| The NAACP formalized its concerns about the Tea Party's hate-mongering by unanimously passing a resolution about the Tea Party's race-baiting. Here's part of NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous's statement about the resolution: We believe in freedom of assembly and people raising their voices in a democracy. What we take issue with is the Tea Party’s continued tolerance for bigotry and bigoted statements. The time has come for them to accept the responsibility that comes with influence and make clear there is no place for racism & anti-Semitism, homophobia and other forms of bigotry in their movement.
By now, you probably know that this resolution has spurred a "debate" -- call it curiously conceived, call it absurd -- in which the Tea Party attempts to turn the tables on the NAACP, accusing one of the nation's most influential equal-rights proponents of playing the race card and being "bigoted." Building on the strange-but-scarily-true factor, guess who may jump into the ring as referee, according to the Huffington Post? Former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich entered the back-and-forth between the Tea Party and NAACP in an unlikely role: possible peacemaker. Gingrich, who appears to be considering a 2012 presidential run, reached out the the NAACP on Thursday. "The naacp has opened up a wonderful opportunity for the tea party movement," Gingrich wrote a tweet. "Local tea party leaders across america should reach out."
Throwing around the word "bigot" when it's not warranted for the sake of tar-balling your opposition? Pretty despicable. Most of us left that brand of insult-hurling behind when we were tots, not just because they're rooted in character smears not dialogue, but because we learned that there was no truth, logic, or sense in the phrase "I know you are but what am I?" |
