# Party Trumps Race for Steele Foes **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 2, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141 "2005-11-02T19:40:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141/1 "2005-11-02T19:40:08Z")
Any predictions whether we will see this on ABCBSNBC tonite? > **[‘Party trumps race’ for Steele foes](https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/nov/1/20051101-104932-4054r/)** > > Black Democratic leaders in Maryland say that racially tinged attacks against Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele in his bid for the U.S. Senate are fair because he is a conservative Republican. What if it were whites throwing watermelons at Al Sharpton? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141/2 "2005-11-02T19:42:33Z")
Hypocrites are hypocrites, wherever they are. What a surprise that Democrats want the rules changed when it suits them to break them. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141/3 "2005-11-02T20:04:00Z")
> [@What the .... ?!?!](#): > > Any predictions whether we will see this on ABCBSNBC tonite? Why would it be on the news tonight? It’s not like something just happened. It seems like he’s been facing these attacks fairly continuously. A quick Google search will show you that local “liberal” media outlets such as the Washington Post and the local ABC station have already covered this. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141/4 "2005-11-02T20:12:31Z")
Please. The Washington Times is very conservative-biased and is owned by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. You might as well cite the Weekly World News. By the same token (oops!), even with the rife mischaracterizations of this article, it’s plain to see that a lot of black folks in Maryland differ with him greatly politically, and view him as a sellout to their race. In fact every single political figure quoted in the article, (save Senate President Mike Miller, who unfortunately called Mr. Steele an “Uncle Tom” a few years ago) is black and is calling Steele out for things like “being OK” with Gov. Erlich’s speech at an all-white country club and noting that the Republican Party (and therefore Steele really doesn’t promote the interests of most blacks in the state. I’m not aware of any rules that were broken or changed with regards to this, either. ---
**Author:** ![Psycho\_Pirate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Psycho\_Pirate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Psycho_Pirate)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141/5 "2005-11-02T20:15:55Z")
Apparently if you are black, you can’t be a Republican. If you are, some Democrats will find this unacceptable, and will attack you because of your beliefs. How open-minded and progressive of these Democrats to pelt this man with Oreos and refer to him as ‘Uncle Tom’ and ‘Simple Sambo’. They claim they are just “pointing out the obvious”. Well, allow me to point out something obvious. These attacks are disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141/6 "2005-11-02T20:25:13Z")
> [@Jackknifed Juggernaut](#): > > Why would it be on the news tonight? It’s not like something just happened. It seems like he’s been facing these attacks fairly continuously. > > A quick Google search will show you that local “liberal” media outlets such as the Washington Post and the local ABC station have already covered this. My mistake … I thought it happenned yesterday. You say it’s been going on a while huh, wonder why I hadn’t heard? Local ABC news , huh, guess it would be real easy for World News Tonight to pick it up… bet they won’t! I tried to search the Washington Post site but din’t hit anything with Steele and Oreos. Should I have tried Sambo? ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141/7 "2005-11-02T20:32:02Z")
> [@Psycho Pirate](#): > > These attacks are disgusting. Yes, because everyone knows [conservatives](http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2005/6/9/10275/07980) [are](http://thinkprogress.org/2005/09/28/compares-kkk/) [never](http://nosheep.net/story/barbara-bush-detached-from-reality/) [racist.](http://news.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=/0-0&fp=43693f8ca4f2832d&ei=bSFpQ5jHBrWw6AHJp6GRDg&url=http%3A//thinkprogress.org/2005/10/30/hume-hose-down/&cid=0) :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Psycho\_Pirate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Psycho\_Pirate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Psycho_Pirate)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141/8 "2005-11-02T20:43:17Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Yes, because everyone knows [conservatives](http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2005/6/9/10275/07980) [are](http://thinkprogress.org/2005/09/28/compares-kkk/) [never](http://nosheep.net/story/barbara-bush-detached-from-reality/) [racist.](http://news.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=/0-0&fp=43693f8ca4f2832d&ei=bSFpQ5jHBrWw6AHJp6GRDg&url=http%3A//thinkprogress.org/2005/10/30/hume-hose-down/&cid=0) :rolleyes: So two wrongs make a right? :rolleyes:, yourself. I can dig up a bunch of sites from right-wing sites and news sources just as easily as you googled these sites. That isn’t the point of this thread. The point is that these particular Democrats are disgusting and should be repudiated. I’m just waiting for some intellectually honest Democrats to repudiate these people. _crickets chirping_ Right… ---
**Author:** ![Parthol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dec6dc/32.png) [@Parthol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parthol)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141/9 "2005-11-02T21:04:02Z")
> [@Psycho Pirate](#): > > I’m just waiting for some intellectually honest Democrats to repudiate these people. > > _crickets chirping_ > > Right… Wow… you waited a whole _hour_, in the middle of a weekday, before invoking the crickets. :dubious: I’m not a Democrat, but i do currently favor the left side of the aisle politically, and I’ll say this: tasteless racial insults like oreo-tossing should be condemned regardless of political party, and even if it’s blacks taunting other blacks. There’s nothing wrong, though, with members of a minority group aiming vitriol at a fellow group member who they see as setting back their collective cause. -P ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141/10 "2005-11-02T21:08:42Z")
> [@Psycho Pirate](#): > > So two wrongs make a right? :rolleyes:, yourself. I can dig up a bunch of sites from right-wing sites and news sources just as easily as you googled these sites. That isn’t the point of this thread. The point is that these particular Democrats are disgusting and should be repudiated. I’m just waiting for some intellectually honest Democrats to repudiate these people. > > _crickets chirping_ > > Right… OK, nice try, Rush. If you actually read the article, nowhere does it state that actual members of the Democratic Party committed these acts, nor do any of the Democratic officials quoted in the article in fact state that they support these acts. What the Washington Times, a very conservative-biased, Rev. Moon-owned newspaper, did was juxtapose anecdotal acts of some meatheads over the past few years with current quotes from black Democrats saying that going after him for not representing the interests of blacks in his state is fair game. What’s next, another Willie Horton ad? ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141/11 "2005-11-02T21:09:32Z")
> [@Psycho Pirate](#): > > That isn’t the point of this thread. The point is that these particular Democrats are disgusting and should be repudiated. Nah. I think the OP’s point has more to do with possible unfair reporting by the “liberal” :rolleyes: media. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141/12 "2005-11-02T21:20:42Z")
> [@What the .... ?!?!](#): > > Any predictions whether we will see this on ABCBSNBC tonite? > > [http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20051101-104932-4054r.htm](http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20051101-104932-4054r.htm) > > What if it were whites throwing watermelons at Al Sharpton? It would be more like a white redneck burning a cross on another white redneck’s lawn, than like whites throwing watermelons at a black man. Party _should_ trump race in this instance. We’ve seen a lot of people in the past few years tart themselves up as a ‘different kind of Republican’, most notably Bush and Ahnold, but the policies always turn out the same. ---
**Author:** ![Psycho\_Pirate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Psycho\_Pirate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Psycho_Pirate)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141/13 "2005-11-02T21:27:34Z")
> [@Parthol](#): > > Wow… you waited a whole _hour_, in the middle of a weekday, before invoking the crickets. :dubious: Not quite. Sure, this thread is fairly young, but this behavior of attacks against Steele has been going on for quite some time now. This isn’t front page news, as has been pointed out in previous posts. Yet this is only now getting a thread, and few have condemned the attacks. Not that I expect all Democrats to enter this thread and condemn the attacks, mind you. But I find it telling that some here are more apt to try to dodge the issue by blaming Republicans for similar behavior. > [@An Arky](#): > > If you actually read the article, **nowhere does it state that actual members of the Democratic Party committed these acts, nor do any of the Democratic officials quoted in the article in fact state that they support these acts.** What the Washington Times, a very conservative-biased, Rev. Moon-owned newspaper, did was juxtapose anecdotal acts of some meatheads over the past few years with current quotes from black Democrats saying that going after him for not representing the interests of blacks in his state is fair game. Emphasis mine. How about _you_ try reading the article? > [@](#): > > **State Sen. Lisa A. Gladden, a black Baltimore Democrat,** said she does not expect her party to pull any punches, **including racial jabs** at Mr. Steele, in the race to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes. If you don’t expect the party to pull punches on racial jabs, you condone them. > [@](#): > > In 2001, **Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. called Mr. Steele an “Uncle Tom,”** when Mr. Steele headed the state Republican Party. Mr. Miller, **Prince George’s County Democrat** , later apologized for the remark. Here is a member of the Democratic party who committed one of the acts. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141/14 "2005-11-02T21:43:09Z")
Google ad: Peace Is Possible! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Renob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8c91f0/32.png) [@Renob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renob)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141/15 "2005-11-02T21:51:23Z")
The real problem here is that black Democrats don’t see it possible that a black person could possibly hold different political views as them. They assume that if a black person holds a different political view then that person is either a sell-out or a suck-up. The sort of thinking that says that if you have black skin you must believe certain things is ignorant at best. These people fail to see that there is more than one way to solve the problems of the black community. They also fail to see that the “solutions” advocated by most liberals have failed to alleviate many of the problems in the black community, and may have made them worse. I guess if elected leaders like those quoted in the article keep getting elected there is little hope for much progress in this area. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141/16 "2005-11-02T21:59:22Z")
> [@Psycho Pirate](#): > > If you don’t expect the party to pull punches on racial jabs, you condone them. Um, how’s that work, exactly? I expect George Bush to continue to fuck up this country in new and inventive ways. Does that mean I condone the Bush administration? Which is not to say that the quoted democrat does not support the attacks, only that your logic here is questionable, at best. > [@](#): > > Here is a member of the Democratic party who committed one of the acts. And apologized for it, but apparently that doesn’t make any differnce to you. That said, I’m a liberal democrat, and assuming this guy wasn’t working on the David Duke campaign, I got no problem calling the people doing this assholes. So you can take your crickets and shove them… \ …into a terranium. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141/17 "2005-11-02T22:08:27Z")
I wasn’t aware of this until I listened to [News and Notes](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4984328) the other day. I think that the name-calling and throwing Oreos are offensive and immature, but it is valid to criticize him for, for example, defending Governor Erlich’s fundraiser at a country club that hadn’t admitted a single Black person in it’s 100-plus year history (mentioned in News and Notes). I do think it’s frustrating that democrats are encouraging and participating in, rather than condemning, the immature behavior. For the record, I’m a White liberal. ---
**Author:** ![Renob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8c91f0/32.png) [@Renob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renob)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141/18 "2005-11-02T22:26:10Z")
It’s valid to criticize Steele’s support of Ehrlich’s fundraiser and it’s valid to question the Democrats who have held fundraisers at the same place. It’s also valid to criticize Steele’s political views. It’s _not_ valid, however, to label him as some sort of race traitor because he belongs to a different political party than most other blacks, however. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141/19 "2005-11-02T22:35:49Z")
> [@Psycho Pirate](#): > > I’m just waiting for some intellectually honest Democrats to repudiate these people. > > _crickets chirping_ > > Right… You mean like the ones quoted in the article? > [@](#): > > A spokesman for the Maryland Democratic Party denounced the depiction as being “extremely offensive” and having “no place in politics or in any other aspect of public discourse,” The Washington Post reported. ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141/20 "2005-11-02T22:36:41Z")
> [@What the .... ?!?!](#): > > My mistake … I thought it happenned yesterday. You say it’s been going on a while huh, wonder why I hadn’t heard? Local ABC news , huh, guess it would be real easy for World News Tonight to pick it up… bet they won’t! Of course they won’t. It’s a story about a primary race in a mid-sized state, and the primary election won’t take place for about another six months. Hell, look at the section of the _Washington Times_ it is in - it’s the **Metro** section - the Maryland suburbs are part of the _Times’_ local subscription base. It’s a local story. If this were the week before the primary, and the Maryland race was a close one with national implications and World News Tonight still ignored the story, you may have an argument. At this time, you do not. Sua [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/party-trumps-race-for-steele-foes/329141.md?page=2)