Hey, Pete Hoekstra. Racism is Racism, even when it’s at Asians.
Wow.
LANSING, Mich. — A coalition of black ministers in Detroit called Monday for U.S. Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra to apologize for his Super Bowl ad featuring a young Asian woman speaking broken English to describe the impact of the Democratic incumbent’s economic policies.
The request came a day after an Asian-American group called the ad “very disturbing.”
The Michigan Republican began taking heat after his ad targeting Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow as “Debbie Spenditnow” ran statewide Sunday during the Super Bowl. Some detractors said the ad was racially insensitive, while national GOP consultant Mike Murphy tweeted that it was “really, really dumb.” Foreign Policy magazine managing editor Blake Hounshell called the ad “despicable.”
“The Asian woman speaking in this video would be no different than him having a black person speaking in slave dialect,” Williams said in a statement Monday. “If Pete Hoekstra does not see any wrong in this commercial, he doesn’t deserve to be in the race.”
The 30-second ad created by media strategist Fred Davis of California-based Strategic Perception Inc opens with the sound of a gong and shows the Asian woman riding a bike on a narrow path lined by rice paddies.
Stopping her bike, the woman smiles into the camera and says, “Thank you, Michigan Senator Debbie Spenditnow. Debbie spends so much American money. You borrow more and more from us. Your economy get very weak. Ours get very good. We take your jobs. Thank you, Debbie Spenditnow.”
The scene then shifts to Hoekstra telling viewers near a cozy fire, “I think this race is between Debbie Spenditnow and Pete Spenditnot.”
Hoekstra defended the ad, calling it a “home run” during an interview Monday with Detroit radio WJR-AM’s Paul W. Smith. He said it’s only “insensitive” to the spending philosophy of Stabenow and Democratic President Barack Obama.
Here she is, ladies and gentlemen… the girl that Pete used to try to scare the living crap out of whitey.
Good God. This isplay the “Gong” whenever you see Long Duk Dong on the screen dippiness and it’s not even a ham-fisted attempt at comedy.
The only difference is, it’s 30 years later and you would think we’d know better. At least ONE person would know better and go “Uh… dude. Let’s talk about this.”
But he APPROVES THIS MESSAGE! This isn’t even a Pac! This is a guy who probably looked at it on his phone after a nice round of golf, laughed his fat neck off and went on with his day.
I am white, but Jewish, and I am not cheap. You also don’t want me balancing your books.
I have met Southerners with thick accents that happen to be very smart even though they sound like “Larry The Cable Guy”
So please, everybody still not living in the 1950s, or even the 1980s, even though Pete is white and very, very stupid, please don’t stereotype us the way he does you.
I am guessing Pete probably doesn’t believe in evolution, but for f***’s sake, dude, could you evolve? Just a little bit?
Komen Claims to Restore @Ppact funding. Read Between The Lines.
#FF @jamiekillstein, @ThinkProgress & @pamelaoldham for information that lead to the following.
We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives.The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.
Yes they were. But, whatever. Continue.
Our original desire was to fulfill our fiduciary duty to our donors by not funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation. We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. That is what is right and fair.
Our only goal for our granting process is to support women and families in the fight against breast cancer. Amending our criteria will ensure that politics has no place in our grant process.
So far so good. Now what?
We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities.
Ah. There we go. Weasel clause #1. The Affiliates can decide now, which means the heinous policy can be continued but now smaller organizations can be blamed. ”It wasn’t us, it was the Mississippi branch!”
It is our hope and we believe it is time for everyone involved to pause, slow down and reflect on how grants can most effectively and directly be administered without controversies that hurt the cause of women.
Ah. Weasel clause #2. ”Without controversies.” Well, this is one now. And now they can say funding Planned Parenthood is ALSO a controversy. This smells of smoke and horse crap.
We urge everyone who has participated in this conversation across the country over the last few days to help us move past this issue. We do not want our mission marred or affected by politics - anyone’s politics.
Well, you started it. You can stop it by firing Karen Handel, the Sarah Palin Tea Party puppet that has her finger prints all over this. You started it by singling out Planned Parenthood out of 2000 organizations you fund.
So no - those of us who believe you have overreached, overstepped and catered to a fringe, anti-science mentality will not “slow down and reflect.” If anything, we will stay vigilant and watch: What you do, who you fund, and what your decisions regarding Planned Parenthood are in 2012 and beyond.
Because YOU were the one that put them in the crosshairs.
And surprise. Despite what a small group of loud, hard-minded zealots might have told you, people know bullish*t when they smell it, and not only did you create your own, you stepped in it.
Starting this afternoon, we will have calls with our network and key supporters to refocus our attention on our mission and get back to doing our work. We ask for the public’s understanding and patience as we gather our Komen affiliates from around the country to determine how to move forward in the best interests of the women and people we serve.
Weasel Clause #3 clarifying weasel clause #1: Shifting any blame for negative moves on local affiliates. Have fun, small town people that just wanted to do something good! You’re about to bear the brunt!
We extend our deepest thanks for the outpouring of support we have received from so many in the past few days and we sincerely hope that these changes will be welcomed by those who have expressed their concern.
And, finally, a thank you to the people who they didn’t delete off their Facebook page.
I don’t trust this. Not as far as I can throw it.
I will watch with a wary eye, and hope for the best but expect more of the same.
UPDATE: 11:21
Yes, 4800 articles about it and probably not one of them looking at this critically.
Primaries: Why should only four states get to decide anything?
Jesus, the media want this thing to be over, don’t they?
Four states. Iowa with it’s non binding caucus, New Hampshire with it’s… tinyness, South Carolina with it’s right-wing lunacy and then Florida which is own bag of cats.
FOUR.
Now admittedly, there were five thousand Republican debates, so that probably made it seem like this thing has been going on forever, but it hasn’t. And while the first big state with a diverse population has weighed in… this is where it stands:
So even if you buy the idea that Mitt is getting 50 delegates (There’s a debate as to whether they should go proportional), Nevada and Maine each have more delegates than Florida and they are coming up.
So what’s the rush?
Yes, I have a horse in this race. A partisan one. I love watching Gingrich go after Romney like a crazed wolverine, because I do not like the idea that Mitt thinks he can just buy his way into the oval office. He spent 16.7 million in Florida alone (him and his Super Pac). I love watching Mitt go from being mean, to soft, to confused, to singing the elderly to sleep.
And yes, I love that the Republicans are the ones bearing the brunt and the horror of this “Citizens United” ruling which states corporations are people, which is why a corporation of one person was able to give Newt Gingrich $10 million dollars.
But more importantly, why should three tiny states and one big one that caters to very specific issues get to close the deal on this?
They shouldn’t. And I’d be saying that whether this was a Republican Primary or a Democratic Primary.
If there’s even a chance I’m going any of these four still running in the primaries could be president (HAHAHAH! Santorum, Paul… No chance. But needed to say it), I want to know them on a cellular level.
There are 46 other states out there who deserve to have their balls cupped by the Republican of their choice. Gentlemen - at least Romney and Gingrich for now - start your cupping.
Santorum, you might want to get a latex glove.
Gingrich robocall accuses Romney of feeding Holocaust Survivors un-kosher food
This is not going to help him with “Electability.”
Or “Sane.”
Or even “human.”
Wow. Just… Wow.
Romney tries to sing “America The Beautiful”
Emphasis on “Tries.” I’d tell him not to quit his day job, but it’s not like the guy has ever had to really work. Maybe his Dad should have sung it for him?
What we’ve learned: Apparently they have not installed the singing chip in the MittBot 2012. Yes, they got rid of all the moderate programming, and they’ve dialed the aggression up…
…but we’re still missing talent, and we’re still missing electability.
Love that Obama sung and everybody went “Awwwww”
And Mitt sang and everybody went “Ewwwww”
Seriously. Ew.
- Steve
P.S. Sorry about the Conoco ad in front of it. It is also not worth the wait. :)
Hey, Scott Walker. Ohio has spoken and said “You’re next”
Ha! Oh, man. I had hoped this thing was going to go down in flames, but I didn’t expect it to pull the full Hindenburg.
It’s the first in what I feel/hope is going to be a trend - Republicans who overreach getting their hands slapped by the voters.
No way Scott Walker sleeps well tonight. No way the Republican candidates running for President don’t look at this and re-evaluate their positions. Poor Romney. He’s going to have to have an opinion… and then have another one.
Nicely done, Ohio. Your vote on #2 has made you #1.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Ohioans — including voters throughout Northeast Ohio — are trashing Issue 2.
The result, if the trend holds up, will be the repeal of Senate Bill 5, which drastically changed the state’s collective bargaining law for public employees.
So far, with about 267,000 votes counted, Issue 2 is still failing — with about 67 percent of voters saying “No.”
Here’s what Issue 2 is about: It is allowing voters decide whether to keep or repeal Senate Bill 5 - a historic rewrite of Ohio’s collective bargaining law, originally passed in 1983.
The choice voters faced today was this:
A “yes” vote was to preserve Ohio’s new collective bargaining law.
A “no” ballot was a vote to repeal that law. On Monday, AFL-CIO
President Richard Trumka led a canvassing of Cleveland neighborhoods in a last-day effort to defeat Issue 2.
Meanwhile, Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich continues to stump for preserving the new law, commonly known by its legislative name, Senate Bill 5. The bill was a dramatic rewrite of Ohio’s collective bargaining law, originally passed nearly 30 years ago.
(Writer’s Note: If the numbers radically flip between now and the end of tabulation, I’m going to be extremely embarrassed but… for now… huzzah.)
I think Facebook is cracking a joke.
This is like Rick Perry getting an ad that reads “Do you like white people? Visit our page!”
Welcome to the new ’60s. #Occupywallstreet: Now with police violence!
Welcome to our ’60s, folks. It’s beginning right here.
Since they’ve probably whitewashed it out of the text books, now’s an excellent time to google what student protests in the 1960s were about. (Found an excellent breakdown from a Yale paper here.)
