Classy bunch

September 13, 2006

I wish I could say I find this surprising, but it’s really just par for the course.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean sent a letter to Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman today calling on him to stop RNC-funded campaign activities that promote discrimination and endorse violence against political opponents. The letter was sent after a Michigan newspaper revealed that an RNC-funded organizer in Michigan is coordinating “[tag]Catch an Illegal Immigrant[/tag]” and “[tag]Fun With Guns[/tag]” events at the University of Michigan, similar to Republican events in other states like Pennsylvania and Texas. In the first event participants would win prizes for catching others posing as illegal immigrants and in the latter, “young Republicans would shoot cardboard cut-outs of Democratic leaders such as Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).”

The report of these [tag]RNC[/tag]-funded activities also comes just two days after the Washington Post reported that “in a pivotal year, (the) GOP plans to get personal.”

The part about this being “RNC-funded” comes from press reports indicating that these offensive campaign activities were coordinated by Morgan Wilkins, whom the RNC had reportedly hired. The RNC now says the woman “has no affiliation with the Republican National Committee, and we certainly condemn this kind of behavior.”

That’s a good start, but the fact that the [tag]College Republican[/tag] National Committee thought these tactics would be effective in recruiting students to the GOP speaks volumes.

It is incredibly sad and frightening that violence is so close to the surface with them as if it is the great solver of all problems.

  • Golly gee, college students aren’t impressionable, are they? Merciful heavens, they couldn’t be malleable or idealistic, could they? Gracious sakes, they never do anything foolish or impulsive, right?

  • Not surprising. After 30 years of villification by conservatives, democrats are now seen as pansies by the younger generation. I work at a major state university, and only one word comes to mind when presented with a ‘young republican’ – belligerent. It is a symptom of our society, which is permeated with violence and disregard for others who don’t hold the same views.

  • “young Republicans would shoot cardboard cut-outs of Democratic leaders such as Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).”

    So this is the type of people the Republican’ts want to recruit.

  • It’s not really a surprise, when the President chooses to comemorate the death of thousands of innocents with a speech full of belligerence, arrogance and boasts of war-fighting prowess.

    The drunken frat-boys are in charge.

  • Salon had a surprisingly uncritial look at a Seattle evangelcial group today that suggests young people are joining fundamentalist groups at a high rate. Mix that in with the Young Republican recruitment and a ruthless Republican Administration and you have the ingredients for Taliban-lite.

  • Hmmm. Because certain right-wankers demanded it, the FCC must publicly flog broadcast networks that allow naughty words or images into our homes lest it cause impressionable minds think unclean thoughts.
    Yet, encouraging young people to play “games” reminiscent of some sort of freakish Spot der Juden funfest in 1940’s Germany and to shoot images of actual human beings is A-OK.
    But on the other hand, if some independent fringe group makes a video that depicts Bush as Hitler that is all the fault of the candidate the fring group supports and people howl like dogs.

    Conclusion: Die hypocrite pigs.

  • As an interesting side – I’ve never come up with a good reason why republicans hate Hillary so much. Everytime I’ve asked someone who makes a snarky comment about her exactly what they dislike, there is never a response any more detailed than ‘she’s a bitch’.

  • 8: Republicans yearn for the Rockwellian days of old, where women stayed at home, pumped out kids and did their house chores, where blacks knew their place on the bus and in the colored only sections of town. A smart, intelligent woman like Hillary is a threat to their white male dominated world. I have to admit though, I’m not much of a Hillary fan either; not because I don’t like her, she’s just too much of a polarizing force right now. It would be a mistake to nominate her in ’08.

  • If I was an Army recruiter, I would set up a stand next to the Fun with Guns event and tell these supposed “patriotic Americans” that instead of shooting at cut-outs of fellow Americans, they can join up with us and defend our nation against real threats.

    “That is, unless you guys are a bunch of wusses…..”

  • Hmmmmm… I wonder just how long it would take the FBI to arrive at someone’s door if they shot at a cardboard mock-up of dubya? (of course, in that case, it might be hard to distinguish the original from the mock-up, so they might think it an actual assassination attempt)… But somehow it’s okay to pick Democratic leaders?…

  • For the sake of honesty, it should be pointed out that the shooting was being done with a BB-gun or a paintball gun. This still doesn’t keep this from being among the more horrifying of stories I have read.

  • So the Young Republicans have the ability to shoot cardboard cutouts of Dems? Sounds like their experience would len itself well to a nice patriotic tour in Iraq. It couldn’t be that they are willing to support politicians who support a war that they themselves would not go fight in! I mean really!

  • Republicans,……..guns,………….Michigan

    Does Ted Nugent have anything to do with this?

    Also, when I saw “Catch an Illegal Immigrant” and “Fun With Guns” together, I thought the worst.

    But we are taling about the Republikan-Jugend

  • 8: Republicans yearn for the Rockwellian days of old, where women stayed at home, pumped out kids and did their house chores, where blacks knew their place on the bus and in the colored only sections of town.

    … when what they really yearn for is a return to the days when the nation’s wealth was pooling toward the middle-class; not draining away from it.

    A smart, intelligent woman like Hillary is a threat to their white male dominated world. I have to admit though, I’m not much of a Hillary fan either; not because I don’t like her, she’s just too much of a polarizing force right now. It would be a mistake to nominate her in ’08.

    I agree. She could never win a presidential election. Perhaps I am not immune to the poisoning of her public image, but she comes across as somewhat cold to me as well.

    Here’s something that has always perplexed me: public hatred of President Clinton is based mostly on the fact that he cheated on his wife, no (or was it the fellatio itself)? I’ve never understood why there was no compassion for the “victim” of his indescretion (Hillary). On the flipside, if they hate Hillary so much, why does it bother them that Bill cheated on her?

  • 15: I have to disagree with your premise that republicans yearn for the days when wealth was pooled towards the middle class, as opposed to away from it. From the mid 40’s to the early 70’s, this was the case – the middle class was largely responsible for America becoming the economic powerhouse it once was, and the government, democrat and republican alike, were united in at least the understanding that without a strong middle class, democracy would suffer. You’ll find that there were many middle class Eisenhour republicans out there.

    But the republican party, pre-Reagan, exists no more. The modern GOP, the supply-side, trickle down faction, are about as anti-middle class as a group could get. I consider them plutocratists; for they function merely as the political wing of international corporations. They have no allegience to man, country, or God, only to the accumulation of wealth and the concentration of power into the hands of the elite few. The middle class is a direct threat to their aspirations of wealth and power. Just look to their economic policies for proof: Slashing domestic programs, college tuition grants, and just about everything that can benefit and strengthen the middle class.

  • The College Republicans and their satellitre group, the Young Conservatives of (insert state name here) are the most despicable group of people on the planet. Christ, I’d rather hang out with the skinheads.

  • On the flipside, if they hate Hillary so much, why does it bother them that Bill cheated on her? — JTK (15)

    You want *logic*? From Repubs??? When their leader says that all he needs is the gut reaction? All they need is gut reaction too.

    An alternate answer: he’s a cheating swine (so it’s OK to hate him) but she must have “asked for it” (being cold, bitchy, whatever), so it’s OK to hate her too.

    • Comments are closed.