The Daily Banter

The Republican Party’s “Black Friends”

My Monday column:

Jonah Goldberg's recent column, To Appeal to Black Voters, GOP Must Run Gauntlet of Racism Accusations, is hilariously awful. I'll swing back around to it presently.

But first, over the weekend, Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs tweeted that if you're wondering whether the baseless Republican attacks on UN Ambassador Susan Rice were racially motivated, you should read the comment sections on any random conservative blog and your worst suspicions will be confirmed.

I'm sure for many hardline right-wingers this might be true, especially after minority voters helped to resoundingly crush their tiny shriveled souls in the election. But, frankly, I don't think it's the case across-the-board. Conservatives hate everything the president does, and everyone with whom he surrounds himself, including Rice. So as soon as Rice stepped onto the Sunday show sets and talked about the Benghazi situation, she was the next Obama administration player in line for the wackaloon conspiracy theorist and conservative entertainment complex meat grinder.

Yes, if she's nominated for Secretary of State, conservative racists will oppose her because she's black. And yes, others will oppose her because it's the opposite of what the president wants. And others will combine both, using flimsy attacks on Rice's character mixed with subtle dog-whistles. All three approaches are predictable modern Republican Party strategies.

But Jonah Goldberg doesn't believe there are any racists in the Republican Party. [continued...]