Jul 21 2010
The Right Hook – 07/21/10
The Right Hook, a weekly segment which covers the machinations of the right wing, from the Republican Party to the Tea Party Patriots, and beyond. By Chris Bennett
British Petroleum capped its gushing riser on the sea floor of the Gulf of Mexico, and not a moment too soon. The U.S. Interior Department is now issuing shallow-water drilling permits to companies able to meet two sets of new safety regulations. Anti-stimulus Republicans are eager to keep America’s oil jones alive, hoping to make the case that any moratorium on drilling would negatively impact the economy. There seems to be no shame in the face of the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.
Other unstoppable gushers are alive and well. Sarah Palin continues to spew her own brand of ignorance and intolerance into the Twitter-sphere. In response to a planned Muslim community center two blocks from Ground Zero in New York City, Palin tweeted: “Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn’t it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate.”
Not misunderestimating the impact of her made-up nonwords, Palin deleted her tweet but it was already reverberating around the cybersphere. Sarah the Barracuda got her game face back on and retweeted: “peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand, Ground Zero mosque is unnecessary provocation; it stabs hearts.”
Other gushers continue to confound both real and unreal Americans. This one is like methane mixed with Corexit chemical dispersant: In Nevada, Sharron Angle’s senate challenge to deeply unpopular Harry Reid is fading fast. Angle’s political patron, Mark Williams fired off a satirical rejoinder to the NAACP’s condemnation of the Tea Party as “racist.” Here’s an excerpt of Williams’ letter:
Dear Mr. Lincoln,
We Coloreds have taken a vote and decided that we don’t cotton to that whole emancipation thing. Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards. That is just far too much to ask of us Colored People and we demand that it stop!
THE LETTER CONCLUDES: Mr. Lincoln, you were the greatest racist ever. We had a great gig. Three squares, room and board, all our decisions made by the massa in the house. Please repeal the 13th and 14th Amendments and let us get back to where we belong.
Sincerely,
Precious Ben Jealous, Tom’s Nephew NAACP Head Colored Person”
If this letter doesn’t reveal the Tea Party’s racism once and for all, I don’t know what will.
Williams’ Tea Party Express P.A.C. gave Angle’s campaign $5,000 dollars. Chump change, right? The Express also spent $500,000 dollars on TV ads, radio spots, and direct mail backing Angle. As many Tea Partiers are clamoring to disown Williams, there is much “will she or won’t she” speculation on whether Angle will dump Williams herself. Angle may have to think hard about this one, though she has already made up her mind that she wants to eliminate Social Security because it “spoils” American retirees.
Representative Michele Bachmann, the Minnesota Republican and Tea Party favorite, is throwing herself a Tea Party in the House. Bachmann has started the Tea Party Caucus. Up until now, House Republicans have been able to associate themselves with the quasi-grassroots movement according to how the political winds are blowing. Now they will have to declare whether they want to be formally included in the Tea Party Caucus. After what has been a rough week for the Tea Party, House Minority leader John Boehner stated he did not “have time” to join the Caucus.
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