The Republican Media- No. 18

Did you hear the one about technology-averse John McCain inventing the Blackberry? No, he didn't say he invented it, but top policy advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin said he helped create it. Holding a Blackberry, Holtz-Eakin (as quoted in startribune.com, Minneapolis) boasted on September 16 "He did this. Telecommunications in the United States, the premiere innovation in the past 15 years, comes right through the Commerce Committee. So you're looking at the miracle that John McCain helped create."

You might not have heard about it, because it didn't get nearly the play that Al Gore's remark about the Internet has, even today. On CNN's "Late Edition" on 3/9/99, Gore stated

During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system.

Snopes.com drew this apt analogy in May, 2005:

If President Eisenhower had said in the mid-1960s that he, while President, "created" the Interstate Highway System, we would not have seen dozens and dozens of editorials lampooning him for claiming he "invented" the concept of highways or implying that he personally went out and dug ditches across the country to help build the roadway. Everyone would have understood that Ike meant he was a driving force behind the legislation that created the highway system, and this was the very same concept Al Gore was expressing about himself with his Internet statement.

Even the startribune.com article noting the McCain campaign's statement couldn't resist the cheap shot against the former Vice-President, quipping "Move over, Al Gore. You may lay claim to the Internet, but John McCain's campaign is laying claim to the BlackBerry."

And then there was this comment on 9/4/08 from North Carolina Republican Rick Goddard, seeking a U.S. House seat, about black MSNBC reporter Ron Allen:

I’ll tell you one thing, I think we’re going to have a very, very strong, capable president in John McCain. Last night, Newt Gingrich disarmed a very uppity newscaster who tried to question him on the capabilities and leadership of Governor Palin. There’s simply no comparison between a governor and a community organizer….

.... which followed by only a few hours this comment by another Republican from North Carolina, U.S. Representative Lynn Westmoreland, about Barack Obama:

Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they’re a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they’re uppity.

You've probably not heard of these comments, which have been virtually ignored by the mainstream media. If, say, a Democratic legislator and aspiring Democratic legislator had made a parallel remark about Sarah Palin's gender, the attention would have eclipsed the "lipstick on a pig" furor.

And so it goes, in the land of the mythical "liberal media."

Bigotry On The McCain Side, Again

Is there something in the water in Georgia? No, not the former Soviet republic, but the state in the southeastern U.S.A.

Speaking to reporters on September 4, Representative Lynn Westmoreland, Republican of Georgia's third District, compared Michelle Obama and Sarah Palin in traditional stereotypical fashion:

Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they're a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they're uppity.

Asked to confirm that he had used the word "uppity," Westmoreland replied "uppity, yeah."

A few days after that statement was published, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was notified by the Macon Telegraph that 8th District congressional candidate Rick Goddard of Houston County, the Republican challenger to U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall, had appeared on the Kenny B. and Charles E. (radio) Show in Macon that same morning of 9/4/08 and commented about MSNBC reporter Ron Allen:

I’ll tell you one thing, I think we’re going to have a very, very strong, capable president in John McCain. Last night, Newt Gingrich disarmed a very uppity newscaster who tried to question him on the capabilities and leadership of Governor Palin. There’s simply no comparison between a governor and a community organizer….

It is probably coincidence that this vile term has been used recently by, and only by, politicians from the state of Georgia. But is it coincidence that they are both supporters of John McCain and were speaking in support of the Repub ticket- and that John McCain has neglected to condemn these statements?

A Little Too Honest

Admittedly, Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention accepting her nomination for vice-president was very well crafted and well delivered.

The small town folk threatened by the big, bad city was especially effective, with these references:

We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty, sincerity, and dignity. I know just the kind of people that writer had in mind when he praised Harry Truman. I grew up with those people.....They love their country, in good times and bad, and they're always proud of America. (not like that Michelle Obama, I guess.)

And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities.

This world of threats and dangers is not just a community, and it doesn't just need an organizer.

It's the journey of an upright and honorable man — the kind of fellow whose name you will find on war memorials in small towns across this country....

But someone didn't get the memo mandating subtlety. It seems Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R.-Ga.), according to thehill.com,

was discussing vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's speech with reporters outside the House chamber and was asked to compare her with Michelle Obama.
"Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they're a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they're uppity." Asked to clarify that he used the word “uppity,” Westmoreland said, “Uppity, yeah.”

Asked about the quote, the Obama campaign avoided referring to race, with spokesman Tommy Vietor responding “Sounds like Rep. Westmoreland should be careful throwing stones from his candidate's eight glass houses.”

During the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, the media was infatuated with allegations of racial predjudice made against the Clinton campaign. As I write/type this, it is less than 24 hours after this remark, more brazenly racially-inspired than anything which came out of the Clinton campaign, was made. If the mainstream media picks it up, I'll acknowledge that this is not an instance in which it ran interference for the Republican party. But I think I'll be waiting.... waiting.... waiting....