Minority outreach continues for the teahadist wing of the GOP:
Tuesday in New Mexico, the strains of racism and ethnocentrism that exist in the Tea Party movement emerged again. As Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) prepared to tour a nonprofit organization in Farmington, he was met by a dozen Tea Party protesters, one of whom asserted that Lujan was not an American. The Farmington Daily Times reports:
Darrel Clark of Farmington said he came for “a chance to see the elusive representative.”
“He needs to get out of politics and make room for an American,” Clark said.
“Luján is a lifelong New Mexican. Clark later explained that he meant an “American patriot.”
Though Clark did not elaborate on what he meant by “American patriot,” it’s not hard to understand his implication.
Pressed for more details, Clark then said he actually just meant to say Macaca.
General Stuck
This is the good news.
Laura
Bingo.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
“elusive ” slippery, greasy. . .you know.
Maura Cavaleri
Your snarkiness is awesome! They are so afraid of anyone who doesn’t look like them that it’s sad.
Brian S
I wonder if Mel Brooks is considering Blazing Sddles II: The Sheriff is a Mexican.
aisce
wait, so this isn’t about some actual gop officeholder or state party chair or anything like that, but instead just about some random racist on the street?
…ok. seems like there’s enough racism from the mouths of actual gop legislators and politicians on a weekly basis to not have to concern one’s self with the guy on the corner holding the misspelled teabagger sign, but then again, i’ve never quite understood what always sets off cole’s “gotta do a post about this” trigger in the first place.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@aisce: What the fuck, it’s his blog. He can write about whatever he wants to.
Sad_Dem
Yeah, ’cause, you know, there can’t be anyone in New Mexico named Lujan whose family has been here very long.
To quote Margaret Cho: It’s not the racism, it’s the stupidity.
Dr. Squid
Here’s guessing that his ancestry is Spanish, which would mean his ancestors have been there since the 17th century.
Oh, and his dad is Speaker of the NM House.
PeakVT
It takes a special kind of bigotry and/or stupidity to make that kind of slur in New Mexico where the Latino population has a longer history than the non-Latino population.
lamh34
Meh, why worry ’bout attracting HIspanics…with Rubio on the ticket, Hispanics are gonna vote in large numbers for the GOP ticket. What’s that you say? Hispanics may not like the racist platform that the GOP runs on every year. So what with Rubio on the ticket, I’m sure Hispanics will forget about Repub immigrant-phobia.
At least, that’s what I’ve been reading and what some people have been suggesting.
Thoughtcrime
Anybody have any spare white pillowcases?
After adding a monograph and cutting a few holes in each I’d like to hand them out at the entrance to this event:
napateaparty.com/
bleh
Yeah, but the REAL issue here is the way the libruls are trying to crush his freedom of religion to believe in the God-given patriotism that made America great in the time of the Founding Fathers who shed their blood to water the tree of liberty against tyrants who were trying to take away their freedom of speech and tax and spend and open the borders to Indians and Mexicans and take away the hard-earned sweat of the brow of our forefathers!
cathyx
As far as I know, it’s livin’ la vida loca, not da vida loca.
jibeaux
Well, I’m a real American patriot, which is why I sure as shootin’ ain’t gonna live in a state called New MEXICO, duh.
Villago Delenda Est
The teabaggers are racists.
This is further proof.
de stijl
John Cole,
Did you mean to combine In A Gadda Da Vida and La Vida Loca in your title? Is Da Vida Loca some strange joke I don’t get, or is it a spoonerism?
schrodinger's cat
But but isn’t tea party about fiscal conservatism, according to their logic, you are the racist for pointing out their bigotry.
Edited for clarity.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
ah if only the teaparty were allowed to speak their native language, clark could have said what he meant about lujan in two syllables or less.
if they didn’t have to code it, would they still say it? i mean would it make sense, even to themselves to say it how they mean it?
Big Baby DougJ
@lamh34:
Just the way black voters have flocked to Alan Keyes and Herman Cain.
Samara Morgan
the teabaggers are white (NHC) christian nativists.
like Anders Breivik.
scav
@Thoughtcrime: Adding a monograph? Those must be big pillowcases! :)
handy
@Raven (formerly stuckinred):
Ehh, I didn’t read that as a concern troll. This really is a man bites dog story, and let’s face it, the Sadly’s have the bottom-of-the-wingnut-barrel beat pretty much covered.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@handy: OK, chieu hoi.
schrodinger's cat
Why isn’t Marco Rubio not considered white, he looks quite white to me.
Villago Delenda Est
@lamh34:
Don’t be so sure about that. Cuban-Americans and Mexican-Americans do not get along. Just because Rubio hablas Espanol like a native, it’s Cuban Espanol.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Villago Delenda Est: Didn’t we have this conversation last night?
Odie Hugh Manatee
@aisce:
Your
criticismconcern has been noted and dutifully filed, in the oval file.The one that flushes.
lamh34
@Big Baby DougJ: absolutely DougJ. Ya know us AA voted 90% for Obama in ’08 why was that I wonder? Cause he was Black…that’s why. What’s that you say, AA always seem to vote 80-90% for the Dem candidate in national elections? Well who cares about facts.
Thoughtcrime
@scav:
California King?
But this style isn’t quite appropriate for the occasion.
urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=17672965&CAWELAID=724108140
lamh34
@Villago Delenda Est: oh, I don’t believe for a minute that the Hispanic vote is sewed up for the GOP with Rubio on the ticket. I said as much on a thread earlier this week.
I said as much here: @lamh34:
@lamh34:
mai naem
I think Obama should take on Huntsman as his veep if Biden decides he doesn’t want to run, hell, I think Biden could be talked into becoming SOS. Having Huntsman would really highlight how completely batshit crazy the GOP has become. Ofcourse this would turn the firebaggers crazy but I think it could possibly put Utah into play for Obama if Mittens is not the nominee. Also too, Nevada, Colorado and Arizona. Religion wise its only going to turn off the evangelical wingnuts who Obama was not going to get anyway.
The Sheriff's A Ni-
@aisce: Eh, a good pinata-whacking every now and then won’t hurt no one.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@mai naem: Thinking was your first mistake.
WaterGirl
@lamh34: Right. Blacks only voted for Obama because of his skin color. PUMAs were gonna vote for the idiot Palin because she had a vagina. And hispanics are gonna vote for a hispanic (who hates them) just because of race. Bottom line: these people think every who is not a white male is an idiot.
Villago Delenda Est
@lamh34:
Yeah, that’s the Peggy Noonan wing of the GOP talking.
She also ignored that Tom Tancredo went to Miami and bitched about all the people speaking Spanish.
This from a guy who has a last name that ends in a vowel.
mai naem
@Villago Delenda Est: I was surprised about that too. I’ve known a few Puerto Ricans and Mexican Americans who do not like Cubans at all. Have no idea why.
schrodinger's cat
@WaterGirl: I think they think everyone else thinks just like they do.
BC
@Dr. Squid: Yes, as a native New Mexican, I was thinking that Lujan’s roots in this continent predate the teapartier’s by about 200 years or so. All of them in that same land, whether part of Spain, part of Mexico, or part of the US.
lamh34
@WaterGirl:
Yep, that about cuts it. It really never surprises me much how the GOP like to underestimate the intelligence of minority voters. It works so well for them with white male voters, that they think it will work with all voters. Which always comes to bite them in the ass in some pretty critical elections.
scav
@Thoughtcrime: Possible, possible. Play with the font and the margins, should work.
ETA: Urban Outfitters, agreed, too nicely odd to waste on that crowd.
WaterGirl
@schrodinger’s cat: Good point.
Violet
@WaterGirl:
Republicans are saying those things because they’re projecting. Most of the ones doing the talking are white men and they’ll only vote for a white man. Or, a hot white woman, but she’d have to have a high starbursts factor.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@aisce: So, run of the mill racism is nothing, it’s gotta be racism done by someone “important.”
As a white guy, I’m gonna say: Screw you.
Southern Beale
Have y’all heard that George Pataki is running? His campaign website was accidentally released to search engines by the web hosting company.
And the righties are really hoping Jeb will run. Poor things.
Violet
@aisce:
Do you need to know? Read it and comment or read it and move on or don’t read it at all. Choice is yours. Why do you care why he posts?
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
You think this thread is depressing. . . just wait.
Thoughtcrime
Yeah, those minority voters can be pretty “clueless”. Check out who knows the score in this video, especially at the 3:40 mark:
youtube.com/watch?v=YnQwTS-K6jI
aisce
@ belafon
run of the mill racism is…run of the mill.
wow, southwestern nativist teabagger has an issue with hispanics in positions of authority, or really anywhere else for that matter i’d imagine. shocking news. how could this still be happening in our obviously post-racial society?
Evolved Deep Southerner
@cathyx: It’s “In-A-Gada-Da-Vida-Loca.” 26 minutes long.
Omnes Omnibus
@aisce: People can get blase about that kind of thing. Also, I, for example, live and work in an environment where I just don’t see that kind of thing very often. It sure as hell doesn’t hurt for me to be reminded of it.
Evolved Deep Southerner
@de stijl: Shit, de stijl beat me to it. Memo to myself: Read the fucking comments before posting.
Villago Delenda Est
@mai naem:
A lot of it has to do with what class of Cubans left in the early 60’s, and the attitudes they brought with them.
Their primary beef with Fidel is that he stole their peasants away from them.
They don’t view Puerto Ricans or Mexicans much better.
OmerosPeanut
Whoa, Mr. Cole. You’re channeling TBogg!
PurpleGirl
@lamh34: I don’t think the Latinos of the Southwest have much love for some Cubano refugee, even one who was born here.
Lolis
@lamh34:
Yeah, those people are dumbasses. Sarah Palin did not help John McCain win over women voters. Latinos and women are not mindless identity politics zombies.
PurpleGirl
@mai naem: The first wave of refugee Cubans were middle class, many had managed to transfer assets to the US and saw themselves as better than other people from Mexico, Central and South America. The first wave of Cubans got all kinds of special help from the Feds because, you know, they escaped Castro. They also thought they would retake Cuba and get back everything they had left there (land, homes, etc.). In later years, Castro sent criminals here. Those people were of a lower class which the earlier refugees didn’t like. Lots of class tensions between the Cubans of different generations and Cubans and other Spanish-speakers.
ETA: I dated one such Cuban during college… he came here as a child of about 4, parents and family were well off, even brought family servants with them.
SiubhanDuinne
@Thoughtcrime:
Did you see, they are serving HOR DE ORVS.
Hahahahahahaha.
(Oh wait, it’s French. Never mind.)
Jeffro
@lamh34: I’ve been one of those suggesting that Rubio will be on the ticket, but this is just my armchair political analyst speaking – not pushing an agenda here, a wish, or anything else. Just trying to make an educated guess as to what the GOP will try to do as they continue to sink.
Hispanics aren’t going to be fooled just because Perry slaps Rubio onto the ticket, but I’m convinced that a) the GOP will try, and b) Rubio is game.
Ditto PurpleGirl @ 55 and Lolis @ 56, and lamh34 again @ 40.
de stijl
@Evolved Deep Southerner:
Alternate post headline: GOP She Bangs Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)
cathyx
@Evolved Deep Southerner: And it’s Living La Vida Loca, living the crazy life.
Yutsano
Old family friend is fifth generation New Mexican. Her husband (also a native-born citizen) was a Navy nuke tech for 20 years. Her maiden name was Hernandez. To her, the gringos are the invaders. Dickheads.
Ripley
Farmington is far-north, more like Colorado in ethnic make-up than most of New Mexico. It’s also a pretty notorious enclave of white rage and victim-identity whining (so’s Roswell, Raton, the hellhole known as Clovis, and other scattered towns). The dude had to wait for Lujan to travel in order to insult him.
Short version: fuck this fucking fucker. Hope he ambles down Las Cruces way and gets all patriotic. It won’t be met as graciously.
Joel
@aisce: Thanks, blog scold!
Tehanu
I was talking to the Salvadorean med tech who drew my blood the other day at the UCLA Med Center and told him I work with a lot of Hispanic people in my job. Then I felt a little worried that I’d used the wrong word, so I asked him if “Hispanic” or “Latino” was better. He said either one was fine with him and besides, most people just assumed he was Mexican — which absolutely surprised me. But UCLA is on the West Side, where the only Hispanics are nannies and parquederos, so he was dealing with Anglos who don’t actually realize what a huge Hispanic middle class there is in So. Calif. I, on the other hand, work in an area (the San Gabriel Valley) where practically everybody is Hispanic — engineers, lawyers, accountants, middle managers, business analysts, and teachers as well as lunch ladies and bus drivers — so I’m used to asking people if they’re originally from Salvador or Nicaragua or wherever. I guess my point is, most people are really incurious about anyone who is different from them, even when surrounded by those others … not that that’s any excuse for suggesting that a Congressman isn’t a “real” American.
Mnemosyne
@Jeffro:
It’s two different issues:
Will the Republicans select Rubio to be the VP nominee on the assumption that Latinos will vote for him? Probably. They love to play that game (see not only Palin, but also Keyes in 2006).
Are American Latinos stupid enough to fall for it? Almost certainly not. Rubio probably would help Republican chances in Florida, but that would have as much to do with him being a native son as with his ethnicity, and being Cuban isn’t going to help him much in the rest of the country.
Yutsano
@Tehanu: A Salvadoran will gladly tell you they have the best food in all of Latin America. I personally think they have a good argument.
Nutella
@PurpleGirl:
Is there also some resentment from non-Cuban Hispanic immigrants that the Cubans get unlimited entry? It used to be true, and I expect it still is, that any Cuban arriving in the US is accepted as a refugee and therefore is a legal immigrant without question. Immigrants from other countries probably find this unfair.
Evolved Deep Southerner
@cathyx: Noted. Thank you so much.
Anne Laurie
@mai naem:
In the 1960s-early 1970s, in NYC, the Cubans were notorious for insisting that they were the pure-blooded descendants of Spanish conquistadors, while the Puerto Ricans were the mongrel offspring of savage Indians and African slaves. (The Dominicans just starting to trickle into the city were regarded with even-less-veiled scorn by both sides.) Of course, that was a long time ago, and it could be that the racial slurs of the past have been forgotten, or at least not used quite as openly in mixed company.
Nemesis
Expect baggers to be very active during 2012 disrupting any/all of Obamas stump speeches.
Media will love the confrontations and will cover them endlessly.
Why not bring back gwb’s free speech zone, strategically placed one mile from the actual gatherings.
Shouting down the POTUS is not an acceptable form of opposition.
Ben Cisco
This track came up in my player when I got to this post.