Nevada Republican's State Assembly Speaker Openly Racist, Sexist, Homophobic*

Image from source, Think Progress

Nevada has faced a number of oddball candidates for office, from the Chicken Lady, Sue Lowden to the certifiably batshit crazy Sharron Angle. And for decades, we've had the Hansen family, from the "Independent American Party," which should absolutely, positively not be confused with your run-of-the-mill independents. The IAP is a very fringy party, where you thought fringes were impossible. And the Hansens tried for years to get into mainstream politics.

Undoubtedly some have, and there is a new one. I wasn't able to confirm that he's part of the same family, but if not he'd fit right in. Ira Hansen is the new Speaker of the Nevada State Assembly. And he simply is pure hard right wing id. No filter, no dog whistle, all right there in the front window.

Whew. Unbelievable.

[Excerpt]

Incoming Nevada Speaker Said Democrats Have ‘Master-Slave’ Relationship With ‘Simple Minded Darkies’

Nevada Assemblyman Ira Hansen (R), who the assembly’s Republican caucus selected as their choice to be its next speaker earlier this month, has a long history of racist, sexist and homophobic statements chronicled in a long list published by the Reno News Review. Among other things, as part of a broader statement of support for school vouchers, Hansen claimed that “[t]he relationship of Negroes and Democrats is truly a master-slave relationship, with the benevolent master knowing what’s best for his simple minded darkies.” Indeed, according to the News Review, Hansen keeps a Confederate battle flag on his wall, which he says that he flies “proudly in honor and in memory of a great cause and my brave ancestors who fought for that cause.” He also “tends to use the term ‘Negro’ and often does not capitalize it. . .”

Read more at: Think Progress

*Obviously, "racist, sexist, homophobic" are all subjective judgments by me, your editor. Though I'm not sure another conclusion could be drawn.

GOP Congresswoman: We Need To Talk "Down To A Woman’s Level"

Image from source, TPM

It isn't often that I hear a woman speak, and my mouth hangs open. I'm long immune to the ramblings of the Sarah Palins and the Michele Bachmanns of the world. But this lady did it.

[Excerpt]

GOP Congresswoman: We Need To Bring Policy Talk ‘Down To A Woman’s Level’

Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) said on Friday that in order to connect with female voters, the Republican party needs to bring policy explanations "down to a woman's level." During a panel discussion on issues that women face and how the GOP can better reach women voters, the chair of the Republican Women's Policy Committee said that members of the party need to better "articulate ourselves," according to the Washington Examiner. . .

Read more (with audio) at: Talking Points Memo

Frivolity Break: Teenage Ladies Fight Back Against "Bro Country"

I've written before about the trend called "Bro Country." It's what passes for Country Music these days, or I guess what would be Country's version of Top 40. I'm slightly allergic to country music outside my long-ago forays into Country & Western gay bars (don't ask). But it doesn't take much immersion to see the pattern. As I said in the past, my introduction came from being trapped in a dentist's chair for about an hour. That's all it took, an hour--maybe 8 or 9 songs--and I was just appalled. Not so much for the messages in the songs (though that's kind of icky too), but its uniformity. Every song is about essentially the same thing, and each song is sung in pretty much the same style. As a latecomer to the genre, I'm probably less aware of it than most people.

Now, a couple of teenaged ladies have decided to sing a rebuttal of sorts to this entire sub-genre. I doubt it will change anything, but I hope they get rich and famous with it!

[Excerpt]

Teenage Duo Takes On ‘Bro Country’ Cliches, Writes Country Song Where Women Do More Than Bring Boys Beer



Listen to this first single from Maddie Marlow and Tae Dye, a teenage singing-songwriting country duo, out on iTunes today. Now get ready to listen to it again and again and again. “Girl in a Country Song,” with its tongue-in-cheek takedown of the way bro country treats women—“We used to get a little respect / now we’re lucky if we even get / to climb up in your truck keep our mouths shut and ride along / and be the girl in the country song.”—has all the makings of a hit: clever, on-the-zeitgeist lyrics, a sense of humor, and two very talented, telegenic teenagers. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

Creepy Mike Huckabee's Sexism and. . .Creepiness

"And then Uncle Sugar touches you in your special place. . ."
Image from source, Raw Story

Ugh. You'd have thought prominent conservatives would have learned their lessons by now, when it comes to women. Instead, they keep saying very, very, very stupid things about rape, abortion, sex, sex parts, contraception, and on and on. They seem to think they're absolute experts on that whole lady business while continuing to prove that they a) don't really seem to know much about it, and b) have no clue how to talk about it without being extremely offensive. And yet, they keep doing it!

But let me say, even though what Huckabee says is indeed racist, and I understand that the following phrase is part of his regular schtick, this man saying "Uncle Sugar," is like the creepiest thing ever.

[Excerpt]

Huckabee: Dems say women ‘can’t control their libido’ without birth control from ‘Uncle Sugar’
 
Mike Huckabee says Democrats make women feel helpless to control their libido by offering government-sponsored birth control. The onetime presidential candidate and former Arkansas governor told the Republican National Committee during a speech Thursday that they can’t allow liberals to frame the debate any longer. “I think it’s time Republicans no longer accept listening to the Democrats talk about a ‘war on women,’” Huckabee said. “Because the fact is, the Republicans don’t have a war on women. They have a war for women. . .”

Read more at: Raw Story

Right Wing World: Conservative Hero Ted Nugent's Racist, Sexist Rant

I've lamented many times in this space about the sheer oddness of conservative heroes. From Sarah Palin to Joe the Plumber to the cast of Duck Dynasty, they are a cavalcade of oddities, with a wide streak of barely veiled (and sometimes naked) racism, sexism, homophobia, you name the prejudice. Usually denied, but patently obvious. Occasionally, they'll go too far, and offer a soft apology, and sometimes even then with a bit of a twist. Most often, they double down, claim "freedom of speech," and their fans love them more for it.

Ted Nugent is one of the odder ones, and one of the "nakedly" offensive variety. For all of Right Wing World's outrages against liberals and the "Hollywood elite" should they say or do something that lights up the news cycle, Ted has gotten support by people like Mike Huckabee and Sean Hannity, even when Ted's offenses are usually far more offensive. The question is, will they back him up this time?

Image from source, Mediaite

[Excerpt]

Ted Nugent: President Obama a ‘Chimpanzee’ and ‘Subhuman Mongrel,’ Hillary Has ‘Spare Scrotums’

Self-professed fecal draft-dodger Ted Nugent, who is not racist because he profits from black music, was interviewed by Guns.com at the almost-aptly-named SHOT Show 2014 about a variety of topics, and had a few more choice words for President Obama, whom Nugent once said (from a distance) should “suck on my machine gun.” Toward the end of the interview, Nugent referred to the President as a “subhuman mongrel” and a “chimpanzee,” while also asserting that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has “spare scrotums. . .”

Source (with video): Mediaite

A Thought on Bill Maher, and the Rush Limbaugh False Equivalence

This is not a post about the whole Sandra Fluke/Rush Limbaugh/Slut-gate affair. Though it can't be pointed out enough, that Limbuagh's 3-day rant bore no resemblance to reality, and was completely out of bounds. It's not really about Bill Maher, his comedic choices, or his potty mouth. And it's not even about the actual false equivalence: Sarah Palin, uber-famous political celebrity vs. Sandra Fluke, student activist; Rush Limbaugh, conservative messiah vs. Bill Maher, libertarian comic.

What this post is about is the mystery of the news cycle. For several days (and it's probably dying down a bit right now), conservatives were pushing the "Oh yeah? Well if you're going to blast Limbaugh, we're going to tear down Bill Maher!" line. As is common when this stuff hits right-wing talk radio and FOX "News," the mainstream (liberally biased, my ass) media picks up on it too. So, the storyline became: If Rush Limbaugh's so bad, what about Bill Maher?

So, I'm not going to argue the false equivalence, I just want to know, why Maher? Do you know how many comedians have used Sarah Palin* for a punchline? Or how many have used the same words Maher used about her? Patton Oswaldt, John Fugelsang, Hal Sparks, and many others have made Palin the butt of their jokes. And don't tell me it's because she's a woman­® either. Lisa Lampanelli, Sarah Silverman, Kathy Griffin? They're all women. They've all skewered Palin. It's because she's a dolt, not because she's a woman!

So, how did conservatives en masse decide that the issue boiled down to a) sexism, b) Bill Maher and c) Sarah Palin? It would be quite a leap for so many conservatives to go to. It can't be a coincidence, so what is it? Do conservative talkers, pundits, commentators and bloggers get marching orders from headquarters? Do they get a bullet-pointed talking points daily email? Do they have some sort of Star Trek Borg hive-mind? I'd really like to know.


*And back to the sexism angle. It isn't just Palin and Michele Bachmann who get skewered with dirty words. Off the top of my head, I can think of John Boner Boehner, Eric ("bitchface") Cantor, Mitch (Yertle) McConnell, Tom (Tipsy McStagger) DeLay, Dick (Darth) Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Scott (Recall) Walker, and George freakin' Dubya Bush--all men--who comedians have had a field day with. It's not about sexism. It's about comedic potential.

Sally Kern's Most Outrageously Offensive Statements

Sally Kern, or (hopefully), Rachel Dratch doing an
offensive bigot character. From source, BuzzFlash

Right now, the NAACP is trying to get Representative Sally Kern (R-Ok.) to resign for making outrageous statements about black people and women. Kern thinks both categories of people don't work hard enough, and probably should have kept that little butt nugget of information to herself, whether she thinks it or not. Since she said it (and believe me, I put it nicer words than she did), she's had a lot of backlash, understandably. And she's offered up a lame "oopsie, that's not what I think" half-assed apology of sorts. According to Sally, it came out wrong, and she's not really a sexist bigot. Funny, considering how often she says horrible things.

Below are examples of this woman's blinding nastiness (though whoever collected the statements seems to be allergic to apostrophes).

[Excerpt]

22 INSANE Things Representative Sally Kern Has Said

A collection of quotes from the worst, most horrible, bigoted woman in the US government. Sally Kern makes Sarah Palin look like a smart, sane lady. If you want, you can email Sally at sallykern@okhouse.gov. BE CIVIL, this woman is crazy. . .

#2 - “Not everybodys lifestyle is equal, just like not all religions are equal, gays are an even bigger threat than terrorism or Islam, which I think is a big threat. . .”

Read them all at: BuzzFeed

Religious Test: Does Sarah Palin's Religion Pose a Risk?

I've been wondering if I should take the advice of several other bloggers, and stop focusing on Sarah Palin on my blog. I'm told that saying anything against her will be viewed as an attack by her disciples, and actually embolden their allegiance to her.

This is a most puzzling development in politics. Usually, no matter who a candidate is, he or she is subjected to a high level of scrutiny, and must endure many slings and arrows on their journey through a campaign. Hillary Clinton endured--as I see it--no more or less than any other candidate, but her followers magnified any negative statement, and re-framed it. They honestly believe that she endured an unprecedented onslaught of sexism run amok. Any negative remark made them more fervent in their defense of Clinton, and now that she's lost her bid, many of those followers are almost pathologically bitter about it. Clinton is almost deified in this realm, and her opponent--Barack Obama--is vilified to ridiculous extremes.

This is the same situation we are witnessing with Sarah Palin, though I'm not convinced there are as many Clinton supporters in this group as others have stated. Any negative attack on Palin brings outrage, and cries of sexism. Any gaffe is excused or ignored. Some gaffes are even turned around and touted as positives. And the one area that is the most dicey to touch is her religion.

Religion is Palin's calling card. It's the root of her conservative philosophy, and frankly the only explainable reason for her popularity (excepting her alleged "hotness"). So, when you go after Palin's rather odd religious history, her followers transpose the attack to all religion, particularly Christianity. This is most odd when you consider the constant stream of attacks on Obama's religious past. He most certainly didn't--and doesn't--get a pass does he? And they attack him for being a "crazy Christian" and a "radical Muslim."

As an agnostic-bordering-on-atheist, I get a wiggins whenever religion rears its head in politics. I flat-out don't like it, and don't think it reflects well on our country. It certainly isn't what the founding fathers tried to lay out. You'd think all of these right-wing "strict constructionists" would get that.

The following is a piece on Sarah Palin's religion, written by a much more eloquent non-believer than I. If you made it this far, it is well worth a few more minutes of your time.

[Excerpt]

When Atheists Attack: A noted provocateur rips Sarah Palin—and defends elitism. By Sam Harris

Let me confess that I was genuinely unnerved by Sarah Palin's performance at the Republican convention. Given her audience and the needs of the moment, I believe Governor Palin's speech was the most effective political communication I have ever witnessed. Here, finally, was a performer who—being maternal, wounded, righteous and sexy—could stride past the frontal cortex of every American and plant a three-inch heel directly on that limbic circuit that ceaselessly intones "God and country." If anyone could make Christian theocracy smell like apple pie, Sarah Palin could. . .

Read more at: Newsweek

Shameless Gossip: Is Sarah Palin. . .um. . .Racist?

Photo from source, LA Progressive

I hate to ask the question, or make the accusation. I know not everything one reads on the internets is the 100% literal truth. Still, if this is Sarah Palin's actual quote. . .well. . .that's bad:

“So Sambo beat the bitch!”

I mean, she couldn't really have said that, right? I mean, I know that at the time she didn't know--nor did anybody else--that she'd be picked as John McCain's running mate. And it could be a case of trying to be funny and off-the-cuff, and failing miserably. Or something. But. . .wow. For now, let's file this under "Shameless Gossip," and see if the story grows legs.

[Excerpt]

Alaskans Speak (In A Frightened Whisper): Palin Is “Racist, Sexist, Vindictive, And Mean”

“So Sambo beat the bitch!”

This is how Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin described Barack Obama’s win over Hillary Clinton to political colleagues in a restaurant a few days after Obama locked up the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

According to Lucille, the waitress serving her table at the time and who asked that her last name not be used, Gov. Palin was eating lunch with five or six people when the subject of the Democrat’s primary battle came up. The governor, seemingly not caring that people at nearby tables would likely hear her, uttered the slur and then laughed loudly as her meal mates joined in appreciatively. . .

Read more at: LA Progressive

Barack Obama's Sweetie Flap: Are You Kidding Me?

Image grabbed from source, ABC

I keep reminding people that this particular Presidential race isn't much nastier than previous ones. But I'm starting to think it is one of the stupidest. Flag pins? Preachers? It's all so meaningless, so stupid. And now we've taken the parsing of words down to questioning the motivation behind the outrageously offensive word, "sweetie."

Please. If Grampy McCain had said it, everyone would think it was cute, and grandfatherly. If Hillary Clinton had said it, it might not even make a blip, or it would be seen as camaraderie. But since Barack Obama said it, apparently in a addition to questioning his patriotism and his religion, we now have to question if he is a sexist. Never mind that we have nothing else to base this on than one word. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

[Excerpt]

Obama's 'Sweetie': Spontaneous or Sexist?

The recent flap over Sen. Barack Obama calling a female reporter "sweetie" sparked a national dialogue over what is acceptable language between men and women in the workplace. . .

Read more at (with video): ABC News

Sexism in the Democratic Primary Race?

Photo from Raw Story

I am presenting this excerpt in the interest of fairness. I do not particularly agree with the premise of this article. While sexism is surely a problem in America, I am not sure that all, most, or even a significant number of Barack Obama supporters are supporting him because they are too sexist to vote for a woman. I do think that a significant number of voters are probably racist and sexist, and most of those people are probably for John McCain. Just my opinion. But others think differently.

[Excerpt]

Clinton Campaign Brought Sexism Out of Hiding

As the Democratic nomination contest slouches toward a close, it's time to take stock of what I will not miss.

I will not miss seeing advertisements for T-shirts that bear the slogan "Bros before Hos." The shirts depict Barack Obama (the Bro) and Hillary Clinton (the Ho) and they are widely sold on the Internet. . .

Read more at: Real Clear Politics