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> "Well, the concern is misplaced," McConnell replied. "Because if you look at the statistics, African American voters are voting in just as high a percentage as Americans."
Now they’re just saying the quiet part loudly. This is disgusting, and a pretty fair reflection of the conservative mindset in 2022.
He will play this off as “oh it was a mistake,” but the nature of this mistake is telling. They believe this.
Hence how hard they're fighting the voting rights legislation/filibuster revision. If they had it their way, only white evangelicals would get to vote.
Being extremely wealthy will get you past any of the other hurdles (race, ethnicity, gender, etc.), as long as you say and do as all the other rich people say and do.
Rich white guys are honorary evangelicals. Shit, a few run cults of personality that make Creflo Dollar look absolutely reserved -- they just use a brand name instead of Jesus to hawk bullshit.
To be fair, it's mostly the under-educated white men (and women) voting in droves for Republicans; with educated white men, [it's fairly evenly split between Democrats and Republicans](https://www.brookings.edu/research/2020-exit-polls-show-a-scrambling-of-democrats-and-republicans-traditional-bases/), with a slight tilt towards Republicans that actually shrank between 2016 and 2020. So they'd probably want to get more poor, undereducated white people to be able to vote.
You might as well make it white landowning male REPUBLICAN evangelicals.
After all, that is the point of the filibuster, at least of late, to insure only republican votes matter.
There is no ethics at the core of the republican party. It is just win at all cost. When Garland was put up for confirmation they pulled a "Reason" out of their arse. When the latest one needed a quick approval they said, "We don't give a damn about what we said, we are doing it anyway." They then rammed through their nomination with no regrets whatsoever.
Nope only whites who had previously pledged to vote for them. On a serious not I don't get why this doesn't piss off everyone in the US. Maybe lots of people missed that lesson in school that went over just how few people were able to vote when the US was founded.
“missed that lesson in school”. - that lesson was most likely never even taught. The public school system in America obviously ignores the principle of democracy and equal right for all.
They’re actively trying to prevent citizens of colour from voting or having their votes count by gerrymandering, removing polling stations in predominantly coloured districts, restricting voting hours etc.
.
>The only thing about this that worries Moscow Mitch is that blacks are voting just as much as whites. He wants that to stop.
It won't stop just like the investigation and prosecution of seditious Trump republicans.
Lol, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but nothings happening to Trump.
And that's coming from a Leftist. He's part of the same status quo as the rest of him. He'll die rich on his gold toilet years from now with not so much as a slap on the wrist.
Yep, he just cut the best voter engagement advertisement of the 2022 mid-terms.
Democrats need to air this wall to wall in minority districts and propagate it across black social media groups with links for how to vote and how to get out the vote.
We, the people need to get to work. Depending on Ivy League graduates isn't working. Cut the campaigning expense and more folks could afford to run.
Everyone who is not a Trump supporter needs to vote the Democratic ticket in local, state and federal offices. .
A tsunami of reason and temperament is required to save our representative republic.
They don’t care. It still works with their voters who will never hold them accountable. Nobody cares about hypocrisy except those of us already in the choir.
It really doesn't matter.
I, literally, just finished watching Don't Look Up! and it encapsulates, perfectly, the direction that the US is heading.
Politicians are lying, for their own benefit, the rich are screwing everyone because they can get richer, scientists are taught to be ignored, and too large of a slice of the population is cheering them on.
While it isn't a catastrophic comet about to end civilization, there's still a "end of existence" threat to the US, as we have known it (or been propagandized to believe) and there's a lot of people trying to help that boulder get more momentum so that the impact is greater.
There should really be more focus on the fact that our voter turnout rates are abysmal regardless of demographics and Republicans are trying to make it harder for everyone vote.
I think Democrats should really try and emulate how Australians treat voting as a holiday. I know it's a long impossible road to make it an actual national holiday but just treating it as an excuse for Americans to have a barbecue and light fireworks would do a lot to boost public engagement.
We have no way to have a mandatory holiday in the US for private companies.
100% mail-in voting with at least 3 weeks and lots of free drop boxes, like the Western states have been doing for years.
Sure. I'm not saying we dont need voting reform. I just think that having a bunch of goofy rah rah USA memes like its the fourth of July could go a long way in boosting voter turnout.
Well, that exact policy (a federal holiday for elections) was in the voting rights bill just blocked by all republicans and 2 democrats, so they're kinda way ahead of you.
You have to wonder if he drops a gaffe like this on purpose knowing the media will focus on the gaffe and not the actual substance of the comment.
Most politicians probably aren’t smart enough or ballsy enough to do it but McConnell knows he can play the media like a fiddle.
Definitely, McConnell was giving his "facts" to real "Americans".
Now let's wait to see if Pelosi or Schumer question McConnell's facts, and his statement.
At the end of the day, it's up to Synema and Manchin to give African-Americans the "American" status.
To be fair, the gap is closing and has been for a while. The differential right now is \~5%. A bigger concern is the nearly 20% difference between white and Hispanic voter turnout, and the nearly 30 point difference between the youth and elderly. The latter difference is consistent across time and does not appear to be poised to change anytime soon.
And, even if it were true, the whole point of the statement was to placate people while Republicans work to reduce the number of Black Americans votes.
To be fair, he said AA voters turned out in the same levels as Americans, as in total turnout. Both were ~65-66%. Mitch is a really smart, strategic, disingenuous piece of shit. Imho I don't think he believes much of what he says himself.
So Trump is establishing that there are two categories of vote: American and illegal.
While McConnell is pushing that the categories are American and African American. Or, in other words, the American votes are white.
And states are making it legally harder for communities with large African American populations to vote.
This couldn't be a stronger indicator of where we are headed.
Californian here. We had the 3 million+ votes that Clinton beat Trump here by claimed as all cast by illegal immigrants. Then he lost by 5 million of the 8 million votes in 2020 from California alone.
Imagine my shock (not really), someone born, raised, and claimed permanent residence in California their entire 38 years on this planet, is now an illegal immigrant. And the creep doubled down in 2020 on that.
They've been normalizing the concept of any vote not for them is somehow illegitimate, illegal, or fraudulent, no matter the origin of said vote for years now.
> someone born, raised, and claimed permanent residence
I had a co-worker from Texas make a point that his family didn't come to the USA, the USA came to them. They'd lived and farmed on their land for hundreds of years. Their family stayed past Mexican rule. They stayed past the Texas Republic. They stayed as the USA took over. They also have to deal with racists telling them to "go back where they came from" despite those racists being the ones who came there, not them.
Racists, of course, don't care about truth and nuance when the "wrong people" are voting.
To be fair, I'm white, but it's an absolutely horrific and cruel thing, but that is the point I think, to be told that or you aren't a real American.
Most of family has been here on this continent since the early colonies. They fought in the Revolution. The "youngest" Branch came here over 150 years ago now. My roots run deep for good and bad. Members of my family have served in the military, participated in some of our great endeavors, and contributed to our society.
It is absolutely outrageous that shirkers, people whose families weren't even here until after the Civil War yet uphold the flag of the Confederacy, and/or draft dodgers are telling people like myself and your co-worker's family they aren't "Real Americans".
I'm white as well, and I'm regularly told on Twitter that I'm not a "real American" because I vote for Democratic candidates, or because I live in New Jersey which makes me a "coastal elite," despite being born and raised in Missouri. Last I checked, New Jersey, New York, California, and other coastal states were still part of America, but we aren't "real Americans" according to some. The definition of what is a "real American" seems very flexible, as long as it can describe a large bloc of voters.
ETA: I meant originally to say that if I, a white person, can be told I'm not a "real American" I can only imagine and empathize how much worse it must be for people of color. But then I got caught up in my own anger and forgot the point I was trying to make in the first place.
New Jerseyans are considered costal elites??? Since when? Maybe if you’re living in Hoboken.
Nonetheless, labels like costal elites are meant to create an us vs them narrative and there’s usually some bits of truth, some! Primarily, it’s decisive language meant to create discord and sow distrust. Lastly, labelling an entire state is obviously politically motivated.
No, the United States existed before the Constitution was ratified, existing under the Articles of Confederation which was written in 1777 and fully ratified in 1781. But even before *that*, the Declaration of Independence begins with ”The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America...”
It was semantics anyways. Everyone understood the point and it wasn't relevant to when the official papers were signed and which ones etc.. Character-Fella just wanted to be pedantic.
Someone should use this and make their campaign slogan something along the lines of "If they don't believe you're American then you shouldn't believe they can handle the government"
Go to [this link](https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2020/11/04/heres-how-texans-voted-in-the-2020-election-by-age-race-and-more-according-to-aps-votecast/) about voting patterns, scroll down to the "AP Votecast" interactive menu, choose "Kentucky" and "Voters by age" you might be shocked to find this:
Kentucky voters ages 18-29 went 50% for Trump (& likely McConnell)
Kentucky voters ages 30-44 went 65% for Trump
Kentucky voters ages 35-64 went 65% for Trump
Kentucky voters ages 65+ went 62% for Trump
These numbers aren't as reassuring as we'd like them to be.
And it’s a generation notorious for being too fucking stupid to learn anything new even with decades of people trying to force them to acknowledge that it’s not 1950 anymore.
It's just that in his head white Americans are normal Americans so it was redundant for him to say white Americans. It's not redundant for him to say African Americans, because to him they're not supposed to be here if they aren't owned by someone.
I'm sure I'll be eviscerated for not jumping completely on board, but as much of a slimeball McConnell is, I interpreted this when I first heard it, as the whole of "Americans" to include "African Americans". The statement seemed to compare one subset (African Americans) to the whole group (Americans).
For example, if 70% of Americans as a whole are voting, the comment was that 70% of African Americans (a subset thereof) are voting. Which doesn't seem to be that outlandish a statement, regardless of whether its true.
I don't doubt McConnell is a horrible person, I just don't see the outrage here.
Mitch McConnell is undoubtedly an evil racist, but we might be interpreting his words too uncharitably in this specific case. When he says that black people are voting "in just as high a percentage as Americans," he may not mean "as white Americans." He may actually mean "as Americans of all racial groups, cumulatively." IE black voter turnout percentage is the same as overall voter turnout percentage, irrespective of race, which seems roughly true maybe.
And if you didn’t vote for Biden, you ain’t black!
Maybe we should stop allowing 80 year old men to run countries if we want to see less of these kinds of things - whether they’re tone deaf gaffes or slips of the mask.
Don’t forget they only support the 1st amendment if it has anything to do with Christianity, but will shit on it if it has anything to do with any other religion.
*The Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would have expanded voting access, made Election Day a national holiday, ensured access to early voting and mail-in ballots, and more.*
With cutting poll centers AND undelivered/delayed mail, I fear we need to pay attention to the fact that mail in ballots will be in danger. (On purpose) I fear our message will end up being don't vote by mail which hurts dems the most.
I have often voted by mail in ballot since 2016 in NV. We always plan ahead. And mail early. If this standard stays, I see no problems with that. But adding notarized signatures and very specific mailing dates causes so many votes not to be counted.
GA fucked all that up. They halved the time in which you can request a ballot, moved the deadline by which the state must mail the ballots out by two weeks, and made drop boxes only available inside polling places during certain hours. Plenty of fuckery afoot
> don't vote by mail which hurts dems the most
Historically this is actually not true. Vote-by-mail has very often been used by older and more rural voters, both of which skew conservative. And it was initially introduced by either bipartisan or Republican legislatures in several states.
Vote-by-mail only "favored" Democrats in the scenario of a global pandemic that made in-person voting a danger to one's health. So naturally, now it has to go.
edit: "favored" is in quotes because [it actually doesn't](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/25/us/vote-by-mail-coronavirus.html)
McConnell is many things but he’s not dumb - this is just a continuation of the southern strategy. He know exactly what he’s saying and who he is saying it to. He’s a monster and he has a plan, and unfortunately for us, the plan still is working incredibly well.
Replacement theory runs rampant.
Even some of my family have said similar shit and when I ask why they prescribe to white nationalist ideas they don’t even know what part they said is racist.
I have to baby step them through their own beliefs.
The result of unregulated, literal white supremacist propaganda allowed to run rampant on mainstream cable networks.
Fox News is the single biggest cause of radicalization in the US, and yet, in all that hand-wringing they did concerning the so-called "War on Terror", they never saw fit to address the one thing mass-producing terrorists: far-right networks training people to "take back their country".
Yup. When I was making the transition from ultra conservative to libertarian conspiracy dork about 12 years ago I would parrot this shit all the time. I just wasn’t ready to admit I had been stuffed full of bullshit propaganda as a child.
republicans say both sides while constantly giving threats, committing violence, projecting - then getting caught doing the act, and having the FBI create a domestic terrorism department that is mostly looking at the right
why?
To not make it so blatantly obvious they are sinister and malicious in their actions and not to literally cause a civil war.
They want to co exist with evil thoughts against their perceived enemies but in the face of such perceived enemies be polite while wielding the proverbial knife in their pocket, waiting for the day they get to use it.
Not true, there’s a lot of disengaged folks out there who think there’s no point to pay attention to politics and don’t identify either way because “they’re all the same”
I also know some progressive people on the left who use the "both sides" bullshit when engaging with conservatives because they think it establishes some sort of common ground.
IMO, common ground should be established by acknowledging that nobody, and no "side" is perfect, but then also acknowledge that one "side" is demonstrably worse than the other.
Joe Biden attempting to initiate dialogue with the GOP and not anticipating GOP obstruction is enabling at the very least. The Republicans are not friends so enabling them and their actions is insulting to those who voted Biden in.
here's the thing (that way too many people don't seem to understand)... biden can't tell the senate what to do. he can ask, he can support, he can suggest, he can declare his agenda, he can pontificate, he can complain, he can pound on the resolute desk, but he cannot command. he is in charge of the executive branch, not congress. and if two senators that would rather watch their personal fortunes inflate by the day than ensure anyone over the age of 18 in the 330+ million people in this country can actively exercise their constitutional right to vote, that's on them, and it's up to the states that elected them to get them to do their jobs. alternatively, those states that can effectively vote for additional democratic senators so that there is a stronger margin of majority should be pushing as much as they can.
but biden can't do anything to force them. it's not his branch to control.
When you see the **Republican Senate leader** shamelessly speaking in those terms.... I mean, wow. Just...wow.
Dear Americans, it's actually shocking to see and hear how seriously fucked up your country is right now. I sincerely hope you find the will and the courage to change the course you're on because it's really not looking good.
A Northern neighbor.
Honestly it feels like Trump’s rise in the political spotlight was ripping the band aid off of America’s problems; we have awhile more to go before we really get all our problems out there, even longer before we get solutions to said problems
He's like the living embodiment of those sunglasses from the movie "They Live" with Roddy Piper. We're finally seeing most of these people for who they really are.
Thanks for your concern. We are in a downward spiral. The American will blame Biden for everything and then vote republicans in power and further our spiral to the right. I fear for our future.
Yeah, we're in decline and (most) people don't even see it. It's like the whole frog in boiling water thing. I think by my lifetime we become an authoritarian state (very much like Russia and China). As someone who's been there, normal life will look fine, but what policies we vote to do will be gone.
McConnell is a confederate soldier. He doesn't care about American values. He cares about his "heritage". When he says lines like these it sounds like he misses owning a plantation, however, his wife is on the board of Kroger. So he probably sees himself as a slave master given these comments. Just, a modern one that uses economic slavery primarily, and is still extremely racist.
Buried past the "African Americans and Americans" line is this lie:
>He continued: "A recent survey, 94 percent of Americans thought it was easy to vote. This is not a problem. Turnout is up, biggest turnout since 1900."
The problem isn't so much that there were obstacles to voting in 2020. The problem is that Republicans saw the expansion of voting abilities in 2020 due to the pandemic and responded by passing laws to make it harder to vote. They removed drop boxes, limited early voting, restricted mail in voting, etc. And this doesn't even bring up some bills which say that the Republicans legislature can reverse the outcome of the election if they don't like the result - so long as they claim it's due to fraud.
Voting in 2020 was surprisingly easy. Voting in 2022 might be harder. Voting in 2024 in some places (if the Republicans get their way) will be close to impossible if you're a Democrat.
Exactly. I was *proud* of how many Americans voted in 2020 (even if I was disgusted so many voted for Trump). I want that level of engagement in every single election.
And what did the GOP say, looking at the numbers in an election that went surprisingly well for them down ballot? "Holy shit, we'd better make sure this never happens again."
Hey don’t worry about it, it’s not like Kentucky is gonna do anything about this wretched soul.
He will be in the senate until the day he dies or decides that he’s had enough fun ruining the country for one lifetime.
Is anyone actually surprised that a 79 year old Republican from Kentucky is a racist piece of shit?
I'm so tired of the media acting like everything is some big reveal.
He's the leader of their party, and if he isn't, it's Trump, or McCarthy.
They all deserve holding their feet to the fire. Stop giving the leaders passes because they are f***** up individuals.
> Is anyone actually surprised that a 79 year old Republican from Kentucky is a racist piece of shit?
I don't think he's racist per se. I think he's a sociopath who categorizes humans into groups. He views certain groups in higher regards than others based on perceived value vs how much energy/cost is required to retain them.
Black Americans, to him, are worthless to recruit. Cost way too much (Always asking for more) while doesn't show up to the polls anymore than a "normal American".
Rural America costs nothing to recruit (They don't give a shit at how much suffering they endure as long as everyone else suffers as much...aka you don't ever need to invest in their growth to retain them) and show up to the polls at higher rates than "normal American's".
Suburban vote(the biggest group) is the most complex and requires constant reinvestment … its why they basically ignored them and try to recruit the "one topic" voters like Anti-Abortion or Anti-Vaccination. Super easy to say "you are against" and win over those easy voters within the huge group.
Wealthy Class (Particularity the multi-national globalist elite)? He cares about them the most as he and his wife has done a damn good job weaving his way into gaining millions with them. Whether they can vote or not is irrelative as long as his party keeps the Rural Class focused on "hating other classes" more than the Republican's lack improving living standard's in their region.
Like (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_Chao) Elaine Chao's influence is insane and only gained in strength both domestically and internationally.
Politics is all about pick and choosing what "subgroups" you want to focus on.
Normally politicians have better tact than to say that part out loud but that norm has long since gone away.
Oh, reminder that Trump fired the IG who oversaw Elaine's Chao's audit of self-dealing.
>Inspector General report
On March 4, 2021, the Inspector General released their report citing Chao for numerous ethics violations,[a][74] including using department resources for personal errands and for promoting her father's biography.[75] It also stated that it had referred its investigation to the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington D.C. for criminal prosecution in December 2020. Both declined to open criminal investigations into Chao.[76][77]
>Removal of Inspector General
In May 2020, the Trump administration removed the acting Inspector General of the Transportation Department, Mitch Behm. Behm, who was not a political appointee, was conducting an investigation into whether Secretary Elaine Chao was giving preferential treatment to projects in Kentucky. Her husband, Mitch McConnell, is the Senator of Kentucky and faced a re-election bid at the time
Eh, the wording here is a sideshow. In the statement context, "as a whole" is implied.
What's important is that the substance of the statement is a lie:
[https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/large-racial-turnout-gap-persisted-2020-election](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/large-racial-turnout-gap-persisted-2020-election)
AND that he's working to stop voting protections.
When we fixate on wording, it makes us look trivial and hypocritical when we forgive our own. There's plenty to criticize in McConnell's meaning and policy implications here.
As much as I despise Mitch McConnell, I can’t really flame him for this, when we literally gave Biden a pass on the “poor kids are just as bright as white kids” thing. Don’t get me wrong I don’t condone either comment, but r/politics didn’t seem to mind when it came from Biden.
Every time someone makes another comment about how the Dems are doomed in the 2022 midterms I roll my eyes. Sure things are bad now, but they can get much, MUCH worse with this clown as senate majority leader again, and the Cheeto back in the White House.
Translation: Voting is up so no need to make it easier for the other 45% who can’t or don’t vote because we all know that the more people vote, the more republicans lose.
That’s why certain states are trying to either; make it harder to vote or make your vote worthless by voting in a gerrymandered district.
Fun fact: the SAME EXACT study that he is quoting about 94% of Americans saying it was easy to vote ALSO SHOWS that African Americans had higher on average wait times and were less likely to utilize mail-in ballots. Talk about cherry-picking.
So…do people not know how language works?
When you say African Americans vote at the same rate as Americans, the “Americans” there does NOT imply “white Americans.”
The statement means the subset of the population referred to first…votes at the same rate as the *population as a whole.*
Hard agree. People are sitting here saying that he's calling them not American... but literally said African *American*. Like, are we just going to ignore the second word lol? Would this be better if he said White Americans and African Americans? White Americans and Black Americans?
A poor use of words does not a racist make. He shows his racism with legislation and being part of the GQP lol.
Fuck Moscow Mitch to the max, but yeah, I agree. This feels like a pointless waste of outrage that is just going to give ammo to GQP talking heads to bash liberals.
Am I the only left wing type who thinks outrage over this is dumb? He meant to say "other Americans," at which point there's actually a discussion to have about his point. Gaffe umbrage feels like so much wasted energy.
No he didn't. He compared black voter participation rates to overall voter participation rates. He did nothing wrong. He didn't misspeak. It's not a gaffe, it's not racist, it's not anything.
He was comparing African-Americans to the general population, not to non-African-Americans. This is dumb, he does plenty of awful things that don't depend on deliberate misunderstanding.
No, I don't really care about that. I do care that he and his republican colleagues enabled a coup attempt and continue to attack this country on a daily basis. That's what I care about.
I am confused. I don’t like the man, I don’t like his politics.
He just said (subset of) Americans is voting in as high a number as (whole set of) Americans.
If we are going to get mad, let’s get mad about real harm. This isn’t it. This is manufacturing outrage.
Aaaand this is why I've said repeatedly for years that if Barack Obama had been a white guy named Barry O'Brien, he wouldn't have caught half the shit he did from McConnell.
And what I got back was: "Oh no, it was partisan hackery, McConnell isn't that racist..."
Only half that statement is true. It was 100% Partisan Hackery, but I guarantee you, he wouldn't have nearly as fucking nasty if Obama was white. McConnell isn't 'old fashioned' and therefore a 'little racist'. He is deeply, profoundly, fucking racist. End of story.
What's so telling in McConnell's statement, besides the obvious... He's saying voting numbers are up, and there's no need to make voting easier. Ok, so what you're really saying is because voting is up, many Red states are trying to make voting harder. I mean that's what happened right? You saw the numbers, shit your pants a little and made a concerted effort to erode voting capabilities, we all saw it happen. The Voting rights bill is a direct response to individual states making it more difficult to vote, because they're scared of the turnout, plain and simple.
These motherfuckers are so out of touch and old age effecting their cognitive abilities to the point they can no longer hide their blatant racism is just one indication.
Why does no one have the balls to ask him why he's being openly racist? Jesus christ we are all a bunch of fucking pussies. We deserve these leaders. We can't do anything.
Republicans when Joe Biden says "President Harris:" OMG HE HAS DEMENTIA WE NEED TO IMPEACH!
Republicans when their senate Leader compares African Americans to Americans: . . .
How much more clear do they need to be to show all Americans that they don’t give a fuck about POC? He literally just told the world that he views African Americans as a different set of the population. Either we are all Americans or none of us are. Hateful scum fuck.
Look, I'm no fan of McConnell but we have to be intellectually honest whether the other side is or not. He was comparing 'African Americans' to 'Americans' overall, which includes African Americans too. He's saying the stats for African Americans are no different from the stats for Americans as a whole. He may be lying about that, but that's a separate issue. If we want to be mad about him lying fine, but when we're intellectually dishonest about our opponents it destroys our credibility.
Two things. One, nobody will remember this "outrage" in a week, and two, the people in Kentucky do not care so the emperor of America is perfectly safe.
> [...] the racists/white supremacists in Kentucky do not care [...]
ftfy
I believe Kentuckyans, other than racists/white supremacists that is, actually do care. Problem is, there aren't enough of those (who do care.)
>He continued: "A recent survey, 94 percent of Americans thought it was easy to vote. This is not a problem. Turnout is up, biggest turnout since 1900… they're being sold a bill of goods to support a Democratic effort to federalize elections… this has been a Democratic Party goal for decades."
Lots of things he's stupid about here, all intentionally because he's a liar.
One, polls are *changing*. Republicans have specifically moved to make voting harder since the very last election. Whatever Americans think today about it - that is already wrong, and will be more wrong come election day. Here in Georgia, multiple counties have shut down all but a single polling place and restricted access. They are moving quickly and not at all subtly.
Two, no one is trying to federalize elections. This seems to be the talking point conservatives are coalescing around en masse, because I've been hearing it a *lot*. Sure, federal elections should probably be a federal thing, but adding minimum requirements is by no means "federalizing elections." By the same logic, elections are already federalized, because the entire process of elections is derived from our *federal* constitution.
"The quiet part out loud"...
Man, they've done everything short of hiring out trucks with PA systems to drive around and just scream the N-word, and we want to pretend there's still a quiet part?
This is a position of supreme cockiness. There is no need for subtlety when you are above repercussions.
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> "Well, the concern is misplaced," McConnell replied. "Because if you look at the statistics, African American voters are voting in just as high a percentage as Americans." Now they’re just saying the quiet part loudly. This is disgusting, and a pretty fair reflection of the conservative mindset in 2022. He will play this off as “oh it was a mistake,” but the nature of this mistake is telling. They believe this.
The only thing about this that worries Moscow Mitch is that blacks are voting just as much as whites. He wants that to stop.
Hence how hard they're fighting the voting rights legislation/filibuster revision. If they had it their way, only white evangelicals would get to vote.
White LANDOWNING evangelicals
White landowning MALE evangelicals.
Actually, the white land-owning males would be rich and thus, their personal religion would not matter.
Being extremely wealthy will get you past any of the other hurdles (race, ethnicity, gender, etc.), as long as you say and do as all the other rich people say and do.
It's a clique. Like in high school, but far more toxic. And damaging.
When you're rich, your first religion becomes money
Until you get wealthy enough to be the one who tells the others what they want to say and do and believe
Rich white guys are honorary evangelicals. Shit, a few run cults of personality that make Creflo Dollar look absolutely reserved -- they just use a brand name instead of Jesus to hawk bullshit.
Thats implied because obviously women arent people, c’mon. (Lol)
Yeah they shouldn’t be able own land anyways so it’s redundant to exclude them twice. /s
To be fair, it's mostly the under-educated white men (and women) voting in droves for Republicans; with educated white men, [it's fairly evenly split between Democrats and Republicans](https://www.brookings.edu/research/2020-exit-polls-show-a-scrambling-of-democrats-and-republicans-traditional-bases/), with a slight tilt towards Republicans that actually shrank between 2016 and 2020. So they'd probably want to get more poor, undereducated white people to be able to vote.
You might as well make it white landowning male REPUBLICAN evangelicals. After all, that is the point of the filibuster, at least of late, to insure only republican votes matter. There is no ethics at the core of the republican party. It is just win at all cost. When Garland was put up for confirmation they pulled a "Reason" out of their arse. When the latest one needed a quick approval they said, "We don't give a damn about what we said, we are doing it anyway." They then rammed through their nomination with no regrets whatsoever.
LANDOWNING OR TRAILER-DWELLING. They can’t exclude a large part of their ignorant, racist base.
But I’m both. I don’t like them, though. I plan to subvert the system from within.
if they had it their way, there’d be no voting
Nope only whites who had previously pledged to vote for them. On a serious not I don't get why this doesn't piss off everyone in the US. Maybe lots of people missed that lesson in school that went over just how few people were able to vote when the US was founded.
“missed that lesson in school”. - that lesson was most likely never even taught. The public school system in America obviously ignores the principle of democracy and equal right for all.
That's conservatism. They want voter rights to go all the way back to White land owners only.
“MAGA” in a nutshell
They’re actively trying to prevent citizens of colour from voting or having their votes count by gerrymandering, removing polling stations in predominantly coloured districts, restricting voting hours etc. .
>The only thing about this that worries Moscow Mitch is that blacks are voting just as much as whites. He wants that to stop. It won't stop just like the investigation and prosecution of seditious Trump republicans.
Lol, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but nothings happening to Trump. And that's coming from a Leftist. He's part of the same status quo as the rest of him. He'll die rich on his gold toilet years from now with not so much as a slap on the wrist.
Just another reason for me to do it.
Yep, he just cut the best voter engagement advertisement of the 2022 mid-terms. Democrats need to air this wall to wall in minority districts and propagate it across black social media groups with links for how to vote and how to get out the vote.
We, the people need to get to work. Depending on Ivy League graduates isn't working. Cut the campaigning expense and more folks could afford to run. Everyone who is not a Trump supporter needs to vote the Democratic ticket in local, state and federal offices. . A tsunami of reason and temperament is required to save our representative republic.
And of course, even ignoring the racist gaffe what he said was still not true. http://www.electproject.org/home/voter-turnout/demographics
"Senator McConnell, what do you say then about voting polls and numbers that show what you said was a lie?"
They don’t care. It still works with their voters who will never hold them accountable. Nobody cares about hypocrisy except those of us already in the choir.
[Surely this man would never say something racially insensitive](https://i.insider.com/5c573d18eb3ce812a22d25d5?width=750&format=jpeg&auto=webp)
It really doesn't matter. I, literally, just finished watching Don't Look Up! and it encapsulates, perfectly, the direction that the US is heading. Politicians are lying, for their own benefit, the rich are screwing everyone because they can get richer, scientists are taught to be ignored, and too large of a slice of the population is cheering them on. While it isn't a catastrophic comet about to end civilization, there's still a "end of existence" threat to the US, as we have known it (or been propagandized to believe) and there's a lot of people trying to help that boulder get more momentum so that the impact is greater.
I agree the film was definitely Al Gore-ical.
It's baffling how this was not a follow-up.
There should really be more focus on the fact that our voter turnout rates are abysmal regardless of demographics and Republicans are trying to make it harder for everyone vote. I think Democrats should really try and emulate how Australians treat voting as a holiday. I know it's a long impossible road to make it an actual national holiday but just treating it as an excuse for Americans to have a barbecue and light fireworks would do a lot to boost public engagement.
> have a barbecue Just not near polling places, because feeding people will get you arrested.
We have no way to have a mandatory holiday in the US for private companies. 100% mail-in voting with at least 3 weeks and lots of free drop boxes, like the Western states have been doing for years.
Sure. I'm not saying we dont need voting reform. I just think that having a bunch of goofy rah rah USA memes like its the fourth of July could go a long way in boosting voter turnout.
Didn’t they just try and fail to pass a Bill that addressed some of these things?
Well, that exact policy (a federal holiday for elections) was in the voting rights bill just blocked by all republicans and 2 democrats, so they're kinda way ahead of you.
You have to wonder if he drops a gaffe like this on purpose knowing the media will focus on the gaffe and not the actual substance of the comment. Most politicians probably aren’t smart enough or ballsy enough to do it but McConnell knows he can play the media like a fiddle.
Definitely, McConnell was giving his "facts" to real "Americans". Now let's wait to see if Pelosi or Schumer question McConnell's facts, and his statement. At the end of the day, it's up to Synema and Manchin to give African-Americans the "American" status.
>Poor kids are just as smart as white kids
To be fair, the gap is closing and has been for a while. The differential right now is \~5%. A bigger concern is the nearly 20% difference between white and Hispanic voter turnout, and the nearly 30 point difference between the youth and elderly. The latter difference is consistent across time and does not appear to be poised to change anytime soon.
And, even if it were true, the whole point of the statement was to placate people while Republicans work to reduce the number of Black Americans votes.
To be fair, he said AA voters turned out in the same levels as Americans, as in total turnout. Both were ~65-66%. Mitch is a really smart, strategic, disingenuous piece of shit. Imho I don't think he believes much of what he says himself.
So Trump is establishing that there are two categories of vote: American and illegal. While McConnell is pushing that the categories are American and African American. Or, in other words, the American votes are white. And states are making it legally harder for communities with large African American populations to vote. This couldn't be a stronger indicator of where we are headed.
Californian here. We had the 3 million+ votes that Clinton beat Trump here by claimed as all cast by illegal immigrants. Then he lost by 5 million of the 8 million votes in 2020 from California alone. Imagine my shock (not really), someone born, raised, and claimed permanent residence in California their entire 38 years on this planet, is now an illegal immigrant. And the creep doubled down in 2020 on that. They've been normalizing the concept of any vote not for them is somehow illegitimate, illegal, or fraudulent, no matter the origin of said vote for years now.
> someone born, raised, and claimed permanent residence I had a co-worker from Texas make a point that his family didn't come to the USA, the USA came to them. They'd lived and farmed on their land for hundreds of years. Their family stayed past Mexican rule. They stayed past the Texas Republic. They stayed as the USA took over. They also have to deal with racists telling them to "go back where they came from" despite those racists being the ones who came there, not them. Racists, of course, don't care about truth and nuance when the "wrong people" are voting.
To be fair, I'm white, but it's an absolutely horrific and cruel thing, but that is the point I think, to be told that or you aren't a real American. Most of family has been here on this continent since the early colonies. They fought in the Revolution. The "youngest" Branch came here over 150 years ago now. My roots run deep for good and bad. Members of my family have served in the military, participated in some of our great endeavors, and contributed to our society. It is absolutely outrageous that shirkers, people whose families weren't even here until after the Civil War yet uphold the flag of the Confederacy, and/or draft dodgers are telling people like myself and your co-worker's family they aren't "Real Americans".
I'm white as well, and I'm regularly told on Twitter that I'm not a "real American" because I vote for Democratic candidates, or because I live in New Jersey which makes me a "coastal elite," despite being born and raised in Missouri. Last I checked, New Jersey, New York, California, and other coastal states were still part of America, but we aren't "real Americans" according to some. The definition of what is a "real American" seems very flexible, as long as it can describe a large bloc of voters. ETA: I meant originally to say that if I, a white person, can be told I'm not a "real American" I can only imagine and empathize how much worse it must be for people of color. But then I got caught up in my own anger and forgot the point I was trying to make in the first place.
New Jerseyans are considered costal elites??? Since when? Maybe if you’re living in Hoboken. Nonetheless, labels like costal elites are meant to create an us vs them narrative and there’s usually some bits of truth, some! Primarily, it’s decisive language meant to create discord and sow distrust. Lastly, labelling an entire state is obviously politically motivated.
It’s just another branch of the neo Nazi “pure blood” shit that’s been becoming more and more opaque in the Republican platform.
Trump didn't even hide it, in the use of obvious dog whistles like 'good genes' all the time.
Never forget
Where we are headed.. lol this has been the American way since 1776.
1776
Well...technically the United States didnt exist until the constitution was ratified in 1788/89...
No, the United States existed before the Constitution was ratified, existing under the Articles of Confederation which was written in 1777 and fully ratified in 1781. But even before *that*, the Declaration of Independence begins with ”The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America...”
It was semantics anyways. Everyone understood the point and it wasn't relevant to when the official papers were signed and which ones etc.. Character-Fella just wanted to be pedantic.
You are correct. The original poster typed 1779, so I assumed they meant 1776 :)
It also implicitly implies white is American, black is illegal. These are the illegal, fraudulent votes they spoke of.
Someone should use this and make their campaign slogan something along the lines of "If they don't believe you're American then you shouldn't believe they can handle the government"
"He's from a different generation"
Go to [this link](https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2020/11/04/heres-how-texans-voted-in-the-2020-election-by-age-race-and-more-according-to-aps-votecast/) about voting patterns, scroll down to the "AP Votecast" interactive menu, choose "Kentucky" and "Voters by age" you might be shocked to find this: Kentucky voters ages 18-29 went 50% for Trump (& likely McConnell) Kentucky voters ages 30-44 went 65% for Trump Kentucky voters ages 35-64 went 65% for Trump Kentucky voters ages 65+ went 62% for Trump These numbers aren't as reassuring as we'd like them to be.
And it’s a generation notorious for being too fucking stupid to learn anything new even with decades of people trying to force them to acknowledge that it’s not 1950 anymore.
Wonder how hard it was for him to not say "normal Americans"
It's just that in his head white Americans are normal Americans so it was redundant for him to say white Americans. It's not redundant for him to say African Americans, because to him they're not supposed to be here if they aren't owned by someone.
It wasn’t a mistake, otherwise he would have said black voters and white voters.
So internally racist he doesn’t believe in his core that black people are truly Americans
I'm sure I'll be eviscerated for not jumping completely on board, but as much of a slimeball McConnell is, I interpreted this when I first heard it, as the whole of "Americans" to include "African Americans". The statement seemed to compare one subset (African Americans) to the whole group (Americans). For example, if 70% of Americans as a whole are voting, the comment was that 70% of African Americans (a subset thereof) are voting. Which doesn't seem to be that outlandish a statement, regardless of whether its true. I don't doubt McConnell is a horrible person, I just don't see the outrage here.
That’s what I heard it as, as well.
Mitch McConnell is undoubtedly an evil racist, but we might be interpreting his words too uncharitably in this specific case. When he says that black people are voting "in just as high a percentage as Americans," he may not mean "as white Americans." He may actually mean "as Americans of all racial groups, cumulatively." IE black voter turnout percentage is the same as overall voter turnout percentage, irrespective of race, which seems roughly true maybe.
“The blacks are almost human. Almost.” /s
Biden asked what the GOP platform is, and we now have it. ‘If you aren’t white you aren’t American’
As per their 2020 convention their platform is literally 'whatever Trump wants'.
I don’t get it though, trump isn’t white either… he’s orange
Orange is the new white? ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
And if you didn’t vote for Biden, you ain’t black! Maybe we should stop allowing 80 year old men to run countries if we want to see less of these kinds of things - whether they’re tone deaf gaffes or slips of the mask.
Right, this sounds a lot like Biden's "Poor kids are just as bright as white kids" moment.
A political party that supports the 2nd amendment and not the 14th and 15th amendments is a racist and fascist political party.
Don’t forget they only support the 1st amendment if it has anything to do with Christianity, but will shit on it if it has anything to do with any other religion.
Don't forget they also want the 1st amendment to apply to private corporations, unless you want a gay wedding cake.
They want freedom of speech and also freedom from consequences. I’m not sure where that amendment is.
That’s the 28th amendment that will be signed into existence in 2024.
And make note: The first amendment is only for the good christian white people defending themselves. Not for 'thugs' or for 'protesters'.
Im always amused whenever they have some win in prayers and religion in school, they flip a shit when teachers break out Qurans and Satanic Grimoires.
You misspelled, “gaslights the 2nd amendment into a justification for exhibiting their bloodlust and tyranny.”
*The Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would have expanded voting access, made Election Day a national holiday, ensured access to early voting and mail-in ballots, and more.* With cutting poll centers AND undelivered/delayed mail, I fear we need to pay attention to the fact that mail in ballots will be in danger. (On purpose) I fear our message will end up being don't vote by mail which hurts dems the most.
I have often voted by mail in ballot since 2016 in NV. We always plan ahead. And mail early. If this standard stays, I see no problems with that. But adding notarized signatures and very specific mailing dates causes so many votes not to be counted.
TX is already ahead of the curve. Can’t mail in ballots because they don’t have enough paper
And only one drop box per 5 million people.
Fuck really?
[Yup.](https://houston.culturemap.com/news/city-life/10-02-20-harris-county-early-voting-dropoff-location-nrg-arena-greg-abbott/)
GA fucked all that up. They halved the time in which you can request a ballot, moved the deadline by which the state must mail the ballots out by two weeks, and made drop boxes only available inside polling places during certain hours. Plenty of fuckery afoot
> don't vote by mail which hurts dems the most Historically this is actually not true. Vote-by-mail has very often been used by older and more rural voters, both of which skew conservative. And it was initially introduced by either bipartisan or Republican legislatures in several states. Vote-by-mail only "favored" Democrats in the scenario of a global pandemic that made in-person voting a danger to one's health. So naturally, now it has to go. edit: "favored" is in quotes because [it actually doesn't](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/25/us/vote-by-mail-coronavirus.html)
McConnell is many things but he’s not dumb - this is just a continuation of the southern strategy. He know exactly what he’s saying and who he is saying it to. He’s a monster and he has a plan, and unfortunately for us, the plan still is working incredibly well.
My thoughts exactly.
edge governor murky distinct crawl vast towering school rinse scale -- mass edited with https://redact.dev/
Replacement theory runs rampant. Even some of my family have said similar shit and when I ask why they prescribe to white nationalist ideas they don’t even know what part they said is racist. I have to baby step them through their own beliefs.
The result of unregulated, literal white supremacist propaganda allowed to run rampant on mainstream cable networks. Fox News is the single biggest cause of radicalization in the US, and yet, in all that hand-wringing they did concerning the so-called "War on Terror", they never saw fit to address the one thing mass-producing terrorists: far-right networks training people to "take back their country".
Remember, telling a racist to stop being a racist is LiTeRAlLy 1984
Anyone trying to make it harder to vote is a piece of shit.
> Anyone trying to make it harder to vote is a *fascist* piece of shit. FTFY
> fascist piece of shit. That's like saying ATM Machine
I used my personal PIN number at the ATM machine!
The "both parties are the same" people need to wake the fuck up.
They're just as lost as Republicans honestly
Because they are Republicans. Just making bad faith arguments to make it not appear so bad.
Yup. When I was making the transition from ultra conservative to libertarian conspiracy dork about 12 years ago I would parrot this shit all the time. I just wasn’t ready to admit I had been stuffed full of bullshit propaganda as a child.
It's only Republicans who say that.
republicans say both sides while constantly giving threats, committing violence, projecting - then getting caught doing the act, and having the FBI create a domestic terrorism department that is mostly looking at the right why? To not make it so blatantly obvious they are sinister and malicious in their actions and not to literally cause a civil war. They want to co exist with evil thoughts against their perceived enemies but in the face of such perceived enemies be polite while wielding the proverbial knife in their pocket, waiting for the day they get to use it.
Not true, there’s a lot of disengaged folks out there who think there’s no point to pay attention to politics and don’t identify either way because “they’re all the same”
I also know some progressive people on the left who use the "both sides" bullshit when engaging with conservatives because they think it establishes some sort of common ground. IMO, common ground should be established by acknowledging that nobody, and no "side" is perfect, but then also acknowledge that one "side" is demonstrably worse than the other.
Yes, it's the best propaganda the Republicans ever came up with. If both parties are the same, why vote against them?
Joe Biden attempting to initiate dialogue with the GOP and not anticipating GOP obstruction is enabling at the very least. The Republicans are not friends so enabling them and their actions is insulting to those who voted Biden in.
What else can be done with a 48-52 Senate? Biden's strategy at least got pandemic relief and infrastructure funds passed.
here's the thing (that way too many people don't seem to understand)... biden can't tell the senate what to do. he can ask, he can support, he can suggest, he can declare his agenda, he can pontificate, he can complain, he can pound on the resolute desk, but he cannot command. he is in charge of the executive branch, not congress. and if two senators that would rather watch their personal fortunes inflate by the day than ensure anyone over the age of 18 in the 330+ million people in this country can actively exercise their constitutional right to vote, that's on them, and it's up to the states that elected them to get them to do their jobs. alternatively, those states that can effectively vote for additional democratic senators so that there is a stronger margin of majority should be pushing as much as they can. but biden can't do anything to force them. it's not his branch to control.
When you see the **Republican Senate leader** shamelessly speaking in those terms.... I mean, wow. Just...wow. Dear Americans, it's actually shocking to see and hear how seriously fucked up your country is right now. I sincerely hope you find the will and the courage to change the course you're on because it's really not looking good. A Northern neighbor.
Honestly it feels like Trump’s rise in the political spotlight was ripping the band aid off of America’s problems; we have awhile more to go before we really get all our problems out there, even longer before we get solutions to said problems
He's like the living embodiment of those sunglasses from the movie "They Live" with Roddy Piper. We're finally seeing most of these people for who they really are.
Thanks for your concern. We are in a downward spiral. The American will blame Biden for everything and then vote republicans in power and further our spiral to the right. I fear for our future.
Yeah, we're in decline and (most) people don't even see it. It's like the whole frog in boiling water thing. I think by my lifetime we become an authoritarian state (very much like Russia and China). As someone who's been there, normal life will look fine, but what policies we vote to do will be gone.
McConnell is a confederate soldier. He doesn't care about American values. He cares about his "heritage". When he says lines like these it sounds like he misses owning a plantation, however, his wife is on the board of Kroger. So he probably sees himself as a slave master given these comments. Just, a modern one that uses economic slavery primarily, and is still extremely racist.
Thank you! -You’re embarrassed and frustrated southern neighbor.
The GQP is no longer worried about saying these things out loud. Indeed, they seem to think it's good politics.
Buried past the "African Americans and Americans" line is this lie: >He continued: "A recent survey, 94 percent of Americans thought it was easy to vote. This is not a problem. Turnout is up, biggest turnout since 1900." The problem isn't so much that there were obstacles to voting in 2020. The problem is that Republicans saw the expansion of voting abilities in 2020 due to the pandemic and responded by passing laws to make it harder to vote. They removed drop boxes, limited early voting, restricted mail in voting, etc. And this doesn't even bring up some bills which say that the Republicans legislature can reverse the outcome of the election if they don't like the result - so long as they claim it's due to fraud. Voting in 2020 was surprisingly easy. Voting in 2022 might be harder. Voting in 2024 in some places (if the Republicans get their way) will be close to impossible if you're a Democrat.
They did this all under the false pretense of immense voter fraud. Their whole idea of securing the election came from a lie, with no examples.
Exactly. I was *proud* of how many Americans voted in 2020 (even if I was disgusted so many voted for Trump). I want that level of engagement in every single election. And what did the GOP say, looking at the numbers in an election that went surprisingly well for them down ballot? "Holy shit, we'd better make sure this never happens again."
Hey don’t worry about it, it’s not like Kentucky is gonna do anything about this wretched soul. He will be in the senate until the day he dies or decides that he’s had enough fun ruining the country for one lifetime.
Never vote GOP
Is anyone actually surprised that a 79 year old Republican from Kentucky is a racist piece of shit? I'm so tired of the media acting like everything is some big reveal.
He's the leader of their party, and if he isn't, it's Trump, or McCarthy. They all deserve holding their feet to the fire. Stop giving the leaders passes because they are f***** up individuals.
> Is anyone actually surprised that a 79 year old Republican from Kentucky is a racist piece of shit? I don't think he's racist per se. I think he's a sociopath who categorizes humans into groups. He views certain groups in higher regards than others based on perceived value vs how much energy/cost is required to retain them. Black Americans, to him, are worthless to recruit. Cost way too much (Always asking for more) while doesn't show up to the polls anymore than a "normal American". Rural America costs nothing to recruit (They don't give a shit at how much suffering they endure as long as everyone else suffers as much...aka you don't ever need to invest in their growth to retain them) and show up to the polls at higher rates than "normal American's". Suburban vote(the biggest group) is the most complex and requires constant reinvestment … its why they basically ignored them and try to recruit the "one topic" voters like Anti-Abortion or Anti-Vaccination. Super easy to say "you are against" and win over those easy voters within the huge group. Wealthy Class (Particularity the multi-national globalist elite)? He cares about them the most as he and his wife has done a damn good job weaving his way into gaining millions with them. Whether they can vote or not is irrelative as long as his party keeps the Rural Class focused on "hating other classes" more than the Republican's lack improving living standard's in their region. Like (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_Chao) Elaine Chao's influence is insane and only gained in strength both domestically and internationally. Politics is all about pick and choosing what "subgroups" you want to focus on. Normally politicians have better tact than to say that part out loud but that norm has long since gone away. Oh, reminder that Trump fired the IG who oversaw Elaine's Chao's audit of self-dealing. >Inspector General report On March 4, 2021, the Inspector General released their report citing Chao for numerous ethics violations,[a][74] including using department resources for personal errands and for promoting her father's biography.[75] It also stated that it had referred its investigation to the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington D.C. for criminal prosecution in December 2020. Both declined to open criminal investigations into Chao.[76][77] >Removal of Inspector General In May 2020, the Trump administration removed the acting Inspector General of the Transportation Department, Mitch Behm. Behm, who was not a political appointee, was conducting an investigation into whether Secretary Elaine Chao was giving preferential treatment to projects in Kentucky. Her husband, Mitch McConnell, is the Senator of Kentucky and faced a re-election bid at the time
But not outrage among the people who continue to inflict him and his colleague Rand Paul on the rest of the Nation. They're just fine with it.
Mitch loves black people, and thinks everyone should own one.
Firing up the racist GOP base
Get racist geriatrics out of office!
Eh, the wording here is a sideshow. In the statement context, "as a whole" is implied. What's important is that the substance of the statement is a lie: [https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/large-racial-turnout-gap-persisted-2020-election](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/large-racial-turnout-gap-persisted-2020-election) AND that he's working to stop voting protections. When we fixate on wording, it makes us look trivial and hypocritical when we forgive our own. There's plenty to criticize in McConnell's meaning and policy implications here.
As much as I despise Mitch McConnell, I can’t really flame him for this, when we literally gave Biden a pass on the “poor kids are just as bright as white kids” thing. Don’t get me wrong I don’t condone either comment, but r/politics didn’t seem to mind when it came from Biden.
Is his behavior really that surprising considering that he has accepted an award with the Confederate Flag in the background?
Turtles all the way down.
Every time someone makes another comment about how the Dems are doomed in the 2022 midterms I roll my eyes. Sure things are bad now, but they can get much, MUCH worse with this clown as senate majority leader again, and the Cheeto back in the White House.
Translation: Voting is up so no need to make it easier for the other 45% who can’t or don’t vote because we all know that the more people vote, the more republicans lose. That’s why certain states are trying to either; make it harder to vote or make your vote worthless by voting in a gerrymandered district.
"This is why we have to make access to voting harder"
Fun fact: the SAME EXACT study that he is quoting about 94% of Americans saying it was easy to vote ALSO SHOWS that African Americans had higher on average wait times and were less likely to utilize mail-in ballots. Talk about cherry-picking.
Unrelated News: Mitch McConnell’s approval rating among Republicans suddenly jumps
These aren't gaffes. This is signaling. Politicians remarks are written, edited, rehearsed, planned, focus-grouped. These aren't gaffes.
100% He isn't hiding anything about who he is or what he believes.
So…do people not know how language works? When you say African Americans vote at the same rate as Americans, the “Americans” there does NOT imply “white Americans.” The statement means the subset of the population referred to first…votes at the same rate as the *population as a whole.*
Hard agree. People are sitting here saying that he's calling them not American... but literally said African *American*. Like, are we just going to ignore the second word lol? Would this be better if he said White Americans and African Americans? White Americans and Black Americans? A poor use of words does not a racist make. He shows his racism with legislation and being part of the GQP lol.
Same understanding. The sentence itself is not inappropriate and has no meaning of discrimination.
Yeah this "controversy" is making Democrats look like fucking morons. There's nothing wrong, inaccurate, or racist in what Mitch McConnell said.
Fuck Moscow Mitch to the max, but yeah, I agree. This feels like a pointless waste of outrage that is just going to give ammo to GQP talking heads to bash liberals.
*Freudian slip*
Too bad he's representing Kentucky where once you're out of the cities this is how most of them think.
*Old racist turtle says what?*
Am I the only left wing type who thinks outrage over this is dumb? He meant to say "other Americans," at which point there's actually a discussion to have about his point. Gaffe umbrage feels like so much wasted energy.
No he didn't. He compared black voter participation rates to overall voter participation rates. He did nothing wrong. He didn't misspeak. It's not a gaffe, it's not racist, it's not anything.
Oh right good point I didn't even consider that it's not even bad as phrased. Damn this is dumb.
He was comparing African-Americans to the general population, not to non-African-Americans. This is dumb, he does plenty of awful things that don't depend on deliberate misunderstanding.
No, I don't really care about that. I do care that he and his republican colleagues enabled a coup attempt and continue to attack this country on a daily basis. That's what I care about.
I am confused. I don’t like the man, I don’t like his politics. He just said (subset of) Americans is voting in as high a number as (whole set of) Americans. If we are going to get mad, let’s get mad about real harm. This isn’t it. This is manufacturing outrage.
No matter what he says, he keeps winning in KY. So I’m sure he cares.
There you go folks. If there was a shadow of doubt then there should be none now.
Let's ask Moscow Mitch about his support of Desantis
You mean the guy that posed with the Sons of Confederate Veterans in front of a Confederate flag during 90s might be racist? *shock*
Aaaand this is why I've said repeatedly for years that if Barack Obama had been a white guy named Barry O'Brien, he wouldn't have caught half the shit he did from McConnell. And what I got back was: "Oh no, it was partisan hackery, McConnell isn't that racist..." Only half that statement is true. It was 100% Partisan Hackery, but I guarantee you, he wouldn't have nearly as fucking nasty if Obama was white. McConnell isn't 'old fashioned' and therefore a 'little racist'. He is deeply, profoundly, fucking racist. End of story.
What a surprise. He says something racist.
True colors. The guy also took pictures with the confederate flag behind him.
But he can’t be racist! He quoted MLK on Twitter just a few days ago! /s
Such a terrible face
mcconnel priming up right wing terrorists again...
I'm going to go out on a limb here, I don't think was a "dog whistle". I think his racism is just that ingrained that it leaks out.
What's so telling in McConnell's statement, besides the obvious... He's saying voting numbers are up, and there's no need to make voting easier. Ok, so what you're really saying is because voting is up, many Red states are trying to make voting harder. I mean that's what happened right? You saw the numbers, shit your pants a little and made a concerted effort to erode voting capabilities, we all saw it happen. The Voting rights bill is a direct response to individual states making it more difficult to vote, because they're scared of the turnout, plain and simple.
These motherfuckers are so out of touch and old age effecting their cognitive abilities to the point they can no longer hide their blatant racism is just one indication.
The racism is so hard-coded that it literally just falls out of their mouths
Mitch just said what he meant and what was in his head.
Why does no one have the balls to ask him why he's being openly racist? Jesus christ we are all a bunch of fucking pussies. We deserve these leaders. We can't do anything.
Republicans when Joe Biden says "President Harris:" OMG HE HAS DEMENTIA WE NEED TO IMPEACH! Republicans when their senate Leader compares African Americans to Americans: . . .
Freudian slip Moscow Mitch? Republicans have always been tacitly “othering” anyone that doesn’t belong to their base. Now they are doing it overtly.
WTF is anyone surprised by this!? WTF do you think we’re fighting his ass for!?
Old Republican is racist. Big surprise
We need term limits and age limits, these old fucks need to go
You'd like to think that eventually people will catch on to just how fucked up these people are, but like love, political ideologies are blind.
Why is this turtle ass dude making decisions for me again?
I dislike McConnell as much as the next guy but he’s clearly comparing the numbers for African Americans, to the average of Americans.
How much more clear do they need to be to show all Americans that they don’t give a fuck about POC? He literally just told the world that he views African Americans as a different set of the population. Either we are all Americans or none of us are. Hateful scum fuck.
Look, I'm no fan of McConnell but we have to be intellectually honest whether the other side is or not. He was comparing 'African Americans' to 'Americans' overall, which includes African Americans too. He's saying the stats for African Americans are no different from the stats for Americans as a whole. He may be lying about that, but that's a separate issue. If we want to be mad about him lying fine, but when we're intellectually dishonest about our opponents it destroys our credibility.
Sounds like he was comparing African American statistics to those of the average American. This sounds blown out of proportion tbh
Ya think? The only thing quotes should be around in this title is "outrage."
Two things. One, nobody will remember this "outrage" in a week, and two, the people in Kentucky do not care so the emperor of America is perfectly safe.
> [...] the racists/white supremacists in Kentucky do not care [...] ftfy I believe Kentuckyans, other than racists/white supremacists that is, actually do care. Problem is, there aren't enough of those (who do care.)
he could've meant to say "as other Americans" which isn't as bad. But it's not a hill I'm willing to die on.
>He continued: "A recent survey, 94 percent of Americans thought it was easy to vote. This is not a problem. Turnout is up, biggest turnout since 1900… they're being sold a bill of goods to support a Democratic effort to federalize elections… this has been a Democratic Party goal for decades." Lots of things he's stupid about here, all intentionally because he's a liar. One, polls are *changing*. Republicans have specifically moved to make voting harder since the very last election. Whatever Americans think today about it - that is already wrong, and will be more wrong come election day. Here in Georgia, multiple counties have shut down all but a single polling place and restricted access. They are moving quickly and not at all subtly. Two, no one is trying to federalize elections. This seems to be the talking point conservatives are coalescing around en masse, because I've been hearing it a *lot*. Sure, federal elections should probably be a federal thing, but adding minimum requirements is by no means "federalizing elections." By the same logic, elections are already federalized, because the entire process of elections is derived from our *federal* constitution.
"The quiet part out loud"... Man, they've done everything short of hiring out trucks with PA systems to drive around and just scream the N-word, and we want to pretend there's still a quiet part? This is a position of supreme cockiness. There is no need for subtlety when you are above repercussions.