As if there were any doubt as to the intolerance, insensitivity, and juvenile sensibilities of some Republicans, a snapshot of yesterday's action from the Republican National Connvention should have been enough to remove any uncertainty.
Just a quick note to the Republican guys picking delegates...you might want to at least give the impression that your party appeals to the many others from different racial and cultural backgrounds.
It’s shameful the Republicans couldn’t rely or boast upon their record of accomplishment and instead, had to resort to the primal manipulation of fear and distorted lies.
I can't imagine a more juvenile gesture than those delegates who were wearing Band-Aids with purple hearts on their cheeks. I wonder how many of those maroons ever saw combat in service of their country? And yet they have no qualms about insulting and demeaning the service of a man who served his country ably and well- never mind the fact that he was wounded in the course of that service. Yet these self- appointed, armchair generals are willing to pass judgement on John Kerry, when their own service likely involved nothing riskier than a snowball fight with their children.
Memo to those of you at the RNC: will you PLEASE stop talking about the war in Iraq as if it is a natural outgrowth from 9.11? No one has yet, in almost three years, been able to establish a connection between Saddam Hussein's regime and 9.11- so stop justifying the war on the basis of 9.11. Or are y'all really so willingly and willfully out of touch with the truth?
I realize that a good deal of this crap is part and parcel of the convention mob hysteria that turns otherwise reasonable adults into frothing, mindless drones, but let's get a grip, shall we? Or do you want America to see you as intolerant, insensitive, clueless fools?
I can't speak for how other states do it, but the delegates to the state convention (in each Congressional district) picked the delegates to the national convention. The delegates to the state convention were picked by delegates to the county/senatorial district conventions. Those delegates were picked at the precinct conventions on the evening of the primary, who presumably voted in the GOP primary earlier in the day.
If minorities want a seat at the table, they just need to come to the conventions -- I sent 5 people out of 35 available slots to the SD convention (so they all had 7 votes each). All of us got state convention seats as delegates or alternates. That meant we were all in a position to seek National delegate seats -- which are pretty tightly contested, but everyone interested gets to make their case.
But if members of a group don't participate at the entry level, then they certainly won't get a delegate seat at the national convention, because unlike the Democrats we don't reserve seats based upon race, ethnicity, genitalia, or preferred sex partner.
Yes, the Republican Party is such a beacon of democracy. The fact is that the TX GOP is controlled by the extremist right wingers, precisely because they learned how to control the party machinery, as Greg describes it.
And by the way, the Purple Heart bandages were courtesy of one Morton C. Blackwell, founder of something called the (nonpartisan AND conservative) Leadership Institute. Blackwell,of course, like Cheney, Gingrich, Lott et al, never wore a military uniform, but feeks free to mock the heroism of those who did. I guess we should be thankful that the GOP chairman had the basic human deceny to make Blackwell stop passing the things out.
Well, its easier to slander the other guy who's actually been a success rather than keep digging through Bush's past to try and find something he was good at aside from beer bongs and doing lines while driving.
But those who complain are usually those who don't bother to participate at all -- sort of like not voting and then complaining that your candidate lost.
And as noted below, you might have to travel all the way to LaMarque to find a black delegate to the Republican Convention.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,131048,00.html
"I think that the Democrats want us to come to the table to eat the crumbs, but Republicans want us to come and eat at the banquet," said Geraldine Sam of Lamarque, Texas, who is one of 20 black Republicans in the Texas delegation this year.
The Texans joined a throng of attendees Monday that included radio talk show host Armstrong Williams, Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele and Democratic Washington, D.C., Mayor Anthony Williams at a soiree sponsored by the conservative Black America's Political Action Committee.