I admit, I’m surprised: Romney campaign stirs the racial pot
I wish I didn’t have to write this, but apparently I do:
In his ambition to become president, Mitt Romney is trotting out the race card, calling upon and reinforcing old resentments and racial stereotypes to generate votes and support.
I had resisted that notion for months, despite evidence otherwise. I had given Romney a lot more credit than that, both as a person of decent instincts and as a leader. I honestly did not think that he would stoop to the likes of a Newt Gingrich, for example, with his description of Obama as “the food-stamp president” pursuing “Kenyan” values.
In addition, I think conservatives often have a valid point about the “race card” being played too quickly, based on too little evidence. I consider it a serious accusation that should only be made reluctantly, and only with sufficient proof to make it stick.
Unfortunately, the accumulating evidence against Romney has grown too powerful to deny.
Some of you perhaps came to this conclusion a while ago. Some of you no doubt reject it altogether and will continue to do so vehemently. That’s fine, because I’m only speaking for myself. And personally, the straw that broke the camel’s back came in a new interview with USA Today in which Romney charged that Obama was gutting the work requirement in welfare law in order to “shore up his base.”
Because as everyone knows, Obama’s true base can be found among those shiftless Americans too lazy to work and eager to collect welfare bucks for doing nothing, right Mitt? (And if you doubt the power of that narrative among an alarmingly large number of Americans, come back in an hour and read the comments that are sure to follow this post).
In hindsight, the claim that Obama was trying to gut the work requirement — and the prominent play that the Romney camp has given the claim — should have been enough to confirm his shameful intentions. In one ad, for example, Romney claims that “Under Obama’s plan, you wouldn’t have to work and you wouldn’t have to train for a job. They just send you your welfare check.”
Every independent observer to study the claim has confirmed that it is false. Not just slightly false, totally false. Politifact calls it a pants-on-fire lie. The Washington Post gives it Four Pinocchios. FactCheck.org also concluded the charge is false.
The reality is that several state governments, including Republican administrations in Utah and Nevada, sought flexibility in how to administer the law. That’s a conservative idea, right? Give states flexibility in figuring out how best to do things? When Obama took office, just 29 percent of welfare recipients were actually working or taking job training, so the idea of trying something new seemed attractive.
As Gary Herbert, the Republican governor of Utah, wrote in a letter last month defending the waiver request, “Some of these participation requirements are difficult and costly to verify, while other participation requirements do not lead to meaningful employment outcomes and are overly prescriptive.” Utah has no intention whatsoever of weakening work requirements, Herbert wrote.
But when the administration acceded to such requests, it was immediately accused of wanting to give taxpayer money away to welfare bums.
But again, the falsity of the charge is not what gives it away. What gives it away is the Romney campaign’s insistence on taking a very minor bureaucratic change and trying to elevate it into a major issue in the campaign. There is only one possible explanation for pushing the welfare claim so hard, and for hinting that the change is being implemented to “shore up (Obama’s) base.”
And that is an appeal to racism.
– Jay Bookman
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1,111 comments Add your comment
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
August 27th, 2012
3:14 pm
…you are truly a hack Jay.
You forgot to add the two words hyper partisan to your rant, mike.
Morality?
August 27th, 2012
3:15 pm
That pig won’t fly Jay. Obama did not have to drop the work requirement to make the plan more flexible to states….. that is just his excuse. Name me a state, any state, that asked for the work requirement to be dropped. Not saying that people on welfare are his base but am saying that this will result with more people added to the rolls – voting people. Romney’s was not a racist statement but a fact. Obama is throwing candy to a particular part of his base. The one’s that fought and criticized the Republicans and Clinton for making seeking work a requirement to receive welfare are among Obama’s base – most of them vote democrat.
TaxPayer
August 27th, 2012
3:15 pm
It is kind of funny seeing conservatives rush to offer the “but most people on welfare are white” argument.
How many in that demographic were Obama voters?
Thomas Heyward Jr
August 27th, 2012
3:16 pm
Obama/Bush had work requirements for those White Banksters that received TARP welfare.
.
Or did they?
.
As per Bookman……………..”it was wildly successful”.
Gordon
August 27th, 2012
3:16 pm
I’ve heard Al Gore and Hillary Clinton adopt black accents while campaigning with a primarily black audience. I heard Joe Biden say Romeny was trying to “put y’all back in chains” to a primarily black audience. And somehow Romney is a racist for suggesting Obama’s base (more white than black) is full of people who would favor work requirements be removed for welfare receipients (more white than black)? This is the “evidence” that Jay finds too powerful to deny?
Steve-USA "None of the Above"
August 27th, 2012
3:16 pm
“It is kind of funny seeing conservatives rush to offer the “but most people on welfare are white” argument”
Why. Are they required to follow an agenda instead of the truth? It’s a fact.
Ben
August 27th, 2012
3:16 pm
I fail to see any proof of the racial charge.
The work requirements thing is based on him giving Sebelius the power of waivers. She’ll give out waivers for work requirements left and right. He’s watered down the work requirement in effect, if not codified into law. It’s like immigration, he didn’t change the law, he just told people not to enforce it. Accomplishes the same thing without that whole messy law thing getting in the way/
M
August 27th, 2012
3:16 pm
Jim Pierce
Dad, is that you? Step away from your FW:FW:FW: e-mails, please. It’ll be dinner time soon.
Peadawg
August 27th, 2012
3:17 pm
Projection – “The attribution of one’s own attitudes, feelings, or desires to someone or something as a naive or unconscious defense against anxiety or guilt”
You’ve stooped pretty low on this one, Jay.
larry
August 27th, 2012
3:17 pm
I draw great comfort in knowing that Mr. Romney is running against himself.
You have Mr. Romney from 1994-2006, and you have Mr. Romney from 2006-present.
He has made himself out to be a liar so many times that the offical snack food of the Republican National Convention is the pretzel.
Oscar
August 27th, 2012
3:17 pm
Romney, the more you know about him, the less you like him.
Michael
August 27th, 2012
3:17 pm
You have your work cut out for you today, Jay. Donald Trump has been taken off the GOP convention schedule. We will all miss him and his insightful comments about birth certificates, taxes, and some of his best friends. I have to admit I would like to have seen the lowlights of that speech. I’m sure John Stewart is having to recreate one show.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
August 27th, 2012
3:17 pm
WOW ! The second “Obama for President” thread today. Maybe Jay will go for three !
……………… and Obama didn’t/doesn’t play the race card ??? His record goes WAY back !
Headline: “Bill Clinton: Obama Played Race Card On Me”
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2008/04/bill-clinton-ob-2/
Jay …………….. your hypocrisy slip is showing again.
td
August 27th, 2012
3:18 pm
Jay
August 27th, 2012
3:10 pm
It is kind of funny seeing conservatives rush to offer the “but most people on welfare are white” argument.
Bogus argument because conservatives know that it is these majority of whites receiving welfare are also Obama supporters.
Paul
August 27th, 2012
3:19 pm
Jay
Having read thru your piece a few more times, I realize I was hitting a roadblock thinking of Romney as a racist or one dealing in stereotypes. My error was that is not the point of the piece. It is, as I understand it, that Romney, independent of his views of others, would appeal to prejudices in order to secure victory in the election.
That I can accept.
Out for a while.
Thulsa Doom
August 27th, 2012
3:20 pm
Speaking of CT’s old blog I saw this kookism posted the other day.
“Again — the regulars from CT’s know the score.”
Yeah we do. Hell yeah we do. And it was Doomy 4 milllion. Tweedledee and Tweedledum ZERO. HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA
Gawd its been an incredibly awesome day so far! And its only getting better.
Jay
August 27th, 2012
3:20 pm
OK, let’s see how far they’ll go with it:
Which of you is prepared to argue that the stereotypical welfare recipient is white?
Anybody? Come on, be the first on your block!
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 27th, 2012
3:20 pm
Highs in the low 80’s this weekend????? WOOT
Get your cabbage, broccoli and collards into the ground, people!!!
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
August 27th, 2012
3:20 pm
WAR ON WOMEN ALERT !
Headline (CBS): “CHARLOTTE (CBS Charlotte) — The Democratic National Committee is taking flak from women’s groups for the lack of child care that is being provided at the convention.”
http://charlotte.cbslocal.com/2012/08/27/womens-groups-upset-dem-convention-banning-kids-from-floor/
Brosephus™
August 27th, 2012
3:20 pm
Paul
I’m with you in that I don’t think Romney’s explicitly playing the “race” card. What I think he’s doing, however, is listening to some of those far-right advisors who have given him a few double entendres he can use and claim the high ground while the low IQ faithful hears the dog whistles they need to mobilize.
Time will tell if I’m right or not. Seems like a winner so far based on how the Romney Defense Network is attacking Jay’s premise thus far.
larry
August 27th, 2012
3:21 pm
I guess that comment Romney made to the NAACP that ” if you want so more of that free stuff, vote for the other guy ” , I guess that’s not evidence enough either.
And to beat all, he paid people to sit in that audience and cheer for him .
Sad , very sad.
Williebkind
August 27th, 2012
3:21 pm
Now this article is simply a liberal switch to point the guilt toward conservatives. Jay knows there is a dependent society within our society and Jay knows they have been the democratic/liberal base for decades. Jay also knows that Obama was elected because he was Black. Most everone was willing to give him a chance but he took the hard left road and spent America blind. Jay knows the truth just like the liberals. They simply redefine what is truth–another liberal ploy.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 27th, 2012
3:21 pm
Sorry 0311, the war on women is about legislation, not a week-long convention.
Welcome to the Occupation
August 27th, 2012
3:21 pm
I wish I didn’t have to write this, but apparently I do:
I really do hate to have to write this, but I’m afraid I have to.
I predicated almost every single bit of what is said in this column as far back as a year ago.
Mitt Romney, being the tapeworm that he is, will penetrate into every last corner of the intestines of the political sewer in search of something to feed on. There are no limits to it. He’s capitalism personified, a private equity guy, that’s what they do.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
August 27th, 2012
3:22 pm
I haven’t made a study of it but I believe there are more white people than black on welfare.
What the “percentages” are based on race may be another issue.
Jay …………………. how about a chart !!!!!
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
August 27th, 2012
3:22 pm
Finn McCool (The System isn’t Broken; It’s Fixed) :
Does that include unborn women?
Steve Shamrock
August 27th, 2012
3:22 pm
Jay and the Libs are at DEFCON 5…play the race card.
Pretty sad level you have stooped to Mr. Bookman.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 27th, 2012
3:22 pm
Stereotypical? No.
Actual? It appears to be going that way quite fast.
USMC
August 27th, 2012
3:22 pm
“I admit, I’m surprised: Romney campaign stirs the racial pot”–JAY BOOKMAN
Ahhh yes! Here we go again, folks. “Romney’s a RACIST!” LOL!
We have a President that has divided our country by race, gender, religion, national origin, sexual identity/preference, finances, 99%, 1% etc.
He has run this country into the ground and yet the DemocRat propaganda machine is churning out every bit of bluster and bile that they can. Why you ask????
Because Jay and his political operative handlers have seen the numbers, and they know that America is waking up to the reality of the disaster that is OBAMA.
OBAMA IS A FAILURE! Plain and simple. SO, Jay will scream racism ‘until the cows come home’ because he knows what is coming in November.
By the way, everyone needs to educate themselves; especially those lacking diversity of ideas who spend their lives on Jay’s blog:
go see “2016 Obama’s America”.
Whether you like him or hate him…. You DON’T know Obama.
Recon 0311 2533
August 27th, 2012
3:23 pm
“Because as everyone knows, Obama’s true base can be found among those shiftless Americans too lazy to work and eager to collect welfare bucks for doing nothing”
Good grief, that’s about as racist a comment as it gets and that comes from Jay not Mitt Romney. Jay’s playing the race card implying that the majority of those on welfare wanting to game the system are minorities.
Lord Help Us
August 27th, 2012
3:23 pm
Interesting article from Ezra Klein:
‘Beyond being flatly false, Romney’s ads are puzzlingly anachronistic. Welfare is a shrunken program. Where it helped 68 of every 100 families in poverty in 1996, it only helped 27 of every 100 families in poverty in 2010.’
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/08/27/race-and-the-2012-election/
Seems the Romney campaign sees this as a strategic advantage…
King of Everything
August 27th, 2012
3:23 pm
Which of you is prepared to argue that the stereotypical Mormon sports magic under wears and has 5 wives?
Welcome to the Occupation
August 27th, 2012
3:23 pm
Most everone was willing to give him a chance but he took the hard left road..
Do tell, Williebkind, what “left road” you’re talking about. Please inform us. We’re dying to know.
Williebkind
August 27th, 2012
3:23 pm
“Which of you is prepared to argue that the stereotypical welfare recipient is white?”
What part of the country are you talking about?
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
August 27th, 2012
3:24 pm
Did Obama ever apologize to Bill Clinton for playing the race card ???
gadem
August 27th, 2012
3:24 pm
It is mind boggling that conservatives are rushing into the fray claiming that mostly whites are on welfare, BUT the notion is pushed that blacks primarily are the recipients of welfare. Very disingenuous of them. It is always party before country I guess.
getalife
August 27th, 2012
3:24 pm
He said it was for his base but the reality is it is for you cons (his base).
Peadawg
August 27th, 2012
3:24 pm
“about the “race card” being played too quickly, based on too little evidence.”
And this would be one of those cases. The Democrat base is primarily the poor/middle class. That’s what Romney was talking about with his “shore up his base” comment, Jay. I don’t care for Romney but I have to defend him here.
Laurie
August 27th, 2012
3:24 pm
Jay, I am not a Romney fan, I plan to vote for Obama in November, and I really don’t see how these comments have anything to do with race. Your reaching here, and it’s emabarassing.
Normal Free...Pro Human Rights Thug...And liking it!
August 27th, 2012
3:24 pm
Posted this earli9er, but…
http://cheezburger.com/6535332608
Erwin's cat
August 27th, 2012
3:24 pm
Yeah Romeny said that he wanted to put you back in chains
Jay
August 27th, 2012
3:24 pm
To be accurate, Larry, he made that statement later, to a largely white audience in Montana, IN REFERENCE to the NAACP speech.
Steve Shamrock
August 27th, 2012
3:24 pm
Jay is squirming…
Williebkind
August 27th, 2012
3:24 pm
Welcome to the Occupation
August 27th, 2012
3:23 pm
Well WO if you had been paying attention instead of destroying property and killing people you would have noticed.
Chuck
August 27th, 2012
3:25 pm
I am not defending Governor Romney by any means, but how is him using “code words” welfare to mean “lazy blacks” any different that President Obama using “code words” wallstreet to mean “cheating whites” People need to see both of these men as people who will say and do anything to win this election.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
August 27th, 2012
3:25 pm
Waiting for that chart !!!
Normal Free...Pro Human Rights Thug...And liking it!
August 27th, 2012
3:25 pm
Jay,
Yes, the stereotypical welfare king and queen are white. All that means is that president Obama will be getting more white votes than first thought…
Keep Up the Good Fight!
August 27th, 2012
3:25 pm
What the “percentages” are based on race may be another issue.
Ahhh, there it is… the framing of the dog whistle/code word support system. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge
Aquagirl
August 27th, 2012
3:26 pm
Mitt Romney, being the tapeworm that he is, will penetrate into every last corner of the intestines of the political sewer in search of something to feed on. There are no limits to it. He’s capitalism personified, a private equity guy, that’s what they do.
Eloquent, yet disgusting. How’d you do that?
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
August 27th, 2012
3:26 pm
Morality?
August 27th, 2012
3:15 pm
That pig won’t fly Jay. Obama did not have to drop the work requirement to make the plan more flexible to states….. that is just his excuse. Name me a state, any state, that asked for the work requirement to be dropped.
Governor Mitt Romney of MA…2005
Keep up!
Willie
August 27th, 2012
3:26 pm
Obama and the democrats have gone to the Bill Lambeer school of political discourse. They are crybaby bullies who whine and complain at every turn while they engage in the divisive hate they claim to abhor.
Normal Free...Pro Human Rights Thug...And liking it!
August 27th, 2012
3:26 pm
Someone’s been hitting the Irish Whiskey a little too hard…
Steve-USA "None of the Above"
August 27th, 2012
3:27 pm
“Which of you is prepared to argue that the stereotypical welfare recipient is white?”
Why do we have to deal in stereotypes and not reality. If this was the only blog I had ever read of yours Jay I would say you were the one playing the race card not Romney. However from reading hundreds of your articles I don’t believe that is where your heart lies. I think Romney was playing the “makers vs. takers’ card not the racial one.
Sorry Jay but I just think you hit a foul ball on this one or what was that famous quote of yours that no one understood..”you thought you hit it out of the park but the pitcher caught it”.
Your mileage may vary.
Morality?
August 27th, 2012
3:28 pm
Obama is the champion of the race card…… he is the “Great Divider” as was noted by Jay in an earlier article. That is the democrat platform. Create divisiveness wherever possible – race card, sex card, class warfare card, age card , etc, etc, etc. Anything to avoid the subject of the economy and Obama’s failed promises to turn it around. Smoke and mirrors – bait and switch. When the subject of this failing economy and employment disaster comes up just play the race, sex class, age card. – anything but the economy card.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
August 27th, 2012
3:28 pm
go see “2016 Obama’s America”.
Ummmm, no.
Doggone/GA
August 27th, 2012
3:28 pm
“Obama did not have to drop the work requirement to make the plan more flexible to states”
And since he didn’t drop the work requirement…
td
August 27th, 2012
3:29 pm
Jay
August 27th, 2012
3:20 pm
Common Characteristics of a Welfare client:
1: Less than a HS diploma
2: No marketable working skill sets
3: Having children prior to 18
4: Having children out of wedlock
Now if this just describes African Americans then I will have to admit to being a racist.
Thulsa Doom
August 27th, 2012
3:29 pm
“Between this, upthread, and some incredibly stupid broad-brush swipes TD took at black men the other day (I’m not going to bother looking it up), he’s officially back on my sh-t list.”
Stands for decibels,
Dude you’re not even worthy of making my sh-t list. You’re too low on the totem pole to reach that station in life.
And since the topic is racial crap let’s talk about your nonsense. You’re not going to bother looking it up??? Well of course not. Because if everyone saw the full context of what his all out racist diatribe was all about then they would understand my criticisms of his bunk. And those criticisms were mostly of him and not of “most black men with a broad stroke” as you falsely and dishonestly accused. If you’re going to make false racial accusations you ought to be man enough to at least confront me head on about it.
Na
August 27th, 2012
3:29 pm
USMC you are dead on it.
Jay starts out trying to stir up things
He did a good job
He however can not see through his tinted glasses as to what Obama has done, continues to do, that divides this country………. a uniter he is not.
If Jay would just open his eyes and his mind and really look at things he could find fault with the administration today or maybe he too is still blaming Bush.
Jay
August 27th, 2012
3:29 pm
So Peadawg, you believe Obama’s base is poor white people? Seriously?
In 2008, McCain beat Obama among white voters making less than $50K. Among white voters who had never attended college, McCain beat Obama 58-40.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
August 27th, 2012
3:29 pm
“The Defense Department has given administrative punishments to six Army soldiers for burning Korans at a U.S. base in Afghanistan, and to three Marines for urinating on the corpses of Taliban insurgents. There were no criminal charges.
Discipline against a Navy sailor in the Koran burnings was dismissed. The Marine Corps says it will announce discipline against other Marines in the urination case later.”
Meanwhile back at the ranch:
“2 More U.S. Troops Killed by Rogue Afghan Soldier … ”
Recon: What’s the green on blue count up to now ?
Gordon
August 27th, 2012
3:30 pm
“Which of you is prepared to argue that the stereotypical welfare recipient is white?”
I know a much higher percentage of African Americans are on welfare than whites, but the stereotype I think of is someone who has made bad decisions (drugs, high school dropout, children outside of marriage). But even that is incorrect much of the time. In many cases it is someone who has lost their job or had a serious medical problem. I’ll admit my mind doesn’t automatically doesn’t go there, but it doesn’t go to black people either. I guess if you don’t believe me, I’m not only a racist but a liar.
Thomas Heyward Jr
August 27th, 2012
3:30 pm
3:20 pm
OK, let’s see how far they’ll go with it:
Which of you is prepared to argue that the stereotypical welfare recipient is white?
Anybody? Come on, be the first on your block!
—————————————————————————————————————————-
.
99.9% of mid-west corn farmers are white.
They receive more welfare than all of the other poor blacks….combined.(not to mention white soybean and peanut farmers).
Is that stereo-typical enough.
Williebkind
August 27th, 2012
3:30 pm
“There are no limits to it. He’s capitalism personified, a private equity guy, that’s what they do.”
That is what makes America exceptional not welfare unless you sitting at home watching a 50″ tv texting on your free cell phone and looking to see if your EBT card was charged for next month.
Mark in mid-town
August 27th, 2012
3:30 pm
Jay Bookman writes “Romney is playing to stereotypes, not to reality.”
———————————————————————
That’s rich. The Obama Campaign has largely been focused on targeting people by race, ethnicity and gender based on stereotyping each group. In addition, the Obama Campaign and its support groups have already spent a few hundred million dollars running ads implying that Romney is a tax cheat, a felon and just about the most nasty person imaginable. No sitting president in modern times has come anywhere close to running such a negative campaign focosed on assasinating the character of its opponent. I believe Jay Bookman, a while back, praised the Obama Campaign for deploying such a “shrewd” strategy.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
August 27th, 2012
3:31 pm
Methinks Jay wishes he could retract this one.
Welcome to the Occupation
August 27th, 2012
3:31 pm
Lord Help: Liberals like Ezra Klein, like Jay, are almost invariably caught by surprise and mystified by these tactics, because they violate the norms of gentlemanly good faith that they like to imagine are the true rules of the political game that are played by.
The “puzzlingly anachronistic” thing about this line of attack is the fact that it’s pure fiction, fabrication. Since Clinton’s capitulation to the right wing in the 90s and his virtual dismantling of welfare, it’s been absurd to speak of Democrats as a party of big welfare state wealth transfers to the indolent. By attacking welfare, Clinton basically did away with it and codified as bipartisan hostility to the New Deal welfare state, just as Barack Obama has done with the War on Terror security state.
But come election time, this poses a little problem for predatory sociopaths like Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. That’s why they have to redirect the attention of today’s voters away from current reality back 25 years to a different world, back to a time when the “tax and spend liberal” was an actual creature and a target.
Our two parties are both so close — or were before the GOP went completely mad — that with each election these sociopaths have to invent ever more contorted schemes for distorting reality to make it fit some stereotype of 25 yrs ago.
zeke
August 27th, 2012
3:32 pm
did you see the arsee whooppppping chris matthews delivered on rinse and wash preibut this morning.
moonbat betty
August 27th, 2012
3:32 pm
Romney is not stirring the racial pot.
The libs are.
And unlike Jay, I am not surprised.
Joe Hussein Mama
August 27th, 2012
3:32 pm
0311 — “Did Obama ever apologize to Bill Clinton for playing the race card ???”
I think it’s PRECIOUS that you believe Bill Clinton.
hitch
August 27th, 2012
3:32 pm
Again, stick to the facts folks. Obama’s people didn’t say Romney was a felon. Romney was trying to distance himself from some of the tricks his old company Bain had done and said he’d left it in 1999. Unfortunatley for him, the papers he signed and filed with the SEC (that’s Securities and Exchange Commission, not Southeastern Conference) said he ran the company until 2002. So, Obama’s people said he was EITHER a felon, because filing false papers is a felony, or a LIAR. See, they didn’t insist he was a felon. They left an opening.
Recon 0311 2533
August 27th, 2012
3:33 pm
http://foxnewsinsider.com/2012/08/27/black-conservatives-appear-in-new-documentary-runaway-slave-which-explores-the-harm-of-the-welfare-state/
Greg
August 27th, 2012
3:33 pm
Couldn’t shoring up the base mean supporting policies wanted by the left.
Class of '98
August 27th, 2012
3:33 pm
The premise of this column is ridiculous. Romney’s claim has nothing to do with racism, it has everything to do with the producer-verus-moocher struggle that it ruining this country.
Everyone knows Obama need not worry about “shoring up his base”, in regards to blacks. Blacks will vote for him no matter what, because of the color of his skin.
USMC
August 27th, 2012
3:33 pm
“Jay, I am not a Romney fan, I plan to vote for Obama in November, and I really don’t see how these comments have anything to do with race. Your reaching here, and it’s emabarassing.”–Laurie
That’s because you are intellectually honest and “In touch” with reality, Laurie. Jay is not.
Jay takes his orders from the Leftwing fringe of the DemocRat Party operatives.
“Talk about ANYTHING except the ECONOMY and the dismal record of Dear Leader Obama.”
How’s the economy, Jay??? $16 Trillion debt… etc.
getalife
August 27th, 2012
3:33 pm
Basically, red meat for the radical cons.
Morality?
August 27th, 2012
3:34 pm
Thugette – show me where he said that he asked the fed gub’ment to drop the work requirement specifically. Put up or shut up Thugette.
Obama is over
August 27th, 2012
3:34 pm
Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and most of the talking heads on MSNBC have made a living playing the race card. The race card has been how they define their worldview. It is almost as if they can’t acknowledge that we have made progress and actually have an African-American President, female Supreme Court justices, and minority leaders in both Government and private sector positions. I would argue that your blog today panders to stereotypes of bigoted GOP members in the same way you imply Romney is doing to the Democratic base. Frankly, you want to talk about race because it avoids how poorly the country is doing as a whole. Regardless of your ethnicity, gender, or sexual preference, if you eat food, use electricity, pay taxes, or are looking for a job, you are being negatively affected by Obama administration policies.
Julia
August 27th, 2012
3:35 pm
it does not surprise me in the slightest. anyone who will pander to the Teaanderthals, er I mean Tea Party as much as Willard has, will not think a thing about playing the race card. His air of entitlement is showing.
USMC
August 27th, 2012
3:35 pm
Jay Bookman is merely covering for Obama’s WAR ON SUCCESS! LOL! What a joke, Jay.
Steve Shamrock
August 27th, 2012
3:35 pm
An apology to Mitt Romney would be appropriate Mr Bookman…you are flat wrong on this one.
Or a “I was just kidding”
Or a mumbled “My bad”
Thulsa Doom
August 27th, 2012
3:35 pm
“Which of you is prepared to argue that the stereotypical welfare recipient is white?”
Well now it is a fact unless it has very recently changed that on average 38% of all welfare recipients are white while only 37% are black. More whites on the dole. And in my neck of the woods out here in the country there are a whole lotta white folk on the dole- not to mention on the meth, in the jails, etc.
Compromise
August 27th, 2012
3:35 pm
Laurie is right on this one.
Jay
August 27th, 2012
3:36 pm
Romney’s claim has nothing to do with racism, it has everything to do with the producer-verus-moocher struggle that it ruining this country.
I think there’s some truth to that interpretation, Class. I’d still argue that race is a big part of it too — inseparable, really — but I can see what you’re saying.
USMC
August 27th, 2012
3:37 pm
“Basically, red meat for the radical cons”
As long as this ill-informed, delusional one lives in fantasyland and on internet blogs, I think we are safe.
Geaux Dawgs!
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
August 27th, 2012
3:37 pm
Everyone knows…
Who specifically, granted you the authority to speak for “everyone”?
Jefferson
August 27th, 2012
3:37 pm
Talk about the shape the GOP left the ecomomy in 2008 and will do it again.
Peadawg
August 27th, 2012
3:37 pm
“So Peadawg, you believe Obama’s base is poor white people? ”
No. I think Obama, like other Democrat Presidents – their base is the poor/middle class. Read that sentence carefully. POOR/MIDDLE CLASS. Nowhere did I mention race.
You’re better than this, Jay.
hitch
August 27th, 2012
3:37 pm
Romney represents the moocher ideal. Let’s let our armies and police fight to protect our rich, but let’s go ahead and cut the taxes the rich pay for these services. Heck, let’s not tax capital gains at all. Let’s only tax income produced from actual work. That ought to let Romney’s friends off the hook for taxes.
Now, if you’re refering to “Obamacare” as a give away, I guess you’ll be happier with “Romneycare,” as introduced under Mitt in the state of Massachusetts. Oh, wait, they’re the same.
Steve Shamrock
August 27th, 2012
3:38 pm
Ok…ok…ok…don’t kick Jay while he is down for the count.
1….2….3…Jay stumbling….4…5…Jay wiping the blood from his nose and mouth….6….7…8…9…Jay falls back to the mat out cold…10.
Ding…ding…ding.
Brosephus™
August 27th, 2012
3:38 pm
It is kind of funny seeing conservatives rush to offer the “but most people on welfare are white” argument.
Especially since any time I’ve made that point on this blog, I get excoriated about the “percentages” of Blacks on welfare based on population is much higher than Whites on welfare
Jay
August 27th, 2012
3:38 pm
Not a chance, Mr. Shamrock. I’ve been thinking this one through for several weeks now, trying to avoid the conclusion I’ve expressed here.
And as I noted earlier, I don’t expect this to be the last of it either.
man behind the curtain
August 27th, 2012
3:38 pm
Jeff:”They will bitch about a poor man paying 0 % in taxes, but kiss the butt of a wealthy man paying a smaller % than themselves in taxes, that’s a GOP wannabe.”
No one pays 0% taxes.
Recon 0311 2533
August 27th, 2012
3:39 pm
Oh well just another desperation piece. It’s really gotten pathetic.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
August 27th, 2012
3:39 pm
On another note:
I may be wrong and if so will retract this but based on my observations of our flag at government installations over the past few days, the first man in the history of the world to walk on the moon did not rate the United States flag at half-staff after his passing. Not even for a few hours. I guess it just wasn’t politically correct.
By the way, a couple of things you may not know:
1) Astronaut Gus Grissom, had he not bee killed in a training accident, was to have been the first man on the moon.
2) The following statement was to have been read by the president had Armstrong and Aldrin been stranded there (which was a distinct possibility):
“Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.
These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.
These two men are laying down their lives in mankind’s most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding.
They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by their nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown.
In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man.
In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.
Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man’s search will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts.
For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind.”
josef
August 27th, 2012
3:40 pm
BIG DADDY
“Which of you is prepared to argue that the stereotypical welfare recipient is white?”
Not me, and not by a long shot. But I find it rather odd that so many who are ready to jump like white on rice on this one are the same ones who’ll throw out trailer park, redneck and what have you and then claim they’re not referring JUST to Southern whites, heavily drawn from my fellow liberals. This “code word for” thing cuts both ways and until such time as we recognize it as such, it will continue. I loathe, detest and despise this type of smug piety, And, no, I’m not accusing you of it, but I am saying that you do let that go unchallenged when it surfaces on a regular basis, but you’ve got a good record of challenging it from those who come down just as mean, hateful, spiteful and, well, trashy, on the rural, white, fundamentalist Christian population class…
Peadawg
August 27th, 2012
3:40 pm
“trying to avoid the conclusion I’ve expressed here.”
Yes you just couldn’t help it. So sad…..
getalife
August 27th, 2012
3:40 pm
“Geaux Dawgs!”
You got the first word right but the second word is Tigers.
L S U!
USMC
August 27th, 2012
3:41 pm
“Everyone knows Obama need not worry about “shoring up his base”, in regards to blacks. Blacks will vote for him no matter what, because of the color of his skin.”
Watch out, Jay Bookman might call you out for RACISM! Walk softly…
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
August 27th, 2012
3:41 pm
Jay:
Still waiting for that chart. Don’t let us down !!!