Michael Steele Declines To Condemn Beck’s Claim That Obama Is “Racist”
Here’s another measure of Glenn Beck’s growing Limbaugh-like power: In an interview with Univision yesterday, Michael Steele seemed unwilling to condemn Beck’s claim that Obama is a “racist,” though he did distance himself from it a bit by saying it was “one man’s opinion.”
Univision sends over a transcript, and here’s the relevant bit:
INTERVIEWER JORGE RAMOS: For instance, when you hear commentators like Glenn Beck saying that for him President Barack Obama is a racist, with a deep seated hatred for white people, how do you react?
STEELE: That’s one man’s opinion.
RAMOS: Yes, but…
STEELE: That’s one man’s opinion.
RAMOS: But should you defend Barack Obama against these types of comments? I don’t know, it’s just a question.
STEELE: No, no, look, the reality of it is when I ran for the United States Senate and I was called an Uncle Tom by leading Democrats in the country, when I was called a slave by Steny Hoyer who is now the majority leader in the House, no one came running to my defense, and no one seemed to think that that was racist at the time. I don’t play the race card, I don’t play the race game, the way some tend to want to do.
Steele has, in fairness, condemned some extreme stuff coming from the right, calling birtherism a “needless distraction.” But he did offer a public apology to Rush Limbaugh after inadvertently criticizing him.
In the case of this latest coming from Limbaugh-spawn Beck, Steele seemed to say he opposes the “race game” in general, but seemed unwilling to forcefully condemn Beck’s particular brand of it.
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I don’t think Steele will admit to racism in his party, they might lynch him for it.
In much, much, MUCH more important news:
A panel probing fraud claims in the Afghan election has found Hamid Karzai did not gain enough valid votes for an outright win, the BBC understands.
Preliminary results from August’s first round had placed Mr Karzai comfortably over the 50% plus one vote threshold needed to avoid a run-off.
But the BBC understands Mr Karzai’s vote share has fallen below half, after a number of votes were ruled invalid.
Under poll rules, Mr Karzai now faces a runoff against rival Abdullah Abdullah.
In its much-anticipated report on Monday, the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) ordered that ballots from 210 polling stations be discounted.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8314613.stm
We now have a Catch 22 situation in Afghanistan. Since it now has been proven that Karzai rigged the election, and tried to steal it, if he wins a run off, he will still be a proven crook. Since he a confirmed crook, how can even a clean runoff un-crook him. Catch 22.
If we can not support him, as things now stand, because of his massive vote fraud, then how can we ever support him again.
What we appear to be seeking is An Honest Afghanistan Government, headed by a known Criminal. Catch 22 Indeed!!!
what are you all experiencing in comments?
Ever wonder who coaches Michael Steele?
http://bit.ly/3ppyiu
(satire)
@Greg….so far I’m having no difficulty with posting comments.
Greg,
No posting problems so far this fine day.
Uh, what Democratic leaders called him an “Uncle Tom”? And did Steny Hoyer really call him a slave?…because it feels like there’s context missing there.
And even still…his defense is still that he doesn’t feel it is important to defend others from racism, because he was once the victim of racism?
How does THAT make sense?
Which “leading Democrats” called Michael Steele an Uncle Tom, exactly? Note: Daily Kos diarists don’t count as “leading Democrats.”
BBQ, Hoyer accused Steele of “slavishly supporting the Republican Party,” IIRC. An unfortunate word choice, yes, but not exactly the same as calling him a slave.
# maxfolger | October 19th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Ever wonder who coaches Michael Steele?
http://bit.ly/3ppyiu
(satire)
…………………………
@Maxfolger,
Great stuff Max.
Now, if they could only figure out how Jesus turned Water into Wine, and then have that Priest perform his transubstantiation parlor trick, we would never have another blood shortage again.
I would like to see those guys brew up some wine from turnips, and then have the priest convert it to the blood of Christ. Then, they really would have gotten blood from a……….
The BBC article and now this one from NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/world/asia/20afghan.html
…shows just how insanely stupid were the GOP’s efforts to get Obama to rush more troops into Afghanistan.
Just insane.
Thank God we have adults in charge.
No techie problems, Greg. On Steele: this guy gives us one idiotic quote per day. Part of his SOP.
greg so glad to see you using Univision. One thing most people do not know about Ramos is how great he is as an interviewer. He presses in ways that no one else does. I saw him take a Mexican ex pres he made mince meat out of him.
“State Sen. Lisa A. Gladden, a black Baltimore Democrat, said she does not expect her party to pull any punches, including racial jabs at Mr. Steele, in the race to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes.
…
“Delegate Salima Siler Marriott, a black Baltimore Democrat, said Mr. Steele invites comparisons to a slave who loves his cruel master or a cookie that is black on the outside and white inside because his conservative political philosophy is, in her view, anti-black.
…
“In 2001, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. called Mr. Steele an “Uncle Tom,” when Mr. Steele headed the state Republican Party. Mr. Miller, Prince George’s County Democrat, later apologized for the remark.
…
“This week, the News Blog — a liberal Web log run by Steve Gilliard, a black New Yorker — removed a doctored photo of Mr. Steele that depicted him as a black-faced minstrel.
“However, the blog has kept its headline “Simple Sambo wants to move to the big house.” A caption beneath a photo of the lieutenant governor reads: “I’s Simple Sambo and I’s running for the Big House.”
No problems on commenting for me either, I speculate that the best possible result (in terms of getting a legitimate government in Afghanistan) would be to have the run off go through fairly successfully and then have a power sharing agreement between Karzai an and Abdullah Abdullah. That way the government can be seen to represent more than just corrupt warlords, and we can begin a process of seeing an emphasis switch from obtaining power to governing (again, this is a best case scenario).
It would seem that Obama is reluctant to give in to troop escalation, I hope he follows through on that. As for the Republicans… their tactic when fighting wars is to start them, declare victory and then turn their backs. It is always important to remember how we got into the mess we are in.
As someone else said. Which leading Democrats called him an uncle Tom.
And to top that off Hoyer said this about the statement.
“I shouldn’t have used those words…If Mr. Steele did in fact take offense let me assure him that none was intended.”
The statement was “a career of slavishly supporting the Republican Party” as he was introducing Cardin to a group of black business owners in Upper Marlboro, and his choice of words did not cause a visible reaction from the crowd. of slavishly supporting the Republican Party”
Those who want to put their faith in Abdullah Abdullah might want to read up on his history a bit first…
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090831/crossette
“As someone else said. Which leading Democrats called him an uncle Tom.”
That would be the Senate President, state of Maryland, Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr.
sbj. So, Steele’s defense for not condemning Beck is he was called an uncle Tom by someone?
Listen, I don’t know honestly because I’ve heard other African Americans call each other uncle Tom’s.
Is that a racist remark or is that just someone making fun of someone else?
OK,
So we have no chance for an honest government in Afghanistan.
Since that is the case, then what is the point of having more and more of our fine young soldiers getting killed or maimed, in order to prop up a corrupt regime in Afghanistan.
Without an honest competent government, we have no partner to train an army for. How stupid would it be to have thousands of our soldiers die, in order to set up a very large Afghanistan army, just to have it controlled by a corrupt regime.
sbj, that’s how racism and stereotypes are perpetuated. Silence = acquiescence.
Essentially what you and he are saying is that because SOMEWHERE at SOMETIME, SOMEONE was stereotyped then that means that Glenn Beck gets a pass on being a racist.
Republicans say racist things all the time. This is just more of the same cr@p from sbj and the terrorist right.
“sbj. So, Steele’s defense for not condemning Beck is he was called an uncle Tom by someone?”
Er, no. I believe he is saying (and I haven’t seen the interview or read the entire transcript – Greg!) that everyone has an opinion and it is not always everyone’s duty to condemn those opinions.
He was asked, “Should you defend Barack Obama against these types of comments?”
And his response indicates that to do so would be to engage in playing the race game.
The more I think about this – Greg – how can it be proper for you to give us only this tiny excerpt? There’s not much context here. Shame on you!
“sbj, that’s how racism and stereotypes are perpetuated. Silence = acquiescence.”
And so if you, personally, don’t immediately condemn the racist remarks hurled at Steele, then you, Ethan, are perpetuating racism? It’s now been proven that Steele was called an Uncle Tom. By your logic, if everyone who has now read my comment does not immediately condemn that remark then they are guilty of perpetuating racism, same as Steele by not condemning Beck. I don’t think so.
“”"He was asked, “Should you defend Barack Obama against these types of comments?”
And his response indicates that to do so would be to engage in playing the race game. “”"
Hahaha. sbj, you’re an even bigger idiot than Steele for coming to his defense on such a clearly laughable statement.
“Listen, I don’t know honestly because I’ve heard other African Americans call each other uncle Tom’s.”
That is calling someone a traitor to their race. Similar to the recent attack on Juan Williams – telling him to get off the porch.
SBJ is a Racist. He revealed that last week.
He was not going to vote in he President Election, until he saw that then Senator Obama was the Democratic nominee.
SBJ is a Racist. You might as well give credence to David Duke’s take on racial issues, as to pay any attention to the spin that SBJ puts on the topic.
“Hahaha. sbj, you’re an even bigger idiot than Steele for coming to his defense on such a clearly laughable statement.”
Was wondering how long it would take for the name calling to begin. 25 minutes – probably not a new record.
Edit:
SBJ is a Racist. He revealed that last week.
He was not going to vote in he Presidential Election, until he saw that, then Senator, Obama was the Democratic nominee.
SBJ is a Racist. You might as well give credence to David Duke’s take on racial issues, as to pay any attention to the spin that SBJ puts on the topic.
sbj, nobody — most of all me — wants to play your stupid upside-down neocon logic games. You are a racist and support racists because they are Republicans and vice versa. Not much more need be said.
26 minutes until Liam called me a racist. Let’s see how long it takes tomorrow!
Even better than the Beck stuff, this is from the same Steele interview:
“I don’t think we need a comprehensive overhaul of our health care system.”
http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/steele-we-dont-need-comprehensive-health-care-reform.php
UN-BE-LIEVABLE.
Someone needs to tell Juan Williams to get off Fox News Allstars.
SBJ is a Racist. He gave himself away last week, when he claimed that Barack Obama was a Racist.
SBJ said that Hillary Clinton saying: “Hard Working White Americans” in West Virginia, was not racist, but he had to go out and vote to defeat Obama, to save all White Americans from black racism.
That is what SBJ told us was his reason for voting in the last election, and he said that if Obama was not in the election he would not have bothered to vote.
SBJ is a Racist, and his own words are the proof that he is.
And so if you, personally, don’t immediately condemn the racist remarks hurled at Steele, then you, Ethan, are perpetuating racism? It’s now been proven that Steele was called an Uncle Tom. By your logic, if everyone who has now read my comment does not immediately condemn that remark then they are guilty of perpetuating racism, same as Steele by not condemning Beck. I don’t think so.
This will be a relevant assertion when Ethan becomes the chairman of a national political party. Until that time the comparison is a little strange. Steele’s job puts him in a position of responsibility regarding denouncing racism.
Given the GOP’s decades-long strategy of deliberating recruiting racist white Southerners it’s particularly incumbent upon that party to denounce racism if it’s at all serious about being a party that can lead the USA.
Why Juan Williams, Mara Liasson, and Alan Colmes were hired by FAUX NEWS;
Roger Ailes spills the beans. Fox News was never “Fair & Balanced”.
Roger Ailes explains why he decided to hire Chris Cuomo to do commentary on Fox News.
http://www.vitalmx.com/forums/NonMoto,21/Its-fun-to-see-conservatives-turn-on-their-own-kind,675858
“Klayman takes particular aim at the “strange and petty tactics” of the network’s chairman Roger Ailes. When he asked Ailes about his decision to hire Chris Cuomo, the current “Good Morning America” co-host, to do commentary, the Fox News executive replied: “If I’m going to put on some goddamned liberal, I might as well get the dumbest f*uck I can find!””
Now folks do you understand why Juan Williams, Mara Liasson, and Alan Colmes were hired by Ailes.
He hired them because he wanted three “of the dumbest liberal f*ucks he could find.”
And believe me, he got what he wanted.
Now that we’ve established that the GOP is the party of racism and terrorism, I still want to know the Right’s position on health care reform!
Sometimes they’re for it, sometimes against, sometimes 80% agreement, sometimes they want to kill it outright.
Now here we are today with the HEAD OF THE RNC making this comment:
“I don’t think we need a comprehensive overhaul of our health care system.”
So I pose the question: Does the Republican Party think we need a comprehensive overhaul of our health system?
Pretty simple question. I’m at a loss for why we don’t KNOW THIS BY NOW.
(”deliberately”, not “deliberating”)
The Republicans are for their own version of health care reform, only when they are out of power. When in power, they offered nothing. Their own congressman, Paul Ryan, admitted that was the case.
both parties have long histories of racism. It’s a shame that it continues to plaque us. It’s a problem on both sides… and sometimes the racism is shouted when it isn’t the case.
It’s also horrible when you see people deliberatly using it to their advantage. Makes me nauseous. Both sides have been guilty of it. The press has been guilty of it. It’s just a contined shame & blight on society – and it is not black racism – but the same thing leveled at Hispanics, Indians & Pakastani’s, folks from the Middle East etc.
We should mandate that everyone marry someone of another race. Then in a generation or two – the problem would be solved.
Don’t laugh – it’d work.
Actually, while it may seem to be a way to solve that problem I doubt it would work. There’s always a way of making a stranger an “other”, and I believe it’s very likely to be a “hard wired” feature of humans generally. The dehumanization of “the other” isn’t unique to Americans, or anyone else so far as I’m aware.
When the (Roman Catholic) Irish came over during and before the Potato Famine they were not wanted and experienced intense bigotry against them. We still have a legacy word from that era – “paddy wagon”. When the Italians and Eastern Europeans (not to mention the Eastern European Jews) came in great numbers 100 years ago they also were met with intense hostility.
Now one of the leaders of American hostility to immigrants has a name ending in a vowel (Tancredo)!
“We should mandate that everyone marry someone of another race. Then in a generation or two – the problem would be solved.”
Made me recall “The Lathe of Heaven” by Ursula K. Le Guin – when everyone was dreamed the same shade of gray…
That’s a really elegant story about being careful what you wish for!
welcome to the age of neo-reconstruction not post racial politics