Posted on 12/06/2013 5:51:19 PM PST by LonelyCon
Republican politicians have tried to pay homage on Facebook to the late Nelson Mandela since his death on Thursday, but many of their conservative supporters want to hear none of it.
Peruse through comment sections of the GOP's Facebook tributes to Mandela, and there's a good chance you'll find plenty of vitriol for the former South African president and for the politicians who praised him.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) wrote that Mandela "will live in history as an inspiration for defenders of liberty around the globe." One commenter took a different view of the anti-apartheid leader's legacy, urging "all you Mandela lovers head on over to South Africa and see what's going on now that 'Mandela's people' have control of the nation."
As Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) sees it, Mandela "showed South Africans and the entire world what the power of forgiveness truly means and can accomplish." It's unclear if some of Rubio's disappointed supporters will be similarly forgiving of the senator.
One woman found it "sad" that Rubio, a son of Cuban immigrants, showed such reverence given that the GOP senator's family "fled the very things that mandela (sic) stood for." After seeing the tribute, another woman said Rubio had lost her vote.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) wrote that the "world has lost an exceptional leader who made the world a better place." But some commenters cried foul at the "revisionist history" of Mandela. Another expressed relief that "Mass Murderer Mandela is finally dead."
(Excerpt) Read more at talkingpointsmemo.com ...
Just don’t give a damn. The lefties pretend to respect
President Reagan so not such a big deal to pretend to
respect their icons.
Read again how the statement was written by Cruz.It sounds like he was praising the commie at first but then I read it again and it could be praise of freedom fighters against mandella.
Could be. I still would’ve preferred no comment.
Like most, there is good and bad with Mandela. Most of what is being celebrated is a myth, but there is also something to praise in man who served time, often brutally treated, and came out strong instead of bitter. Levin has a great interview last night that balanced the good and bad. He was one of the better members of a bad movement. He often stood against their leaders but ultimately was a ‘party-first’ guy when it came to elections.
For me, as some others posted, this is at worst a small blip for Rubio, Cruz and others who have higher aspirations.
Stephen Biko was. I'm not defending Mandela and the ANC, but by that same token the actions and abuses of the NP during apartheid should not be lightly dismissed either.
Read carefully what Cruz said as it is lilttle praise but is the truth. Mandela is an inspiration to this freedom loving American Patriot. I will do all in my power to prevent such a degenerate, savage Communist from seizing power in this country.
With all the hate getting flung around, let’s look at what actually happened here.
A mushy De Klerk still managed to keep enough respect from Mandela that the latter never forgot where his bread was buttered. Mandela kept silent on terrorism the rest of his days. You can read whatever you want into that silence. The real hero here seems to me to be De Klerk. The future of black South Africa seems uncertain now. Will the next leader to step up, want to be Marxist or will he want true peace?
So? Politicians lie.
We’ve had many thousands of politicians and exactly one didn’t and was successful.
We better stayed focused on America’s big eared version of Mugabe and what our future holds than South Africa’s dead Mandela and its past.
Good. Bad. Indifferent. God has judged him now.
Here’s part of an email I got from Newt Gingrich trying to firm up his kind words on Mandela after getting backlash. It is one thing to issue a mundane yet kind statement. It is another to argue the point comparing blowing up shops and burning people that don’t agree with you to the fighting that George Washington did and the tar and feathering done to British sympathizers.
“After years of preaching non-violence, using the political system, making his case as a defendant in court, Mandela resorted to violence against a government that was ruthless and violent in its suppression of free speech.
As Americans we celebrate the farmers at Lexington and Concord who used force to oppose British tyranny. We praise George Washington for spending eight years in the field fighting the British Army’s dictatorial assault on our freedom.”
Since you know the name of this ‘Steven Biko’, I’m certain you also know the names of all those murdered by Mandela’s comrades, then and later, or else ask yourself how come one and not the other, and also who and why drilled the name ‘Steven Biko’ into your memory.
"Most" would include both Lenin and Stalin, heroes of Mandela, no? How about Pol Pot, the Kims of North Korea, Idi Amin? Walter Ulbricht?
Read this: http://www.spainvia.com/sarahmandela.htm
Yep, for now it doesn’t seem to be a worthy hill to die on.
Brabra Streisand, Newt! Fools professing their love for a murderous terrorist excuse it by lying about South Africa. The SA government was neither ruthless nor violent as the citizens of the Republic at the time have testified. Or check out your old issues of National Geographic.
Biko was a good man.
Peter Gabriel?
If they were key players on the respective sides, there's a good chance I do. Hendrik Verwoerd was assassinated in 1966 by a SA communist. Biko was a relatively significant player in the events of the day on the other side, so I think it's less surprising that I would recognize his name than it is that you might not. And again, I'm excusing nothing Mandela and ANC did, but the NP did what they did under the color of law. Biko was "banned" under South African law meaning he was restricted from traveling outside of certain areas, could not speak to more than one person at a time, and others could not quote or publish anything he said. He was arrested for violating this ban and then beaten to death in custody.
How about you ask yourself a question. Suppose the minority black population of the US became the predominant political power, and put onerous restrictions on the movements, and freedom of association of the majority whites and then shot up a few demonstrations against the policies (i.e. Sharpeville, 1960, Soweto, 1976, etc.)
Would you expect the white population of the US to suck it up, or would you expect at least some degree of violent backlash?
I have no argument with you. My argument is with the way our knowledge about the word is shaped and how our attention has been directed. Biko? OK. What about Jan Palach? What about those murdered at the same time by the security forces in the countries of Communist Eastern Block so admired by Mandela? Hundreds, thousands, actually. Unnamed, forgotten, missing from all arguments while we repeat endlessly the name Biko. Guess who funded the propaganda campaign in the West that resulted in this blindness to Communist crimes and emphasis on South Africa! eF Biko!
He was expected to say something and to not would have given fodder to the leftist worshipers in the media. I think he played it cool. He is no dumbass unlike the majority in dc.
It's easy to decry the left's misrepresentation of facts and inflammatory rhetoric, but somehow, there are some on our side who seem to think it's ok to promote our point of view.
Yesterday, Levin interviewed Joel Pollak (editor in chief)of Breitbart.com. Pollak's conservative credentials are well established, and moreover, he spent a good portion of his life living in South Africa, and while I wouldn't call him sympathetic to Mandela, he certainly gave a fair presentation to the complexities involved in evaluating the totality of his life and the milieu in which he lived.
Jump on FR, and Pollak, like Ted Cruz, like Steyn, like Rush and Levin, were being criticized (harshly in some cases) for having said anything less than demonizing about Mandela. I used to think FReepers were more analytical than that. Now, I'm not so sure. Certainly, I don't have many kind things to say about Mandela, but I was particularly struck by the Pollak interview, and am willing to give him (Pollak) some credibility based on his personal experience in South Africa. Furthermore, I can't see how any conservative on a board ostensibly all about personal freedom and the sanctity of individual liberty could offer any defense of apartheid, but, look closely enough on some of these threads, and you'll see some statements downplaying the insidious and evil aspects of it, if only to highlight the evils perpetrated by Mandela and his supporters. As I stated, there is plenty of blame to go around for the mess that South Africa is today, and Mandela was not the only one with blood on his hands.
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