California Republicans in Hot Water for Hate-Based Attacks on Obama
Republicans across the United States are getting into a lot of hot water these days for hate-based attacks on Barack Obama, and "tolerant" California is no exception. Earlier this week, the Sacramento County Republican Party and its chair, attorney Craig S. MacGlashan, caught some well-deserved flack for posting anti-Obama materials on the county GOP website including a call to "Waterboard Barack Obama" and a statement equating Obama with terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. Having removed the materials Oct. 14 in the face of sharp criticism from Republicans as well as Democrats, MacGlashan later found it necessary to apologize for the materials even as local Republicans called for his resignation. MacGlashan's wife, a Sacramento County supervisor, also condemned the materials, calling them "hateful, stupid and offensive."
Following these events in Sacramento another instance of hate-based Republican attacks on Obama was reported Oct. 16 in San Bernardino County east of Los Angeles. Here, an organization of Republican women circulated a newsletter including a depiction of Barack Obama on a US food stamp surrounded by a watermelon, ribs, and a bucket of fried chicken (pictured here). Diane Fedele, president of Chaffey Community Republican Women Federated, was also forced to apologize for the picture but denied any racist intent despite the obvious racial stereotypes included in it. As in the Sacramento case, state Republican officials were forced to condemn and disavow the San Bernardino attack.
There was a time, not so long ago, when Republicans could get away with hate campaigns like this, particularly on the local level free of national attention. Thanks to the internet, those days are gone.
Mark C. Eades
http://www.mceades.com
how pathetic,we have a serious crises on our hands,and all these hate mongers can come up with is this garbage...pathetic
October 17, 2008 3:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thank goodness somebody somewhere is forced to apologize. We need more of this!
October 17, 2008 11:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Funny, isn't it, how John McCain has yet to repudiate these attacks.
October 17, 2008 12:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Right, because Democrats like to give free money to watermelon-n-fried-chicken-eatin' black people.
The sick thing is that I have family members who would just love to see this.
October 17, 2008 11:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
me, too...
October 17, 2008 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
But this is all Obama's fault for not agreeing to do the townhall meetings....and ACORN is a fraud he is using to taint the election (Rick Davis today)
October 17, 2008 1:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
As 'Schmedley' notes, another consistent theme of this presidential campaign is for every Obama opponent, and I include the Clinton campaign, to require that Senator Obama repudiate, disavow, or disassociate himself from whatever relationship/statement they can dig up. It sometimes even requires two to three degrees of separation. The media gleefully buy into this theme and will harp on it at any seeming opportunity.
During the primaries and now in the general election, the media have consistently gone after Obama and his associations at his opponents prodding. McCain, meanwhile, refuses to publicly state that his campaign supporters are anything but "the best", even while they're calling for his opponents death. Have you heard this commented on after the final debate? Of course not... if you have, I'd love to see you source it.
This is a consistent, I believe, form of passive racism in the media. It wasn't until after the primary that the flogging took place for the mysoginistic comments about Hillary, but I doubt anything will come up about this with Obama.
October 17, 2008 1:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well I for one am certainly glad that Fedele didn't have any racist intent.
I mean, I hate to imagine how even more vicious and disgusting that stunt would have turned out if she had intended it to be racist.
October 17, 2008 3:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
I called these Bigoted Bimbos and left a polite,but direct message telling them just how low they've stooped, and demanding that Ms. Fedele resign or be kkkicked out of their kkklub. Here's the # 909-981-0493.Please take 5 mins and call . Be polite!, but let them know this crap is unacceptable.
October 17, 2008 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why are we seeing advertisements for the National Guard on this site? I thought that was a ticket to Iraq, why don't you just let the Army advertise then? And Boeing, while you're at it. Yeesh.
You might wonder why there is not a point system to show how depraved either party is: start at 100, and deduct points for every piece of character assassination and "guilt by association" BS either party hands out. When Republicans reach ZERO, ask the public why they would even think to vote for people whose behavior comes out of a garbage can? If they can't win on their MERITS and they can't win with their POLICIES, there's no reason to let them win through intimidation, scabrous reasoning and (concocted) character attacks.
In the 3rd debate I recall Obama making a fairly long statement attacking a McCain position, and the moment McCain responded, he answered NONE of Obama's charges but proceeded to say "well Obama this" and "well Obama that." That sort of behavior has to be ARRESTED (you interrupt the speaker) and CONFRONTED (you remind the speaker to answer the question asked and not to introduce herrings.)
October 17, 2008 5:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Call Diane and Victor and tell them: "shame on you".
She may publicly apologize, but he was sure not very sorry about the Obama Bucks yesterday.
(909)982-6880
October 17, 2008 5:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
"tolerant California" my ass (says someone who spent almost all her adult life in OC & San Diego & is sooo glad to be back in Oregon)....
Not surprising that Sac(ramento) & San Berdoo are pulling this crap. I only wonder what they're up to in Orange County...
My extended family/friends (around 100+ people) have been actively boycotting the Ontario Galleria (right by San Berdoo) for years after clerks in the stores treated one of our dearest friends, a wonderful, kind, generous lady, like trash. She just happens to be very well off and could buy a significant chunk of their stores, but she committed the offense of SWM (Shopping While Mexican).
These people need to get a clue once and for all.
October 17, 2008 6:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
The following is the content of an email I sent to Mrs. MacGlashan. I was so furious, I could hardly type. I feel they should be ashamed for their actions, however, her response to me was to give me the republican office's phone number saying she is not responsible for what a volunteer at the republican office did.
this is what I wrote her:
I will be contacting anyone and everyone to defeat you in the next election. Your husband has crossed the line. Racism is abhorrent. Your husband’s actions on his republican website, (you know what I am referring to) is outrageous! How dare he attempt to stir up racism in our community. How dare he disgrace our city. You did not stop this, you are complicit. You do not deserve to represent my city! His actions reflect a desire to inspire violence in Sacramento and a return to the unrest of the sixties. No explaining is possible.
October 17, 2008 7:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I do not ever want to hear another Republican apologize for their misdeeds. I want to hear they were fired, prosecuted, and banned from ever holding public office again.
October 17, 2008 7:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Heyokadruid, are San Diego and OC more representative of California than Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area, Silicon Valley, etc.? We're a very big state and our most populous areas are pretty darn tolerant when compared with the rest of the country and probably much of the rest of the earth. Even Northern OC, where I'm currently ensconced, is a far cry from its past days. Also, I just heard that Dem registrations had just outdone Republicans in San Bernadino, even. So there's hope for us all.
As for the disavowal issue brought up by Jaycal and Smedley, I can't remember a more ridiculous examples than when the late Tim Russert, who Obama eulogized again last night, asked him if he would disavow some pro-Hugo Chavez comments made by Harry Belafonte. No explanation why Obama was responsible for words coming from a guy with whom he has no particular connection, except, well.....
"So, Sen. Obama, it seems to me that as you and Mr. Belafonte are not Republicans and share roughly the same skin tone...."
I miss Russert despite incidents like this, but the fact of the matter is the media, egged on by the right, has been pulling this BS on Dems, especially minority Dems, a very long time.
October 17, 2008 7:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
McGashlin is a lawyer. It is unethical to bring the law into disrepute. Being a lawyer, and regardless his political bigotry, he knows that racial discirmination is prohibited. So he rejects the rule of law -- the defining characteristic of Republican -- because he is entitled to be a bigot, and the law be damned.
He should be reported to the Bar by anyone who has standing to do so. Bigots never "get it" if they aren't required to pay a penalty. Suspension of his license should have an impact.
October 18, 2008 12:43 AM | Reply | Permalink