Republicans can't seem to come to grips with the fact that they, led by President Ronald Reagan, gave aid and comfort to the racist South African Apartheid regime, by trying (unsuccessfully) to block sanctions against the regime and by putting Nelson Mandela on an international terrorist list.
But Newt is really confused today and is attacking liberals and MSNBC because they pointed out some facts that support his own statement: "where were some of these conservatives as allies against tyranny? Where were the masses of conservatives opposing Apartheid?"
The facts show that Republicans were blocking sanctions, demagoging Nelson Mandela, and putting him on a terrorist watch list.
In 1986, 145 Republicans and 45 Democrats voted down a non-binding House resolution urging the Government of South Africa to indicate its willingness to negotiate with the black majority by granting unconditional freedom to Nelson Mandela, recognizing the African National Congress; and establishing a framework for political talks. This included Dick Cheney, John McCain, Newt Gingrich, Dan Coats, Pat Roberts, Joe Barton. Asked in 2000 if he regretted the vote, Cheney said he did not adding, “The ANC was then viewed as a terrorist organization.”
http://thinkprogress.org/...
That link says it all, Newt. When Republicans, including Newt, who had a racist base to appease, failed in propping up the Apartheid regime, people like Newt Gingrich were later shamed into changing their minds and voting into law the sanctions bill, overriding Reagan's veto.
Now Newt is whining about anyone (liberals grrrr) pointing out Reagan's (and his) involvement in supporting the Apartheid regime.
But Comrade Newt, who makes a good case why Nelson Mandela resorted to supporting Marxism at one point (enemy of his enemy), could easily have written that letter directly to Ronald Reagan, who was giving aid and comfort to the brutal Apartheid regime.
Granted, he used the specter of a black president lording over them to make his point to his white supremacist Republican voting base.
Please humor me as I answer some of Newt's questions for his conservative target audience here:
So let me say to those conservatives who don’t want to honor Nelson Mandela, what would you have done? I would use 2nd amendment remedy on their asses bo!
Mandela was faced with a vicious apartheid regime that eliminated all rights for blacks and gave them no hope for the future. This was a regime which used secret police, prisons and military force to crush all efforts at seeking freedom by blacks.
What would you have done faced with that crushing government? I would use 2nd amendment remedy on them.
What would you do here in America if you had that kind of oppression? I would use 2nd amendment remedy on them.
Some of the people who are most opposed to oppression from Washington attack Mandela when he was opposed to oppression in his own country.
After years of preaching non-violence, using the political system, making his case as a defendant in court, Mandela resorted to violence against a government that was ruthless and violent in its suppression of free speech.
As Americans we celebrate the farmers at Lexington and Concord who used force to oppose British tyranny. We praise George Washington for spending eight years in the field fighting the British Army’s dictatorial assault on our freedom.
Patrick Henry said, “Give me liberty or give me death.”
Thomas Jefferson wrote and the Continental Congress adopted that “all men are created equal, and they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Doesn’t this apply to Nelson Mandela and his people? No, only white supremacists can use 2nd amendment remedy on people.
Some conservatives say, ah, but he was a communist.
Actually Mandela was raised in a Methodist school, was a devout Christian, turned to communism in desperation only after South Africa was taken over by an extraordinarily racist government determined to eliminate all rights for blacks.
I would ask of his critics: where were some of these conservatives as allies against tyranny? Where were the masses of conservatives opposing Apartheid? Um duh.... I would 2nd amendment remedy them.In a desperate struggle against an overpowering government, you accept the allies you have just as Washington was grateful for a French monarchy helping him defeat the British.
Finally, if you had been imprisoned for 27 years, 18 of them in a cell eight foot by seven foot, how do you think you would have emerged? Would you have been angry? Would you have been bitter? Heck yeah! I would used 2nd amendment remedies on them.
Nelson Mandela emerged from 27 years in prison as an astonishingly wise, patient, and compassionate person.
He called for reconciliation among the races. He invited his prison guard to sit in the front row at his inauguration as President. In effect he said to the entire country, “If I can forgive the man who imprisoned me, surely you can forgive your neighbors.”
Far from behaving like a communist, President Mandela reassured businesses that they could invest in South Africa and grow in South Africa. He had learned that jobs come from job creators.
The problem is: Newt should be scolding himself, from both sides of his mouth, because he voted initially for giving aid and comfort to the Apartheid regime before he voted against it.
Finally, as per typical Republican modus operandi, when confronted about their hypocrisy, he blames it all on the liberals. And MSNBC. Or something.
“Some elements of the left, particularly on one news channel, went overboard in trying to use this as an excuse to attack Ronald Reagan,” Gingrich opined. “And I think people who are Reagan loyalists, who know that Reagan had condemned apartheid, Reagan had called for Mandela to be released, Reagan actually appointed the first black ambassador to South Africa whose job was to pressure the Afrikaans government.”
“This is just another excuse for the left to try to smear Reagan,” he added. “So, there’s a lot of anger on the right this opportunity being used inappropriately.”
But didn't Reagan put Mandela on international terrorist list? Didn't he veto sanctions against Apartheid regime? Wasn't the Republican Party and their white supremacist base behind the American Apartheid?
Aren't they STILL behind policies that land huge percentages of minorities and poor people in jail?
Yes, yes, yes, and yes.
Only source for Newt's whiny video I could find:
http://www.mediaite.com/...