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You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Racial Justice / This Week In Blackness / Nice Try, GOP

Nice Try, GOP

by Elon James White|  October 9, 20141:47 pm| 36 Comments

This post is in: This Week In Blackness

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Well, this is just hilariously appropriate. Conservatives recently released the above ad to show that Republicans come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and interests and colors. Only problem is that all the people they used in the ads aren’t actual Republicans but stock photos. So apparently there actually aren’t any black women, white fellas who read the Times, tattooed gentleman, or Prius drivers in the whole of the GOP.

Well, at least you have Ben Carson.

Team Blackness also discussed a man carrying his firearm who was robbed at gunpoint, a New York appeals court that wants personhood for chimps, and a North Carolina black teen who was pepper sprayed by cops in the home of his white foster family because they thought he was a burglar.

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Reader Interactions

36Comments

  1. 1.

    Mudge

    October 9, 2014 at 2:45 pm

    Doesn’t Ted Nugent have tattoos? Admittedly he does not seem to be a gentleman.

  2. 2.

    Hal

    October 9, 2014 at 2:46 pm

    They couldn’t get that lone black dude who showed up at that pro Darren Wilson rally?

  3. 3.

    pseudonymous in nc

    October 9, 2014 at 2:51 pm

    a North Carolina black teen who was pepper sprayed by cops in the home of his white foster family because they thought he was a burglar.

    …because neighbours in that Raleigh suburb saw a black teenager entering a home and called the cops, and the prime directive of suburban cops is rapid response to sightings of young black men. There are parallels with John Crawford’s death: the cops are primed by the calls they receive. Not that this excuses the cops, but it makes clear what they’re expected to do by certain communities.

  4. 4.

    Belafon

    October 9, 2014 at 2:51 pm

    So apparently there actually aren’t any black women, white fellas who read the Times, tattooed gentleman, or Prius drivers in the whole of the GOP that the GOP wants to associate with.

    Fixed. There are all sorts of people that claim to be Republicans, and vote for the party. The party, on the other hand, knows these people are fools, and won’t have anything to do with them.

  5. 5.

    Roger Moore

    October 9, 2014 at 3:03 pm

    So apparently there actually aren’t any black women, white fellas who read the Times, tattooed gentleman, or Prius drivers in the whole of the GOP.

    Nah, it’s just that stock photos are cheap, and the GOP is all about short term thinking. Getting the ads out quickly and cheaply is their only priority, and the possibility that they might look like idiots when they’re shown to be nothing but stock photos never even crossed their minds.

  6. 6.

    Another Holocene Human

    October 9, 2014 at 3:03 pm

    Kinda OT, did anyone notice Tammy Duckworth kicked ass on Better Know A District this week?

    The wingnuts have been the funniest (not that they wanted to be), the most liberal reps have been the spaciest (too serious to roll with the punches, and often really ignorant outside of the committees/bills they’re on, plus he tends to interview backbenchers and some of them are DUMB).

    Duckworth is by no means the most liberal Rep but she is both a fighter and very smart.

    If the Democrats want fighters, you get fighters in competitive districts. Not 80%+ D districts. Then you get legacies and narcissistic self-promoters.

  7. 7.

    Frankensteinbeck

    October 9, 2014 at 3:13 pm

    Well, at least you have Ben Carson.

    Ah, yes. Ben ‘But I’m not lazy like blacks today’ Carson. What an asshole.

  8. 8.

    KG

    October 9, 2014 at 3:13 pm

    @Another Holocene Human: she came off very well. also, loved Colbert’s line at the end “wow, I’m almost done with the map, I just have to do ten of these segments on every episode before the show ends.”

  9. 9.

    John Revolta

    October 9, 2014 at 3:17 pm

    @Mudge: He’s the first guy I thought of too. I can’t find any pix of any tattoos though, and I ain’t gonna look too hard either.

    I met a girl in Richmond a few years ago who had CONSERVATIVE tattooed on the inside of her lower lip. Didn’t get her phone number though, so………..

  10. 10.

    KG

    October 9, 2014 at 3:17 pm

    @Another Holocene Human:

    If the Democrats want fighters, you get fighters in competitive districts. Not 80%+ D districts. Then you get legacies and narcissistic self-promoters.

    I kind of wonder what would happen if a state tried to go to proportional representation instead of first past the post districts. or maybe a hybrid like New Zealand has. i doubt it will ever happen because it would mean strengthening the parties and since the progressive era, the trend has been towards weakening the parties. just an interesting thought experiment.

  11. 11.

    shortstop

    October 9, 2014 at 3:19 pm

    So apparently there actually aren’t any black women, white fellas who read the Times, tattooed gentleman, or Prius drivers in the whole of the GOP.

    Oh, there probably are. As many as three or four in each category, even!

    From a video production standpoint, this is perfectly normal. They wanted sharp, engaging images* that work together somewhat cohesively** (as opposed to stuff coming in from a range of sources that varies wildly in quality). They needed them fast without having to do multiple shoots. The budget was probably minuscule.

    From a political and PR standpoint it’s a total disaster. They were complete morons not to realize these faces would be tracked to their sources in five minutes. Whoever produced the video only cared about the product*** and the GOP clients are, once again, so idiotic about modern technology that they’ve never heard of an image search.

    *I know — most of these are screamingly obviously stock and thus not especially engaging.
    **This video is not particularly cohesive, although I’ve seen worse coming from the GOP.
    ***The product sucks. The music is cartoonish and dated, the fonts in general are a crime and the florid italics used when they mention anything female is just gross textual mansplaining.

  12. 12.

    shortstop

    October 9, 2014 at 3:22 pm

    I found this amusing. I’m certain the black voters Republicans are courting will, too.

  13. 13.

    Cacti

    October 9, 2014 at 3:25 pm

    Ben Carson, MD:

    -Raised in public housing
    -Fed with Food Stamps
    -Kept healthy by Medicaid
    -Educated in public schools
    -Received eyeglasses from a state agency
    -Used federal student loans and Pell grants for undergrad education
    -Received a med school tuition grant from US Public Health Services

    Says that the “welfare state” is “enslaving African Americans and ruining their futures”.

    Oh, really?

  14. 14.

    SatanicPanic

    October 9, 2014 at 3:26 pm

    Stock photos? Sounds like they’re employing Jim Hoft for their ads

  15. 15.

    Another Holocene Human

    October 9, 2014 at 3:32 pm

    @Roger Moore: When they use their plants they get exposed so probably stock photography is a lower risk choice.

  16. 16.

    Calouste

    October 9, 2014 at 3:33 pm

    @John Revolta: There’s a “conservatives suck” joke in there somewhere…

  17. 17.

    Frankensteinbeck

    October 9, 2014 at 3:34 pm

    @Cacti:
    I heard him explain it. There’s a culture of laziness among blacks today, you see. HE made good use of those benefits, and now he’s successful, which just goes to show how lazy unsuccessful blacks are and why they need to be given tough love.

    World-class asshole.

  18. 18.

    Cacti

    October 9, 2014 at 3:38 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    I heard him explain it. There’s a culture of laziness among blacks today, you see. HE made good use of those benefits, and now he’s successful, which just goes to show how lazy unsuccessful blacks are and why they need to be given tough love.

    I’ve heard the same self-righteous twaddle for years from various right wing family members who have received or currently receive public assistance.

    “I’m different, and special, and deserve things, not like those lazy people who don’t deserve it.”

  19. 19.

    Botsplainer

    October 9, 2014 at 3:39 pm

    Your modern Republican Party.

    http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/democrats-hit-candidate-schimel-for-statement-on-interracial-marriage-b99367685z1-278580281.html

    Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel said he would have reluctantly defended a ban on interracial marriage had he been attorney general in the 1950s — a stance Democrats criticized Wednesday.

    Schimel, a Republican, is running for attorney general in the Nov. 4 election against Jefferson County District Attorney Susan Happ, a Democrat.

  20. 20.

    AliceBlue

    October 9, 2014 at 3:48 pm

    @Cacti:
    I know we’ve all heard it before, but I can’t get enough of actor Craig T. Nelson exclaiming “I’ve been on food stamps and nobody helped me!”

  21. 21.

    Another Holocene Human

    October 9, 2014 at 3:49 pm

    @Cacti: He’s the Paul Ryan’s Paul Ryan.

    “Welfare was good for me, but not you, because. Reasons.”

  22. 22.

    Frankensteinbeck

    October 9, 2014 at 3:50 pm

    @Cacti:
    Which is asshole enough, but Carson’s saying it to back up people bashing his entire race. WORLD CLASS asshole.

  23. 23.

    SatanicPanic

    October 9, 2014 at 3:50 pm

    @AliceBlue: That’s one of those statements that says so much more than it means to.

  24. 24.

    Another Holocene Human

    October 9, 2014 at 3:52 pm

    @Botsplainer: Wau— Wau Wau-kesha (to the tune of “Wachusett”, instead of children on waterslides picture votes being eaten by Diebold voting machines).

    http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9470

    (BradBlog needs a Waukesha tag, though I bet if you click on “Wisconsin” upwards of 50% of the posts will be Waukesha posts.)

  25. 25.

    Another Holocene Human

    October 9, 2014 at 3:53 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: Sell. Out.

    The worst thing is, he had plenty of money. He even had plenty of love. He wanted assholes who actually hate him to flatter him. That’s kind of … sad.

  26. 26.

    Citizen_X

    October 9, 2014 at 3:54 pm

    @John Revolta:

    I met a girl in Richmond a few years ago who had CONSERVATIVE tattooed on the inside of her lower lip.

    Huh. An improvement, I guess. Usually, it’s “WHITE POWER.”

  27. 27.

    Another Holocene Human

    October 9, 2014 at 4:03 pm

    @KG: It’s interesting that a lot of the mistakes in the Progressive reform program didn’t become evident problems until the parties became more polarized following the events of the 1960s. Prior to that they were ideologically incoherent coalitions which I guess allowed for more ‘comity’ and basically less ruthless tactics. But now that we have authoritarians on one side and kyriarchy’s victims plus the intellectual vanguard on the other, both sides (but especially the reactionaries, because they’re crazy) are willing to engage in more ruthless tactics. And shit like elected DAs, elected judges, you know, some of the other stuff they did, it’s biting us in the ass.

    Making the Fed the national bank has had some issues too. They turned the whole thing into a third rail back in the 1890s so we have this functional central bank in the NY Fed but a lot of issues in terms of transparency and control thanks to the bass-ackwards way it was set up.

  28. 28.

    Barbara

    October 9, 2014 at 4:06 pm

    Well, I’m occasionally surprised when I find out that someone I am passingly acquainted with is a Republican. It always makes me feel like I’ve been contaminated in some way, and that I’ve had some sort of trust broken.

    It is particularly disturbing when it turns out to be a fellow-special needs parent. They are not only shooting themselves & their families in the foot, but they’re putting big bullet holes in my foot, too.

    It’s not as if I don’t know any Republicans, it’s that I generally assume the best of people. If someone isn’t already on my known list of ninkenpoops who are Republicans, I go into my default mode and assume well, they are decent and smart, and therefore, not Republican.

    But that commercial is interesting in that it admits that Republicans know that being antediluvian is their brand. They are so unhip, they think that shopping at Trader Joe’s is cutting edge.

  29. 29.

    Another Holocene Human

    October 9, 2014 at 4:11 pm

    @pseudonymous in nc:

    Not that this excuses the cops, but it makes clear what they’re expected to do by certain communities.

    Yes. This. Also a lot of people missed that he had been part of that family for a year but they had just moved into the neighborhood. The neighbor was SWATting the DFH’s and their blah son next door. Should have been charged like they do in Commonwealth countries for wasting police resources/false report to EMS.

  30. 30.

    JCJ

    October 9, 2014 at 4:11 pm

    @Botsplainer:

    As a resident of Waukesha County I beg for forgiveness. As half of an interracial marriage (although my wife is one of those “good” non-white people – you know, them Asians) I am proud to know our county DA has just been following orders and would continue to do so as state AG.

  31. 31.

    Tone In DC

    October 9, 2014 at 4:11 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Nah, it’s just that stock photos are cheap, and the GOP is all about short term thinking. Getting the ads out quickly and cheaply is their only priority, and the possibility that they might look like idiots when they’re shown to be nothing but stock photos never even crossed their minds.

    LULz.

    Heads are most firmly planted, in g00perland. The rectal cranial inversion must be their favorite (non-yoga) position.

  32. 32.

    Mandalay

    October 9, 2014 at 5:16 pm

    Completely O/T, but worth noting…..

    So Huff Post interviewed Brother Cornel West, and posted this zinger headline about what he said:

    Cornel West Weighs In On Bill Maher-Ben Affleck Debate: Islam Isn’t ‘Inherently’ Oppressive

    Note that “Inherently” was in quotes, but “Oppressive” was not. That wasn’t a mistake.

    The article then quoted West from the video, but the word “oppressive” was in square brackets:

    “I don’t think that somehow Islam is inherently or innately [oppressive]” West added

    Red flag right there.

    Now you might wonder why the word “oppressive” is in square brackets if that’s what he said, so I watched the interview, and all was explained: West never said the word “oppressive”. He didn’t even come close, and the video was ended shortly afterwards while West was still speaking.

    So that’s another example of how it’s done these days…Make up something volatile that was never said by a black person, put it in within quotation marks and attribute it to the victim, then add a false headline to buttress the false quote. Another smear against an n-clang who has the nerve to stand up to the system. Mission accomplished!

    And if anyone ever challenges Huff Post about inventing shit that never happened they can just play the square brackets card, and argue that “oppressive” was obviously what he had implied.

    Warning: Huff Post link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/08/cornel-west-bill-maher-ben-affleck_n_5955056.html

  33. 33.

    MomSense

    October 9, 2014 at 5:54 pm

    @Cacti:

    “I’m different, and special, and deserve things, not like those lazy people who don’t deserve it.”

    This is exactly the attitude that makes it possible for Republicans to attack food stamps and housing vouchers and get elected to represent poor districts.

  34. 34.

    Villago Delenda Est

    October 9, 2014 at 6:36 pm

    It’s all about the marketing with these assclowns. They can’t sell their shit policies up front, so they attempt these pathetic Jedi Mind Tricks that only their weak-minded base accepts. The rest of just just point and laugh.

  35. 35.

    kc

    October 9, 2014 at 8:05 pm

    @AliceBlue:

    LOL, a classic.

  36. 36.

    Paul in KY

    October 13, 2014 at 12:45 pm

    @JCJ: A very Germanic stance, that.

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