian, and calls Rev. Jeremiah wright a mentor. Care to comment?
Stevie Ray
July 22nd, 2011
3:11 pm
Does anyone really care about religious disputes? I would think our existing laws on discrimination et al would likely neuder Sharia law. If that didn’t work, I’m certain the intense surveillance by various government agencies not to mention the Christian (snake handling) lunatic fringe will make sure those who don’t subscribe to Jesus-speak are vetted of fundamentalists.
Morality has no divine origin. There was no morality before immorality and I believe organized religion historically possessed the latter in order to define the former.
OMG...Really
July 22nd, 2011
3:12 pm
”As for his “bigotry”, it seems to me that he is only stating what others are too coward to say out loud. Is what he says wrong? Possibly.”
From a Constitutional perspective the answer is not possibly and it is not debatable. He is absolutely wrong and should be called out for his misunderstanding or even possible ignorance of the founding document of the Country he purports to want to lead.
The deeply disturbing thing about what Cain said is not necessarily its racial components, but his complete and utter lack of understanding of the Constitution. The Tea Party supposedly revers the Constitution so it should be that group that stands up and says “No, that is not what the document says.” The Constitution is not a sword to be used to abrogate the rights of Americans but a shield to preserve and defend those rights. Any candidate who so completely lacks such understanding is not qualified to be President.
Stevie Ray
July 22nd, 2011
3:12 pm
If Muslim facility is constructed, I bet my own money that the Christians, who want no competition, fire the first shot….
I J Wisenhouser
July 22nd, 2011
3:12 pm
In Norway there was a bombing and guess who is speculated to be blamed, Islamic Radicals. Who was the reason behind dividing Sudan, Islamic Radicals with their genocide of Christians and other non-believers of Islam. Honor killings are only in Islam. Taxing infidels is in Islam. The only real bigots are Democrats and the NAACP that promote hatred and divide of the uneducated. I believe Tucker is part of one of these class-warfare objects.
Cynthia knows if she was in Islam she would be silenced and property of Islam just like other women and when people talk about it, they get murdered like Van Gouh’s grandson Theo Van Gogh.
“The attacker shot Theo Van Gogh and stabbed him repeatedly in the chest, callously disregarding his victim’s pleas for mercy. Despite his life-threatening injuries, Theo was able to gain enough momentum to stumble to the other side of the street but by the time he made his way across, his attacker shot and stabbed him again. He then slit Theo’s throat with a butcher knife as onlookers gasped in sheer horror. ”
This is the nature of Islam, if you don’t agree, then beware.
June
July 22nd, 2011
3:13 pm
As Barry the Incompetent’s poll numbers slide, predictably Libs increase their attacks and become even more irrational.
The Welshman Josey's Inlaw
July 22nd, 2011
3:13 pm
“Maybe the Liberals will wake up before we loose everything!”
I think one person is making many mistakes under different names.
The Outlaw Josey Wales
July 22nd, 2011
3:13 pm
“the outlaw was home-skooled(ha-ha) in a double wide….”
But again, curiously, Josey funds his own retirement, pays for his own health care, educates his own kids, feeds his own family, and paid off his own mortgage.
I guess ignorance really IS bliss…
stranger in a strange land
July 22nd, 2011
3:14 pm
Now that CT is back to remind us that all conservatives – be they white/black, man/woman – are all knuckle dragging, hating racists.
Now that that chore is out of the way…I’ve noticed it’s been rather warm lately. Shouldn’t there be a reminder of how climate change is settled science, and whether you are white/black, man/woman – you’re are all fools to believe otherwise?
bookman parrot
July 22nd, 2011
3:15 pm
To Goldie
July 22nd, 2011
2:42 pm
Are you thankful for gas that costs almost twice as much? Or is it almost 10% unemployment?
Or some other myriad of fiscal mess?
Alatsea
July 22nd, 2011
3:15 pm
Soryy CT, Muslims are the enemy.