Many of the high profile conservatives and Republicans who supported Cliven Bundy and the fascist militias that rallied to his cause have now issued perfunctory statements trying to limit the damage of his recent crude racist remarks to their own careers.
We know the routine. Thanks to the profound struggle and sacrifices made by civil rights and anti-racism movements, many Americans see racism as a very bad thing, end of story. On some level, all the Bundy supporters, and even Bundy himself, realize this.
But racism is a core component of conservatism, not an aberration, so when one of their heroes or leaders is a little too candid about their bigotry, they perform a little theater pretending to find racism distasteful.
Here are Bundy's lines
A statement on the official Bundy Ranch Facebook page Thursday said that Bundy was a "good man, he loves all people, he is not a racist man."
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And Sean Hannity, Bundy's high profile fan and promoter of the the rightwing militias rallying for a violent confrontation in Nevada, has this script
People that for the right reasons saw this case as government overreach now are branded because of the ignorant, racist, repugnant, despicable comments of Cliven Bundy
See, Hannity doesn't support racists, he only supported the rancher's resistance to "government overreach", along with all those good people who supported Bundy "for the right reasons". And it's just so sad and unfair that these people, along with Hannity, are now "branded" as racists!
So it's only fair that we let Cliven Bundy's and Sean Hannity's supporters speak about what their "right reasons" are, in their own voices. Coincidentally, some of those voices are gathered in a discussion forum on Hannity's site, and in the comments section of FoxNews.com. Let's listen together.
First, posts from forum members on Sean Hannity's webpage, in blockquotes below. The most common view here seems to be that Bundy's statements were not racist because, well, see for yourself.
Big government and liberal policies have fooled and basically reenslaved black people. Really sad.
It wouldn't have mattered what Bundy said. They would've found a way to call him racist regardless.
I know Bundy is not a racist because libruls pointed to his overt racism as proof he is a racist! Or something.
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Actually He is being called a racist because he is making Obama look bad to the general population. As if the goof in the white house needed anymore help looking like a buffoon
I know Bundy is not a racist because he makes Obama look bad! Or something.
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Actually, thats not what he said.
He implied that slaves were better off than blacks are now. That doesn't make him a racist, it makes him ignorant and blatently wrong, but not racist.
I know Bundy is not a racist because he said slavery was good for blacks!
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I don't know if Bundy is racist, don't know the man. But race card floats constantly from the Left whether it's Bundy, Tea P or anyone who doesn't kiss their boots.
I don't know if Bundy is a racist, but probably not, because the left calls racists racists!
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I see nothing wrong with what he said. Now Democrats in the senate voting for racial segregation in schools, now that's some racist ** right there.
I know Bundy's not a racist because Democrats something something!
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I am tired of watching people on the right be constantly on the defense.
Constant barrage of attacks from the left and being called racist NO MATTER WHAT THEY DO...........enough!!!
I think the best defense is a good offense. I am not willing to bend backwards to explain or worry about PC.
The left keeps calling us racists racists, so in response let's be racist!
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I'm still waiting for your side to prove your claim that Bundy is a racist vs someone who is a poor public speaker who blurts out something racially insensitive just like a bunch of your Democratic leaders have done multiple times. Prove it or shut it!
PROVE to me that Bundy's racist words mean he's a racist! I'm waiting!
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Regardless of whether he is or not [a racist], it does not negate the Feds over reach, but yes I am wondering if he is just an old guy that still talks the way the people in that era talked
I don't know if Bundy's a racist, it's just that he's racist in a kind of old fashioned way, not the new and improved Tea Party racist way.
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On the Fox News website, here's a sampling of readers' comments attached to the story "Cliven Bundy under fire for racial comments".
Bundy spoke the truth, blacks are being kept as slaves by liberal entitlement programs designed specifically that purpose.
Bundy makes sense.
Being on welfare is the same as being owned.
Welfare is a form of s.l.a.v.e.r.y.
Truth is many blacks are enslaved to a cycle of poverty due to liberal policies like Welfare.
Its hilarious how the party of hateocrats gets this fake outrage over someone speaking about the blacks when its pretty much all true
it is to be expected that liberals would distort what Bundy said. He made an observation about how families live and was pretty much correct about that. Then he raised the question as to under which system, federal nan ny state or sl av ery, would they be bewtter off under.
It's an innocent question, no racism here!
And yet not a single drugheaded l!eberal can point to single thing Bundy said that is r.a.c.i.s.t
Morse code racism, I guess.
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all he did was make truthfull comments about the state of affairs of Black families and raise the question as to which system would Blacks be better under. Never said they should be slaves.
It's a fair and balanced question, no racism here!
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I don't care who likes it, but the fact is most of ten don't work, they are extremely rac ist against whites, they are loud, rude, think they are always right and everyone owes them something, plus they are like 14% of the population but commit most of the violent crimes, and every place they invade become dirty, loud, and crime ridden.
My deep-seated racism proves that Blacks are the real racists.
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I admit he is a crusty old rancher but he makes a valid point when comparing these so called social programs to the old plantation days.
Bundy's racism is valid, but I'll condemn him for being old!
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Now Fox News fans, it's time to pause your rabid barking, and return to your regularly scheduled dog whistle programming.
Take it away, Sean.