Orange County, California GOP Central Committee member Marilyn Davenport's email blast depicting President Obama and his family as monkeys was sick, vile, and disgusting. But that was not the worst part of it. Even her witless, dunderhead defense of the photo as just a "joke," was not the worst part of her slur either. The worst part was the reaction of GOP officials to it.
The local party chair, Scott Baugh, appropriately blasted it as "it drips with racism" and said that she should resign. He claimed, though, that the bylaws prevent him from expelling Davenport. But he did not call for a change in the by-laws to make expulsion possible, or even indicate when or if he would move to censure Davenport. To their credit, some former GOP state officials did call for her expulsion. But censure or expulsion, the record stands that no action of any kind has been taken against Davenport
The non-action paled in comparison to the reaction of other GOP officials who either downplayed it as "much ado about nothing" as Davenport branded it or defended her. Davenport is not some loose screwed, raving Tea Party haranguer. She's a member in good standing of the powerful and well-connected Orange County GOP party machine. In Democrat leaning California, this is not insignificant. Orange County is one of the reddest of red counties in Southern California, and a traditional bastion of GOP conservatism and GOP votes. The Orange County GOP has and can still muster tens of thousands of votes for GOP local, state, congressional and presidential candidates. GOP presidential candidates have beat a steady path to the county for decades to secure votes and money.
Davenport for her part has adamantly said she won't resign. She would not have dug her heels in on staying at her party post if she wasn't confident that she had the backing of more than a few party members.
Those GOP Davenport cheerleaders aren't just in Orange County. Other party officials essentially blew off the controversy as a non-issue. This strikes to the GOP's continuing denial, subtle or flat out stoke of the racial fires. Davenport underlined her despicable depiction of President Obama with the caption ""Now you know why no birth certificate." This is just the crude, stupid, version of what would be GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump's been parroting with his media grabbing and Tea Party appealing crusade to bait President Obama on his birth certificate.
It's worked because polls consistently show that a significant minority, possibly a majority, of GOP rank and filers cling to the false, discredited, and bogus belief that Obama is a fake American citizen. Trump would not have gotten to first base with his birth certificate ploy if these millions didn't give credence to it. The controversy has had enough juice to even draw Obama into it. In a recent interview he made more than a veiled reference to it when he said "we're not really worrying about conspiracy theories or birth certificates."
Top GOP possible presidential contenders have either been mum on the issue, sent mixed messages about the issue, or as in the case of Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin, gave tacit credence to the fraudulent issue. Despite the media ridicule, Trump hasn't backed away one inch from the issue. In a pep rally speech to a swooning Tea Party throng in Boca Raton, Florida he again questioned Obama's citizenship. Trump's slur didn't dampen the applause or enthusiasm of the crowd. Nor has it dampened the enthusiasm for him from millions of others. In the latest national poll of the names of the potential GOP presidential candidates commonly bandied about, Trump obliterated the field. Second place vote getter former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was a distant second, garnering ten percent less of the straw vote than Trump.
A straw poll that at this stage of the presidential derby tells nothing about who the GOP voters, party regulars, and party money backers will ultimately decide on. It won't be Trump. But that's hardly the point. The fact that a political non-entity can work up the kind of mania and media attention that he has on the strength of virtually one issue, namely Obama's birth, tells much about the crazed state of millions of GOP voters.
Davenport's slanderous email depiction of Obama and family, her refusal to see anything wrong with it, and the foot-drag by GOP local and state officials in California to say or do anything about it speaks volumes for GOP leaders. Trump, Davenport, and the Orange County GOP top brass are not bizarre aberrations. They publicly echo the sentiment of a wide swath of Americans about President Obama, and that sentiment has nothing to do with any political criticism of his policies or criticism of him on the issues. Davenport's racial belligerence on Obama and the party's official inaction about it is just prove again that the GOP blows every chance it gets to show that it's Obama's policies, and not his race, that is their only concern.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. He is associate editor of New America Media. He hosts a national Capitol Hill broadcast radio talk show on KTYM Radio Los Angeles and WFAX Radio Washington D.C. streamed on The Hutchinson Report Newsmaker Hour on blogtalkradio.com and wfax.com and Internet TV broadcast on thehutchinsonreportnews.com. Follow Earl Ofari Hutchinson on Twitter.
Follow Earl Ofari Hutchinson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/earlhutchinson
The fact that republicans and dare I say teaparty republicans are not at least attempting to clean their own house is extremely upsetting to me.
Thank God the tides in this country when it comes to race are slowly changing...
I guess you missed this part as well as another part saying many in the GOP have called for her resignation.
Not my point that she can't be fired. My point is that she should.
Plus, how did a woman with views like that even get that far up the chain? I think that speaks volumes about the republican party and why they are dripping minorities and people who think this kind of joke is what keeps us as a people apart...
Change the rules then. Using the bylaws just doesn't sell
You are the first blogger to point out the true significance of the e-mail. It was intetionalal hateful and racist, and fulfilled its purpose, which was to inflame the"know nothing" base of the Republican Party. The fabis for my conclusion is:
a. It is simply inconceivable that she did not know exactly what she was doing. Psychology 101 tells you that she know that she knew she would be rewarded. Anyone over the age of five knows that the picture was vile and racist.
b. She has become a national Republican figure. That's a success in itself. How many people outside of California know a single Californis polician. I am sure she is now better know that the governor or either Senator. Both of whom are Democrats.
b. She sent blind copies. If they were all her friends, why not let them all know about it.
c. She chose to give one of those "non-apology" apologies. Sort of Hon.Sen Jon Kyle and "not a factual statement".
d. The Republican party will reward her, because it will open space for them do do more evil deeds.
Thank you for for calling it for what is is is.
I think chimpanzees would behave with more human decency. To suck them into something so vile is not giving them respect, either.
Thanks for this article.
We need to shine a spotlight on this incident and force a resignation.
Together we stand.
AG
AnnfromCA 7 hours ago (8:03 AM) 585 Fans Become a fan Unfan
The reality is that the GOP in CA is often just a mess. There's not much defending it, even in budget matters.
But the uproar here, too, is just a bit too close to the usual R card stuff that has dominated the Left's response to conservatiÂve groups. The reaction is predictablÂe. What else is new. The Left is outraged that one thoughtlesÂs and crude person exists in the GOP.
================================================================
I concur but without them and without the two-thirds requirement, the tax rates in CA would've gone way up and Jerry Brown's proposal for a 5-year tax extensions would've been slated to appear on the June ballot for a vote.
I do like gridlock in Sacramento because it means that the taxes haven't been raised yet.
Unfortunately, the way everybody in the far left interprets this stuff gets funneled into that little narrow "D vs. R", "liberal vs. conservative", and it's hogwash!!
The anti-tax message is embraced literally by millions of Californians who don't count themselves necessarily as Republicans or right-wingers. Now I know that in the Daily Kos or in the Sacramento political world that the far left seem to glum on day in and day out, everything is a D or an R, conservative or liberal. But if they look at the PPIC polling, it is millions of taxpayers who don't want to pay more taxes.
It seems like phony outrage. Phony because the accusation of racism is much more powerful than an alleged email that was sent out by this relatively unknown person.
Suppose Louis Farrakhan happened to say something that might be construed as racist. If only a few African Americans condemn it and the rest blow it off, would it be fair to to broad brush the black community?
You can't make the distinction one is a 'religious leader' and the other is a private citizen involved in GOP politics and then contend the GOP is racist but Farrakhan is not. If its racism, then its racism. Were you trying to make a point or were you just throwing meat to the hounds?
You say, "Suppose Louis Farrakhan happened to say something that might be construed as racist..." In your next paragraph, you are making the assertion that this has happened and are asserting that author has actually made "the distinctioÂn one is a 'religious leader' and the other is a private citizen involved in GOP politics". You then criticize the author for something that you have asserted that the author would have done if something else has happened.
Of course, it hasn't happened and you have criticized the author on your speculations about things that have never happened. You can't criticize someone for something that you think they would have done in a situation that hasn't happened. I am not saying that Farrakhan has never said anything racist. I am saying that unless you have some proof that this author did not condemn such remarks, you are conjecturing without any empirical evidence to support your speculation.
If you read the article and understood English, the author clearly cites his evidence for all conclusions that he drew. Do you dispute the evidence or just the conclusion?
Lacking any response from the national RNC, makes them equally complicit, and makes them appear to be try to gain politically to the "birther" nonsense and bashing of President Obama by someone, anyone other than Donald Trump.
The RNC's silence on this is deafening!
http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blbushmonkey1.htm
http://photobucket.com/images/george+bush+monkey/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27779323@N08/2937650529/
The internet is full of caricatures of Bush as a monkey. I never once heard a Democrat or other pundit object to it. But when its done to Obama, its RACISM!!! Bull feathers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies
http://www.theskepticsguide.org/resources/logicalfallacies.aspx
"In logic and rhetoric, a fallacy is incorrect reasoning in argumentation resulting in a misconception. By accident or design, fallacies may exploit emotional triggers in the listener or interlocutor (e.g. appeal to emotion), or take advantage of social relationships between people (e.g. argument from authority). Fallacious arguments are often structured using rhetorical patterns that obscure the logical argument"