[img]583|left|Eric L. Wattree||no_popup[/img]Well, GOP, I hate to tell you I told you so. But it looks as if your attempt at political manipulation have come back to bite you. It couldn't have happened to a more deserving bunch.
Immediately after the election of Michael Steele as the Chairman of the Republican National Committee, I pointed out in an essay last February, http://wattree.blogspot.com/2009/02 that the RNC ploy to elect Steele as the first African American chairman in its 153-year history was not only grossly transparent, but was going to backfire in a big way.
I was so right on target with that prediction that the RNC should hire me as chief consultant against Republican stupidity.
The first thing I pointed out was that you elected Michael Steele chairman of the RNC for all the wrong reasons. I wrote that “anyone with an ounce of sense can see that this is a gimmick. Republicans were defeated so badly in the last election, and Obama is so popular, that they figure Black must be the political flavor of the season. So they went out and ‘got them one.’ It didn’t matter who, as long as his skin was dark. But again, they’re so politically jaded. They are completely out of touch with the American people.”
I went on to say, “The American people didn't elect President Obama because he’s Black. They elected him because he demonstrated that he was an intelligent and competent statesman.” In addition, “He was also elected so overwhelmingly because for the past eight years the Republican Party has clearly demonstrated that it was overflowing with corruption, incompetence and greed . So while it’s hard for the RNC to believe, for the very first time, we've had an election that was based strictly on the issues and relative competence, not race.” Which seems to be a point that still hasn’t struck home with the Republican Party.
The RNC also turned a deaf ear to the suggestion that “if part of the Republican calculation was that by making a Black man head of the Republican Party it was going to help their numbers in the Black community, they’re going to be sadly disappointed. In fact, they have hurt the Republican brand even more.” The fact is, “If they’d ever taken the time to truly get to know the Black community, they would have known that the only thing more toxic to Black people than a flat-out racist, is a Black conservative, with the notable exception of Colin Powell. We suspect he’s not truly conservative [at least by today’s definition], simply loyal” to those who helped to promote his career.
What has contributed greatly to the Michael Steele disaster, and many other problems within the Republican Party, is the unmitigated arrogance of their leadership.
Many Republican leaders confuse economics, social status, and Ivy League diplomas with intelligence. They equate the quality of one’s life and social standing with the quality of one’s intellect. They fail to realize there is a vast difference between the two. That is why they are rapidly becoming a regional party. They greatly underestimate the intelligence of the American people. It has gotten to the point where the only people they appeal to are the minority of Americans who are indeed ignorant. Thus, their entire platform has become one of lending comfort to the uninformed.
Google vs. Harvard
They fail to recognize that intelligence is not limited to the upper class. Nor do they seem to understand that social stature and the ability to obtain an Ivy League diploma means nothing more than one has the resources to purchase a seat in an environment where knowledge is available. Intelligence entails much more than regurgitating information by rote in a rarified environment with ivy growing up the walls.
Granted, many brilliant professors are at Harvard, Yale and many other universities. But brilliance isn’t transmitted through osmosis. If one is committed to learning, there is just as much knowledge to be absorbed on Google or the corner library as there is at Harvard.
While these institutions of higher learning confer diplomas, no institution can confer common sense, wisdom or intelligence. These qualites are distributed equally throughout the population. Republican leaders need to recognize they are making a serious error in thinking they can look soberly into the camera and begin to hemorrhage their lies and disinformation upon the American people. Their own arrogance and stupidity allow them to assume that they corner the market on intelligence
Clear evidence is the fact that the RNC, with all of its experts, “political savvy” and think tanks, was oblivious to a fact that their attempt to push Michael Steele down America's throat as a Black clone of President Obama was the height of stupidity. It takes much more than black skin to create a Barack Obama. Any high school kid in any ghetto in America could have told them that, in spite of their atrocious educational environment.
Many of theseacademically deprived young people would have had the innate intelligence to inform the RNC exactly what I did:
Behind the Reasoning
“Most Black people have very little use for Black conservatives. It's not that we disagree with everything they say, but because we are suspect of the reasons they are saying it. Without exception, every Black conservative I have come across is an opportunist. Their conservatism tends not to be so much grounded in their actual philosophy as it is an opportunity to gain exposure. They realize that conservatives are looking high and low for Black people who will step forward to validate [Republican] views towards the Black community. They gleefully allow themselves to be used in return for personal wealth, position and notoriety.”
As we in the Black community sit back and watch the Republican Party struggle with this Michael Steele disaster, for once, we are having the last laugh. The entire Black community is rolling in the aisles. You see, as “uneducated and politically unsophisticated” as we are, we had more than enough common sense and, yes, intelligence, to know what you were getting. We are loving it, and we hope it continues . Just this once, we have lived to see Uncle Tom’ism work to our advantage. Beyond that, we now have prima facie evidence of your unmitigated stupidity.
As I pointed in my earlier article, “Black people have suffered a long history of such people [as Michael Steele], going all the way back to slavery. These were the very same people who would inform on slaves who were trying to escape to freedom:
“‘I don’t know what’s wrong wit’ him, boss. Ya jest can’t get him to appreciate nothin’ you do for us. What he needs is a real good beatin’. Want me to do it?’”
But this time, due to your clumsy attempt at political manipulation, you are stuck with him.
What did he tell you?
“Either fire me, or shut up!”
Don't think he didn't get a kick out of that. Even as an Uncle Tom (yeah, I said it), he's cognizant of our history. That’s why he said it. So next to the election of President Barack Obama, hearing that statement come from the lips of a turncoat to his master was the most delightful moment of my political life. Nothing short of poetic justice.
While it is generally not my nature to gloat, watching the Republican Party — The Great Manipulator — being played like a two-dollar whore by a third-rate tennis shoe pimp, strips me of all pretense of social propriety. Here is the great part. It does not matter who wins or loses, the RNC or Michael Steele. Regardless of how it turns out, we win.
It is a situation so perfect , it simply has to be an act of God.
Mr. Wattree may be contacted at wattree@verizon.net
You may learn more about Mr. Wattree at wattree.blogspot.com
Religious bigotry: It’s not that I hate everybody who doesn’t look, think and act like me. It’s just that God does.
