So, he spent years swearing this never happened. Now he’s admitting it happened, but he swears he didn’t know they were also Nazis. Seems legit.
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This shmuck Scalise might be just a completely clueless idiot, but it’s very unlikely. By 2002 David Duke was thoroughly “out” as an unrepentant racist, felon and neo-nazi. His brief and half-hearted flirtation with tolerance in the late 1980s was long behind him, and he wasn’t even trying to cultivate a following outside racist circles any more.
Edit: People in this thread who’ve implicitly characterized all Republicans as having a single mindset and agenda might consider the irony of claiming “all those people are bad” in the context of a thread about neo-Nazis. Real life groups are composed of individuals with varying attributes.
He’s a rep for Louisiana. Sadly, he’s still electable, but hopefully not for anything outside of his congressional district.
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The problem isn’t that the Republican Party is a monolithic organization single-mindedly devoted to evil. The problem is that the Republican Party caters to racists. American politicians generally don’t (and can’t afford to) have principles. They just go after votes. Part of the GOP strategy for doing this consists of appealing to privileged demographics, which (unsurprisingly) contain a lot of racists.
Yeah, David Duke didn’t do so great after people found out what a giant shit he was. Keep in mind, that happened in the early 90s. There are all sorts of nutjobs getting elected at the local level (or even at the level of Congress), but the more votes you need, the harder it is to appeal to fringe elements like neo-Nazis.
I dunno if Scalise’s a big time racist. Likely as not, he is. However, I doubt he’s going to admit to anything, especially if he wants to keep his job.
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word, milliefink! Although I have my suspicions about Roger Ailles, really.
You’re absolutely right. Well said.
I think they view Civil Rights as a pie. As long as another group has a piece, my piece isn’t large enough.
Hatred borne of fear borne of inadequacy. The same reason they hide behind their guns, because they know of no other way to deal with big scary unknowns like the future.
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Hey! Scalise? He brings SO MUCH MORE to the table! He’s not just House whip, he’s also House hood, noose and flaming cross!
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Okay, so why do you think the Republican Party is #1 with racists?
[quote=“howaboutthis, post:27, topic:48945, full:true”]I think they view Civil Rights as a pie. As long as another group has a piece, my piece isn’t large enough.
Hatred borne of fear borne of inadequacy. The same reason they hide behind their guns, because they know of no other way to deal with big scary unknowns like the future.[/quote]
Why ascribe such complex and fanciful mental processes when simpler explanations will suffice? Hate and fear don’t need any pie, and children learn what they are taught.
Oh, I think @WalterPlinge pegged it pretty well.
The only thing I’d add is that rank-and-file racists are often profoundly ignorant, either from miseducation, lack of education, native stupidity, or some combination thereof. Look at the membership of the Vinlander Social Club, the Jewish Defense League, the Nation of Islam, or the Church of the Creator, to name four shining* examples of organized racism. The few people in these organizations that routinely display more than low average problem-solving skills (in my opinion) are basically insane. (Professional psychologists disagree… they say psychopathy and sociopathy are not mental illnesses.)
Politicians of all stripes routinely lie and misrepresent, but modern** GOP leaders prefer to do so with simplistic “good ol’ boy” memes like drill baby drill and liberals hate America instead of trying to present more nuanced rhetoric. I think that kind of oversimplification of complex issues is highly attractive to people who don’t have the time, inclination or education required to think deeply about politics - just as overly complex explanations and conspiracy theories are attractive to highly intelligent neurotics and people with vivid imaginations.
But don’t take this to mean that I think individual Republicans are dumber than individual Democrats. I’m just saying that Republican rhetoric is usually more accessible than that of their opponents, because they make a point of it, and that this populist approach helps them reach less thoughtful voters. I know more than a few thoughtful and intelligent Republicans, though. It’s not all dumb racists… it’s just that a racist is more likely to vote Republican than Democrat, because to them it will seem like the least objectionable alternative to not voting at all.
Keep in mind you asked for my personal thoughts. I can’t prove any of the above, really, and my opinions are not set in stone anyway.
* the shine comes from bile.
** post Southern-Strategy
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I posted this on the other thread about this guy, but it bears repeating, I feel:
Of course, it’s David Duke, so take him with a grain (or a block) of salt…
To be fair, the KKK did have a long history of targeting Catholics. But since the modern civil rights movement, they have been far more focused on African Americans and Jews, I think. But yes, Catholics can be bigots, too, especially in places where they are a majority. That being said, there are plenty of southern Protestant who will gladly throw out the occasional Papist and they don’t really consider Catholics “real” Christians… The hierarchy of race at times makes odd bedfellows.
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