Top Black Democrat Declares Opposition to Obama Based on Race (Clyburn)

Pajamas Media ^ | May 26, 2011 | Jeff Dunetz

[jazusamo]

   

On Wednesday, the Commerce Department announced that durable goods orders dropped 3.6 percent, worse than economists’ expectations for a 2.2 percent fall. They also announced that driven by the lack of buyers, the price of new homes continued to deflate. Thursday, it was announced that weekly first-time unemployment claims rose to 424,000 (in February that number was 375,000 — lower, but still very high).

If you believe Congressman James Clyburn (D-SC), corporations stopped buying durable goods, home buyers put their plans on hold, and people quit their jobs on purpose — all to make the president look bad. Why would they want to do that?

Racism of course.

Clyburn didn’t say it directly, but he certainly implied as much in this interview with McClatchy Newspapers. The House minority whip declared the cause of President Obama’s problems is racism.

“You know, I’m 70 years old,” he said. “And I can tell you; people don’t like to deal with it, but the fact of the matter is, the president’s problems are in large measure because of the color of his skin.”

Clyburn noted that he himself got hate mail, racist phone calls and offensive faxes on a regular basis. Asked how that relates to the president, Clyburn retorted: “We have the same skin color; that’s how it relates to him.”

[...]

Clyburn suggested that the “birther” movement of Americans who say Obama wasn’t born in the United States is fueled by racism.

“I don’t know why anybody didn’t ask for John McCain’s” birth certificate,” Clyburn said. “He wasn’t even born in this country.”

Clyburn is one of those political conspiracy theorists who brand every negative comment against President Obama or any other African-American in power as intended to demean people of color. And this isn’t the first time Clyburn has inserted race into a discussion. During the stimulus debate, Clyburn had some strong comments for governors who opposed the plan.

“The governor of Louisiana expressed opposition. Has the highest African-American population in the country. Governor of Mississippi expressed opposition. The governor of Texas, and the governor of South Carolina. These four governor’s represent states that are in the black belt. I was insulted by that,” Clyburn said. “All of this was a slap in the face of African-Americans. It had nothing to do with Governor Sanford.”

During the campaign for the 2008 South Carolina primary, former President Clinton made a gaffe while campaigning for his wife. He called candidate Obama

…a boy, a kid, living in a dream land. I don’t think he deserves the title of being a friend or being the first black president.

Clinton’s statement started a “racial divide” between the Clinton and Obama campaigns. But who did Congressman Clyburn blame?

During an interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe with Joe Scarborough, Clyburn blamed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee for injecting race into the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary:

“I don’t want to sound disingenuous here but we were doing well with this whole issue coming out of New Hampshire,” Clyburn said, noting that Obama had the support of Reps. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.) and Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.), who are both white.

“It was not until Huckabee sort of brought the Confederate battle flag into this thing,” Clyburn said. “Nobody’s been talking about that. And I guarantee you people recoiled when he did. You remember not only did he talk about the flag in a disparaging way but he talked about what the people of Arkansas would do with the pole of the flag….That’s the kind of stuff that brought this back into [the Democratic presidential] campaign and it was not here until he did that.”

It was a staffer of Rep. Clyburn who first made the claim that Tea Party members protesting the final Obamacare vote called the Civil Rights hero Congressman John Lewis a ni**er, a claim that has been disproved by all of the video evidence.

The fact that the claim was a hoax didn’t stop Clyburn from trying to exploit it to discredit the Tea Party.

“It was absolutely shocking to me,” Clyburn said, in response to a question from the Huffington Post. “Last Monday, this past Monday, I stayed home to meet on the campus of Claflin University where fifty years ago as of last Monday… I led the first demonstrations in South Carolina, the sit ins…. And quite frankly I heard some things today I have not heard since that day. I heard people saying things that I have not heard since March 15, 1960 when I was marching to try and get off the back of the bus.”

Clyburn’s fake racism charges are part of a larger progressive strategy. It builds on the existing liberal meme of the intolerant conservative. Its nefarious purpose is to end discussion by intimidating people not to criticize progressive policy, and as in the case with the McClatchy interview, it remains unchallenged by the mainstream media who distribute these false claims.

[jazusamo]

Clyburn is a race baiting looney tune, sounds a lot like Al Sharpton.

[Doogle]

...shut up whitey

[dajeeps]

I guess every senator is racist too... not a single one voted for Obama’s budget.

[jazusamo]

Ain’t it the truth. :-)

[Boiling point]

I wonder if Clyburn has heard of a company called Boeing that wanted to create jobs in his state.

[Gargantua]

What tiny vestige of credibility this ass-hat had left he has now wizzed down the gutter. What a ridiculous parody of a Congressman he has become. A twisted, bitter old skank with nothing but accusations and innuendo to comfort him as he fades into pathetic obscurity.

The empty suit who was elected president because of his skin color is now supposedly a victim of it? Bullsnot.

America has no use for racist filth any more, Clyburn. Stick a sock in it and get lost. You are over.

;-\

[WashingtonSource]

Clyburn. Clymer. Hmmm. Maybe we should start calling all race-baiters a Clyburn just like we call people Clymers because they are a-holes, courtesy Dick Cheney.

[muawiyah]

Clyburn's not black enough to say these things.

Winter has been hard on the old man ~ lost his office in the Capitol; lost his position in the real power structure; now now nobody cares what he whines about.

[denydenydeny]

Clyburn noted that he himself got hate mail, racist phone calls and offensive faxes on a regular basis.

I am willing to bet that Clyburn is including all opposition messages as "racist" or "offensive" even if they are merely disagreements over policy matters.

Because, to the race-baiter, all opposition is "racist."

[CPT Clay]

I just don’t believe that the race card works anymore.

[mrsadams]

Let’s be honest, people are opposed to Obama because he is Irish. I’m Irish too, so I am really offended!!! :-)

[sauropod]

Yep.

[TheBigJ]

Actually this is great news. We need more talking libs saying this... Serves 3 functions —

A) Keeps Zero’s lack of presenting a valid b.c. in the news

B) Highlights that John McCain could never be President either, born on Panamanian soil

C) Topped off with pathetic racism whining which will be laughed at

[jazusamo]

Because, to the race-baiter, all opposition is "racist."

That's dead on the mark and it's a favorite tool of the Democrats.

[Windflier]

I just don’t believe that the race card works anymore.

It's tapped out, and needs to be cut in half the next time someone presents it, but you know they're going to keep throwing it down anyway. It's all they've got.

[ViLaLuz]

I thought Obama was Irish.

[SaraJohnson]

We need all obammy’s “people” to come out race baiting whitey!

We need Holder out there telling racist America, the “cowards”, that the rule of law don’t apply to “his people” and whitey isn’t protected under the law from the racial violence of “his people.”

[Oztrich Boy]

Does that headline say that this top Democrat is admitting that he is a racist and that is why he is opposed to Obama?

[jazusamo]

Hah! That was my first impression when I saw the title.

[arthurus]

Top Black Democrat Declares Opposition to Obama Based on Race

That's a helluva declaration in this day and age. He is going to oppose the Kenyan based on race???