Ever.

I’m 54 so I’ve heard them all and we have no sense of humor about it.

Other than racism, do you see ANY possible motive for any of those things you’re asking about? Or are these things automatically racist?

They aren’t automatically racist.

If however your target’s for vote caging are always black then that is de facto a tool to hurt black voters.

I’ll give an example of something that I am sure no one in their heart thinks is racist but turns on the loathing of the GOP to 11.

It is the assumption that all black people care about from the Democratic party is welfare. It is as if some time warp exists and these people think it’s always 1972.

Turth is most black Democrats care about the same thing every other Democrat cares about and most Republicans too. Having a good job in a safe environment, good schools for their kids, adequate police protection without violating their civil rights, and clean water.

The goodies we do want are the same as everyone else, Medicare, Social Security, unemployment benefits at a decent level when we need them.

Welfare is a non-issue. It was dealt wil nearly 20 yars ago.

Personally when the economy is on its feet I make over six figures and that’s not counting my wife’s income.

I’ve never been on welfare nor do I know anyone who has. That’s one insult, one we perceive as solely based on race you could put a stop to right now.

And those who cannot see what this kind of rigid, uncritical, self-defeating thinking is doing to our country - both right and left - may live to see the day where useful dialogue and reasoned debate become an impossibility and our country dissolves into weak, divided, quarreling bunch of ideologues who prevent us from facing vital challenges both at home and abroad.

Yet I see this same approach coming from you, Rick. You call a reader of your site that he is a closet klansman for trying to explain a statement from Rush that you feel he takes out of context. It seems to me that the supposed “non-ideologues” have their own brand of rigidity. You assume Rush Limbaugh does not offer reasoned debate (that I disagree with you on) and so when someone tries to point out where you are wrong, you name call.

Seems to me that you should look in the mirror before you attack the rest of Conservatism.

Sounds like a fun game. I’ll give it a shot.

“…could you address the specific issue of paying for mailing lists to magazines that are known to be popular with that who are unquestionably racist (i.e. Spotlight) in order to reach their readers without having to actually say anything racist yourself.”

No.

This doesn’t lend itself very easily to a yes or no answer, but I’ll assume for now that you meant something along the lines of the other questions (Will the GOP stop paying for mailing lists…?).

Frankly, in the end, I don’t believe candidates on either side of the aisle care much about the opinions of the people who vote for them. Mailing lists are simply another tool both sides use to drive people to the polls (hopefully, to vote for them). I think we’d all be pretty disappointed in the types of people politicians go vote-hunting for. In fact, I suspect most Democrats would be happy to have those racist GOP’ers pull the lever for them rather than their opponent.

“Will the GOP explicitly take on the issue of the Confederate flag in official government settings?”

Yes.

Eventually. If you think this issue is driven only be race (or even largely by racism at this point), then you need to dig deeper.

“Will the GOP stop using vote caging and voter roll purging tactics in areas dominated by black voters?”

No.

Neither party will stop doing questionably legal things to drive people to or away from the polls if it benefits them. The GOP has no lock on that tactic.

My turn.

Other than racism, do you see ANY possible motive for any of those things you’re asking about? Or are these things automatically racist?

Not speaking for Augustine, that would probably be Rep. Geoff Davis, R-Ky. in 2008: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/04/gop-congressman.html
He was speaking of then-Senator B. Obama. Rep. Davis appears to be white in his bio picture on wikipedi. (and to answer your question completely, B. Obama is half-white, half-black but is generally considered black.) Rep. Davis subsequently apologized.
Rep Davis is about two years older than B. Obama.

And those who cannot see what this kind of rigid, uncritical, self-defeating thinking is doing to our country - both right and left - may live to see the day where useful dialogue and reasoned debate become an impossibility and our country dissolves into weak, divided, quarreling bunch of ideologues who prevent us from facing vital challenges both at home and abroad.

The history buff inside me is reminded of the public and political vitriol of the 1850’s when thinking of all the madness that is currently occupying our lawmakers and media outlets. (Abraham Lincoln’s “House Divided” speech has never sounded more relevant, today’s lack of moral clarity on either side notwithstanding.) All democracies face touchy and divisive issues that spilt citizens opinions and votes, yet history tells us that only a very few specific topics are capable of tearing nations apart.

Therefore, is it too much to ask that the Stimulus/Deficit and Obamacare struggles return to a respectful tone and not further inflame our worst passions? Otherwise, I fear it will take generations for our country to heal from all this…

Is there any lengths to which some Obama supporters won’t go in order to discredit a particular swath of criticism?

Now, having gotten that out of your system could you address the specific issue of paying for mailing lists to magazines that are known to be popular with that who are unquestionably racist (i.e. Spotlight) in order to reach their readers without having to actually say anything racist yourself.

Will the GOP explicitly take on the issue of the Confederate flag in official government settings?

Will the GOP stop using vote caging and voter roll purging tactics in areas dominated by black voters?

A simple yes or no will do for a start. Details can follow.