You have to give the Republicans some credit for Reliability. Every four years, South Carolina is the place to go for G.O.P. candidates to polish up their racist credentials. You'd think that the racist record Republican Rudy left behind in New York would be sufficient, but then Rudy is a firm believer in overkill. He knows that his racism is one of his biggest strengths in his party, and he wants to be sure no one outdoes him on this issue. It is for this reason that he is proud to have Arthur Ravenel, Jr. as one of the co-chairs of his campaign in South Carolina.
Ravenel was one who helped make flying the confederate flag over the statehouse an important issue in the primary of Bush against McCain. In announcing how he would vote in that primary, he said:
I'm gonna vote for which ever candidate is most respectful of our Southern heritage, because it's our business, it's nobody's business but ours
As CNN reminded us today, it was while the controversy over the flag was raging that Ravenel called the N.A.A.C.P the National Association for Retarded People. As his home town paper reported:
"He later said that he had misspoken, but that 'I will never apologize to the NAACP... I will apologize to retarded folks for the comparison, however.'"
(To me, this statement is really offensive, and is made all the more so since one of his sons has Downs Syndrome)
Like many segregationists, he was originally a democrat, and he became a republican as the democratic party's support for civil rights became clear in the mid 1960's. He has always been proud that he saw the light before even Strom Thurmond did, and changed his party affiliation a few years before Strom. Many years later, he explained:
We didn't leave the party, really, the party left us, ... But then Kennedy and the leadership of the party became more and more liberal. The black influence in the Democratic Party is more and more pervasive.
Bob Dole was too liberal for Ravenel as well. He quit "as Bob Dole's South Carolina co-chairman to take the same job with Sen Phil Gramm's presidential campaign."
As recently as 2006 Ravenel was his reliable self. A fellow school board member arrived late, and complained of C.P.T. - Colored People's Time. He said of the comment that he "didn't think it was meant to be derogatory." While on the school board he
"pushed through legislation that made the school board election partisan, thus introducing a primary process that ensured a one-on-one fight in the final round. The number of blacks on the nine-member school board went from five in 2000 to one today."
Arthur Ravenel, Jr. is Rudy's man. There are some who feel bad for Rudy and his bad luck; there are those who feel that this will just encourage the media to make fun of Rudy's seeming inability to pick good people. Such sympathy is misplaced. Rudy got who Rudy wanted.
(and a thank you to memeorandum)
Rick definitely has the right to remind me that I am a broken-record on the subject of Rudy and Republican Racism. Really
Posted by: bbbustard | June 26, 2007 at 05:59 PM