Black people were better off in slavery

The Washington Monthly wrote:

Rep. Trent Franks (R) of Arizona has long been one of Congress's most embarrassing members. But this week, the right-wing lawmaker may have reached a new depth.

Franks was speaking with blogger Mike Stark about civility and the public discourse. Unprompted, the congressman started reflecting on the African-American community, and his belief that African Americans may have been better off under slavery than in a legal system that allows legal abortions.

Quote :

"[I]n this country, we had slavery for God knows how long. And now we look back on it and we say 'How brave were they? What was the matter with them? You know, I can't believe, you know, four million slaves. This is incredible.' And we're right, we're right. We should look back on that with criticism. It is a crushing mark on America's soul.

"And yet today, half of all black children are aborted. Half of all black children are aborted. Far more of the African American community is being devastated by the policies of today than were being devastated by the policies of slavery."

Franks added that he can sometimes say things that are "intemperate," but added, "I don't want to hide from the truth."

Let's consider this the latest in a long line of setbacks for the Republican Party's outreach to minority voters.

As far as the substance of the claim is concerned, Franks significantly exaggerated the rate at which black women terminate their pregnancies. But substance aside, hearing a Republican lawmaker argue, out loud, on camera, in the 21st century, that today's policies are worse for African Americans than the policies of slavery is just mind-numbing.

If Franks's name seems familiar, he's the same right-wing lawmaker who recently described President Obama as an "enemy of humanity," who "acts un-American," and "doesn't want people to see" his birth certificate.

In October, relying on a strange book published by a fringe website, Franks also asked the House Sergeant at Arms to start looking for Muslim "spies" on congressional committees.

A spokesperson for the DCCC responded yesterday, "To compare the horrors and inhumane treatment of millions of African Americans during slavery as a better way of life for African Americans today is beyond repulsive. In 2010, during the second year of our first African American President, it is astonishing that a thought such as this would come to mind, let alone be shared."

I do wonder, though, what kind of leadership post Trent Franks would get if House Republicans reclaim the majority next year.

Link

Seriously, what the fuck, mate?

So, not being born at all is much worse than being chained, sold, branded, castrated, whipped, sold for auction, raped, hunted like a deer, lynched, lost at a game of cards to a drunkard, beaten half to death for escaping, exchanged for a crate of beer, beaten to death, stuffed and mounted etc.?

What this guy said boils down to "Blacks were much better when it was the white men that looked after them." If this is not racism, then I don't know.

I'm just surprised that it wasn't Rep. Steve King from Iowa or Rep. Michelle Bachmann from Minnesota who said it.

Mr. Franks, you need to step up your game if you want to unseat those two at the top of the crazy chain.

Are there never any calls for these twerps to resign?


Our next government looks like it’ll be a fun one. It’s likely to be hung, for the first time since 1974, and for the two biggest parties there will have a lot of vacant positions following resignations over the expenses scandal.

Public figures here are often either requested to, forced to or volentarily resign, sometimes over simple slips of the tongue. Take this case for example:

Quote :

A senior official at the Royal College of Nursing quit yesterday after making a remark about "10 little niggers", saying she hoped her error would remind people of the need to tackle discrimination.

[...]

"I sincerely regret the remark," she said in a statement yesterday. "Although I did not intend any offence, I am stepping down as chair as a sign of my own and the RCN's commitment to tackling any perceived form of racism.

"The RCN has stated that it will not tolerate racism, even if unintentional, and by my resignation I wish to demonstrate that the organisation means what it says. We must now use this opportunity to bring this issue higher up the RCN's and others' agendas."

So this woman made a mistake, and then voluntarily resigned to make a point against discrimination.

I don’t want to sound superior or anything, but it seems to me that in the UK we take our public figures seriously, occasionally too seriously, and if they step out of line, accidentally or not, they get punished for it. Does that just not happen in the US, or do we just not hear about it?

WD40 wrote:

I don’t want to sound superior or anything, but it seems to me that in the UK we take our public figures seriously, occasionally too seriously, and if they step out of line, accidentally or not, they get punished for it. Does that just not happen in the US, or do we just not hear about it?

Nah, we only call for officials to resign if adultery's involved.

It only happens in the US if it's over something related to sex. Being a racist dick is A-Okay.

Um, wasn't there that story a while back about UK Parliament officials building moats with government money?

There are corrupt and insane individuals in every government, 's all I'm saying.

Wow, what the fuck is up with that guy? Even if he actually believes that, wouldn't anyone who's made it to public office know better than to say something that would do that much damage to their reputation? And completely out of nowhere?

...

Okay, never mind.

Kirby wrote:

WD40 wrote:

I don’t want to sound superior or anything, but it seems to me that in the UK we take our public figures seriously, occasionally too seriously, and if they step out of line, accidentally or not, they get punished for it. Does that just not happen in the US, or do we just not hear about it?

Nah, we only call for officials to resign if adultery's involved. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

HURRR

Quote :

...when Paulding County voters went to the polls for a special election Tuesday, they selected... another family-values conservative who had admitted to an extramarital affair!

...Stout "has been compelled to address a personal incident from 10 years ago: he had an affair with his first wife's mother while his first wife was pregnant with their daughter. Stout and his first wife subsequently divorced."

To absolutely no one's surprise, he's a big "family values" guy.

(Posted that here because it was vaguely relevant and because I wanted to put it somewhere but it's not "godawful" enough to have its own post)

Miss Prince wrote:

Um, wasn't there that story a while back about UK Parliament officials building moats with government money?

There are corrupt and insane individuals in every government, 's all I'm saying.

That was the expenses scandal I mentioned.

Public money supposed to be used by MPs for resons of their occupation was instead used for personal purposes, such as cleaning moats and building duck houses. (YAY! England!)

Like I said, resignations over that came thick and fast, so have full-on criminal investigations and, more than likley, future prosecutions.

Wikepedia has an article on it... But even that doesn't cover all of it. It misses the 2nd home scandal, the 'house-flipping' scandal and the employment of spouses/relitives scandal.

Lot of scandals recently, but also a lot of repocussions.

ETA: Also, I'd like to point out that my party, The Liberal Democrats, have not been caught up in any of those scandals.

And, have we increased our share of the vote?

Nope...

Why not?

Well, it’s a skill of ours, and we’re quite proud of it, thankyouverymuch!

I've heard it said more than once that Black people - especially older ones - are actually more in tune with the Right's conservative views, both socially and economically. The problem is that the Black Community is pretty much convinced the Republican Party is both full of and run by racist assholes.

This does not help the cause to counter that assessment at all.*



* Well, that and the rather telling lack of calling out of member who say blatantly stupid shit like that and the embarrassingly clumsy attempts at "outreach" (See Token Sr. Chairman Michael Steele)

Quote :

...Stout "has been compelled to address a personal incident from 10
years ago: he had an affair with his first wife's mother while his
first wife was pregnant with their daughter. Stout and his first wife
subsequently divorced.

Pillar of morality, folks! Remember, vote republican!

Quote :

I've heard it said more than once that Black people - especially older
ones - are actually more in tune with the Right's conservative views,
both socially and economically. The problem is that the Black Community
is pretty much convinced the Republican Party is both full of and run
by racist assholes.

The same thing applies to the Hispanic community, especially socially. We're also convinced that Republicans are racist fucks and blame game on immigrants, especially Mexicans, just kinda seals the deal.

Damnit, Ceres! You beat me to the joke!

And made a better one to be honest

WD40 wrote:

Are there never any calls for these twerps to resign?

Lemme explain something to you, Lime Stem. In the USA's government, we have this thing called the House of Representatives. Each member represents a particular district of his state, hence the name of the house. These representatives are elected by the residents of whatever district they represent.

This means that if the residents of the other 434 districts unanimously call for the resignation of the 435th representative, nothing happens.

This is also why you're more likely to hear crazy, stupid, or crazy stupid shit out of a Representative than you are from a Senator. With relatively small districts, the odds of Dumbass being concentrated in one of them is larger than the odds of Dumbass being found all throughout half of a state.

Unless that state is Massachusetts. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Thanks, Majin! (And good to see you back in WGW, aka pseudo-GAFF!)

No! We are the one true reincarnation of real GAFF!!!

This matters because everyone knows teh Internets remain srs bsnss.

Half? Where did he get that figure from, the Internet?

Also, abortion is worse than slavery now?

I propose that that man be sentenced to a double major of Gender Studies and American History. That is a fate worse than hard labour, because he will be forced to use the muscle that has already atrophied inside his skull.

DarthDarthington wrote:

Wow, what the fuck is up with that guy?

If I were a betting man, I'd take 6-1 odds it's some kind of psychosis blended with ignorance of the facts about slavery.

I'd also wager it has something do with excessive use of *ahem* liquid refreshment, if you get my drift. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

In b4 Gaijinguy swoops in to defend him

Manny wrote:

Also, abortion is worse than slavery now?

This is Sparta right wing American fuckwittery. Abortion is worse than HIV, Ebola and bad eighties hair combined. Performing an abortion is as evil as murdering 40 adults. That's as many as four tens. And that's terrible.

Bamshalam wrote:

In b4 Gaijinguy swoops in to defend him

In b4 Bammy comes in to attack random white people for stuff they haven't yet done.

Oh shit, I'm late. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I wish I could say I'm surprised, but I've seen people say that what happened to the Native Americans was a good thing for them, too.

Mikey Go WOOGA wrote:

Unless that state is Massachusetts. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Huh? Why Massachusetts?

Reidmar wrote:

Mikey Go WOOGA wrote:

Unless that state is Massachusetts. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Huh? Why Massachusetts?

Between the Kennedys, the Red Sox, the other liberals, the Patriots, the fucking Kennedys, and the Celtics, there's enough Dumbass and Fail to blanket the state fourfold.