Posted on 01/06/2005 11:09:31 PM PST by kattracks
There they go again: The Democrats are race-baiting -- attempting to suggest that the Republicans purposely excluded or miscounted the votes of African-Americans in the 2004 election.And why not? It worked so well last time around. The myth that African American votes went uncounted in Florida has achieved the status of conventional wisdom -- never mind the little detail that it is completely false. And that myth has kept African American voters bitter and angry, which is precisely the way Democrats want them to feel. The more alienated black voters become, the more certain Democrats are that an essential constituency of the Democratic Party will remain loyal. The Democrats cast themselves as champions of the disenfranchised.
Now a group of Democrats led by Sen. Barbara Boxer has formally objected to counting Ohio's 20 Electoral College votes because of purported "voting irregularities." Michigan Democrat John Conyers asserted that in minority neighborhoods there was a particular shortage of voting machines, leading to long lines. Rep. Barbara Lee of California invoked centuries of oppression. Other members of the Congressional Black Caucus spoke of mysterious men who dressed as police officers and interfered with black voters. But just as in 2000, they have been unable to produce a single person who was denied his right to vote.
Republicans really ought to howl about this. By remaining silent in the face of these absurd yet damaging accusations, they give some credence to it.
In my new book "Do-Gooders," I devote a chapter to race-baiting by liberals and note the irony that those who claim to be most solicitous of African Americans are actually cynically manipulating their fears and memories for their own narrow political reasons.
Remember the spate of black church burnings that seemed to be sweeping the Southern states? Democrats and liberals rushed to conclude that the KKK was riding again in the American South, and demagogues like Jesse Jackson were not above suggesting that conservatives had contributed to a climate that made church burnings possible. It turned out that there was no rash of black church burnings, but by the time those facts were verified, the lie had taken flight.
In the 2000 campaign, the NAACP ran ads suggesting that then-Gov. George W. Bush had condoned the gruesome dragging death of James Byrd by a couple of white skinheads in Texas. Though Bush signed the death warrants of the perpetrators, the NAACP, with the active collusion of then-Vice President Al Gore, spread the vile lie that Bush was somehow less than forceful in prosecuting those racist killers. It was a despicable charge, and it arguably did real damage to Bush in the 2000 race. Whereas he had earned 25 percent of the black vote in Texas in 1998, he received just 5 percent of black Texans' votes in the 2000 presidential contest.
During the 1998 election cycle, Democrats ran ads on black radio stations that most unsubtly accused the Republican Party of malice toward blacks. "When you don't vote, you let another church explode. ... When you don't vote, you let Republicans continue to cut school lunches and Head Start. ... When you don't vote, you let another assault wound a brother or sister."
The Democrats know that they cannot win elections if they fail to get 85 percent to 90 percent of the black vote. This is because they consistently receive only a minority of the white vote. Keeping African Americans angry is a matter of political life and death to them.
But Republicans should not permit the smear to go unanswered. Democrats are willing to lie and sow discord in order to win elections. Republicans should be willing to tell the truth.
***
Note: In last week's column, I relied on what turned out to be a mistranslation of an article in L'Osservatore Romano. The editorial apparently chastised Sri Lanka for rejecting Israeli help, not the other way around, as the Catholic World Review originally reported.
Today's stunt in Congress wasn't so much aimed at American voters as it was at making sure black Americans don't leave the Liberal Plantation. Whipping up false fears of vote suppression and rigged elections are all it takes for Democrats to keep black voters firmly in line. The fact real evidence was absent didn't matter. Absence of evidence in a form of circular logic became to the Left, its own "proof" of the devilishness of Republicans and conservatives. We needed to see the GOP censure the Democrats' behavior. The party's failure to do so ensures the Democrats will keep on playing the Race Card TM in the future. No, the Democrats can't win the in Arena Of Ideas; but they can play on people's fears to make sure black turnout for them is kept stoked up. That was what Ohio was really all about.
On another, it was absolutely hilarious.
But, at bottom, it also approached treason. The congressional Democrats, in serving the delusional wing of their party, are undermining the credibility of our electoral process and the legitimacy of a President -- in effect, poisoning the well of democracy and creating a dangerous undercurrent in our affairs.
Moreover, they chose to do so at a time when the nation is at war -- in effect, giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
The 'Rats are playing with fire. Trouble is, we will all get burned...
Bill Clinton won the Presidency twice. I'm sure there was some fraud but not nearly enough to beat the margins of victory.
What gets me is ? those democrats are crying about OHIO , OHIO , were is there sense of justice in the State of WASHINGTON were the election was clearly stolen from a REPUBLICAN ? as RUSH would say ,,, Hhhmmmmmmm ? ?
"Kilwhtynw" Nice screenname huh? Hmmmm...Kill Whitey Now? Whatta marroon!
Yes, he is so blind in his hate, he can't see the TRUTH .
I actually got a good hearty laugh out of it. But to be series, the Left would rather have some kind of race war than seek any real progress in race relations. Evil.
It's called " SELETIVE CHAMPIONS " of voter disenfranchisement.
It's because that is the only thing that holds their foundation together.
Yep. Any house not built on the 'Stone cut without hands' is bound to fall eventually.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.