Really? Republicans praised for finally removing Confederate Flag?

It seems to me Democrats had been asking for the removal of the Confederate flag for decades. Now that 9 people were killed by a white racist with a gun and a Confederate flag, many Republicans are suddenly running for the exits trying not to look like the neo-confederates we know they really are inside.

These people aren't heroes. They aren't insightful. They aren't fooling anyone. They're not erasing their past rabid support of the Confederate battle flag, ever. They were forced into taking this position, and they should be embarrassed:

Why would a Racist Group donate to a Republican Candidate for President?

CBS News for some reason only mentioned 3 GOP candidates who received money from the Council of Conservative Citizens.

I guess you can add Scott Walker to that list too.

Is there something these guys aren't telling us that donors have an inside track on?

Earl P. Holt III, the president of the Council of Conservative Citizens gave $3,500 to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker since 2011, state records show.-jsonline

I added our governors picture to the CBS graphic below. Still, it seems odd any news organization would not include all the candidates names, and not just Cruz, Santorum and Paul, right? 

No, Republicans aren't at all racist...

This stunning image got a whole lot of retweets from right wingers. See if you can spot the bigotry, racism, and religious fundamentalism:

The Tea Party's unapologetic Racism marches on....

This is just astonishing out of Texas:

Despite an ongoing investigation and calls for her resignation, a two-term La Marque City Council member remains unfazed by the fury over her comments. Monday was the first time members of the public were given the chance to address city council since Connie Trube's recorded comments were released.

"It's not going to get any better until you get those blacks off the school board. She really turned black. She got on the school board with the rest of the blacks and they all just ganged up and that's why the school system has gone to hell."

Asked to respond:

"What is on the tape is nothing more than me stating my honest opinion and I don't back down from that," said Trube. "I never denied what was on the tape."

Republican Secessionists Convention #1

Wisconsin State Journal reporter Mary Spicuzza is covering the GOP Secessionists Convention, providing the following tweets, from the beginning:

Phone charger hat...

Rep. Brett Hulsey says he is dressed as a Confederate soldier to highlight "Republicans' racist agenda" … his "confederate soldier" hat also serves as a phone charger … calling himself Gen. Bass Ackwards … GOP delegate Pam Stevens says Brett Hulsey's Confederate soldier uniform is racist and offensive.

Matt Walker, son of @GovWalker, says "if we want to be competitive again, we've got to reach out to young voters." @RebeccaforReal to convention goers: "The future is bright if we have Matt Walker on our side."

This is one of my favorite "in the tank for the rich" lines uttered today:

Mary Buestrin, national GOP committeewoman: You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.

A slightly higher percentage hike in taxes will destroy the rich? Surreal

. There's even more insanity, projection and BS:

@SpeakerVos on Assembly Republicans at GOP Convention: We will do whatever it takes to make sure voter ID becomes the law in Wisconsin.

Sensenbrenner: Not only should Common Core go in the waste basket, it should go in the paper shredder & be used as confetti (when defeated)

@RepPaulRyan" Americans are wising up to the false promises of liberal progressivism."

US Rep Tom Petri walks on stage to "Baba O'Riley (Teenage Wasteland) by The Who.

U.S. Rep Sean Duffy says 4 lanes were closed by Gov. Christie in New Jersey, complains it more coverage then Benghazi

U.S. Sen Ron Johnson says four Americans died in Benghazi because of Hillary Clinton's "dereliction of duty."  ...  Shawn Johnson ‏@SJohnsonWPR The first boos at the state GOP convention today are for Hillary Clinton. Sen. Ron Johnson talking to the crowd about Benghazi    ...   Sen. Ron Johnson: The Democrats, the liberals, the progressives, they’re relentless in their denial of our freedoms.

Best suggestion yet: Walker asked for prayers before money. Let's hold him to it:

@GovWalker tells GOP convention crowd: “We appreciate the financial contributions… but what I appreciate the most is your prayers"

Rep. Hulsey to Pass out KKK Party “Hats” to GOP Secessionist Convention Goers.

The master of the overstatement and party wacko Rep. Brett Hulsey must think that if the hat fits, wear it:

Hulsey, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate … called the hoods, which are generally regarded as a racist symbol akin to a Nazi swastika, "Republican Party hats."

“Generally regarded?” Well that’s a ridiculous media neutral description. Hulsey listed a few odd coincidences that hinted at his only logical conclusion:

wsj: Asked whether handing out the hoods would be viewed as offensive, Hulsey said, "What I find offensive is Gov. Walker and the Republicans' racist record. They’re the ones considering the resolution to leave the United States" … he takes issue with Republicans discontinuing record-keeping on racial profiling by police agencies, scaling back the income eligibility limits for Medicaid and making changes to voting policies that critics say could suppress minority turnout … A vote on a resolution affirming the state's right to secede from the union, an issue that sparked the American Civil War … he plans to hold a rally outside a Walker speech Friday with participants dressed as Confederate soldiers.

The GOP record is pretty clear isn't it? Repugnant to be sure. The party in denial's official statement?

State GOP executive director Joe Fadness said: "If true, Brett Hulsey's actions amount to nothing more than a reprehensible, vile stunt and everyone should be outraged."

In fact, if you were to look real hard, you might find racism in the GOP leader class, but not in the rank-and-file:

A Final look at Cliven Bundy...

This is the Cliven Bundy so many tea party Republicans and Fox News hitched their wagon too:

"I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro," he said. Mr. Bundy recalled driving past a public-housing project in North Las Vegas, "and in front of that government house the door was usually open and the older people and the kids - and there is always at least a half a dozen people sitting on the porch - they didn't have nothing to do. They didn't have nothing for their kids to do. They didn't have nothing for their young girls to do.

"And because they were basically on government subsidy, so now what do they do? They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. And I've often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn't get no more freedom. They got less freedom."

I put together this compilation that should be the final chapter to this ugly story. Thanks to the Ed Show and All In with Chris Hayes:



And if you were wondering, here's how the gun came out against the federal government, thanks to Vox:

On Saturday, April 5, the Bureau of Land Management began confiscating the cattle Cliven Bundy had grazing on federal land. The BLM did so under authority given by a Nevada federal district court judge, and it planned to auction off the cattle later on. To carry out the operation, the BLM brought in armed federal agents and private contractors, and closed down much of the federal land in the area, restricting entry: Over a hundred cattle were confiscated that first weekend, and Bundy's son Dave was arrested for refusing to leave the temporarily closed federal lands. 

So Sunday night, Bundy posted a message on the Bundy Ranch website: "They have my cattle and now they have one of my boys. Range War begins tomorrow." Protesters assembled over the next few days, and confrontations between Bundy's supporters and the BLM began to grow more heated.

Vicki McKenna Compares conservative victimhood to threats of racial lynchings.

Just so we all understand the point radio cancer stick Vicki McKenna was making on her recent Facebook post, here's a little background:

WKOW: Harry and Hester Hale have lived in Stoughton for six years. Harry opened an envelope, with no return address written on it, to find a picture depicting the lynching of two African Americans. His 18-year old son's face had been superimposed onto one of the bodies. "This is something we've honestly never dealt with," Harry said. 

The horror this family must be feeling, after receiving this overt racist letter, goes without saying...except in conservative world. Seeing an opportunity where no one with an ounce of common decency would normally think look, McKenna posted this tasteless comment:

Wow. The poor oppressed conservative majority, as seen in the map below, who dominate radio, television and print media everywhere, can't catch a break. How will they ever find the courage and leadership to speak out in public without an Americans for Prosperity bus tour?

Tea party has Tantrum, sues over sign ban on bridge overpass

For years signs have been banned on pedestrian overpasses to prevent driver distractions and possible abusive free placement of advertising on public property.

But these and other reasons don't amount to a hill of beans to low information tea party voters hell bent on impeaching Obama for...who knows what.

jsonline: Two La Crosse men have sued the Town of Campbell over its 2013 ordinance banning signs and other displays from a pedestrian bridge over Interstate 90, and from an area 100 feet around the bridge. The plaintiffs contend that the bridge is like a sidewalk, a traditional public forum, and that town officials tried to ban signs only after tea party activists hung banners urging passing motorists to impeach President Barack Obama.

Yup, instead of getting special treatment, tea party loons are always getting picked on. And since they haven’t caused an accident with their distractingly stupid signs...yet:

According to their lawsuit Greg Luce and Nicholas Newman had been demonstrating along the pedestrian bridge from August to October without incident, or any traffic accidents … In early October, the town passed an ordinance banning signs, flags, banners and such from the bridge, citing safety concerns. The plaintiffs contend the ban was in response to local news media coverage of the impeachment message.

And what a serious message too. Never one to act like adults, these losers decided to act like bratty children. Come to think of it, didn't conservatives bash Walker protesters for their signs and civil disobedience...but that was different? 

So on Oct. 24, Luce and fellow demonstrators came to the bridge wearing T-shirts that spelled out IMPEACH on one side, and OBAMA on the other. They were told by Campbell police to leave the overpass, and they did. On Oct. 27, Newman stood on the overpass with an American flag "to express his pride for his country and the ideals on which it was founded" when he was ticketed for violating the new ordinance, the suit states.

Brent Smith, a La Crosse attorney who represents the town, said the point of the ban was to prevent accidents. Smith said a similar restriction was adopted in Madison several years ago that was subjected to a similar challenge but upheld by a federal appellate court.

I just loved the reason given for defending these teabillies:

Michigan-based Thomas More Law Center "defends and promotes America's Judeo-Christian heritage and moral values."

Is anybody still buying this crap?

GOP Racism overblown? Didn't think so...

This flag waving Super Bowl ad from Coke provoked this amazing but revealing response. Only from the right wing:

Coke's stirring "It's Beautiful" spot featured Americans of all different backgrounds singing "America the Beautiful" in a variety of languages. Whether singing in English, Hindi, Arabic, or Tagalog, the ad's singers proved that America's diversity is one of its most important assets.

Sadly, many on Twitter appeared to differ, as social media was soon deluged messages of anger and ignorance directed at the commercial.

This is so today's Republican...

A jaw dropping conversation with a real American:

This is unique to conservatives. They're not all this extreme, but many more are predisposed to lean this way:

FreakoutNation: Congressman Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) attended a breakfast event with the Tea Party organization Tulsa 9:12 Project last week, a woman said, “Obama, he’s not President, as far as I’m concerned, he should be executed as an enemy combatant,” then went on to ask the congressman about “the Muslims that he is shipping into our country through pilots and commercial jets.”

She said, “This guy is a criminal and nobody’s stopped him.”

Right Wing Watch notes, Bridenstine didn’t respond to her call for the president’s execution, but agreed that Obama is “lawless” and said he rules “by decree” and through the United Nations.

N. Carolina Republican Chairman spills beans: GOP suppressing Democratic votes and are racists. Oh, and had to quit.

So, Republicans are really concerned about voter fraud, and not trying to suppress Democratic votes?

And the Republican Party really isn't filled with incidental racists?

Guess again, here's Rachel Maddow with a sweet look at the real Republican Tea Party:

TPM: A Republican precinct chairman in North Carolina was asked to resign Thursday after making racially inflammatory comments during a 'Daily Show' interview on Wednesday, WRAL reported.

Buncombe GOP Chair Henry Mitchell said Don Yelton resigned for making remarks that were "offensive, uniformed and unacceptable of any member within the Republican Party."
 In an interview centered on North Carolina's voter ID law conducted by the Daily Show's Aasif Mandvi, Yelton criticized "lazy black people that wants the government to give them everything.""The bottom line is the law is not racist," Yelton said.

"Of course the law isn't racist, and you're not racist," Mandvi responded.

Over the Top? Tea Party should apologize.

I'm thinking it needed to be said:

U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson is ruffling feathers again — this time with a fundraising appeal that compares the tea-party movement to the Ku Klux Klan.