Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Racism and the history of the Republican Party

From the Atlantic:

The day after the United Nations voted to recognize the People’s Republic of China, then–California Governor Ronald Reagan phoned President Richard Nixon at the White House and vented his frustration at the delegates who had sided against the United States. 

“Last night, I tell you, to watch that thing on television as I did,” Reagan said. “Yeah,” Nixon interjected. 

Reagan forged ahead with his complaint: “To see those, those monkeys from those African countries—damn them, they’re still uncomfortable wearing shoes!” Nixon gave a huge laugh...

See also Ronald Reagan Paved Way For Donald Trump’s Racism.

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I get that the cable nets have been dealt a bad hand with these huge debate stages full of people no one has ever heard of. 

But CNN took a bad hand and turned it into a farce with its constant and aggressive interruptions to keep everyone down to 15 seconds for anything other than an initial question. 15 seconds! Hell, the moderators couldn’t even ask their questions in 15 seconds. The whole thing felt more like a Roman spectacle than a debate among 21st century adults.

High point: Marianne Williamson talking about the “dark psychic force” of Donald Trump’s presidency. She almost won my vote with that.

Best prepared: Elizabeth Warren, who actually knew what the rules were and was prepared to provide very short, compact answers...

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