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Checking in on the state of the Republican Party

I subscribe to about a dozen left-wing RSS feeds, but I also subscribe to at least as many right wing newsletters. I want to know what everyone’s saying. And every week, I browse the right wing newsletters to get a snapshot of their state of mind. Or at least, a snapshot of the tactics someone’s trying to use to manipulate them. I want to see if the Republican chatter has turned away from nonsense and begun talking about issues that average Americans care about. I want to see whether they’ve come up with some way to appeal to voters who grew disgusted with Rove’s petty and destructive divide and conquer politics. I want to see if they’ve noticed the demographic shift in America and realized racist code-speak and xenophobia are bad long term strategies in a nation where whites will be a minority in just a few decades. I fired up my Mailplane app this morning and clicked on one of the right wing “Human Events” e-mails at random because I wanted to see if they’ve woken up.
“Dear Friend of the Constitution, The biggest political cover up in American history is taking place right before our eyes. Worse than Watergate, Whitewatergate, or any of the other cover ups of previous administrations, is the question of whether Barack Hussein Obama is eligible to serve as President of the United States of America… OR, is he a FRAUD, a USURPER, a man with no legal authority to sit in the position that he now claims to hold? Barack Obama could simply put the issue to rest right now by releasing his ACTUAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE! But he WON’T! Instead, he has had teams of attorneys all over the country, fighting “tooth and nail” to thwart the efforts of the United States Justice Foundation (USJF), and our allies in a number of states to compel him to produce an ACTUAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE and to prove that he is Constitutionally eligible to be President of the United States!”
…Guess not.

“If I criticize Obama, I’m racist?!”

Every time I follow a link from the Drudge Report to an article that allows comments, I inevitably find some indignant Drudge poster writing “if I criticize Obama, I’m a racist?!” Having been accused of racism myself for odd reasons (drawing a cartoon condemning racism makes you racist in some people’s eyes), I don’t automatically dismiss the sentiment. But then those posters usually go on to call Obama “Kenya’s favorite son,” or to say something else that demonstrates why their Obama criticism is suspect. I bet this cartoonist indignantly says “if I criticize Obama, I’m racist?!” all the time.
David Cohen
Asheville Citizen-Times
Feb 9, 2009

Inspired by the dignity of the first black President, Clyde decides never to say the N-word again. He asks the ghost of Richard Pryor for guidance. Only one thing you can do. Get yourself to Africa. That\'s what cured me. I got $2.25 in the bank, I can\'t be goin\' to Africa! Did I forget to mention to get rich first? I can\'t even go to Fresno!

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