May 15, 2011

What He Really Meant Was "Ghetto Ghetto Welfare Welfare Black Black Black"

News Item: Newt Gingrich calls Obama "most successful food stamps president in history"

I first saw the quote on Twitter and figured "come on, there's no way it could really sound that bad in context." Then I saw the context:

. “President Obama is the most successful food stamp president in American history,” Gingrich said. “I would like to be the most successful paycheck president in American history.”
Oh, this is just so wrong on so many different levels.

One, the idea that the Obama Administration prefers to keep people permanently on public assistance isn't supported by the facts: Obama has actually cut food stamps

Two, Obama's mother actually was on food stamps for a time. Rather than causing her family to remain permanently dependent on the government teat, her son ended up being elected president of the United States. The "most successful food stamps president" description is only accurate if you mean "the most successful president whose family once received food stamps."

And three, the racial dog-whistle implications of the statement are beyond dispute. It's pure Southern Strategy. It was Gingrich telling a Georgia audience, in effect, "Obama is taking your money and giving it to the blacks." The trope isn't new, of course; the next time a mid-level Republican or Tea Party functionary sends out a racist Obama-related email will be the 785th.

Just shows again what slime Newt is. I'm already excited for the guy who dumped wives for mistresses two different times to give a major address on the sanctity of marriage.

Posted by Stephen Silver at May 15, 2011 12:43 AM
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