14502: BHM 2019—Republicans And Democrats Display Bipartisan Bullshit.

The GOP took heat for its Black History Month tweet. The Democrats’ inadvertent BHM message wasn’t much better.

13096: BHM 2016—RNC.

The Republican National Committee celebrates Black History Month—no, really, they are celebrating the month—with a video saluting Black Republican Trailblazers. Not in the tribute: Ben Carson. Plus, no comments on “The Blacks” from Donald Trump.

12092: Adpeople + Politicians = Liars.

Advertising Age published a lengthy report on politics in the advertising industry. Not the politics bred via office hierarchies, but rather, GOP and Democratic affairs. The 4As and ANA are huddling with lobbyists and advisors over the implications of upcoming elections and retirements in Congress. That our industry employs lobbyists and even created a PAC says a lot about the true concerns of Madison Avenue leadership. Of course, when politicians question adfolks on diversity, the so-called leaders invoke the right to remain silent.

For Adland, Party Lines a Little Blurry Ahead of Midterm

ANA and 4A’s Court Allies on Both Sides of the Aisle

The GOP may wrest control of the Senate from the Democrats in the mid-term elections and key lawmakers are retiring or are in danger of losing their seats. But the nation’s big advertisers are keeping their cool amid the political turmoil, confident they will have the right allies in the next Congress.

Dan Jaffe, group executive VP-government relations for the Association of National Advertiser, said the possible takeover of the Senate by Republicans, a party that’s considered more business-friendly than the Democrats, is not necessarily a boon for the advertising industry because the issues important to the marketing industry don’t neatly cross party lines. And despite a couple of years of gridlock, the next Congress is expected to consider a number of issues important to advertisers, including tax inversion and deductibility, advertising of e-cigarettes and privacy concerns.

“We will be able to have our voice heard no matter what party wins,” Mr. Jaffe said.

Advertising agencies are also watching the election. Dick O’Brien, chief lobbyist for the American Association of Advertising Agencies, said Republican control of the Senate, which would occur if the GOP wins six new seats, would make it easier for Congress to pass tax legislation that would cut corporate taxes—but pay for it by curbing the deductibility of advertising expenses.

On the other hand, Mr. O’Brien said, a GOP-controlled Senate may finally approve legislation that would go after patent trolls. The House approved that legislation, but “the Democratic Senate leadership did not have the heart to do it,” Mr. O’Brien said.

But, like Mr. Jaffe, Mr. O’Brien is confident his industry will be able to handle the political changes the new Congress will bring.

“No matter which way it goes we will have a game plan, it just will be a different game plan,” he said.

That doesn’t mean the advertisers and agencies aren’t closely watching the mid-term elections and certain races.

One key race is the one Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., is waging against Republican challenger Tom Cotton.

Mr. Pryor “is someone we’ve worked closely with and he is someone we have been very supportive of,” Mr. Jaffe said.

Mr. Pryor, considered one of the most vulnerable Senate incumbent, has been a proponent of self-regulation when it comes to privacy and advertising to children and has said his “door is always open” to advertising concerns.

Even before voters cast a single vote, congressional retirements mean key committees will have new chairmen in the next Congress.

The retirement of Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., means a big proponent of consumer privacy will no longer be in a position to worry the industry. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., whose views on issues important to advertisers are largely unknown, is likely to pick up the gavel.

But if Mr. Pryor manages to keep his seat he also has a shot at heading this powerful committee with jurisdiction over many issues important to advertisers.

The retirement of Ways and Means Chairman David Camp, R-Mich., who proposed ending the full tax deductibility of advertising expenses, may also seem like a relief to the industry.

But Mr. Camp’s likely successor, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has disappointed advertisers by saying he’d keep that idea on the table when Congress makes another attempt to overhaul the tax code next year.

The retirement of Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, a proponent of tough food advertising regulations, as chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee is also viewed as a boon to the industry.

But he may be replaced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who “is certainly someone who prides himself on taking a highly liberal take on regulatory issues,” Mr. Jaffe said.

Republicans are expected to keep control of the House after the Nov. 4 midterm elections. But there will be a lot of churning in that chamber anyway due to the GOP’s self-imposed limit, adopted in 1994, on how long a Republican congressman can chair a committee.

If the Senate flips to the GOP, all Senate chairmanships will change.

That means Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, could take control of the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax issues.

Mr. Hatch is sympathetic to business concerns and a strong defender of the First Amendment. But he’s also a Mormon, a religion that shuns alcohol and tobacco—and those industries are concerned the lawmaker may not be an ally.

A GOP win would also make Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the head of the HELP Committee.

“We know very little about him, but he’s a very reasonable and balanced individual,” Mr. Jaffe said.

Mr. O’Brien is also the treasurer of the Professionals in Advertising PAC, or Pro-Ad PAC, that was created in 1988 to boost the political clout of the industry.

But the PAC had less than $70,000 in cash-on-hand at the end of August and has contributed to just a handful of lawmakers this year.

Mr. O’Brien said “we’re sort of husbanding our funds at the moment,” but will soon gear up its spending to reward the industry’s friends in Congress.

11617: GOP Declares End Of Racism.

The Huffington Post reported the following:

On Sunday, the Republican National Committee tweeted out an ill-advised tribute to civil rights icon Rosa Parks, praising the late activist for “her role in ending racism.”

See more here.

11080: The Young And The Clueless.

From The Los Angeles Times…

Don Young’s racist slur not good for GOP’s minority outreach

By Robin Abcarian

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Republican elected official who casually uses the racist term “wetbacks” during a radio interview is a dunderhead of the first magnitude.

“My father had a ranch; we used to have 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes,” Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young, 79, told radio station KRBD in Ketchikan on Thursday. “It takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It’s all done by machine.”

Republicans, whose self-inflicted injuries in the 2012 election cycle included calls for self-deportation, screeds against the Dream Act and a suggestion for alligator-filled moats at the U.S.-Mexico border, scrambled into damage control mode.

House Speaker John A. Boehner, and just about every other sentient politician, wasted no time condemning his colleague Friday morning: “Congressman Young’s remarks were offensive and beneath the dignity of the office he holds. I don’t care why he said it – there’s no excuse and it warrants an immediate apology.”

And there it was, a short time later, in a statement from Young: “I apologize for the insensitive term I used during an interview in Ketchikan, Alaska. There was no malice in my heart or intent to offend; it was a poor choice of words. That word, and the negative attitudes that come with it, should be left in the 20th century, and I’m sorry that this has shifted our focus away from comprehensive immigration reform.”

Sure, it could have been an old, dumb Democrat or independent making a racist remark. People of all political stripe say stupid things sometimes (insert Joe Biden joke here), but this is a moment that Republicans are desperately trying to convince suspicious Latino voters that the GOP has their best interests at heart.

Less than two weeks ago, Republican National Chairman Reince Priebus announced the party would launch a $10-million minority outreach initiative. Without Latino voters, the GOP will never recapture the White House. It’s simple arithmetic.

“We have to win the math war — which we do a good job of — but we’re going to have to learn how to win the heart war,” Priebus told Roll Call, when he announced the initiative.

The whole episode is depressing to people like Daniel Garza, who once worked in the George W. Bush White House and is now executive director of the nonpartisan group the LIBRE Initiative.

“It’s flat out distasteful,” Garza said. “Using that language is insulting. It’s divisive and he should know better.”

Garza’s group works to convince Latinos that conservative policies will lead to greater economic freedom, but when Latinos hear a pejorative like “wetback” used by a Republican elder statesman, it’s a blow.

“We’re in the middle of an immigration debate and what you want to contribute is constructive dialogue,” Garza said. “You want to advance reform, improve our economy, bring families together and remove the pall of illegality.”

The pejorative used by Young has particular resonance for a native Californian like Garza. Born in Dinuba, in the Central Valley, he moved around a lot with his parents, who picked grapes in California, apples and cherries in Washington and beets in Nebraska. “I thought that word was from a bygone era, no longer used.”

So did the rest of us.

10921: Republicans Slaving Away.

From The New York Daily News…

House Republicans focus on minority outreach at former slave plantation during annual retreat

Unity is the goal of the GOP lawmakers’ annual winter retreat at the Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Va. — interestingly, a former slave plantation. On tap for discussion is how to communicate with women and minorities, as well as upcoming debt battles.

By Rheana Murray / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

House Republicans gathering to discuss minority outreach picked an odd venue for the retreat — a former slave plantation.

Weary GOPers left Washington Wednesday for the Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Va., where they’re recuperating and focusing on unity after last year’s rough-and-tumble fiscal cliff fight with Democrats.

Panels will take place in the resort’s “Burwell Plantation” room, named after the family that once owned the plantation. The luxury resort is now owned by billionaire Philip Anschutz, a conservative political donor.

It boasts three golf courses, five restaurants, 425 guest rooms, a spa and recreational activities like kayaking and hiking sprawled across hundreds of acres.

On tap for Friday morning is a forum to discuss “successful communication with minorities and women.”

Republican lawmakers also hope to address the looming battle against the Obama administration over a debt limit extension and budget cuts.

“We need to talk through where we are going to stand on debt limit, Continuing Resolution and building consensus,” Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) told The Hill, The Washington Post’s politics blog.

10757: More Adland Political Conservatism.

Memo to political conservative Carl Warner, who whined there’s a dearth of non-Democrats in the advertising industry: Adweek published an unapologetic interview with veteran adman Jim Ferguson, who just finished a year-long stint as official creative director for Mitt Romney. Not saying the ad game is full of Republicans and Tea Party enthusiasts—but the figure is probably closer to 47 percent than you think.

10739: Sorry, Charlie, Blacks Do Vote.

The New York Daily News reported Maine GOP boss Charlie Webster claims hundreds of mysterious Black voters appeared on Election Day and may have cast fraudulent ballots. Webster said, “Everybody has a right to vote, but nobody in town knows anyone who’s Black. How did that happen? I don’t know. We’re going to find out.” In the meantime, Webster ought to ask Tanner Colby to reroute his book tour for a few stops in Maine.

Maine GOP boss claims ‘hundreds’ of unfamiliar black voters flooded rural polls on Election Day

Charlie Webster, the outgoing chairman of the state Republican Party, said he plans to mail thank-you postcards to new voters to make sure they are delivered to valid addresses.

By Kristen A. Lee / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

The head of the Maine Republican Party claims that “hundreds” of unfamiliar black voters may have cast fraudulent ballots in his state on Election Day.

“In some parts of rural Maine, there were dozens, dozens of black people who came in and voted on Election Day,” Charlie Webster told Portland’s NBC affiliate WCSH-TV on Wednesday.

“Everybody has a right to vote, but nobody in town knows anyone who’s black,” Webster said. “How did that happen? I don’t know. We’re going to find out.”

Webster later doubled down on that claim in an interview with The Portland Press Herald, although he declined to provide details about when and where the alleged fraud occurred.

“I’m not talking about 15 or 20. I’m talking hundreds,” he said Wednesday. “I’m not politically correct, and maybe I shouldn’t have said these voters were black, but anyone who suggests I have a bias toward any race or group, frankly, that’s sleazy.”

Webster, the outgoing chairman of the state GOP, said he plans to mail thank-you postcards to new voters to make sure they are delivered to valid addresses.

A spokesperson for Maine Secretary of State Charlie Summers, however, denied that there were problems at the polls.

“Our office has not heard any complaints about Election Day,” Megan Sanborn told the Press Herald.

Webster has previously sounded alarms about voter fraud, the Press Herald reported.

The newspaper said last year he claimed that more than 200 college students had voted in recent elections without establishing the correct residency.

10706: Why Mad Ave Is Like GOP.

Despite the nutty argument that political conservatives are few and far between in the advertising industry—as well as the poorly produced political propaganda pushing a liberal agenda—Madison Avenue actually mirrors the GOP in some key areas.

As even Republicans are conceding, the party failed to connect with minorities and women, helping President Barack Obama retain his role as Commander-in-Chief. Gee, what other group has a questionable relationship with non-Whites and non-Males?

Sure, adpeople insist they’re committed to inclusiveness—just as the GOP boasts a welcoming spirit and binders of women—but in the end, inactions speak louder than words.

The advertising elite—like the GOP—maintain their position of power, yet can they sustain their place on the org chart over time? Will their out-of-touch tendencies put them further outside of the mainstream and ultimately make them irrelevant?

Cultural cluelessness cannot be cured by delegating diversity or ignoring reality. At least the right wingers aren’t scouring the inner cities for future candidates or asking, “Where Are All The Black Republicans?”

10661: Republican Party Full Of Racists…?

From The Huffington Post…

Lawrence Wilkerson, Former Colin Powell Aide, Blasts Sununu, GOP, As ‘Full Of Racists’

The Huffington Post | By Peter Finocchiaro

Colin Powell’s former chief of staff condemned the Republican Party on Friday night, telling MSNBC’s Ed Schultz, “My party is full of racists.”

Retired Army Col. Lawrence Wilkerson made the comment in response to Mitt Romney campaign surrogate John Sununu’s suggestion on Thursday that Powell’s endorsement of President Barack Obama’s re-election was motivated by race. Wilkerson, who served as Powell’s chief of staff when the general was secretary of state during the first George W. Bush term, told Schultz that he respected Sununu “as a Republican, as a member of my party,” but did not “have any respect for the integrity of the position that [Sununu] seemed to codify.”

When asked by Schultz what, if anything, the remark said about the attitudes of the Republican Party, Wilkerson said:

My party, unfortunately, is the bastion of those people—not all of them, but most of them—who are still basing their positions on race. Let me just be candid: My party is full of racists, and the real reason a considerable portion of my party wants President Obama out of the White House has nothing to do with the content of his character, nothing to do with his competence as commander-in-chief and president, and everything to do with the color of his skin, and that’s despicable.

The retired colonel also said that “to say that Colin Powell would endorse President Obama because of his skin color is like saying Mother Theresa worked for profit.”

Powell, a Republican, endorsed Obama for the second time on Thursday morning—he also backed the president in 2008—saying on CBS’ “This Morning” that he was “more comfortable with President Obama and his administration” than with Romney on a host of issues.

Sununu, no stranger to incendiary rhetoric this election cycle, reacted to the endorsement on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight,” saying that “when you take a look at Colin Powell, you have to wonder whether that’s an endorsement based on issues or whether he’s got a slightly different reason for preferring President Obama.”

Obama himself dismissed Sununu’s suggestion on Friday, telling radio host Michael Smerconish: ç

Any suggestion that Gen. Powell would make such a profound statement in such an important election based on anything but what he thought was what’s going to be best for America doesn’t make much sense.

10660: Get Christie Mia Love.

From The New York Daily News…

Mia Love hopes to be first black Republican woman in Congress

Polling shows Love with a slight lead over Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson, a six-term incumbent. The race is still too close to call.

By The Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY — In her bid to become the first black Republican woman elected to Congress, Mia Love is the GOP’s emblem of diversity this campaign year. She’s reluctant to embrace the role, saying she doesn’t let race or gender define her politics.

The 36-year-old mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah, points to her policy stances as the reason for her success.

“I was elected mayor not because of my race or gender, not because I wear high heels, but because of the policies I put in place,” Love said in a recent interview.

Polling shows Love with a slight lead over Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson, a six-term incumbent. The race is still too close to call.

In a party that has struggled for decades to attract black voters, the daughter of Haitian immigrants included subtle nods to civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks in her speech to the Republican National Convention in August.

“Our story has been told for over 200 years with small steps and giant leaps,” she told the applauding delegates. “From a woman on a bus to a man with a dream, from the bravery of the greatest generation to the innovators and entrepreneurs of today, this is our story.”

Love has made much of her family story, a hallmark of her stump speeches: Her parents legally immigrated to Brooklyn in the early 1970s, she says, with just $10 in their pockets. She says her father — who has toiled as a painter, janitor and school bus driver — taught her never to ask for a handout. Her parents became naturalized U.S. citizens in 1984.

A married mother of three, a Mormon and a tea party favorite, Love is the only woman among 11 black Republican House candidates in the Nov. 6 election. She and Vernon Parker, who is running in Arizona, are seen as the most likely winners among nine black GOP challengers.

Republicans, like Love herself, have focused more on her conservative values and agenda than her race.

“We need a party that is diverse based on our issues and not based on simply trying to find greater variety in the complexion,” said Rep. Tim Scott of South Carolina, one of the two black Republicans now in the House.

While Love doesn’t emphasize her race and gender, they are powerful factors in her bid to become a Republican member of Congress. Scott and Allen West of Florida were elected in 2010 as the first black Republicans in Congress since former Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma left in 2003.

Black Republicans have long been scarce in Congress. Of 26 black Republican House members since 1870, the vast majority served during the post-Civil War Reconstruction days. Scott and West, both tea party favorites, were swept into office as part of the GOP wave in 2010. West faces a tough re-election fight.

Love is getting support in her bid to focus on policies.

It would be a disservice to Love for Republicans to tout her candidacy in racial terms, said Artur Davis, a black former Democratic congressman from Alabama who switched parties and also spoke to the GOP convention.

“As a congresswoman, she would have so much more to offer: successful former mayor, the product of a successful immigration story and a thoughtful, dynamic conservative,” Davis said.

Amid the nation’s shifting demographics, the GOP has focused more on reaching out to Hispanics than black voters, who have supported President Barack Obama in overwhelming numbers.

To enter the history books, Love must topple Matheson, the son of a popular former governor, in a state where more than nine in 10 people are white. For a decade, a series of white Republican men have been unable to knock off Matheson, a fiscally conservative “Blue Dog” Democrat who has beaten far more recognizable names in Utah politics.

Since the convention, Republican House Speaker John Boehner, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have helped Love raise money. Mitt Romney’s son Josh is her campaign chairman.

10659: Conservative Cluelessness…?

Anonymous comments left at the Carl Warner post insist there is an anti-Republican bias at work in the advertising industry.

The person claims that in the past decade, “I can think of maybe six, tops, people I’ve encountered through the years who were professed conservatives. … I’ve been in two creative sessions at two separate, unrelated agencies in the last few weeks where the entire room spent their downtime bashing Republicans and professing their own hipper, more liberal street cred. … Again, spent downtime, break time, stopping work to snack and eat and at the same time discuss how Republicans are bad and horrible because of XYZ and Democrats are so much better and more open-minded because of ABC.”

Gee, the words almost mirror the trials and tribulations experienced by racial and ethnic minorities in the business. It’s easy to imagine dialogue such as, “I can think of maybe six, tops, people I’ve encountered through the years who were Black. … I’ve been in two creative sessions at two separate, unrelated agencies in the last few weeks where the entire room spent their downtime bashing Blacks. … Again, spent downtime, break time, stopping work to snack and eat and at the same time discuss how Blacks are bad and horrible because of XYZ and Whites are so much better and more open-minded because of ABC.”

Yet it all begs the question: Is there a dearth of political conservatism on Madison Avenue?

In 1963, The Journal of Higher Education published “The Right to Fail: Creativity versus Conservatism” by Albert J. Sullivan. In the essay, Sullivan spotlighted the tension between two processes—creativity and conservatism—pulling in different directions. The author wrote, “The one process, toward change, we may characterize as creativity; the other process, resisting change, as conservatism.”

Sullivan’s observations certainly apply to the advertising industry, where writers and art directors (representing creativity) routinely square off with account people (representing conservatism). And conservative creative people are often deemed losers, while creative account people are deemed annoying losers.

Generational components could also be at play. Winston Churchill is quoted as having said something along the lines of, “If you’re not a liberal at twenty, you have no heart; if you’re not a conservative at forty, you have no brain.” No need to delve deeper on the implications here, except to note that adpeople have been known to make decisions on work with an eye towards having to pay mortgages and meet other financial obligations associated with life stages.

The items above sorta fly in the face of the contention that conservatives are minorities within advertising agencies. Indeed, they appear to be well represented in our ranks. And if the notion is further elevated to politics—specifically, Democrats and Republicans—it stands to reason that the parties are adequately represented too. Granted, Republican creative directors and Democratic account directors might be oddballs, but it’s a safe bet they exist as well.

In the event that anti-Republicanism is a problem on Madison Avenue, look forward to activists taking action. High schools and colleges will be scoured for young GOP and Tea Party enthusiasts. Political intern programs will be launched. The One Club will introduce “Where Are All The Republicans?” Kat Gordon will invent the “1% Conference” to salute the One Percent among us. And ADCOLOR® will award a special trophy to Black Republicans.

10461: Republicans Are Nuts.

From The Washington Post…

RNC ejects attendees for assaulting an African-American camera operator with peanuts

By Jamila Bey

Whether or not you believe that racial prejudice pervades the Grand Ol’ Party or that there exists a Republican-led “War on Women,” the RNC has some explaining to do.

The way party officials handled events at their Mitt Romney-endorsing convention in Tampa should leave everyone with gut-wrenching lament for the future of the party that once claimed Honest Abraham Lincoln as its own. Two incidents that occurred within hours of each other scream for a need for Republicans to face their racial unease.

Did I say “unease?” No, that might describe Rick Santorum talking about his relationship with “blah people” or Mitt Romney discussing bling. This is true race baiting — hatred to the very core. Perhaps the party didn’t create the problem, but the leaders’ reaction certainly lends keen insight into how such opinions could be allowed such open expression at all.

In the first incident, a Puerto Rican delegate was shouted down with chants of “USA! USA! USA!” This wasn’t a shoutout for the island territory to finally join the rest of the country as a unified state. Likelier is that the near completely white crowd heard a Spanish-accented voice that brought to mind those darker-skinned “immigrants” many of them have come to deplore and blame for all the nation’s ills. (I use quotes, because it’s a standard assumption among race-baiters that a different complexion illustrates a person “isn’t from around these parts.”)

A mere Mississippi minute later (slower than a New York minute and lacking the diversity and tolerance) an African-American camera woman was verbally assaulted and hit with peanuts as she did her job.

We’ll get back to that first incident in just a moment, but for personal reasons, I want to attend to the second.

Reporter David Shuster, kicked off the firestorm when he tweeted “GOP attendee ejected for throwing nuts at African-American CNN camera woman + saying ‘This is how we feed animals.’”

My heart jumped. I thought, “Hey, I wonder if that’s my girlfriend?” I sent her a quick chat: “Are you the camerawoman everyone is talking about?” She promptly responded, “Yes.”

I welled up with tears. Empathy enveloped me. It was easy to imagine that could have been me as I nearly covered the convention myself but for a certain toddler getting ready to start pre-school. More important, how dare they do this to my girlfriend! This is someone with whom I’ve gone on double-dates, spent hours talking about hair and made runs to the organic market. More recently, we have planned unfulfilled spa vacations together.

She and CNN are not talking to media. However, she agreed to talk to her friend and I promised to honor her request that I not name her.

She was assigned to film from the floor of the convention in the recessed camera area. This is right among the thousands of delegates who converge on the forum floor to listen to their Republican leaders, nominate Mitt Romney as their candidate for president and, apparently, throw things at people darker than they are.

“I was just about to put on my headset when someone started throwing peanuts at me,” she told me. “I didn’t understand what was going on.” She recovered enough to ask one man, “Are you out of your damned mind?” A pair of older white men walked to the railing preventing people from falling down into the camera pit. One hurled more peanuts at her and taunted, “Here! Want some more peanuts?”

Then they actually started hitting her with them. “This is what we feed to the animals at the zoo!” he continued. While his partner laughed, the thrower leaned over the railing as if he WAS at the zoo and snorted, “Here’s some more peanuts.”

My friend continued, “It was like they were heckling me.” It became clear to her these people were enjoying her torment. Two African-American cameramen and a female Caucasian reporter came over to investigate the fracas, but none had clearly heard what the men said. CNN security arrived by coincidence and set off after them.

At this point, I expected my friend to tell me how the RNC apologized profusely, how they genuinely seemed to feel bad and how they themselves became outraged by the whole thing. She didn’t. Rather, she told me that RNC security investigated by asking of the assailants, “Were they black or were they white?”

“Are you kidding me, Jamila?” She asked. “I’m from the Deep South! I know racism when I see it and when it’s being thrown at me. No black person would have done that!”

Then a pair of people who identified themselves as RNC officials came to apologize — or offer what to them passed as such. “These must have been alternates,” one said. “Our delegates would never do anything like that.” The RNC’s official statement is that “Two attendees tonight exhibited deplorable behavior. Their conduct was inexcusable and unacceptable. This kind of behavior will not be tolerated.”

CNN, too, released a statement. “CNN can confirm there was an incident directed at an employee inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum earlier this afternoon. CNN worked with convention officials to address this matter and will have no further comment.”

Incident over. Back to the convention. Nothing more to see here, folks.

I know plenty of people at the RNC this week, both white and black. They have all pointed out how white it is. With a few exceptions, if you see a person who is black, Arab or Hispanic, the chances are they are with the media, vendors or they’re in uniform (police, secret service, security, whatever). The party is even called out by some of its own members for being too white, too male, and not inclined to dissociate itself from the charge of being non-inclusive. Is it any wonder that — however much feigned outrage they claim — they can simply dismiss a legitimate cause for concern?

A female member of the media was verbally attacked and assaulted with projectiles on the floor of the Republican Party’s National Convention on the same day as the RNC chairman, Reince Priebus, had to try to restore order when a delegate from Puerto Rico began to speak in favor of Mitt Romney’s candidacy. With so few non-white faces, it’s no surprise that the GOP would showcase what little diversity it has.

What to do, then, when one of your star ethnic minorities takes the stage only to be drowned out by racist chants? Now, some have contended these “USA!” chants were in fact Ron Paul protesters causing a disturbance. However, there’s much video of that incident and Chairman Priebus himself asked of the crowd to please give respect so that the “lady from Puerto Rico” could give her report.

Host of “Capitol Correspondent,” and my colleague at the Voice of Russia radio, Carmen Russell-Sluchansky was actually on the RNC floor at the time. He explained that while there may have been some Paul-supporting dissidents, he’d just come away from interviewing those in attendance to support Paul and most of them were not in their chairs at the time of this event. He said, “It was pretty clear that it wasn't just Ron Paul people. There may have been [supporters] but it was clearly not just one bloc.”

At a time when the GOP has been charged with discounting the voices, bodies and the safety of women, it is unacceptable that, when there’s such behavior on the floor of its national convention, the response from leaders of the party is less than a full repudiation.

To split hairs over “delegate” versus “alternate” or to blame Ron Paul fans for shouting down the Spanish-accented speech of a fellow American speaks to the larger issue of the current incarnation of the Republican Party: “Others” need not apply. Nora Ephron herself couldn’t have scripted a better potential “Kumbayah,” moment!

The leaders could have spoken out and made a plea for party unity and to welcome the stranger. Instead, the party looks at those not already part of the in crowd as cliques at a school cafeteria. The song though, is better suited to the play yard. “If you’re “other” and you know it clap your hands!” Then, please feel free to leave the tent. Oh, and close the peanut-gate behind you.

Jamila Bey is host of the Sex, Politics And Religion Hour: SPAR with Jamila on the Voice of Russia Radio network.

10459: Go Ahead, Make My Convention.

Not sure who thought it would be a good idea to invite Clint Eastwood to appear at the Republican National Convention. After all, GOP critics have accused President Obama of being out of touch and spending too much time golfing with Hollywood celebrities. Bringing in an A-list actor who has already demonstrated a willingness to shill for Madison Avenue seemed a tad hypocritical. Eastwood wound up representing his hosts pretty well. For starters, he made John McCain look downright youthful. Talking to an empty chair only compounded the sense of doddering senility. His most memorable line of the evening—“Go ahead, make my day”—is a roughly 30-year-old catchphrase. The man came off as awkward and outdated, with a touch of meanspiritedness. Yes, Eastwood perfectly symbolized all the qualities that define the Republican Party.

10453: Color Commentary At RNC.

From Reuters…

Yahoo! fires Washington news chief over Republican joke

Aug 29 (Reuters) - Yahoo! News fired its chief political correspondent on Wednesday for an off the cuff remark about Republicans partying “with black people drowning”.

David Chalian, the Yahoo! News Washington Bureau Chief, made the comment privately during a webcast of the Republican National convention on Monday in partnership with ABC News, but it was picked up by a live microphone.

With Hurricane Isaac approaching New Orleans as the convention got underway, Chalian was heard saying to an unidentified guest, “Feel free to say, ‘They’re not concerned at all. They are happy to have a party with black people drowning’”.

The remark was made over video of Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney and his wife Ann, and laughter was heard in the background.

Yahoo! said in statement that Chalian’s remark “was inappropriate and does not represent the views of Yahoo!”.

“He has been terminated effective immediately. We have already reached out to the Romney campaign, and we apologize to Mitt Romney, his staff, their supporters and anyone who was offended.”

Chalian later apologized on his Facebook page for “making an inappropriate and thoughtless joke”.

“I was commenting on the challenge of staging a convention during a hurricane and about campaign optics,” he said.

Chalian said he had apologized to Romney and that he regretted “causing any distraction from the exceptional coverage of the Republican convention by Yahoo! News and ABC News”.

The Republican Party’s national convention in Tampa, Florida, was delayed by strong winds and heavy rains as Isaac grew from a tropical storm to a hurricane on its path up the Gulf Coast. (Reporting By Jill Serjeant in Los Angeles; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Andrew Hay)

10452: RNC = Racist National Convention.

From The New York Daily News…

Republican National Convention attendee given boot for racially taunting black CNN camerawoman

“GOP attendee ejected for throwing nuts at African American CNN camera woman + saying ‘This is how we feed animals,’” tweeted Current anchor David Shuster.

By Kristen A. Lee / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

An attendee at the Republican National Convention was given the boot Tuesday for racially taunting a black CNN camerawoman, an incident the news network confirmed after it was reported on Twitter.

“GOP attendee ejected for throwing nuts at African American CNN camera woman + saying ‘This is how we feed animals,’” tweeted Current anchor David Shuster.

The tweet created a virtual buzz as people went online to share opinions about the convention speeches of Ann Romney and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, but it appears to have preceded the night’s two main speeches.

The identity of the attendee was not immediately known, and it was not clear whether the person was a delegate or just someone with a ticket to the convention center.

“CNN can confirm there was an incident directed at an employee inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum earlier this afternoon,” the network said in a statement. “CNN worked with convention officials to address this matter and will have no further comment.”

10015: Bat-Shit Fever.

From The New York Daily News…

Ted Nugent not backing down from fiery Obama remarks: ‘I’m a black Jew at a Nazi-Klan rally’

Team Romney — who sought out Nugent’s endorsement — also weighed in after the DNC called on the GOPer to condemn Nugent’s remarks

By Aliyah Shahid / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Ted Nugent isn’t backing down from his fiery rhetoric about President Obama.

The Republican rocker and Mitt Romney backer stood by his controversial remarks, in which he called the commander in-chief “vile,” “evil” and “America-hating,” in addition to saying if Obama is reelected, “I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year.”

“I spoke at the NRA and I will stand by my speech,” Nugent told the Dana Loesch radio show on Tuesday, adding he was being unfairly criticized.

“I’m a black Jew at a Nazi-Klan rally,” the 63-year-old gun enthusiast griped. “And there are some power-abusing, corrupt monsters in our federal government that despise me because I have the audacity to speak the truth.”

The Secret Service also entered the picture following his rant at the National Rifle Convention in St. Louis over the weekend. A spokesman said the organization would conduct an “appropriate follow-up” given the nature of the violent rhetoric.

Team Romney — who sought out Nugent’s endorsement — also weighed in after Democratic National Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz called on the Republican presidential candidate to condemn Nugent’s remarks.

The presumptive Republican nominee’s spokeswoman Andrea Saul said in a statement that “Divisive language is offensive no matter what side of the political aisle it comes from,” adding “Mitt Romney believes everyone needs to be civil.”

During the Dana Loesch interview, Nugent also went after Wasserman Shultz, calling her a “brain-dead, soulless idiot.”

“I am on the right track and she just encourages me to stand stronger,” he said.

9728: Herman Cain Endorses Fellow Adulterer.

Hey, look! Herman Cain is back and endorsing Newt Gingrich.

“I hereby officially and enthusiastically endorse Newt Gingrich,” declared Cain. “There are several reasons as to why I have reached this public decision. One of the biggest reasons is the fact that I know Speaker Gingrich is a patriot, Speaker Gingrich is not afraid of bold ideas.”

Plus, Cain and Gingrich share a lot of the same positions on women and marriage.

9656: The Obama Super Pac.

Hype for the Obama Super Pac reads:

The Obama Super Pac is not a Political Action Committee. We are a Presidential Advertising Committee. Our agenda is not complex. We exist to create powerful advertising messages in support of the re-election of President Barack Obama. We are making these ads available to anyone to distribute.

Learn more at the website or Facebook.

9641: Campaigning Requires Dead Presidents.

What’s next? Endorsements from Truman, Lincoln and Jefferson?