The Democrats of the civil rights era didn’t have too much in common with the Democrats of today, either.  They were not the diverse party they are now, nor did they place a strong emphasis on civil rights.  In fact, during the civil rights struggles…they tended to stick with their platform of states’ rights, and to assert that each individual state could decide on how to handle matters of discrimination, workplace inequality, and segregation.  They did have one, big advantage in the South:  As the party representing workers and unions over management and “big business,” they held dominant sway over the southern states, which were more heavily populated by working class and impoverished citizens than the other regions of the country.

Looking back at the two parties surely has a sort of “looking glass” feel to it.  Each party was “halfway” towards the policies it holds today…with only one major ideological flip needed to set things as they are now.  This change would come courtesy of the Republican Party and its new president in the early 1970′s: Richard Milhous Nixon.  Nixon, who had come from a very poor background himself, knew of one sure way to lure southern voters away from the Democratic Party’s grasp.  One subject that would outweigh the voters’ interest in jobs, income, and all other areas of economic self-interest.  Race.  Nixon’s use of race to influence voting, often accompanied with “social conservatism” issues, would form the heart of what has come to be known in politics as the “Southern Strategy” of the GOP.  This was not a completely new strategy.  In fact, during the civil rights struggles, Democrats had widely employed race-baiting, a cornerstone of the “Southern Strategy,” as a defense against the coming wave of changes, and with some success…they had won some battles, while losing the overall war.  Republicans, like Nixon, would perfect its usage as a political tactic.

You see, “race-baiting” is the politically-safer, passive-aggressive version of “overt racism.“  The time had come in America when overtly racist statements would cause the speaker to lose support among liberals, moderates, and even many conservatives.  While many people at the time still held racist beliefs, there was a growing common understanding that it was not acceptable to utter them aloud.  Race-baiting allowed politicians and other public figures to address racist voters, to play upon their prejudice-based fears…while still being able to deny that they had said anything “racist.”  Examples include:

- Showing photos, statistics, or simply retelling events in such a way as to make people of a particular race look menacing or dangerous.

- Making claims of people of a particular race “taking over” in terms of a locale, an industry, government power.

- Making claims that measures intended to help a disadvantaged group overcome institutionalized prejudice are giving them an “unfair advantage.“

- Offering racists “substitution terms.” For example, instead of calling a person a racist term, substituting terms like “foreign,” or “socialist/communist/fascist,” or simply inferring that they are “arrogant,” or that they otherwise “don’t know their place.“

- Intimating that the previously dominant race or culture is “under attack” by the other race.  This attack may come in terms of social norms, dress, music, religion…or even accusations inferring that interracial reproduction some sort of “danger.”

Suffice it to say, the strategy worked for the Republicans, and southern voters have strongly supported them to this day.  The transformation was now complete.  Democrats had become the party for minorities, civil rights, centralized government power, labor and unions, higher taxes, and public works.  Republicans had become the party of big business, lower taxes, smaller government, states’ rights…and prejudice.

Then for nearly forty years…the Republicans didn’t need the “Southern Strategy” as much.  The public trusted their assurances that they were the party of “fiscal responsibility” and “foreign policy experience” and so from the Reagan years to the end of the presidency of George W. Bush…the tactics were rarely employed.  That is, until Barack Obama was elected.  That is, until the people of this country found out that they were anything but “responsible” with the country’s finances and anything but “skilled” in terms of dealing with either friends OR enemies abroad.

With no accomplishments to brag about, and their economic and diplomatic skills under fire, Republicans, the Tea Party, and the rest of the nation’s conservatives would resort to using the “Southern Strategy” once again.  Only this time, they had new tools to aid with its implementation: the internet and Fox News. This time, the would not only target black Americans…but also foreigners (particularly Hispanics), gays, and Muslims.

Here’s Rachel Maddow, giving clear examples of Fox News’ ongoing attempts to play on the fears of white Americans:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qAQ3XXxKAY

Fox News and the conservative blogosphere went after Obama’s advisor on Environmental Equality, Van Jones, with nearly incessant coverage portraying him as someone with “dangerously radical” views on race, and as a “Marxist” or “Leninist.”

They also went after Kevin Jennings, Obama’s pick for “Safe and Drug-Free Schools” czar…by attacking him for being gay, insinuating that he was somehow pro-pedophilia, and stirring fears that he would allow gay teachers to “turn students gay.”

They attacked Chai Feldblum, Obama’s appointment to serve on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission…by stoking fears that she would “promote gay sex,” and would give gays a hiring advantage over heterosexuals.

They have repeatedly covered items related to an ongoing theme: the supposed “war” on Christianity.  Any other religious group enjoying the freedom to practice their religioun…is portrayed as a “threat” to Christians being able to practice theirs.  Sound ridiculous?  That’s because it IS, and this was not lost on Jon Stewart of The Daily Show:

They gave a lot of time, and tacit support, to the new Arizona law, which unconstitutionally requires Arizona’s police to ask anyone “suspected” of being an illegal alien to prove his or her citizenship.  They allowed the bill’s supporters to tell their viewing audience about the murders, kidnappings, and beheadings occurring in their state due to lax border enforcement.  Of course, what Fox did not do…is to point out that there have been no such beheadings, and that violent crimes in these states have actually DECREASED over recent years.

Recently they went after the Department of Agriculture’s Shirley Sherrod, citing that a film clip of her speaking at an event was just “another example” of blacks in the Obama administration who are racially discriminatory against whites.  The clip was quickly revealed to be deceptively edited…Sherrod was actually telling a morality tale about overcoming racism, and the speech took place many years before she was even a federal employee.

For the last week, they have been allowing a single story to dominate their headlines.  They show a picture of two “menacing” black men from the New Black Panthers standing outside a polling place, stoking fears of black radicals taking over the political process.  Of course, they don’t focus on the fact that the men were removed by police, banned from serving as poll-watchers, and that the Justice Department justifiably decided not to press charges against the men because the case was so weak.  They also don’t point out that while there are an abundance of case examples of voter intimidation being perpetrated against blacks in this country…there is just this one, ridiculous example of the reverse ever occurring.

And countless times…Fox went after Obama himself.  They gave “birthers,” those that claim Obama is not an American citizen, lots of air time.  They’ve attempted to paint him as “arrogant,” or “socialist,” or as “pushing a black agenda,” at every available opportunity.  They’ve even gone so far as to directly call Obama…a “racist.”  In fact, that’s the real hidden “trick” behind race-baiting: Since you’re not making overtly racist statements, if anyone accuses you of racism…just deny it, blast them for “playing the race card,” and if they are a minority member, you accuse THEM of being racist/prejudiced against YOU.  This was recently the case when the NAACP called for the Tea Party to condemn the racist positions of some of their supporters, due to the PROVEN fact that a number of white-supremacy groups openly support the Tea Party.  So how did the Tea Party respond?  They feigned outrage at the suggestion that ALL of them are racists, even though no such allegation had been made, and…wait for it…accused the NAACP of being racist against white people.  It was only when the Tea Party’s spokesperson made obviously racist comments on his blog, that he was forced to resign.

I hear the effects of this strategy every day, living in the South.  I hear men and women I work with whisper things about how “hard it is to be white, and Christian” these days.  They moan about how they are “under attack.“  They fear the “effect” that society’s growing acceptance of homosexuality will have on their children.  They swear, incorrectly, that ours was founded as a “Christian nation,” and that people of other faiths should build their churches elsewhere.  They complain about “Mexicans,” who according to them cause crime to rise (incorrect), and who steal “their” jobs (also incorrect), and who soak up massive amounts of tax dollars by receiving free services (yup…also incorrect).  They complain that their lives would be “so much easier” if they were black, Hispanic, or some other minority, and had everything “given to them.”  These are the fruits of the “Southern Strategy” of race-baiting: Large numbers of semi-literate, white people feeling victimized and threatened by the very idea that someone else….someone DIFFERENT…might now live, work, worship alongside them.  Told that the racism they have held, quietly in their hearts…can now be expressed as long as they do it using certain careful terms, certain substitutions, certain “code.”  Told that even in expressing their racism, THEY are not racists…because they are the victims of the racism of the minorities.

Lo! How the mighty “Party of Lincoln” has fallen.

I only see one cure: We must rediscover our passion for the American ideals that were set forth in the Declaration of Independence.  Read it here.  I know, it’s been some time since you read it…so really let it sink in.  Now study the Founding Fathers and their passions…and let those passions become yours.  For it will only be when we all accept the universality of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…that our nation will experience true growth, true unity, true national greatness.  It will only be when all Americans embrace the idea that this nation was created as a haven of racial, religious, ideological, and political tolerance…that we will be able to focus our true and full attentions on the very real problems that face our country, and that keep us from thriving.  It will only be when we all accept that one group’s religious doctrine was never meant to dominate our government, our schools, our workplaces, or our laws…that we will see that it is not about what you or I believe, but instead, it is about what all of us agree on together.

And most of all: We must abandon our fears…especially our fears of each other. Then…we must condemn those who play upon our fears for little more than petty, partisan purposes.  Shame on you, Republicans….shame on you, Fox News….shame on you Tea Party….shame on you Breitbart, Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter, WorldNetDaily, Rush Limbaugh, and all you other ideologues.  And shame on us…for ever having listened to them.

I’ll leave you with Keith Olbermann’s spirited call to reject race-baiting…if we all had such passion, it would already be a thing of the past:

Part 1:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcI8nWyugQs

Part 2:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=34cynRWkPMs

The problem is…the question still lingers in search of an answer: “How is it possible that people still view Sarah Palin as a desirable candidate for the office of the President of the United States?”

There have been many conservative and Republican candidates that I have respected, some quite completely.  I may not agree on all issues or policies…but AGREEMENT is not a required condition for  RESPECT to exist.  The nagging problem with Sarah is this: I have no doubt (none-zero-zip-zilch) that if a Democratic Party candidate came along, with personal charm, and with policy experience equal to Sarah’s…a leadership track record the same as Sarah’s…a history of questionable ethics questions same as Sarah’s…who performed as poorly and displayed the same lake of preparation and sense as Sarah has in interviews…who, like Sarah, quit his/her elected position halfway through their term to do book releases and speaking engagements…and who has been caught in as many ridiculous/unnecessary/nonsensical lies (many now IN PRINT) as Sarah has…

…conservatives would be laughing OUT LOUD at any liberals who supported such a person.  Again, I have no doubt of this.

So…WHY?  Well, we may now have an answer.  New Left Media sent someone to interview people at a signing for Palin’s new book, Going Rogue, that took place in Columbus, Ohio.  The young man did exactly what he should…he didn’t “ambush” anyone…he interviewed a large number of people…he interviewed people from a lot of different demographics…he didn’t ask leading questions.  He simply asked people why they support Sarah Palin, and what policies of hers appeal to them, and why.

Their answers…are revealing:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKKKgua7wQk

That’s right.  A lot of people said they thought Sarah Palin was very “real“…or somehow patriotic…or “honest“…or that she somehow embodies “good judgment” (no idea how a person could justify that particular claim).  What they can’t say, is where she stands on any particular issues or policies.  Not one.  And no, “cutting taxes and spending,” is not a policy statement…it’s a knee-jerk talking point that generally reflects that the person who uttered it knows little about taxes, about what the government spends money on, or about the history of politicians, taxes, OR spending.  A few people tried to parrot things they’d obviously heard from Fox News/Glenn Beck/Sean Hannity/Bill O’Reilly/Rush Limbaugh…like the one woman very upset about “czars“…but when asked to actually EXPLAIN the talking point or complaint in question…they can’t.  Obviously, whether we are talking about Sarah Palin, or the things these people have heard from conservative media or the church pulpit…these are not people who care about UNDERSTANDING things.  They like Sarah…so she should be President.  Policies and issues, and even her own track record, be damned.  Glenn Beck says the “czars” are a problem?  Well that’s good enough for these people…they don’t need to know what a “czar” is, or why they might be a problem.  Sarah says she’s going to “cut taxes and reduce spending?“  That sounds great to them!  They don’t need to understand which taxes she’ll cut, or which programs will no longer get funded…cut them all!  Maybe she’ll do what she did in Alaska:  cut taxes to be popular with the voters, then fund giant, wasteful projects by taking out huge loans…and then she’ll give the jobs to contractors who supported her campaign.  That way, she’s popular with the people, her friends get paid, and the bill comes due when somebody else is in office…marvelous!

Now…I get it. They don’t care.  Again, it’s as simple as “they like her“…and what she says “sounds good” to them.  Because they don’t really have any knowledge of how things work…and because they don’t care to ever have any such knowledge, their “requirements” for who should be President are JUST…THAT…SHALLOW.  If you ask me, it’s literally terrifying.  These people are also driving cars, voting, owning guns, and making babies…who they will then attempt to rear to be as vapid and uninformed as they are (which is likely, since statistically a child’s IQ is usually near the average of its parents).  Welcome to the idiocracy.

More Sarah Tidbits:

• Well, At Least ONE Time She Showed Good Judgment: A McCain campaign advisor has revealed that Sarah decided at the very last minute that she and McCain should cancel an interview with Univision.  The reason: Sarah suddenly realized…that she didn’t know anything about Hispanic people or their issues of interest.  Her campaign advisor has responded, by criticizing the McCain advisor for dredging up last year’s news: “Nobody’s sitting around talking about the 2008 campaign except for the people who lost it.“  Perhaps her advisor has not read her new book…which focuses heavily on the 2008 campaign.  Now…if only Palin had shown the same good judgment she showed with Univision when it came to Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson…
• Closing The Barn Door AFTER The Horses Are Out: Sarah says now that she refuses to do a second interview with Katie Couric…or on the “Late Show“…or anywhere else on CBS.  She told this to Fox New’s Sean Hannity…perhaps the one person who can interview her and ask soft enough questions to prevent her from coming off as totally ridiculous.
• Speaking of the Palin/Fox News Love Story: Well, it’s become a regular thing at Fox…showing a picture of clip, claiming it is from a current event, only to have it discovered that the picture/clip is from a much older (and better attended) event.  In an effort to make it appear that massive throngs were turning out for Sarah’s book signing…Fox News showed a clip of her delivering a speech on the campaign trail. It’s not news…it’s Fox News:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=luNheD4DGr8

• Palin/Fox News Love Story, Take 2: One clip that we KNOW Fox News won’t be showing, is this one of angry people booing Palin at one of her book signings.  Apparently, a thousand people bought two copies of the book and were given wristbands guaranteeing that they would have their book signed…then they stood in the cold and rain in Noblesville, Indiana, patiently waiting.  With dozens of people still waiting, and for no apparent reason, Sarah got back on the bus and drove off.  Several disappointed people commented that they could no longer support Palin…and were returning the books.  Nice move…very mavericky, Sarah:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8mAZhOJIfI

• The Media…Always Picking On Our Sweet Sarah: Matt Taibbi takes an excellent look at the claims that Sarah Palin is the victim of some “media conspiracy,” or that the media has, in some way, been harder on her than it is on other politicians.  I can sum it up the reason it’s nonsense in two words: Monica Lewinski. Taibbi’s look at the subject is considerably more involved but one of the main points he makes is this:  Obama’s people played nice with the press…and the press treated them nice.  Historically speaking, when a politician takes the “the press sucks, and they’re out to get me” strategy…that’s who the press goes after the hardest.  File that little fact under “D” for “Duh.”
• Just For Fun: SNL got our it’s satirical crystal ball…and tried to capture what would happen if Palin won the 2012 Presidential Race…I think their estimates are a bit conservative (no pun intended):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iCfJbG0bz0

HEALTH CARE: RETURN OF THE BUNGLED TEA PARTY PROTESTS -

• Congressional Republicans have been holding a series of protests on the hill regarding health care reform legislation…of course they’re not calling them “protests,” but are rather using the term “press conferences.“  It’s what we have come to expect:  buses sponsored by “astroturf” groups dumping groups of disgruntled citizens at the Capitol steps…check.  Wildly inaccurate, misspelled, racist, and occasionally simply bizarre hand-held signs (including one featuring pictures of holocaust victims, comparing health reform to Nazi genocide)…check.  A Republican legislator (Rep. Todd Akin, R-MO) botching the Pledge of Allegiance right after extolling the importance of the pledge…check.  Another Republican representative (John Boehner, R-OH) holding up a copy of the Constitution, claiming that it is the most important guide to his actions and that he’d like to read a little excerpt from it…then proceeding to read from the Declaration of Independence…check.  Fox News, using an outdated photograph to misrepresent the attendance at the gathering (not the first time they’ve done this), only to get busted by Jon Stewart of The Daily Show…check.  For your viewing pleasure, here’s the Daily Show clip:

• The protests weren’t the only “health-care related” spectacle.  Here again is Jon Stewart…to address the OTHER antics of our elected officials:

THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Pro-Sex Offender?

• If you’ve heard about the conservative Heritage Foundation, it is probably due to the health care debate…where they have been quick to provide reform opponents with a variety of unfathomably unscientific and skewed “studies” with which to do battle.  They also have some rather interesting legal opinions, which they present on their sister website, Overcriminalized.com.  The Heritage Foundation claims that the site “...describes the trend in America -- and particularly in Congress -- to use the criminal law to “solve” every problem, punish every mistake (instead of making proper use of civil penalties), and coerce Americans into conforming their behavior to satisfy social engineering objectives.”  What examples do they give of unnecessary laws, to address minor “mistakes” that they’d rather see handled in civil proceedings?  How about HR5652, the Child Slavery Prevention Act of 2008…which provides strict sentences to people who engage in human trafficking and sex slavery.  And they’re not too fond of HR1632, the International Megan’s Law of 2009, which requires that sex offenders report any intention of travelling abroad, and prevents foreign sex offenders who committed their crimes against children from coming into our country.  And there’s HR3513, Prevention and Deterrence Of Crimes Against Children Act of 2009 (strongly penalizes those involved in child pornography), HR288, Save Our Children: Stop The Violent Predators Against Children DNA Act of 2009 (created the DNA database for use in identifying and prosecuting sex predators), and S431, Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sex Predators (KIDS) Act of 2007 (sex offenders have to register all online identifiers, IP address, email accounts, usernames, chat names).   Besides being an absolutely inane position to take, claiming that these bills are anything except a GOOD thing…it certainly seems an odd stance for a group that likes to portray themselves as the “law and order” crowd.

CONSERVATIVES: NO MUSLIMS IN THE MILITARY -

• You didn’t need to have a crystal ball to know that the right-wing response to the recent, tragic shooting at Fort Hood in Texas would focus on the fact that the shooter was a Muslim.  First there were calls for “screening Muslims” who want to serve in the military.  Besides the obviously xenophobic and discriminatory aspects of this suggestion,  it is clear that effecting such a policy would be difficult, given our military has been repeatedly and desperately lowering its recruiting standards, and currently fails to “screen out” members of biker gangs, street gangs, assorted violent felons, and individuals with terrifying mental histories.  Now, the American Family Association (you guessed it…with a name like that, it has to be a conservative activism group) wants to take things a step further: they call for a ban on Muslims in the military.  Quick little bit of history: In WWII…some of our greatest heroes were German-American soldiers who were very much in touch with their ancestry, but they put America first.  Also during WWII, Japanese-American soldiers, despite the internment of so many Japanese-Americans in camps…they put America first, served this country, and were recognized for their bravery and sacrifice.  If we were fighting in a Christian nation…would Christians not be allowed to serve, for fear of divided loyalty?  No…and Muslim-Americans who choose to bravely serve and protect our nation should continue to be afforded not only the opportunity…but also our full gratitude and respect.

CARRIE PREJEAN: FALL OF A POORLY CONCEIVED CONSERVATIVE ROLE MODEL -

• Quick Version: Carrie Prejean, Miss California, loses the Miss America pageant after saying that she opposes gay marriage.  Conservatives immediately hail Prejean as a hero, a wholesome Christian girl, and a victim of “political correctness.“  Prejean makes the rounds, speaking at conservative symposiums, tearfully recalling how she believes her First Amendment rights were violated (for the hundredth time…no, Carrie: the government never prevented you from exercising your free speech).  The Miss California Pageant fires Prejean, and wants the money for her boob job back (they paid for it) because despite being a “wholesome Christian girl” Prejean apparently never learned the whole “Christian-work-ethic-thing,” and has been ditching on her contractual commitments.  Prejean cries “religious discrimination” and sues the pageant for millions.  A sex tape appears…when the pageant’s lawyers bring it to a hearing (ouch).  Prejean drops her lawsuit…conservative groups drop her as a guest speaker.  Prejean tries to get her ex-boyfriend (the source of the tape) to say it was from a LONG time ago…he refuses and tells TMZ it was from 2007.  Now…here’s my favorite part: despite all this, Prejean is STILL plugging her new book on the talk show rounds, and I guess she just didn’t figure anybody would ask her about the lawsuit, and the reason she had to drop it.  Enjoy this bit from Larry King Live, where Prejean regresses to the level of an eight-year-old:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVwwZ1ZJrkE

LOU DOBBS: DON’T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU…

• Lou Dobbs…has quit CNN.   When one examines even just his most awful, most racist, most insane moments (much less his consistent stream of unresearched, patently false, and journalistically irresponsible claims), you are left asking: Why was he allowed to continue for so long? Here’s a compilation of some of Lou’s worst moments…CNN is planning to replace him with John King, which can only be an improvement.

Tomorrow…it’s time for our weekly “Chaos Theory” edition, where we’ll try to wrap up all remaining items from the week.  Until then…