Ted Cruz, reaching out to offend, as he protests a shutdown he helped make possible.
There's a popular slogan in Twelve Step programs: "Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results." We can apply it easily to the Teapublican Party, with members who persist in thinking that simply selecting people with Latino surnames, black faces, those who have ovaries, or those who ostensibly champion marijuana reform (the perpetual Pauls) will change their "fail" in communities of color, among women and with young people across the United States.
It's pretty funny when you think about it. But since they persist in thinking that we are terminally stupid and are unable to separate style from substance—and are easily tricked by visuals—I stand to the side laughing, watching further futile efforts on their part to stem their shrinking demographics. Here's the truth:
It's your platform—stupid.
It's your policies—stupid.
It's your racism, bigotry, misogyny, homophobia and xenophobia—stupid.
And to make it even more clear, I'll explain below the fold.
Because the Teapublicans are ruled by their extremist faction (patently obvious in their shutdown debacle) and because their current most visible standard-bearer is one of those Spanish-surnamed folk—Ted Cruz (since their first choice of Marco Rubio seems to have slipped under their own bus)—the fail increases as his poll numbers shrink. Their house is built of straw, since Cruz was the winger straw-poll winner. If they are counting on Cruz to woo Latinos, they're going to be spinning straw for decades; Latinos nationwide are not exactly embracing the tea party, and in the latest Pew poll on Hispanic leadership, Cruz doesn't even rate a mention. Unsurprising, given that he is opposed to the Dream Act.
Somehow, the Teapublicans bought their own propaganda that black people only voted for Barack Obama because he is black (failing to appreciate the historic black votes for white candidates) and Goddess only knows how they have interpreted the Latino and Asian vote for that black fella.... And oh yeah, and they forgot to notice that Sarah Palin was a massive fail as an ovaried standard-bearer.
They tried it with Michael Steele, now relegated to the punditry sidelines. Colin Powell is anathema to them since he endorsed Barack Obama.
And where did pizza godfather Herman Cain, so beloved by the extremists go?
In Virginia they have "Ewww Jackson." Florida had Allen West, now spewing on Fox News, who also headed to Virginia to do a fundraiser for fellow bigot Jackson.
They are now launching even more hypocritical efforts.
Jon Stewart covered Rand Paul's visit to HBCU Howard University, back in April. (I got a real belly laugh watching that again.) Now the Republican National Committee has hired Paul proteges Orlando Watson and Tara Watson as its new black media outreach directors. My apologies for linking to right-wing National Review Online, but I had to chuckle again looking at the underwhelming response in comments:
I don't know anything about Orlando, but Tara Wall was horrible during the Romney Campaign. Why in the world do they keep hiring people like this? This is going no where. They keep hiring terrible people expecting great results.
I'd expect this move from race-based groups and political organizations funded by Democrats, not from Republicans. We look past race, sex, gender, religion (outside the NRO staff that is), and ethnicity to talent, hard work, conservative beliefs, personal responsibility, the rule of law, and individualism.
Another sad chapter in the GOP when it wants to sink into racial identity politics.
Heh. The irony, it burns. Racial identity targeting and smearing is the game the Teapublicans know best.
To combat the growing strength of the NAACP-forged progressive coalition in North Carolina, the Republicans will now try to get black folks to endorse restriction of their voting rights—by hiring a black person to sell their reactionary program. As the Washington Post explained in its article, GOP launches minority outreach in N.C., defends voter law in court:
“Haven’t we heard this story before?” asked Kiara Pesante, DNC Southern regional press secretary and director of African American media in a Monday statement reacting to the opening of the Charlotte office. “From their ‘50 State Strategy’ to their ‘autopsy report’ after their disastrous 2012 presidential campaign, the Republicans have promised time and time again to listen to the needs of key constituencies and change their ways. But after their cynical, divisive crusade to make it harder for African Americans to vote in states like North Carolina, to prevent the 7.1 million uninsured black Americans from accessing affordable health care, and even shutting down the government for 16 days — furloughing up to 150,000 African American workers and harming critical programs like SNAP, WIC and Head Start — the GOP has yet again proven that are so far out of touch they can’t even see it.”
While they torpedo food programs, reproductive rights, immigration reform, education, health care, voting rights—and while their noise machine aka Faux News vomits up bigoted bile at an astonishing rpm—they valiantly try to slap Band-Aids on the gaping wounds of their losses, rather than treat the disease of their reactionary thinking.
They are deaf to the warning cries from a few of the conservative Republicans that are crying out in their wilderness, who attempt to check the train wreck in process and will be rolled over and flattened by their hate-machine.
Next up on the Democratic national plate will be Hillary. They won't have the "blah" thing to throw at her, but will surely use a slew of mysognistic word-salads, to attempt to diminish and tarnish her status. They'll try Bengazi, her age, Bill and pants suits.
Meanwhile they have to cope with what they have wrought this year as we move towards midterms.
Just watch them flail in the New York City mayoral race with last ditch "scare the white people" ad from Joe Lhota.
Son Dante's afro, and Bill's black wife failed to scare sane white voters away from Di Blasio. Rather than face the fact that positions on issues like "stop and frisk" made the difference, they try a Willie Horton blast-from-the-past move, alienating the NYC electorate.
Good show, Republicans!
Yet another epic fail.
They can keep on faking the outreach thing, but they fail to see that we can tell they come to us with empty hands and cold hearts.