West's Hateful Comments About President Obama Are Not Surprising

This is a very good example of why I have an issue with a large number of black conservative Republicans.

Rep. Allen West is all too willing to be used by the far-right element of the political spectrum to say nasty and borderline hateful things about President Obama ... black-on-black crime if you will (in politics).

Rep. West goes on the attack and his fellow conservatives are all too happy to watch him go on the attack while their hands remain clean. This man is a disgrace to his district, but it is his district and if they support his nasty views then that is a stain on the character of his voters.

Here is a little of what West said, as documented by Huffington Post:

Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) stood by eyebrow-raising remarks he recently made about President Barack Obama during an interview with Fox News host Greta Van Susteren on Thursday night.

Speaking recently on "The Laura Ingraham Show," West asserted that the president demonstrated "third world dictator-like arrogance" in delivering a speech on the federal budget and government spending.

"I do stand by those words," said the conservative congressman, who was elected into office last November with support from the Tea Party movement. "The truth needs to be said."

"I am sick and tired of this class warfare, this Marxist, demagogic rhetoric that is coming from the President of the United States of America," West explained. "It is not helpful for this country and it's not going to move the ball forward as far as rectifying the economic situation in our country. And I'm not going to back away from telling what the truth is."

In that excerpt, we see a snapshot of so many of the politically hateful things that have been said about President Obama coming out of one filthy mouth for the gratification of a far right that has been mostly hostile to minority voters.

West's words are hateful and disgusting, but they obviously bring comfort to his voters and to the far-right commentators (such as Laura Ingraham) and networks (Fox News) who relish the opportunity to witness black-on-black political crime as they keep their hands relatively clean.

I will leave you with this excerpt from a commentary by Dr. Boyce Watkins:

West being a Republican doesn’t offend me. What offends me is that he is an unintelligent Republican who lacks the kind of class that men like Colin Powell have shown in their disagreements with the Democrats. West doesn’t have to call Obama names; he can simply critique his policies. There is almost nothing insightful or substantive about his remarks about the president, for he simply appears to be basking in the sunlight.

Another interesting thing about political pawns like Allen West and Michael Steele is that their love affair with the Republican Party will be short-lived. Once their usefulness has passed, they will be thrown to the side like worthless political prostitutes, for the need for a black face on racial hatred is what has kept them in business. To some extent, they should send President Obama a thank you card, for they could never get this much attention without him.

The O’Reilly Sucks Blog Makes Interesting Point About O’Reilly-Ingraham Exchange

Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly and far-right commentator Laura Ingraham had an interesting little exchange when Billy made a compliment (he might have had a senior moment or something) about first lady Michelle Obama. Ingraham, who is a far-right nut, didn’t like that and called him out. But, if there is one thing Bill O’Reilly dislikes more than anything to the left on the political spectrum, it’s having his ego (the size of the continent of Asia) bruised. Ingraham made that slip and he pretty much went off on her as if she had spit in the face of one of his parents.

Here is the exchange:

O’REILLY: Now for the top story tonight, how do conservative Americans feel about Howard Dean being on their side? Joining us from Washington, FOX News analyst and radio talk show star Laura Ingraham.

So I understand you and Dr. Dean have a dinner date tonight? Are you going to go out and.

INGRAHAM: Oh, yeah.

O’REILLY: Yeah?

INGRAHAM: It’s like you and Michelle Obama. We’re like this.

O’REILLY: Hey, Michelle and I have very, very close. Very close.

INGRAHAM: I’m gushing over your gushing last night about the Christmas party. I’m still trying to get over that.

O’REILLY: Wait, a minute. I’m going to call you – I’m calling you out on this.

INGRAHAM: Oh, man.

O’REILLY: I thought she was very nice at the party.

INGRAHAM: What do you think she’s going to do to you?

O’REILLY: I thought she treated everybody respectfully. And you’re giving me a hard time about that because I reported honestly.

INGRAHAM: What did you think she’s going to do you? Not allow you near to the punch bowl? I mean, of course she’s going to be nice to you.

O’REILLY: So what? She was nice. I reported what happened. And you have a beef with it?

INGRAHAM: I don’t remember you gushing over Laura Bush.

O’REILLY: Well, then you have a bad memory, Miss Laura, because I said.

INGRAHAM: Yeah.

O’REILLY: When Laura Bush gave the initial speech at convention in 2000, I was the first broadcaster to say this woman gave an extraordinary speech on education.

INGRAHAM: I have one question for you.

O’REILLY: So you don’t know what you’re talking about. Don’t call me out on that.

INGRAHAM: Bill, one question.

O’REILLY: Go ahead.

INGRAHAM: Did you eat an ACORN cookie last night?

O’REILLY: Oh, bull. You are a blind ideologue who even if somebody’s nice to you, won’t admit it because, you’re, talking about a Kool-Aid drinker.

INGRAHAM: I’m sure that.

O’REILLY: Come on.

INGRAHAM: Oh, come on.

O’REILLY: You have an IV attached to your arm on the Kool-aid.

INGRAHAM: They’re a beautiful family, but let’s talk about the health care bill.

O’REILLY: All right.

This exchange shows two key things: (1) Ingraham is so far to the right she can’t say anything even remotely positive about the other side and (2) O’Reilly has an ego bigger than Africa as proven by the fact his feelings clearly were hurt by Ingraham’s blindly-partisan attack.

The funny part comes up next.

Here is what Steve, from The O’Reilly Sucks Blog, wrote:

Now think about this, Billy said she is a blind ideologue Kool-Aid drinker, but he has her host his show when he is not there. So he is admitting he has a Kool-Aid drinking blind ideologue as his fill-in host. Which also proves that he is an ideologue because he is the one who picked her to be his fill-in.

That is pretty well said. It helps prove that O’Reilly is a right-winger who has other far-right extremists hosting his show in his absence. Remember that the next time Ingraham (with that stupid, doll-like grin and nasal-congested speech) hosts The Factor (if she gets another shot after this) or think about it any time you watch an old episode of the show that she guest-hosted in his absence.

NewsBusters:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2009/12/18/oreilly-calls-ingraham-blind-ideologue-kool-aid-drinker-she-asks-if-h

The O’Reilly Sucks Blog:
http://www.oreilly-sucks.com/

The Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/19/oreilly-slams-ingraham-yo_n_398165.html

Laura Ingraham And Bill O’Reilly Are Off Target Yet Again

The bitter backlash from conservative talking heads Bill O’Reilly and Laura Ingraham. O’Reilly has taken a lot of heat for some of his hateful comments toward Dr. George Tiller, a man who legally provided abortions to women in need. Dr. Tiller was assassinated this week by a man who appears to be an anti-abortion extremist who was willing to stop at nothing to stop a man like Dr. George Tiller. Also, recently in the news, is the story of a man (23-year-old Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad) who is being named as the killer of a soldier and a wounder of another due to his anger about the killing of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. Like the case of Dr. George Tiller, this is a tragic crime that can not and must not go unpunished.

Here is where the story gets interesting. As O’Reilly and others on the far right have been taking heat for their hateful rhetoric toward Dr. Tiller that may have lit the fuse for his murder, the conservative commentator appeared to be teaming with Ingraham (a fellow right winger) to exploit the tragedy of the soldier’s murder to again attack liberals, including NBC and MSNBC.

Consider these remarks from Ingraham and O’Reilly (as reported by Think Progress):

INGRAHAM: Are we now going to look at the websites that he frequented to see if he was on some of the crazy left-wing anti-war websites, Win Without War, George Soros-funded websites, DailyKos, all the crazies. … The way they are reporting on the George Tiller murder, all of talk radio was responsible for that. … Did he frequent MSNBC, did he like to watch it? [...]

O’REILLY: Since they have been unrelenting in describing their country as a torture nation, I’m sure that set this Muslim guy off to kill one and wound another of our military and I’m sure that’s NBC’s fault. Look, the absurdity of this is beyond the pale.

Whilere there is some tongue-in-cheek here (perhaps from O’Reilly), I suspect, but the thought behind the words is unmistakable. Whether Muhammad may or may not have watched liberal networks or read liberal blogs is irrelevant in this case. Muhammad has expressed (to the law enforcement officials) that he was angered by the deaths of Muslims in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Here is an article from the New York Times:

In a lengthy interview with the police, Mr. Muhammad said he was angry about the killing of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan, Chief Thomas said. Previously known as Carlos Bledsoe, Mr. Muhammad told investigators that he had converted to Islam as a teenager, Chief Thomas said.

Chief Thomas said investigators believe that Mr. Muhammad acted alone. He seemed to be familiar with the Army recruiting office because it was not far from his home, the chief said, but might have been on the prowl for anyone in uniform.

“I would say he was looking for any and all targets of opportunity that happened to be military,” the chief said in a telephone interview. “That may have well been the first place he found.”

Mr. Muhammad will be charged with one count of capital murder and 15 counts of terroristic acts, one for each person who was hit or endangered by the shots he fired. Thirteen people were in the recruiting office at the time.

Muhammad’s reprehensible actions, based on police interrogation, were motivated by the results of the war … not by hate speech.

On the victims:

The dead soldier was identified as Pvt. William A. Long, 23, of Conway, about 30 miles north of Little Rock. The other victim, Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, was in stable condition at Baptist Medical Center, Chief Stuart Thomas of the Little Rock Police Department said.

New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/us/02recruit.html?_r=1