Thinkprogress is reporting on a liberal super PAC which sent out a racist tweet about Mitch McConnell’s wife.
What makes this tweet especially offensive is that Elaine Chao isn’t from the PRC, but was born in Taiwan to parents who’d specifically fled there to get away from the Chinese communists and she’s lived in the US since she was 8 years old so the idea that she’d have some sort of loyalty to the PRC is beyond asinine.
I’m reminded of the weird ad against “Debbie Spend-it-now” which seemed like it had been made by someone who’d seen way too many Vietnam War movies.
My SO is ethnically Chinese and he hears a fair bit of anti-Chinese racism. The sad thing is, he was born in America and like Miss Chao, has no connections to PRC at all. He just happens to be born of Chinese parents, but he’s 100% American.
It’s stupid on multiple levels. Even if she is 100% loyal to the PRC…Are we supposed to think that a man’s wife shouldn’t have his ear? Or a woman’s husband?
Not really. We’re not responsible for the opinions of other people. There are billions of idiots out there and I take it for granted that some of them are going to agree with me sometimes on some issues. Even if they agree with me that, say, Mitch McConnell sucks, that doesn’t mean it reflects poorly on me when they say something dumb like this (or opine on some unrelated topic). All of which is preamble to saying this guy is a complete moron. I just don’t feel his utter moronitude reflects poorly on me. It takes a special kind of stupid to attack someone on racial grounds and make reference to jobs while overlooking the fact that she was the secretary of labor for eight years.
I won’t deny that the tweet sounds like a dog whistle, but there is a case to be made that Chao and her family have significant interests and influence in the PRC. Her father was a man who earned his fortune shipping goods from China to the US as well as being a close friend (and former classmate) of Jiang Zemin. So, yeah, the family business does profit when US jobs go to China.
That conflict of interest wasn’t enough to keep her from being confirmed to high level US government posts, so I hardly see how it bears on her husband’s bid for re-election to the Senate, especially since the GOP (even those not married to Chinese-Americans) has never done anything to dissuade US companies from seeking cheap labor overseas.
Elmer J. Fudd appears to be correct. They’re picking on Elaine Chao for being Chinese. They’re saying McConnell has a conflict of interest because of the Chao family’s business connections and they’re saying that, a la Romney, he is making money at the expense of people who lose their jobs. A bunch of other Progress Kentucky tweets:
[QUOTE=Marley23’s link]
** After extensive research I think it’s safe to conclude the thing #MitchMcConnell does best is “advance the interests of Mitch McConnell!”
[/QUOTE]
Um, duh? First, he’s a human being (to whatever extent you prefer) so that comes naturally, and second, he’s Mitch Fucking McConnell, who has raised self-promotion to a fine art. No surprises there.
On what basis is Progress Kentucky considered a liberal Super PAC? Their site is suspiciously devoid of any actual positions on anything besides defeating McConnell.
Maybe this will finally be the thread where people learn to not hit that knee-jerk “that’s racist” button at the slightest provocation and actually look at the facts soberly. Not holding my breath, though.
They’re new and I read they have not even completed their Super PAC paperwork yet. But between the name and their objective, I don’t know what else you would consider them.
One might consider them to be a tea party organisation looking for a distinctive or confusing name. Or one might consider them a political dirty trick–establish a quick local presence and identification with a separate faction, then whoops! Racist tweets! Either way, their relative youth and lack of identifying sources should make anyone suspicious, especially when a controversy arises.
Or they’re simply another target for donations that someone is using to scoop dollars. God knows superPACs have been gold mines for the people running them, as 2012 demonstrated.
Hannity will be on in about half an hour, I’m sure he has the facts at this fingertips. Of course, so will Ms Maddow, and she doesn’t make me want to kill anybody.
The story was reported by Think Progress not some right wing rag. Had this been Red State.org or one of those other groups, I wouldn’t have put it up.
Unfortunately, quite a few liberals and democrats have resorted to xenophobia and anti-Chinese racism when it comes to exploiting fears of losing jobs to China.
For example, here’s an ad from former Democratic Congressman Zach Space in which he slams his opponent for supposedly sending jobs to China and ends it with a shot of Chinese-Americans in San Francisco doing the Dragon dance.
Upon cursory investigation, the name most prominent is one Curtis Morrison, who to all appearances is a politician in Louisville most identified with liberal/left causes. So, he may have some sort of legitimacy, in the sense of not being a Republican masquerade. He is a lawyer. Just sayin’, is all.
Oh, almost forgot, denounce, renounce and condemn. There.