Guest contibutor Camillus has returned.
The following is the opinion of the poster and does not necessarily represent the views of moonhowlings.net administration.
M-H
The Party of Lincoln needs to look in the mirror
by Camillus
Several weeks ago, a tape of NPR’s head fundraiser, Ron Schiller, making remarks critical of the GOP and the Tea Party surfaced. In the tape, Schiller referred to the Republican Party as “anti-intellectual” and described the Tea Party as “racist,” “Islamophobic,” and “xenophobic.” He went on to opine that “Jews” control America’s major newspapers.
Schiller’s bizarre and conspiratorial anti-semitic remarks are disturbing and offensive. His remarks about the GOP and the Tea Party, though, warrant further analysis for a simple reason: they are perceptions widely shared in our society.
Conservatives reacted to Schiller’s comments with anger. In their eyes, it was just one more example of a liberal establishment standing ever-ready to portray Republicans and conservatives as ignorant racists and bigots.
I think that reaction is a mistake. Schiller has created an opportunity for discussion and critical self-analysis- for an honest dialog about race, religion, and science within our ranks. This is a moment, not for anger, but for self examination. Simply put, it’s time for the Party of Lincoln to take a good look in the mirror.
Although conservatives are quick to dismiss Schiller’s remarks, in truth, there is ample evidence available that would lead reasonable people to such conclusions. One can point to examples such Sharron Angle’s 2010 anti-immigrant campaign television ads, Renee Ellmer’s overtly Islamophobic “Ground Zero” ad, Sen. Rand Paul’s remarks about the alleged unconstitutionality of portions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Rep. Peter King’s anti-Muslim Congressional hearings, the career and associations of Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce (the man that sponsored Arizona’s infamous S.B. 1070), and Kansas State Representative Virgil Peck’s recent suggestion that illegal immigrants should be hunted and shot like feral swine. Nor is the depth, breadth, and intensity of Tea Party rage explicable without reference to the presence of an African American, with a foreign sounding name, in the White House.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
According to a recent survey by Public Policy Poling, 51% of likely Republican primary voters believe President Obama was born in a foreign country. Some 21% are “not sure.” And then there are the emails- I have personally received emails from conservative groups in my home state, or persons who are leaders in such groups, warning of President Obama’s plan to impose Sharia law, and of an Islamic plot to reduce Christians in America to a state of dhimmitude. Nationally, Republican staffers and local party officials have made headlines forwarding racist emails about the President to friends and colleagues. And least we forget, there is also the case of Audra Shay, who was elected Chair of the national Young Republicans despite that fact that she had replied “You tell em Eric! lol.” to a friend’s Facebook comment that said: “Obama Bin Lauden [sic] is the new terrorist… Muslim is on there side [sic]… need to take this country back from all of these mad coons… and illegals.”
The practical electoral implications of this mindless fear and hate were brought home to me on a trip to D.C. with representatives of a national faith-based Hispanic organization. One pastor spoke of a young man in his congregation- a young, conservative, Christian man- who was deeply torn over his choices in the 2008 Presidential election. In the end, he voted for Obama because, as he said, “I can’t be in a Party that hates me.” I don’t blame him.
How did the Party of Lincoln come to such a pass? I think the answer is simple. To paraphrase another author, roughly 40 years ago, the GOP welcomed the pro-segregation Dixiecrats into the family parlor. They have stayed and have, essentially, taken over the roost. Today, they are driving everyone else out and away.
Granted, in the short term (what is, after all, a mere 40 years’ in the life of a nation), the alliance with the Dixiecrats brought the GOP tactical electoral successes- sweeping the Deep South has become the linchpin of Republican Presidential electoral strategy. But in the long term, it has poisoned the very soul of American conservatism by tying it to belief systems that are reprehensible, and indefensible. It has permitted a dangerous pathology to survive, and today, at a moment of great social stress, despair, and anxiety about the future, to move back towards the political mainstream. It was, and remains, a fundamental betrayal of the founding ideals of the Republican Party.
And, as a consequence, in a United States growing increasingly diverse, the GOP is devolving into an ethnic/regional party. Worse, it will be a minority ethnic party incapable of winning national elections. Remember, today, Caucasians make up less than half- 49.3%- of children under 3 years of age. A more diverse, majority minority America is inevitable- the GOP, and conservatives in general, need to adjust and adapt to this reality if they want to remain relevant over the long-term.
The Southern Strategy may have worked in the past, but the face of States in even the South and Southwest is changing. Texas, for example, will, in a few Presidential election cycles, probably be solidly blue, if current voting patterns there continue. A future GOP that serves as a bastion for angry, embittered, white minority politics would be an unmitigated disaster for our nation and for the health of our democracy.
Truth and decency need referents in the world. Republicans of good will must confront the racists, the xenophobes, and the anti-intellectual elements in our midst. In doing so, we are keeping faith with the best traditions of our Party, and preserving an alternative, more welcoming and inclusive, vision of political conservatism in America. One in which conservative is not synonymous with Confederate.
Welcome back Camillus.
Happy to see that northern prejudice is still strong.
Conservatism, the Tea Party, and southern conservatism are not racist. We don’t like Obama because he’s black, but because he’s a socialist, corporatist, corrupt, Chicago machine, politician, whose agenda is bad for America. Get a grip.
You want a dialogue? What do you propose?
Tell you what…the GOP can tell the extremist Tea Party to go jump in the lake, tell the Southerners “thanks for your help, but we have it from here…you racist hicks….”, and tell those opposed to illegal immigration that they are all bigots.
That is how you just came across. It didn’t quite sound that blunt, but your whole Southern Strategy schtick is about 30 years too late. You just painted the entire southern conservative movement with a very broad brush. For some reason you don’t like the Tea Party and you don’t like conservatives. Or, I’m sorry, the non-“intellectual” conservatives. Its too bad that Buckley couldn’t live for another few years, oh, wait…HE didn’t have a problem with the “regular” folks that were conservative.
Yes, we need to confront the bigots around us. Guess what? We do. The Tea Party does quite well policing itself. You won’t believe it because you don’t like us. For a fringe party, the Tea Party did quite well. It is the only reason the GOP won ANYTHING in the last election. Either get on board and help us fight the socialist agenda or admit that you would rather “play nice” and lose to the Democrats. No wonder everything north of Maryland is Democrat.
I forgot to add…
If you are getting emails like that from conservatives and GOP members, what’s that say about your so-called mainstream GOP getting the message out? Or are they too busy worrying about not offending anybody?
When was the last time that the mainstream GOP said anything about illegal immigration or did any meaningful outreach to minorities WITHOUT pandering and just presenting the case that we have common conservative principles. Would the most popular Tea Party politicans, Alan West and Marco Rubio be such if we were bigots? Would Herman Cain get such a fine reception if we were racists? Where’s your attacks on the prejudice in the Democrats? Where’s your concern that the administration seems to have a bias against enforcing the laws fairly for all races? Why do you want to always portray the GOP..I’m sorry, …conservatives as the bad guys?
“One pastor spoke of a young man in his congregation- a young, conservative, Christian man- who was deeply torn over his choices in the 2008 Presidential election. In the end, he voted for Obama because, as he said, “I can’t be in a Party that hates me.” I don’t blame him.”
I missed this.
He feels that the GOP hates him because the GOP DOES NOT DEFEND ITSELF ARTICULATELY IN THE PRESS. It is ALWAYS portraying itself as guilty. That man voted for a party that panders to him. The press portrays the conservative concern with illegal aliens as prejudice. Again, Marco Rubio., anyone? Instead of “not blaming him,” perhaps you SHOULD have blamed him for voting for someone that is, apparently anathema to his principles and stood up for the GOP.
Cargo, as a southerner, I even bristled a little. And you know I am not tea party or Republican. I can get real defensive over the south real fast though. I would have gotten hit with the famous fly swatter if I didn’t defend it. snicker.
I have a question, Camillus. If you are soooooo concerned about the soul of Lincoln’s party, why aren’t you posting this at RedState. Its easy to get a diary there. Conservatives and Republicans read posts there. Why are you posting such a concern letter to a blog that has, at best, maybe……4-6 conservatives on it, possibly more conservative lurkers…..but is predominantly a liberal blog?
Try it. Here’s the url: http://redstate.com/wp-signup.php
All it take is your username and your email. You want to influence the new members of the GOP? Here’s your chance.
I dare ya.
Unless this is you? Have you been there before? I did not find anything under that name.
I would love to see the responses that you get there.
http://archive.redstate.com/story/2004/7/15/82236/1516#comment-21528
Ha ha. I’ll jump on the third rail. As a New Yorker raised in the South I know a bit about both regions and have loyalty to neither. I’ve spent my adult life in the DC ‘burbs.
I think the Republican Party is in a tough position. Fiscal conservatives don’t necessarily have much in common with social conservatives, particularly those with Southern, Bible Belt, credentials. Whereas one segment of the party may stress economics or personal freedom, the other is concerned with micro-managing individuals’ lives. There may be some overlap and upcoming elections will show just how strong or weak the alliance is.
No one can deny that the South has produced most of our prominent politicians of both parties in the last couple decades. (Even the Bush family had the option of choosing Texas over New England.) And with many of these men has come a creeping (and, IMO, creepy) social agenda. The Republicans inherited the Bible- thumping Dixiecrats and one can’t dismiss their influence.
I have a humble request..
Next time you play the race card, could you be kind enough to put it in the first paragraph so I can go ahead and click the back button and don’t have to spend 30 seconds reading to the middle of the article?
Or perhaps the administration can create a new tag for “race baiting.”
Thanks in advance!
@Cato,
It’s another point of view–not mine but Cargo has done a good job of sparring.
I don’t have a dog in the fight. I am a southern Independent.
The marriage between liberal Republicans of the North and pro-life conservatives of the South has always been one of convenience, not of mutual admiration and respect. The tortured positions of Mitt Romney illustrate this dichotomy perfectly. Romney was pro-choice and pro-Obamacare (before there was Obamacare) as governor of Massachussetts. As Republican candidate for president, he miraculously transformed himself into a conservative who is pro-life, anti-Obamacare, and pro spending-cuts.
This “thesis” of Camillus is just another spat in the stormy marriage between the two.
Agreed 100%.
And let me say this, as someone who lived in Western NY for 20+ years I can say this – there is more anti-black, anti-minority sentiment up there than there is down here in VA. My town was unofficially segregated….I remember when a black family moved onto our block – the first to do so ever. My neighbors went ballistic (as did my parents) and screamed that their property values would plummet. They didn’t. And the family turned out to be very quiet and withdrawn (gee, wonder why???). There is PLENTY of racial strife and prejudice up north. It is a MYTH that the north is all embracing. They just hide it better and do not have the longer history of Slavery like the South….as well as racial tension like that of the 60’s. But it is very much there. Do NOT be fooled…..
Off track, as I am wont to be, I was wondering about the name Camillus. Just had to look it up.
Marcus Furius Camillus (ca. 446 – 365 BC) was a Roman soldier and statesman of patrician descent. According to Livy and Plutarch, Camillus triumphed four times, was five times dictator, and was honoured with the title of Second Founder of Rome.
On track…as a northerner brought up learning slavery was the root cause of the Civil War, I had some preconceived notions about southerners. Southerners were these people who hated African Americans and treated them terribly. Southerners were slave owners. The south is where the KKK came from. You don’t want to go to the South because they don’t like us Yanks.
And since I didn’t know any Southerners, no one could tell me my perceptions were skewed. Southerners were as foreign and scary to me as Hispanic people are to some locals.
It didn’t take me long to figure out that people are people. You have to live among different kinds of people to understand that there are bigots, jerks and killers everywhere. So, too, there are wonderful people everywhere.
It’s high time we stop fighting the Civil War.
schiller’s bizarre and conspiratorial remarks are no less disturbing and offensive than the very same remarks and opinions voiced by the noble camillus; the only distinction being that schiller is more explicit and frank. schiller gets right to the point, camillus goes round and round in circles of intellectual reflection and pondering, but arrives at the same conclusions, minus the jew-baiting. what was truly bizarre about schiller is that he was so open and frank about his views, usually progressives hide their true intentions and desires because they know that on a national level they would never get a majority of the vote if the american public were aware of them
Let’s mix North and South–looking at the history of the Bush family
Grandad Bush – Prescott, was born in Columbus OH, went to Yale, elected Sen from Ct, president of United Negro College fund AND an ardent supporter of Planned Parenthood (which evolved from the American Birth Control League) He was pals with William Averill Harriman and was fully behind the establishment of the Peace Corps. His son, George H. W moved to Texas and made his mark in the oil business partnered by agains Harriman. G. H. W. did not agree with the Republican Party’s stand on birth control (guess Dad made an impression). His son, #43, born in the North (CT) married a Democrat Texan native.
Now, let’s generalize some more about North and South.
They ALL went to school in New England….. 🙂
@Juturna
Now, let’s generalize some more about North and South.
They ALL went to school in New England….. 🙂
LOLOLOL! Good point.
@ Posting as Pinko- very good, it was also the name Hamilton used in his articles defending the Jay Treaty. And despite Camillus’ accomplishments, I think in “Lives” it describes him as being eventually run out of town and into exile for speaking uncomfortable truths to the mob.
@ Cargo- becasue at this particular moment in history, imho, the far right of the conservative movment is the bad guys, menaing, the element most dangerous to the long term health, stability, and prosperity of the USA. And if you think the Tea Party is being embraced by minority voters- you are frankly wrong. It is off-putting to all but the core R demographic. And that is a real problem- long term, the groups R’s do best among are all declining %’s of the population. That is a structural political problem of the wfirst water. As to what the GOP could do about it, Canada’s Conservative Party has done a great job of reaching out to minority and ethnic communities- those efforts would be the model to emulate here. Again, imho, the Tea Party exacerbates and accelerates the trend towards the GOP being merely an ethinic/regional party- and one that is the home of “white minority politics.” Let’s wait a bit and see how my thesis plays out. Give it ten/twelve years or so.
@ NotMeBubba- very true, today, but in many ways, the people you describe are culturally akin to yesteryears Dixiecrats. And that, right there, is today’s “base.” And that’s a problem. If you look at the politicians whose gaffe’s I listed as examples, on;y one is from the South.
PS- I’ve never posted at RedState, or commented there. Not my sort of place.
Camillus,
If your concern is that the GOP will become a regional party because it is not getting minority members because of the TEA Party, how do you explain its complete and utter dismal failure to attract minority members BEFORE the Tea Party existed? Between GWB and McCain, we had two of the most “pro-minority” politicians we’ve ever had. GWB and McCain pandered so hard to the Latin vote, I’m surprised they didn’t change their nationality. And yet, McCain lost by HUGE numbers. And yes, I know that you’re going to blame Palin….got news for ya…his polling among Latin Americans were horrible before she showed up.
Again, what would you propose? You criticize and insult the one element that got the GOP back in office in overwhelming numbers at the state level, especially. You blatantly call southern conservatives racist bigots. So, how would you attract voters to the GOP? So far you have alienated a huge chunk of voters. Say that you’re correct. If everyone takes your advice, how does the GOP succeed? You’re very big on criticizing the Tea Party but, I don’t see the mainstream GOP, whatever that is, doing well without it. How’s that GOP thing doing up your way? Not so good, is it?
I’m really interested. You say that the Tea Party, members of who are overwhelming middle class Americans, that want government to reign in spending, is the primary threat to the USA. That the Tea Party, whose platform is primarily oriented to government finances, but does have some social conservative elements, is worse that the current outrageous spending, disastrous economic agenda, and dangerous foreign policy that is happening now.
I never said that minorities are EMBRACING the Tea Party. I said that the Tea Party is supporting minorities; that WE are not racist and to portray us that way is wrong. However, we are attracting some minority members, apparently faster than the mainstream GOP has. Minority members of the US will not support the GOP or related organizations because the media has succeeded in blacklisting us so well. And the GOP doesn’t help because of ….well…people like you:
“In the end, he voted for Obama because, as he said, “I can’t be in a Party that hates me.” I don’t blame him.””
I repeat:
“When was the last time that the mainstream GOP said anything about illegal immigration or did any meaningful outreach to minorities WITHOUT pandering and just presenting the case that we have common conservative principles. Would the most popular Tea Party politicans, Alan West and Marco Rubio be such if we were bigots? Would Herman Cain get such a fine reception if we were racists? Where’s your attacks on the prejudice in the Democrats? Where’s your concern that the administration seems to have a bias against enforcing the laws fairly for all races?”
How about the party of the KKK? Do they need to look in the mirror?
Former KKK Grand Dragon Makes the Natural Career Progression… Running as a Democrat for Mayor…
http://winterhaven.wtsp.com/news/news/former-kkk-leader-mayoral-candidate-speaks/49273
@ Cargo- I wrote “the Tea Party exacerbates and accelerates the trend.” The main body of the article, which isn’t about the Tea Party as such, talks about the historic reasons for this, namely, the embrace of the Dixiecrats in the late 1970’s.
don’t have a concern “that the administration seems to have a bias against enforcing the laws fairly for all races” because that claim is fringe paranoia.
As for the Tea Party, well, I can say that I have been to many a meeting in my home state, and am familiar with all the local activists here. I’m on there email lists. And I know the organizers well in the area I grew up in as well (a seperate state). I’ve done radio appearences with Tea Party leaders. And i’m sorry- race is a *huge* issue with many in the Tea Party. A huge one.
@Camillus
Apparently its “huge” where you are, but not so much elsewhere. Its amazing how these “racists”, again, are supporting minorities as possible candidates for President. So if all those racists in your area are Tea Party members, why don’t you name and shame THEM instead of broadly tarring all the rest and the south, in general. The Southern Strategy was used DECADES ago. The world has changed. Now, its the conservatives are in the south. The GOP has nowhere else to go, since there does not seem to be any up north. And “Democrat-lite” isn’t really a selling point.
As for that “fringe paranoia,” how do you explain the problems of the Holder administration’s enforcement of voting rights and other civil rights and the comments made by his people that show that they are selectively enforcing rights only for “minorities.”
Again, what has your “mainstream” GOP done to attract any and all of these minority citizens that you say the Tea Party has scared away? What has the GOP of your state done to present its arguments and ideas? How have they gotten the message of Buckley and Kirk to the masses?
Because, right now, except for the energy of the Tea Party, I’m seeing a party in decline EVERYWHERE. The GOP is trying to burn so many bridges and isolate themselves from us “uneducated” conservatives, that the GOP will not even be a regional party. If the GOP keeps taking its base for granted, unlike minorities and the Democrat party, WE are willing to stay home on election day.
Remember all that doom and gloom in 2009? Yeah…. that’s your future.
Great point Cargo, look at how many minority Tea Party Candidate there were compared to the typical run of the mill Democrat candidate (even a KKK grand wizard-cyclopes or what ever the hell you call them running for the Dem Mayor in Florida).
Heck, just look at the media they get their information from (just about all white and all male).
It’s soooooo telling how they cry racism (or I should say insert race card here) when their go-to is even worse. Even the Congressional Black Caucus complains about the lack of diversity of NBC: http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/seton-motley/2010/02/26/nbc-chastised-congressional-black-caucus-members-lack-minority-hiring
Hey Camillus,
Do you have anything like THIS going on with the GOP in your neck of the woods?
http://www.redstate.com/melissaclouthier/2011/04/04/reaching-the-black-community-anita-montcriefs-new-tea-party/
http://libertypundits.net/article/anita-moncrief-on-hannity-today-to-discuss-formation-of-first-black-tea-party/
Have you seen this?
http://www.thegrio.com/politics/some-blacks-back-tea-party-despite-movements-racist-reputation.php
http://patriotstatesman.com/2011/01/1491/
Google Tea Party and Blacks. You’ll find a lot of support…..well, compared to the mainstream GOP, not the Dems.
KKK members are going to hell.
Cargo, I think you are living in an alternate universe. Good luck with all that. But you are right historically, the gOP has not reached out to minority communities- if you go back and read the article, its sorta all about that. Indeed, it does not mention the tea party at all.
The problem in today’s GOP is that the examples of ads and statements by politicians I provided, as well as the back and forth on Shay’s Facebook page, really are not that far removed from teh opinions you find ciculating amongthe base. You can head simialr things when tehse issues are discussed at GOP or tea party meetings… and also in the emails. I have been to enough meetings (both GOP and so-called “Patriot”), in more than one state, and talked to enough of my peers, to know that what I’msaying is essentially true.
And then there is the real elephant in the room. The birtheres. Birtherism, uncoupled from latent racism, is incomprehensible. Put the President’s race back into the picture, however, and it becomes easily explained. He’s not “one of us,” not a real American… he’s a muslim, not a Christian.. he’s a manifestation of “the other” of some different tribe. And the birthers make up a huge segment of the GOP’s base right now. That is terrifying. That is also why I say “Republicans of good will must confront the racists, the xenophobes, and the anti-intellectual elements in our midst.”
There is actually a good article on the birtehr conspiracy and racism by Albert Hunt that is well worth reading. It sort of get’s to the heart of these protestations that none of this is about race:
“It appears more than coincidence that Obama also is the first African-American president. These charges and issues are centered on the notion of his otherness, that he’s not a ‘real American’… ‘This appears to be a surrogate for the racial fringe,’ says Fred Greenstein, a prominent presidential historian and emeritus professor of politics at Princeton University.”
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11095/1136961-109.stm
I agree that Obama comes across as “other.”
One: He was raised outside of the US for much of his life.
Two: His associates advocate policies and philosophies outside the mainstream.
Three: He is secretive. He ACTIVELY fights to hide details of his past that would usually be open to scrutiny by voters.
Four: His reactions to certain situations does not endear him to the public.
Five: He does not fit into a “slot.” Since he does not define himself but allows his vagueness to let voters invent an “ideal,” citizens on both sides of the political spectrum have realized that he’s “not one of us.”
Six: His apparent support for certain elements in the Muslim world, his kowtowing, his disdain for our traditional allies gives the appearance that his values seem to be slightly off kilter to ours.
Look! Not ONE “birther” question. He’s an enigma. And so, he does not fit in. Its not his race….its HIM. If the “birthers” are the REAL elephant in the room, then I don’t know what you’re hunting. The “birthers,” as a “movement” has been relegated to the fringe. What Americans find suspicious is Obama’s secretiveness. His history leads to questions. At times, things that he has done demanded certain requirement in passport, religion, nationality. If he had NOT been born in Hawaii, I believe that the Democrat Birthers would have found it. Oh, yeah…that’s right, its not only the GOP that believes he’s not American….
But the Clintion machine is effective. They found no evidence that he was not born in Hawaii.
As for his religion, I don’t care if he’s a muslim or not. His association with the church he DID attend is bad enough. That preacher espoused philosophies and ideas that also put Obama in a place separate from most of America. Nobody believed him when he said that he never heard any of the objectionable sermons in 20 years. However, if his father was Muslim, then Muslims will look at him as Muslim and since he is a Christian, he will be considered an apostate.
So, since you have identified this problem and you support the GOP, what do you propose?
The Tea Party, while it is unpolished and has some bad elements, is reaching out towards minorities without pandering. The message is, “here are our ideas. If you like them, join us.”
Birthers, bigots, and conspiracy theorists, etc. are a fact of life. Obama is disliked for his policies, personality, and yes, his race. But his race, in general, is secondary to the other reasons for disliking him. For those insulting him for his race, his color is just icing on the cake. And for those that aren’t bigots, yet still send emails, make posters, etc that make fun of his race, etc…..not all of that is racism. They are making fun of him because his ACTIONS have made him a target and his race or supposed Kenyan birth is an easy target.
@Cargo,
Hawaii is part of the United States.
Moon,
He was also raised in Indonesia. That’s what I was talking about. Nothing wrong about that, just that it contributes to some peoples’ feel that he doesn’t fit in and contributes to the controversy.
I think he spent about 5 years there as a young child. He was packed up and sent to his grandparents to get an education which was really not so good in Indonesia.