Cross-posted at Alternet.org.
Oh, the faux shock. Oh, the feigned outrage. Republicans and other conservatives have themselves all adither over Senate Maj. Leader Harry Reid’s comments comparing opponents of health reform to those who opposed the abolition of slavery.
“It’s playing the race card!” exclaimed Michelle Malkin!
“It’s outrageous!!!,” yelled Rush Limbaugh!
“He played ‘that race card, that slavery card, that civil rights card’,” shouted Michael Steele.
Funny, isn’t it? Whenever a Republican makes some blatantly racist comment, they immediately hide behind the mantra that “you can’t say anything about black people or they accuse you of playing the race card.” Then, when Reid says something mentioning slavery, they accuse HIM of playing “that race card, that slavery card, that civil rights card”.
Hypocrites.
It was Monday in the Senate during the debate on health reform when Reid said this:
“You think you’ve heard these same excuses before?” Mr. Reid said. “You’re right. In this country, there were those who dug in their heels and said, ‘Slow down, it’s too early, let’s wait, things aren’t bad enough’ — about slavery. When women wanted to vote: ‘Slow down, there will be a better day to do that, the day isn’t quite right.’ And when this body was on the verge of guaranteeing equal civil rights to everyone regardless of the color of their skin, some senators resorted to the same filibuster threats that we hear today.”
Ayup. That’s totally true. There were plenty of people that got in the way of the major legislative reforms in the past. Things like women’s sufferage, civil rights, abolition, and environmental protection. And they weren’t always Republicans though they were invariably “conservatives”. That’s not “playing the race card”. That’s a statement of fact. And, by the way, Reid never mentioned Republicans.
Media Matters has a nice run-down of the right’s hypocrisy on this issue.
Conservative media figures have attacked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) remarks linking slavery to Republican opposition to health care reform legislation, but have routinely attacked progressives and the Obama administration for creating “slavery” and enslaving the public.
Michael Steele has repeatedly called on Senator Reid to apologize. Reid has, in essence, told him to go fuck himself.
Reid’s spokesman, Jim Manley, responded to Steele’s initial statement Monday by calling his remarks “feigned outrage.”
Feigned outrage indeed.
I’m just sayin’…
