What Drivel!

" Newt is a nasty old pol who plays the race card with full-throated, venomous joy"

I never heard such nonsense in my life.

To left wing professors like Fellman ( do you suppose there are any conservative professors of history at Simon Fraser?) all Republicans are racist, and any black Republican, like Herman Cain, is an Uncle Tom.

He provides zero evidence that Gingrich is a
racist. Just because you're still portraying South Carolina and the South as they supposedly were in the 1960's, please don't ask us to join you in your time warp. If you see "food stamp" as a code word for black, that's your problem - far more white people are on food stamps than black. And Obama's policies have put record numbers of people of all colours on welfare.

As Rush Limbaugh says, Liberals are obsessed with race, while Conservatives are colour blind. To paraphrase Martin Luther King said, we look for character, not exterior shading. Newt might not be a poster boy for character, but neither are many democrats (Bill Clinton?).To label Newt a racist is mud slinging of the lowest order.

When you can't refute the message, attack the messenger.

Thanks Professor Fellman

It is the easiest thing in the world to slip back into scapegoating, finding a powerless group to blame. We know the code when white politicians divide the world into black and white without naming them. And we don't have to do any research because the impulse to hate and fear is in the primitive part of the brain and the gut. Its always there.

Sooke.

All you have to do is listen to the lies that come out of Newt's mouth.

the putrid message

Newt is trying to sell to the voters is sadly similar to the one some people are trying to peddle as regards First Nations people in Canada. The human animal seems sadly capable of hating anyone who isn't a near mirror image of Self. I don't consider Obama to be any kind of success as a president but the world will be at peril if the like of Gingrich is to become Commander in Chief of the largest military force on the globe.

You're a utter embarrassment to this Canadian.

Just finished reading "Racist Campaign Shows US Still Craves Baloney on White Bread"

I am shaking my head in utter amazement here.

You state your opinion without providing one single stitch of evidence of any racism from Newt. You see a Southern White male and because he is a white male from the south, you assume he is in the clan, he hates the president simply because the president is black and that when Newt says "people on food stamps" he must mean blacks because you know as a white male from the south he simply must be a racist.

The racist in this opinion peice is not Newt, it's you. You are projecting all your own hateful racist thinking on Newt and all the other white people of the south whom you arrogantly categorize as racists, religious fundamentalist, klan supporting, black haters.

I think you need to get out of your safe secure Ontario ivory tower. In the meantime I request you be quiet and stop embarassing the rest of Canada. There is enough hatred of Americans in the world already without you promoting this kind baseless opinionated nonsense as if it were an informed Canadian opinion.

And that is my opinion.

To any White USA Southerners reading this I do apologize.

Newt, Racist Campaign

To those of you out there who do not believe that the racist card is being played by Newt, well just listen to the guy. His comments about "The Poor" needing examples to get them off of welfare and food stamps, give them jobs in school, cleaning toilets and doing janitorial work. My god do you really need it spelled out?
Newt is a mean spirited, hypocritical bag of hot air and the absolute best example of what is wrong in US politics and the GOP.
To say that Newt is not playing the race card and pandering to the thinly veiled racist crowd, well you just aren't listening or you just find it too hard to believe that this sort of thing still has legs in US politics. It does, and its going to get more heated as the true colours come out.
Good article and unfortunately, very true!

to pdavies

Hm, I have to ask how much time you have spent in the Southern USA. I can assure you, I have spent a lot because I am a snowbird. A substantial percentage of the poorest people in the south are WHITE not Black. I just don't see how you say when Newt says "poor" he means "Black". And I see a lot of interracial poor families too. Maybe you can explain to me just how it is you know that Newt really means "Black" when he says "poor". Do you have special mind reading abilities?

Ah yes a snowbird...

really sees the poor people in the Southern USA and is therefore an expert on which race forms the majority of them. This is just what the good ole US of A needs right now, another George Dubya old fart on his third wife talking about family values and the religious right laps it up.

If Gingrich wins the nomination...

If Gingrich wins the nomination, who would be his vice-presidential nomination? What scares me if this happens is he might pick Rick Santorum.

The American paranoid style of politics.

I agree with Judith and Sooke: this article is an embarrassment.

As an American ex-pat Fellman has brought the "paranoid style" of US politics with him to Canada.

There is a point at which wildly labelling others as hatemongers becomes hate speech in itself and Fellman has reached it.

Sooke

Easy on the kool aid buddy! And just like Woodstock, stay away from the brown acid. Next thing, you'll be seeing Newt and Harper cavorting in a closet wearing nothing but fishnet stockings and shit eating grins. Wait! What's that? Peter McKay parachuting in from a military plane! THE HUMANITY!!!

Question.

So all those U.S. ex-pats might be offended. The last thing we need is a tolerance for American style politics. harper is getting us close enough. Keep it all south of the 49th. They deserve it.

Thanks for the apology/Do your research

Judith19, as a white American who has lived in Southern states, Northern states and Canada, I accept your apology and appreciate the spirit in which it was given.

Now, I like the Tyee, hate Newt Gingrich and will vote for Obama (again). Still, this piece is an embarrassment to the professor, the institution where he works (SFU) and this news outlet. I would expect someone with a Ph.D. from Northwestern to be able to go at least a few paragraphs without relying on outmoded, elitist name-calling.

No such luck here. Every white Southern conservative is a racist redneck? In an article that's supposed to tackle someone else's racism? I'm not saying that Newt and many of his GOP cohort don't use racially coded language to appeal to certain voters- it happens. But just because someone disagrees with you doesn't mean you can call them a racist and pout in the corner. If you have any intention of proving your point to the opposing side, you should be parsing speeches, referring to obvious quotes and backing up your research. As a professor, I would hope that Dr. Fellman has at least some knowledge of what a citation is. When you say "other journalists" have noticed the same trend you have, it takes minimal effort to hyperlink to a few articles that back you up. I assume the good professor, however, is too busy grading undergraduate essays. So what grade would he give an opinion piece with nearly no quotations, very little evidence and no citations whatsoever?

Now: on to your shoddy, clearly no-more-than-cursory knowledge of American politics. Romney as a “true outsider? Please. His father is an incredibly wealthy former governor of Michigan. Romney himself headed the Salt Lake Olympic Committee from 1999-2002. I believe Vancouverites with their own Olympic experience, know how transparent and free of nepotism these organizing bodies are. Even a short scan of his Wikipedia page mentions that Mitt is a scion of the politically-connected Pratt-Romney dynasty, the roster of which reads like a roll-call of leaders in politics, business and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He’s even related, albeit distantly, to That Other Mormon Guy (Jon Huntsman). Sorry, but Romney’s Mormon status doesn’t qualify his as an outsider. Neither does his experience in the private sector.

Do your research, continued

I’m running long here, so I’ll gloss over the endless condescension toward white, conservative Southerners (who Dr. Fellman refers as “rubes” and suggests are klansmen and neo-Nazis) and obvious general disdain for anyone living South of the Mason-Dixon line and ask him this:

Do you honestly believe that anyone who disagrees with you, who might wholeheartedly believe in States’ rights, the beginning of life at conception and the dismantling of the welfare state is nothing better than a redneck, racist fool being taken for a ride? Is it so extreme to suggest that this person might actually be able to defend their beliefs and hold fast to them? Or is it that everyone who disagrees with you is, by default, less intelligent? And is a hypothetical Gingrich/Obama matchup really “the big test” of U.S. racism in our time (do I even have to remind you of the 2008 election? You can’t just copy + paste statements from old election coverage and expect to get away with it).

Again, I am an American voter, registered as an independent, who will be proud to check the box on my absentee ballot for the incumbent. I should also say that I have written for the Tyee and respect most of what gets posted on this site, regardless of my own opinion. However, this piece is an absolute disgrace to the Tyee, SFU and Dr. Fellman himself. I hope this isn’t the sort of tripe he feeds his students or we’ll be faced with yet another generation of students unwilling to do their research or back up their resentment toward your southerly neighbors. There’s a lot of reasons to dislike the U.S.-- but you need facts to be taken seriously.

Sorry, but it seems your meat in your analysis is the baloney- over-processed, leeched of nutrition and bearing little resemblance to the real thing.

Racist Campaign Shows US Still Craves Baloney on White Bread

@Sooke. Have you listened to Gingrich lately? I follow American politics and it sure sounds to me like he's courting the racist vote. Have you heard him in the past? He was denigrating Clinton for infidelity while he conducted his own extramarital affair, for God's sake! I think Professor Fellman got it right. But you may have fallen victim to the flawed logic and propaganda that compels Americans to vote for the Republicans and British Columbians to vote for the BC Liberals.
I guess if you're quoting Rush Limbaugh, there's no hope. Your brain's already been turned to cheese.

I liked Newt's response to the marital issue question

He was annoyed that anyone should ask about his marriage relations. I would have retorted that if he wanted my vote, I would like to hear his response. Voters need to know what their leaders are doing between the sheets.

In this time, with so much at stake, I would like to be sure that my political leaders are not doing weird things with small animals on Friday nights. I couldn't take the embarrassment of finding out too late.

It is hard to think that there is not a candidate-suitablity selection committee to weed out the weirdos in advance.

Canadians are every bit as racist as Americans, by the way, but we hide it better.

And The South Shall Rise Again!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0spaXm7Sbg&skipcontrinter=1

Let's face it people - Newt is playing to southern sentiments. He is after all, a POLITICIAN who (like all politicians) will say anything for votes. The question is: if he wins, what will he really do?

president a powerless figurehead

unless ron paul miraculousy wins, the others will be puppets of wall street and the military industrial media complex. more wars abroad in the middle east with no debate or public support, more US NATO imperialism, and canada a faithful lapdog under wasington's man, harper.

liberals suck

anti racism code word for anti white

Too Much

Even though I believe that Gingrich is a bit of a monster, morally speaking, I found this article a bit over the top and was surprised to see that it was by a professor of history. I say this as somebody who, if he were American, would have voted for Nader in 2008.

Anti-racist is a codeword for anti-White

White People can never disprove we are “racist”, our very existence is seen as a form of “racism” by the so-called “anti-racists”.

They say all things White must become “diverse” or it is “racism”.

They say there should be no White countries, no White communities, no White schools, no White sports, no White social gatherings, etc, etc.

The anti-Whites give us Whites two choices: Accept White geNOcide or you are a “racist”.

Anti-racist is a code word for anti-White.

Elm Sonbig

Your desire to have sports, countries, schools etc based on race is in fact racist. In fact its pretty much the definition of racist. If you don't think that's racist I'd love to hear what would qualify in your mind.

Newton's not racist

He's a racialist! Or at least this is what he finally called Obama's first nominee to the United States Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayer a Latino American.

Newt first called her a racist for her response to a Supreme Court, mainly consisting of Ronald Reagan and the Bush's nominees, that appeared insensitive to the racial inequalities in the US.

Newt was attacked by both Democrats and Republicans for calling Sotomayor a racist. His attempt to backtrack was rather weak when he changed his "racist" comment to "racialist" which history buffs would know has the same meaning.

Now Newt has a hard time with empathy as his political and personal history documents. (Divorcing his first wife when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and while berating President Clinton for his affair with a young female aide he himself was having an affair while married to his second wife.) There is enough written about Newt's lack of ethical behaviour, non-marital, and how it ended his political career in the House and also of his "consultancy" work with one of the failed government sponsored mortgage companies (sub-prime mortgage fiasco) that has made him wealthy.

South Carolina was the last state in the US that allowed women to vote. It "deported" tens of thousands of aboriginal people, "American Indians", so it could bring in more African slaves. The slave conduit to SC slowed when African slaves outnumbered the "whites" in SC. Several race related laws were incorporated to prevent slaves from obtaining any legal or moral rights. This state was the first to pull out of the 'union' which precipitated the Civil War and its State House still flies the Confederate Flag. In order to save money from its budget the SC legislature removed all funding for HIV/AIDS in 2010. It has the highest unemployment in the US and is in the top ten for having the most children living in poverty. (BC, however, wins in the child poverty category).

Winning South Carolina is no feather in Newt's sordid cap. When a SC legislator was quoted in an interview calling a woman of SE Asian decent running for Governor a "fucking raghead" he recanted and said he was sorry for using the word "fucking".

If Newt can be called anything its his ability to regenerate himself like his namesake the semi-amphibian "newt" of the salamander family. This swamp creature can change colours during its life stages and has been know to emit deadly toxins.

This Snowbird

FYI I am doing volunteer work in the south, among other things providing some very basic medical care, like well baby checks, to some of the poorest of the poor people without medical insurance. I am not spending my time sitting in a fenced RV resort. My RV is parked in a corral where I do my volunteer work.

I am not a big fan of a lot of things in the USA. If you want to bring up Newt's record on medical care for the poor, or his involvement with lobbying and the housing bubble, I'm all ears and ready for a rational discussion. Stick to the facts, do not spout garbage and prejudice and characterize all people of a group or region in a certain negative, paternalistic and condescending manner.

I find this incredibly uninformed hate filled attack characterizing all white southerners in this fashion as "racists" to be highly offensive. Yes, it is a hate filled attack that easily meets the definition of promoting hatred as defined by our Human Rights Commission. This article is not political opinion, it is hatred.

pwlg

Your very specific comments about Newt are excellent points and I applaud you for those.

But you still can't condemn all South Carolinans as present day racists for either what happened hundreds of years ago. (We Canadians have a sordid record if you go that far back too.) Nor can you condemn all South Carolinians as racists because one elected representative said some thing moronic and offensive. I mean that's like condemning all Canadians are haters because of one Quebec premier said the referendum failed because of the "ethnic" vote.

Bad Headline

Although the article itself is more nuanced the multi-point headline is just the kind of jingoist garbage that Canadians so often direct at their American neighbours. Let's not forget: they have already elected a person of colour as leader. We should be so lucky -- or wise -- as to have picked an Obama. Until our unbroken string of lily white males as PMs ends, we should look to our own larders if we want to see lots of baloney and white bread.

all whites are racist

Author saying Newt's supporters racist, then says South Carolina whites racists, so lets keep generalizing and say all American whites racist, and all whites in world are racist...

Who among us in Canada can keep hearing about "honour killings"

without developing acute distaste of the criminals who do them? Where is the line between despising the actual "honour killers" and extrapolating to other members of the same religion? I ask because I don't know. It is a genuine question.

Why would our government tolerate multiple marriages among muslims, when whites are not allowed the same privilege?

Why are the mormons of Bountiful allowed to flaunt the law for decades with impunity? Canada has bought a future of ambiguity, to say the least, with our current immigration policies and practices.

So who is right in the end? Are the laws of the land just guidelines that morph, as a function of race, skin colour and religion?

The funny thing is that in Canada, the European whites were never able to solve the problems between themselves and the First Nations. So we imported millions of people from other ethnic groups to make it worse. It is misguided application of the principle that "the solution to pollution is dilution". It would be funny if it weren't so tragic.

That said, Gingrich is a hypocrite.

Lotta protesting going on here

...about Americans not being truly hypocritical when you meet them one-on-one as Judith is doing. I accept that. But when Americans are called on to make big decisions without that personal touch, yes, by and large they think and react out of a racist upbringing that is still being put to bed fifty years after the civil rights movement gained steam.

That's not the messenger saying that - it's Americans themselves. Some excellent articles from Alex Cockburn's Counterpunch:

http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/01/23/gingrich-plays-the-race-card-as-press-cheers-debating-skills/
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/01/20/here-he-comes-again/

I have to admit, for all of Ron Paul's odd policymaking, he's furthest along from his history.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/01/23/how-libertarian-dogmatists-are-sabotaging-ron-pauls-campaign/

And a bit of humour from an adopted Canadian:

http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/01/24/the-republican-inferno/