SHORT TAKES ON GOP RACISM AND OTHER BS

You may have heard that President Barack Obama has come under fire for ending work requirements under TANF, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, that replaced what was formerly known as welfare. You may also have heard that the claim is an utter lie as almost every major news organization and fact checking entity has determined.

What he actually did was to request that states be given the choice to seek waivers from the particulars of the work requirement in that law so they can  develop programs in their states that will allow them to more effectively achieve this work goal.

In fact, in 2005 when he was governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney was one of 29 Republican governors signing a letter to Congress making a similar request for such leeway.

But today Romney himself is running ads condemning Obama for his initiative and openly lying that Obama has ended any work mandate under TANF.

He continues this baseless attack even as a reporter questioning him points out this fallacy. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/27/mitt-romney-welfare-waivers_n_1832871.html

As Romney says Obama’s action (which is false to begin with) plays to his base, he is not being overtly racist. Nor are the GOP minions backing him up and refusing to acknowledge the main claim is false such as John Boehner, Michael Steeles and Newt Gingrich. (The latter two I just heard on Hardball)

However, a large part of the Republican base may automatically assume welfare recipient=ethnic minority. Thus this ploy by Romney, et al is a cynical appeal to the lowest denominator.

That strategy is part and parcel of the odor remaining among many on the right that Obama himself was born in Kenya, is a Muslim, and has anti-American views. Most of the main GOP spokesmen have bypassed any opportunity to make a strong statement refuting these allegations when some supporter has made them.

To his credit John McCain was quick to slap people down who posed these ridiculous charges against Obama in the 2008 campaign. The party would be lucky to have such moral leadership today.

The other BS is the near arrival on the Tampa convention stage of the Birther-in-Chief, one The Donald Trump. He was supposed to be presenting a “surprise” Monday night. Rampant speculation was that this surprise would be merely a scene of him saying to Obama, “You’re fired”, with his inimitable flair for the dramatic, not to mention his unsurpassed propensity for trite, meaningless rhetoric that only serves to blow his own horn.

Alas, the effects of Hurricane Isaac on the convention’s schedule resulted in this scenario being scrubbed. However, the Sarasota, Fla. GOP still has plans to award Trump its Statesman of the Year honor. Isn’t that like giving Michael Vick an award from the Humane Society?

These Republican Charlatans have no shame.

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