Black wingnuts at Project 21: pimping for The Man

What the hell is this? I am sitting here reading yet another hysterical article from the wacky right-wing AgapePress about black conservatives pushing for Thomas as Chief Justice of SCOTUS. Where do they find these people?

David Almasi is director of Project 21, the National Leadership Network of Black Conservatives. Project 21 is calling for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid to apologize for telling NBC's Meet the Press that Thomas is "an embarrassment to the Supreme Court." Almasi takes issue with Reid's assessment of Thomas's credentials.

"Scholars of all stripes have come out saying that he has done some good things on the court, so I don't think that his scholarship can be questioned anymore," Almasi says. "However, Harry Reid has found reasons to do so."

OK, it's plain old wingnuttery that you expect from the Right, but what is this mysterious "Project 21," I wondered. I surfed over to the site and the first unsettling image is this:

...Orrin Hatch in a loving embrace with P21 member Mychal Massie.

Keep on reading after the jump for more on the members of "Project 21."

The "Project 21" spokesman says Thomas should be considered a top candidate to become the next chief justice of the nation's highest court. "The best person for the job should be the one who gets it," he says. "But Clarence Thomas has certainly proved himself to one of the leading justices on the court right now -- and he should certainly be one of the final people looked at, if and when that situation comes about."

As you read above, this group of colored wingnuts is headed by the curiously pale David Almasi...

Can these GOP-sellout blacks even run their own f*ckwad organization? Do they enjoy being a tool of the Right? I was looking to see if our friend Armstrong Williams was counted among P21's ranks, but alas, I found nothing on him.

Project 21 is not a free-standing organization; it is a "department" of the conservative think tank, The National Center for Public Policy Research (BTW, I had to trek over to NCPPR to get that Almasi photo, since there's not one to find at P21).  The sole purpose of Project 21 is to provide token talking head media whores to represent the right wing when they need a splash of color. They will always be able find someone to Tom for the Right. Here's what is on the web site:

Project 21 is an initiative of The National Center for Public Policy Research to promote the views of African-Americans whose entrepreneurial spirit, dedication to family and commitment to individual responsibility has not traditionally been echoed by the nation's civil rights establishment.

Project 21 participants have been interviewed by hundreds of media outlets, including the O'Reilly Factor, Hannity and Colmes, the CNN Morning News, Black Entertainment Television's Lead Story, America's Black Forum, the McLaughlin Group, C-SPAN's Morning Journal and the Rush Limbaugh, Michael Reagan, Sean Hannity, G. Gordon Liddy and Larry King shows, as well as in newspapers such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Washington Times and many others.

Project 21 participants live all over the U.S. and have a variety of careers. What they have in common is a desire to make America a better place for African-Americans, and all Americans, to live and work. Project 21 members do this in a variety of ways in their own communities, and, through Project 21, by writing opinion editorials for newspapers, participating in public policy discussions on radio and television, by participating in policy panels, by giving speeches before student, business and community groups, and by advising policymakers at the national, state and local levels.

These guys (women, no surprise, are a rarity in this "club") are something to behold. To convince you further of their conservative (and most-heterosexual) cred, we have Project 21 members posing with our favorite Senator, Rick "Man-on-Dog" Santorum, and protesting on behalf of conservative principles...

...and P21's Kevin Martin's making sure the Right point of view is shared with good colored folks watching H&C and Hardball...

And you must check out the New Visions page of the P21 site, which contains scintillating articles such as:

"Anti-SUV Activists Versus the American Family"
"One Righteous Dis: Bush Right to Turn Down NAACP"
"Thanking Bush for His Leadership "
"Blacks Need Green to Compete with Whites in NASCAR"

Need I say more...well, yes. My father, I'm sorry to admit, is a black Repug and he'd fit in just fine with this sorry crowd - he voted for Jesse Helms back in the day, for crying out loud (don't ask me to explain that). While I have no problem with blacks taking a hard look at whether the Democrats are getting the job done, becoming a tool for the Right doesn't get you anything but grief, right Armstrong? It's embarrassing to see this feeble minstrel show.

Pam's House Blend

•  Now THERE'S Investigative Journalism

  Kudos for this, pamindurham.  Big recommends.

  BTW, could they have found a picture that more perfectly encapsulates Orrin Hatch's last-of-the-Odessa-File look?

  by Dallasdoc on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 10:36:25 PM PDT

•  recommend, please

  Hopefully this diary will survive the dead of night...

  Pam's House Blend
  

  by pamindurham on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 10:41:47 PM PDT

  •  Dead of night?

    And I was just getting warmed up!

    A favor: Please let me know how to post a photo.

    by Margot on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 10:53:37 PM PDT

    •  adding a photo or graphic

      In order to embed a graphic, use the code:

      

      You generally need to have some place to store the graphic to reference it. A free storage place is http://www.flickr.com/.

      Pam's House Blend

      by pamindurham on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 11:05:08 PM PDT

      •  Muchas gracias

        Thanks!

        by Margot on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 11:15:14 PM PDT

•  I understand

  your disgust and revulsion. It's sad that anyone could fall for this dribble. One thing repugs sure now how to do is manipulate egos. Unfortunately some people fall victim to their own need to be a star.
  That having been said, do we need a better example of why we cannot overlook the African American community?
  Thanks for the diary, recommended.

  by Lahdee on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 10:50:33 PM PDT

  •  exactly...service as tokens can equal stardom

    These folks want a taste of power and influence, and they can be stars in this kind of venture, where there are obviously only few tokens to shill for wingnut conservatism (look at the pathetic black presence at the GOP convention; they had to show crowd shots with the hired help, for goodness sake). It's just an embarrassment to see these people prostituting themselves for a party that has no real use for them. Project 21 has no shame being explicit that the goal is media exposure. More from the web site:

    Rather than merely complain about the lack of attention given to conservative and moderate African-Americans as typified by the coverage of the riots, The National Center for Public Policy Research convened a meeting of conservative and moderate African-American activists in mid-1992 to determine whether it was feasible to construct a network to bring conservative and moderate voices in the black community to the attention of the media. The answer was yes, and Project 21 was born. By March of 1993, Project 21 secured the necessary funding to hire a full-time coordinator to pursue its goals. Project 21's mission includes the active promotion of conservative and moderate viewpoints by Project 21's network of members in the media, and the ongoing recruitment of new members to be promoted.

    Project 21 acts as a public relations network for moderate and conservative African-Americans, and is interested in promoting those African-Americans who want to discuss their beliefs not only in the privacy of their own homes but in thousands, sometimes millions, of homes across America. Whether a member is a talented writer, articulate speaker, dedicated policy analyst or just have interesting viewpoints on important issues, Project 21 is there to help its members get recognition.

    ...During the three year period 2000-2002, Project 21 members were cited or interviewed by the press 1,465 times. During the same period, op-eds by Project 21 members and staff were published in newspapers 713 times.

    Pam's House Blend

    by pamindurham on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 11:00:35 PM PDT

•  That was so funny,

  can Black rightwingnuts run their own agency. Side Spitting humor at late night!

  Yes, sadly some of my peeps have decided to drink the Kool-Aid. Yes, the RNC will now use them to troll around to hype the crap they peddle like everyone else.

  Here is a few of the Hall of Shame:

  Condi Rice
  Armstrong Williams
  Lynn Swan
  JC Watts
  Joseph C. Phiilps
  Clarance Thomas
  Rod Paige
  Claude Allen
  Charles Barkley
  Colin Powell
  Micheal Powell
  Ken Blackwell
  Ken Steele
  Rev. TD Jakes

  This is just the surface, there are more and more now that they think that the Kool Aid is good. Boy, would any of these trolls be invited to a MLK day to even speak with a straight face. NO!!
  

  by alnc on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 11:36:11 PM PDT

•  Clarence Thomas deserves criticism

  He refuses to ask questions during oral arguments, supposedly because people laughed at his Gullah accent when he was a kid which was 50 years ago.

  Sorry, Clarence, that's part of your job. Your not asking questions is like an NFL running back deciding he's won't block when he isn't carrying the ball.

  by Dump Terry McAuliffe on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 11:42:34 PM PDT

  •  Thomas for Chief Justice?

    Scalia is the obvious choice. Thomas and Scalia vote together most of the time and Scalia is more trenchant in his opinions.

    by 4jkb4ia on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 12:37:33 AM PDT

    •  Racist observation

      Serena obliterated Sania Mirza in about 60 minutes. Go Serena!! Yea!

      by 4jkb4ia on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 12:38:33 AM PDT

      •  Not-so-racist observation

        Could we get the Williams sisters to endorse any Democrats?

        by 4jkb4ia on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 12:39:40 AM PDT

•  Yes, but...

  "As you read above, this group of colored wingnuts is headed by the curiously pale David Almasi..."

  Yes, but his soul is black. That's what makes it work, you see...

  by Renee in Ohio on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 11:45:43 PM PDT

  •  This, and a fair bit-o-cash, me thinks. n/t

    by 2lucky on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 12:45:49 AM PDT

•  It's like bringing a noose

  To your own lynching.

  There's nothing that disgusts me quite like this kind of selling out.

  by danthrax on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 11:46:29 PM PDT

  •  I have the same problem

    with my fellow jews who go GOP. They either point to some unsupportably vague "pro-business" reason or lower taxes.

    When I point that they are giving support to the agenda christian rightwing, they offer no real response. Ever. They always just shrug it off, pretending that the social agenda (anti-abortion, posting 10 Commandments, intelligent design as science, etc.) of BushCo does not really exist or that they had never considered such a thing as also being part of the GOP.

    by aggressiveprogressive on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 07:32:09 AM PDT

    •  "Business Republicans"

      People who have faith in the free market, in low taxes, and all that... they've always coexisted uncomfortably with the social conservatives.

      The key is to hide one from the other. Or to pick two agendas that seem completely seperate.

      If I care about moral values, big business won't interfere with that, no??

      And if I care about making money, a bunch of "family values" groups won't interfere with that, no??

      I think part of it is assuming "well, they can't do that much damage". Big business can't force too much smut down our right wing christian throats. And fundamentalists can't REALLY change the way TV is viewed, let alone do anything to mess with abortion. Right?

      by danthrax on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 10:29:03 AM PDT

    •  And some Jews really are religious right

      There is a kind of integrity to believing that Christian conservatives' "moral values" are your own, even when it's not quite true, especially where support for Israel is concerned.

      by 4jkb4ia on Sat Jan 22, 2005 at 09:19:38 PM PDT

      •  But the "values" are not mutual

        The religious right engages in the anti-gay campaigns and supports the war in Iraq as a crusade against the Muslim world. Here at home they seek to restrict the rights of others who may run afoul of the Christian right's absolutist notions of right and wrong (as in the no liquor on Sunday laws here in the South or efforts to restrict information about abortion or evolution).

         As a Jew, I find these things particularly heinous. I think the experience of Jews here in the US and throughout history has taught us that we must work to make sure every group is treated fairly and is not forced to succumb to the majority. I cannot understand any Jew, knowing of the holocaust, can offer up excuses for our country's treatment of prisoners in Iraq and Guantanamo. And the pursuit of knowledge, not indoctrination, is the highest calling in all of jewish tradition. (The word rabbi, after all, translates as "teacher".)

        Additionally, the Christian right's efforts to use the government to spead thier religion and religiosity is particularly at odds with judiaism. We do not seek converts.

        And on and on. I think those Jews who support the GOP act selfishly and with a wilfull ignorance of the right's agenda. It shows a lack of integrity to my eyes.

        by aggressiveprogressive on Sun Jan 23, 2005 at 08:40:27 AM PDT

•  Unforgivable Bleakness

  The line, "Pay no attention to THE MAN behind the curtain," becomes very significant in this context.

  The Republican Party and Friends, proudly suppressing votes since Reconstruction!

  by chachabowl on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 01:09:50 AM PDT

•  Is this the group who

  ran radio ads attacking Teresa Heinz Kerry because she said that she was African-American (which she is!)? The thing about a white man leading their organization sounds familiar.

  I love the title of this diary. Hilarious.

  by Turlough on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 07:23:26 AM PDT

  •  There was a situation on CSPAN

    The Washington Journal morning show sometime last year, where the black spokesperson couldn't make the show, plane cancelled or some such thing. And so the white head of the organization appeared instead, to give the "African American Organization"'s point of view.

    It made for some interesting commentary, questions and a few jokes. Will see if I (or someone) can find the show.

    by Nanette K on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 08:00:32 AM PDT