What does this man actually believe?
Ed. note: Please help – see the note below and pass this along so that we make the kind of difference that needs to be made. America thanks you.
Reading time – 33 seconds . . .
Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) has been busted for having presented to a conference hosted by the European-American Unity and Rights Organization (or EURO), a white supremacist organization led by David Duke, the former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
(Snarky parenthetical note: Could there be a more stupid title than “grand wizard”? Would that make the grand wizard’s followers weenie wizards? Do they holster their magic wands when they enter the Dungeon of Hate? Back to Scalise and EURO)
This is a group, the members of which, are all warm and fuzzy for white people of European extraction – except Jews, whom they hate. They hate blacks, Asians, Native Americans, Central and South Americans. They only like white, Euro-Americans. Did I mention that they are led by David Duke, the former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan? Does it seem inappropriate to you that a representative in Congress might address such an organization, thus implying its legitimacy?
That’s how it seems to Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), who is calling for Scalise to apologize for his address to that racist, bigoted group in 2002. Lewis misses the point.
While an apology might be nice, it isn’t useful moving forward because right now we are left to speculate about Scalise’s current beliefs and what they might mean for the people of the United States. What we really need is for Scalise to declare his true beliefs. We need to hear him state unequivocally that he is not a racist or bigot, that he believes that all men are created equal and that all deserve equal treatment, protections and opportunity. We need him to declare abhorrent and repugnant any form of bigotry and any type of discrimination. We need to hear him say – from the heart – that he rejects all of David Duke’s hateful principles.
After that, an apology such as that called for by Rep. Lewis might be believable. Maybe.
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Ed. note: There is much in America that needs fixing and we are on a path to continually fail to make things better. It is my goal to make a difference – perhaps to be a catalyst for things to get better. That is the reason for these posts. To accomplish the goal requires reaching many thousands of people and a robust dialogue. Please help by offering your comments, as well as by passing this along and encouraging others to subscribe and do the same. Thanks. JA
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3 Responses to The Usefulness of a Scalise Apology
Frank Levy January 8, 2015
So, somebody remind me – this is the party that needs to reach out to a more diverse population to be relevant or never win a presidential election, isn’t it? Here are some other responses that might be appropriate – in no particular order – Boehner must remove Scalise from his leadership position, immediately; Scalise needs to publicly proclaim that his past (we hope past) views are unaceptable, unpatriotic and un-American; ALL Republicans need to publicly proclaim this man an embarrassment; ALL Republicans NOT of White European descent should resign from the Republican party; the Republican Party should be penalized 25 yards and an automatic loss of the next two elections, and Scalise sent to the locker room and fined more money than he made over the last decade, this to be paid to the NAACP, and the MLK Library Fund.
David Lindgren January 8, 2015
I am reminded of the psychological principle of “reaction formation” or “thou doth protest too much”. Scalise did something quite awhile ago. People do change. You know that I am a progressive. But people who are “recovering” can be the best advocates. Let’s give the man a chance. The reaction formation thing is that our over-reaction causes the next wave of repression and obfuscation. Let’s not get “too” hysterical about this.
JaxPolitix January 14, 2015
Agreed. Yet this issue has been out in the open for over two weeks and Scalise has yet to offer any comment that would indicate that he has changed. Let’s hope he comes clean with the American people soon.