CT Blue

The American media continues to refuse to face the reality that is the modern Republican Party.

It is simply a matter of historical fact that the Republican Party is and has been the party of racism since at least 1968. There is no getting around that fact. Yet this morning the Boston Globe highlights a meaningless resolution from the RNC condemning hate groups. This resolution was passed by the way, while another one has been proposed in Congress (by Republicans, of course) making it clear that so far as the Republicans are concerned, both fascists and anti-fascists must be condemned.

Worse than the text of the Globe’s article is the headline in the paper (not used on line). Here’s a picture. Leads you to think they’ve actually done something, doesn’t it? (This is the front page story, by the way)

As bad as they were, the Nixonites at least had a somewhat valid point when they urged the press to “watch what we do, not what we say”.  (Of course, what they did was bad too) We don’t need to watch what modern Republicans do, we can recall what they’ve done. Just for starters they appointed racist Supreme Court judges (even a black one), who have eviscerated the Voting Rights Act. They have failed and refused to do anything to revive that act. They have systematically changed voting laws to disenfranchise black people. They have engaged in dog whistle politics for years, most famously when Ronald Reagan began his presidential campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi talking about states rights and in the Willie Horton ads.

This resolution is simply saying that they desperately want to go back to whistling and that the screaming should stop. Anyone with a brain knows that, so that’s how it should be covered. There is absolutely no reason why this resolution should be considered a sincere act of contrition on the part of the Republican Party, at least not one meriting absolution for their past and current sins. The precondition to that is a full confession, and they have yet to make that.