Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Top five racist Republican dog-whistles

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Since BMG now has at least one avowed Birther, I offer as a counter this British take on Romney and his place in the Republican dog-whistle tradition:

Top five racist Republican dog-whistles

But one of his “gaffes” has a decidedly darker undertone, when an unnamed aide was reported by the Telegraph to have commented that Romney would be a better President than Obama because only he understood the “shared Anglo-Saxon heritage” that Britain and America have.

This sort of statement is known in politics as a “dog whistle”. To most people, it looks innocuous, if a bit weird, but to its target audience – in this case, racists – it reads as a perfectly clear statement that Romney is better than Obama because he is white. It’s noticeable, for example, that Romney did not bring up the fact that Ed Miliband, the son of Polish Jewish migrants, also does not share an Anglo-Saxon heritage.

Let me emphasize that this is not some Democratic Party “hack” (and that word is yet another dog-whistle); the writer is expressing views held by people in Britain. They were not favorably impressed with Mr. Romney.

The writer gives some context to the GOP’s use of clandestine signals to racists. I think his attribution for the Georgia flag is misplaced, though. In 1956, Georgia was solidly Dixiecratic.

 

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  2. …they are:

    using the President’s middle name

    using the Confederate battle standard in a state flag

    using the rhetoric of states’ rights

    asking the President to produce his birth certificate

  4. As Obama’s poll numbers go down. I can name a few that will be added to the list by October.

    1. Tax cuts- huge dog whistle
    2. Saying Obamacare instead of ACA.
    3. Cutting government programs
    4. Mentioning the fact Obama has not visited Israel in his first term, but has visited and even bowed to the Saudi King.
    5. Saying Obama is in over his head when dealing with the economy
    6. Asking for his college grades
    7. Using the word “foreign” when describing Obama’s radical thinking on some issues.
    8. Calling Obama a nice guy
    9. Using Obama’s exact words/tone in TV ads. HUGE dog whistle there
    10. Basically, holding Obama to the same level of ridicule or scrutiny as prior presidents, is a dog whistle.

      • And don’t forget being against forcing all employers to provide contraception coverage a/k/a ” war on women”. Obvious dog whistles.

        Is being in favor of biblical marriage a dog whistle? Or is that plain hate speech?

    • and even bowed to the Saudi King.

      Aside from the fact that the first Bush bowed to the Emperor of the country that bombed us at Pearl Harbor and shot his plan down, or that the second Bush nearly made out with the Saudi King, this seems to be the only criticism Romney and the Fox crowd can come up with. The whole idea that Obama ‘doesn’t believe in American exceptionalism’ is the only critique they have. I heard it in 2010 from Bolton when he visited my college, I have heard it from every other Republican ever since. The thing is they have nothing other than this. Symbolically Obama, whether its winning the Peace Prize or getting along better with the world, is somehow managing our decline. Ask bin laden, Qadaffi, or the Chinese if he is managing his decline. He wiped out our biggest enemy, ended two wars that were dragging us down, and pivoted towards containing Chinese expansion. These criticisms are meant to obscure the fact that Obama has had one of the most successful foreign policies since the first Bush and Romney has absolutely no experience or interest in this area.

  5. “Obamacare” is not a dog-whistle. It is a term that has been fully embraced by the President’s campaign. Of your list above, I would say only 6 and 7 count as dog-whistles in this context, possibly 4 as well for slightly different reasons.

  7. QuotingLee Atwater

    Atwater: You start out in 1954 by saying, “Nigger, nigger, nigger.” By 1968 you can’t say “nigger” — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff. You’re getting so abstract now [that] you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I’m not saying that. But I’m saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me — because obviously sitting around saying, “We want to cut this,” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “Nigger, nigger.”

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