Friday, 1/27/17, Public Square

Wednesday, 11/2/16, Public Square

Oops…I Did It Again

Fox News Scrubs ‘Honest Injun’ From Steele Transcript

As you may have heard, two days ago while sitting for an interview with Sean Hannity, RNC Hip-Hop Guru Michael Steele made some unwanted waves when he used the phrase “Honest Injun” to underscore his contention that the GOP doesn’t need to be more moderate.

Wordplay, apparently! Well, the phrase is a racial epithet that Native Americans find offensive, and Representative Dale Kildee (D-Mich.), who co-chairs the Congressional Native American Caucus, has demanded an apology from Steele.

Well, the good news is that Fox News is doing its part to alleviate the controversy. What, exactly, are they doing? I’m glad I posed this question on your behalf! Via Sarabeth at 1115.org, Fox is helping Steele out by altering the transcript of the segment:

HANNITY: But there’s — but there’s a battle, and you know this is going on, because you’re the chairman. I’m sure you deal with this a lot more than I do. There are those that are saying that, for the Republican Party to be successful, they’ve got to, quote, moderate — be more moderate.
STEELE: No, no!

HANNITY: You hear that.

STEELE: That’s what has gotten us into trouble, when we walked away from principle. Our platform is one of the best political documents that’s been written in the last 25 years, honest engine on that.

Exactly! Surely we should ask of our lyin’ ears if Steele didn’t actually say “honest engine.” Except: WTF is an “honest engine”? Well, as luck would have it, some Urban Dictionary user hooked on all the wrong phonics gives “honest engine” the exact same definition as “honest Injun.” Or, maybe, Steele was referring to Sacramento, California’s Honest Engine auto repair company, employing the hip-hop tradition known as the “shout out.”

Or, maybe, Michael Steele literally is a machine into which gas is poured, that produces toxic exhaust.

Astroturf Onslaughts: GOP Party of Fools or Dangerous Opponents?

Paul Krugman was commenting on the Tea Parties that the Republicans have been setting up for this upcoming Wednesday.  He seems unsure as to whether he should laugh out loud at the GOP’s shenanigans or to be worried.  Such astroturf tricks have worked well in the past for the Republicans; Krugman recalls the efficiency of the faux riot in Miami-Dade county that stopped the vote in Florida during the 2000 election.  This was not a real “grass roots” protest, but one carefully manufactured by GOP strategists to achieve an end – which they did.  Astroturf activism seems to be big on corporate (or other powerful interests) money, and low on average citizen participation.  The tea parties have been backed by Murdock owned media outlets.

To drive home his point about his mixed feelings on the current embarrassing displays by the Grand old Party, Krugman states:

“But here’s the thing: the G.O.P. looked as crazy 10 or 15 years ago as it does now. That didn’t stop Republicans from taking control of both Congress and the White House. And they could return to power if the Democrats stumble. So it behooves us to look closely at the state of what is, after all, one of our nation’s two great political parties.”

My hope is that Krugman is wrong, because while the GOP may remain crazy after all these years, I sincerely want to believe that the electorate has not.

What do you readers think?

Iggy Donnelly