Republican congressman and certified bigot Steve King of Iowa has followed up earlier caustic remarks on Barack Obama's cultural background with fresh comments suggesting that Obama did not have the right kind of upringing for a potential president, and that due to his "exotic" background Obama cannot even be considered a real American. Speaking to the Iowa GOP delegation at the Republican National Convention on Thursday morning, King said that Obama's upbringing was devoid of patriotic teaching or the values that make America great: "There is no part of [Obama's ubringing] that I would subject a child, a young man or woman to," King said, "I don’t think that there's a nurture there that shows a thread of patriotism or a sense of appreciation of free market capitalism or the destiny of America or what has made this country great" (see Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier).
King's remarks here and previously may be only a hint of what we can expect from Republicans in the weeks ahead as they struggle to hold onto power: play on the racial and cultural fears of less-educated white voters by contrasting Obama's "exotic," cosmopolitan background with those of McCain and Palin as "real Americans." While they alienate urban residents, immigrants, people of color, non-Protestants, campus communities, and especially community organizers, Republicans hope to shore up enough support among their rural, white, Protestant base to win in November. Hence the new GOP emphasis on "biography" in the absence of anything else to offer.
King's statements also echo comments he made back in March predicting that terrorists would be "dancing in the streets" if Obama were to win the presidency (see Associated Press). King based this prediction not only on Obama's pledge to pull troops out of Iraq, but also on Obama's Kenyan heritage and his middle name, Hussein. "The radical Islamists, the al-Qaida..., would be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11" King said, "because they would declare victory in this war on terror." In Steve King's world, apparently, native-born US citizenship and 35 years of age are not enough to qualify one for the presidency: one must also be of unmistakably European and Christian heritage. "His middle name does matter," King said. "It matters because they read a meaning into that."
Experience teaches us that Democrats cannot ignore attacks such as these. Steve King himself should be pressured to apologize for his remarks while the Republican National Committee and the McCain campaign should be pressured to issue repudiations. E-mail/online contact info for all three are as follows:
Steve King: steve.king@mail.house.govIowa residents: http://www.house.gov/steveking/email.shtmRNC Chairman (Mike Duncan): chairman@gop.comMcCain campaign: http://www.johnmccain.com/contact
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Mark C. Eades http://www.mceades.com
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