“A prominent South Carolina Republican” needs lessons in evolutionary biology and damage control, as well as race relations:
A prominent South Carolina Republican killed his Facebook page Sunday after being caught likening the First Lady to an escaped gorilla.
Commenting on a report posted to Facebook about a gorilla escape at a zoo in Columbia, S.C., Friday, longtime GOP activist Rusty DePass wrote, “I’m sure it’s just one of Michelle’s ancestors – probably harmless.”
Busted by South Carolina political blogger Will Folks on his FITNEWS blog, DePass told WIS-TV in Columbia, “I am as sorry as I can be if I offended anyone. The comment was clearly in jest.”
Then he added, “The comment was hers, not mine,” claiming Michelle Obama made a recent remark about humans descending from apes. The Daily News could find no such comment.
His response is not very helpful, and isn’t even accurate with regards to evolution. I bet Michelle never said such a thing because she has a better understanding of modern science than DePass. Humans and apes have a common ancestor. Humans did not descend from apes such as modern gorillas.
Beyond that biological error, it is true that Michelle Obama is related to apes. Of course so am I and so is DePass, along with every other human in the world. This makes it impossible not to wonder, of all the humans in the world, why DePass used Michelle Obama as an example. We are all related to the ape family and share many genetic similarities with gorillas. Then there’s people such as DePass who also share traits with another animal–the jackass.
Michelle Obama is beautiful, I can’t see any other reason for DePass to make such a lame comparison except to be forgive the expression, a racist a**hole who lacks both wits and a sense of taste. It’s bad enough the GOP can’t take the high road on the President but now they’re dragging the wives into it which in my book is a dishonorable taboo.
I’ve often wondered how so many of the GOP could fall in line behind GWB and the neocons — now I know: they were utter morons.
On the bright side, I’m a conservative (though not a Republican), and comments like this will help give the party needs a good cleaning because it’ll keep them in the wilderness until a new smarter breed comes forth (political evolution, if you will).
I sure hope that it leads to a good cleaning for the Republicans. My fear is that the Repubicans are on such a downward spiral that it won’t be possible for sane people to take the party back. With so many Republicans saying the problem is that they weren’t conservative enough they keep moving towards the extreme right, with support for the Iraq war and the social agenda of the religious right being required to remain in the party.
“My fear is that the Repubicans are on such a downward spiral that it won’t be possible for sane people to take the party back. With so many Republicans saying the problem is that they weren’t conservative enough they keep moving towards the extreme right, with support for the Iraq war and the social agenda of the religious right being required to remain in the party.”
Well, it isn’t good to have a single party system, which is sort of what we have at the moment. True, the GOP as it is (or was) is no solution to single party dangers, but in the long run, it is a danger. If fact, that’s what killed the GOP — they became the dominate party for too long and the extreme right wing took hold before anyone really noticed, and then it was too late.
No, it isn’t good to have a one party system. That’s why I hope sane people can take back the GOP, but I’m not optimistic about it happening.
In the past I would have been more certain that the two party system would survive in essentially the same form. Now I’m not so certain. Between the downward spiral the GOP is on and the changes in politics with the internet, it just might be possible that a new party winds up replacing the Republicans to provide an opposition to the Democrats. (Or perhaps that’s hopeful thinking from someone who can’t stand the Republicans at present but is ambivalent about the Democrats).
My state party is pleased as punch. They’re predicting that the Republican party will split, and then we can have Democrats, Constitutionalists, and Republicans. And the republicans will only win the south.
These are republicans saying this, too. They want to get back in government again.
“In the past I would have been more certain that the two party system would survive in essentially the same form. Now I’m not so certain. Between the downward spiral the GOP is on and the changes in politics with the internet, it just might be possible that a new party winds up replacing the Republicans to provide an opposition to the Democrats. (Or perhaps that’s hopeful thinking from someone who can’t stand the Republicans at present but is ambivalent about the Democrats).”
It will still be functionally a two party system.
Our winner-takes-all contests guarantee that. Just different parties in the rest of the country than in the South.
The thing is, nobody likes the South, and the Southern style of politics (“keep your nose OUTTA my business! I wanna drink, and you ain’t stoppin’ me!” — this in reference to dry Southern counties).
I’m a liberal, and I’m excited to see the republicans go down in flames. I’ve got popcorn and everything. But I DEVOUTLY hope that there’s something afterwards! One party government is toxic in the long run (despite having obvious purgative value in the short term).
My Republican state party is talking about a moderate successor — something that brings moderate Republicans together with conservative Democrats. I’m in Pennsylvania — they’d be DAMN competitive — and as a Liberal, I know that’s a good thing. You don’t get good ideas and good solutions by saying “government is a bad thing always”… and you also don’t get the best solutions by always saying “government is the answer”.
As much as I’m a liberal, I want effective solutions to problems. And that’s done by having ornery Conservatives in the room, ready to find the flaws in all the liberal happy-dancing. Because everybody’s ideas have flaws, and Criticism is the only known antidote to error (quoting David Brin, whose blog I think you might enjoy. 😉
I hope you’re right about the GOP Splitting. For too long the American Conservative movement has been hijacked by eliminationist elements ( Christian fundamentalists, white racial chauvinists, etc.) We need a healthy opposition, one that speaks for true conservatives, who not only interpret the Constitution but respects and understand it, and who will keep the left from going too far which is exactly why our system of checks and balances was created. This can only happen when true conservatives either get back control of the wheel or break away to form a new party that represents conservative values for the 21st century.