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Scott Brown staffers do “Indian war whoop”, “tomahawk chop” – YouTube

September 25, 2012 By Charley on the MTA

Scott Brown staffers do “Indian war whoop”, “tomahawk chop” – YouTube.

9/22/2012, nearby Eire Pub in Boston, at a rally for Scott Brown including former Mayor Ray Flynn. Some supporters of Elizabeth Warren were also gathered around with signs. Here you can see Brown’s staffers making “war whoops” and “tomahawk chops”, presumably in reference to Warren’s Cherokee heritage. Identified in video making the chop are Brown’s Constituent Service Counsel Jack Richard (camoflage shirt) and — we believe — Massachusetts GOP operative Brad Garrett Garnett, front and center with tan baseball cap and gray hoodie, leading the whoops and chops. (Garrett is known for having recently delivered a cake to Warren for the anniversary of the Occupy movement.)

(Also present, though apparently not participating in the whoops and chops, are Greg Casey, Deputy Chief of Staff, (black polo near end of video), Jerry McDermott, State Director, (blue fleece and shades on head), and Jennifer Franks, special assistant, (plaid shirt, beginning).

 

Now, for a campaign that has shown such piety, such respect for Native American ancestry that they simply couldn’t allow the blonde, white, “clearly not” Native American Ms. Warren to sully it … somehow that decency, restraint, and respect has not trickled down to the staff of our good senator.

Look at this production from the Massachusetts GOP:

 

I think Senator Brown has some explaining to do about the nice guy, respectful tone that he sets in his office, and on his campaign.

(And maybe we can put this whole preposterous issue to bed once and for all.)

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Comments

  1. oceandreams says

    September 25, 2012 at 8:38 am

    is just the push I needed to sign up for a canvassing shift this weekend. “Don’t get mad, get even.”

    • lynne says

      September 25, 2012 at 11:52 am

      It totally motivates me.

      • Kevin L says

        September 25, 2012 at 11:58 am

        Six weeks to go, time to make Scott Brown a former US Senator!

  2. gidget-commando says

    September 25, 2012 at 8:58 am

    I could watch only a few seconds. That’s not hardball campaigning. That’s not rough-and-tumble heckling. I find it hard to see that as anything but racist bullying. I’d love to be wrong. I’d love to think better of the senator and his supporters.

    But the whooping and the chopping? That’s a bunch of schoolyard bully crap that hurts anyone else who happens to be NA. It’s cheap and mean. Come on, guys, this is Massachusetts. We’re known for witty heckling. You can’t do better than that?

    • oceandreams says

      September 25, 2012 at 10:20 am

      His campaign is degenerating into that of a schoolyard bully. It started with the contemptuous Look at her! in the debate — is that really appropriate for a political debate? — and continues with the new ads.

      • kate says

        September 25, 2012 at 10:34 am

        My rating was intended to be a + not a -. I can’t seem to change it. K

    • harmonywho says

      September 25, 2012 at 6:49 pm

      I took this picture back in July, when I went to Plimoth Plantation with the kids.

      • jamiehendrickson says

        September 25, 2012 at 9:03 pm

        …grow up to be jerks.

  3. Mr. Lynne says

    September 25, 2012 at 9:07 am

    … that we have. Never seen him.

  4. tblade says

    September 25, 2012 at 9:10 am

    I have no doubt that the same Republicans who feel it is ok to publicly mock Elizabeth Warren with racist “war whoops” and tomahawk chops are the same Republicans who forward photoshopped graphics of our “Monkey-in-Chief” and tell n–ger jokes about the President.

    The main difference is that it is far more socially acceptable to slur our Native American population in public than it is to slur other backgrounds.

    You stay classy, Scott Brown Campaign.

  5. whosmindingdemint says

    September 25, 2012 at 9:14 am

    has seen the dance party?

  6. Sean says

    September 25, 2012 at 9:25 am

    for the actions of his staff.

    He’s too busy.

  7. Bob Neer says

    September 25, 2012 at 10:03 am

    The bitter, angry tone of his staffers is reminiscent of the campaign that put guys in orange jumpsuits outside John Walsh’s house yelling at his 12-year old son, and broadcast ads implying that women would be raped in their cars if Deval Patrick was elected. The contemporary Massachusetts Republican Party — we are the 13 percent! — bares its fangs. No wonder they are so deeply unpopular.

  8. David says

    September 25, 2012 at 10:05 am

    I could be wrong, but I thought I recognized our old friend Brad Marston in this video wearing what looks like a dark grey fleece with a red t-shirt underneath. Here he is at the beginning, participating in the “war whoop” (click for larger):

    Here’s a better look at the same guy (click for larger):

    Am I wrong? If so, my apologies to Brad.

  9. johnk says

    September 25, 2012 at 10:45 am

    Orange jump suits to orange designer baseball caps.

    How fitting.

  10. johnk says

    September 25, 2012 at 11:47 am

    WaPo blog, which credits BMG. Think Progress credited WCVB, so no link for them.

    You just see the posts growing and growing on the interwebs.

    • lynne says

      September 25, 2012 at 11:54 am

      on dkos already on recommended list.

    • lynne says

      September 25, 2012 at 12:32 pm

      Joan McCarter picked it up.

  11. methuenprogressive says

    September 25, 2012 at 11:55 am

    The next few hours will tell the voting public a lot about Scott Brown’s character.

  12. Christopher says

    September 25, 2012 at 12:09 pm

    …and presented it as a story of equivalent controversies. Basically, “Brown staffers were caught…, but Warren also has questions to answer about…” Brown was quoted on camera while a statement from Warren was read. Brown said apologies might be in order, but, “the real issue is Warren using her heritage to blah, blah, blah”

    • lynne says

      September 25, 2012 at 12:17 pm

      Do we disagree about the earth being flat? BOTH SIDES SAY…

    • mski011 says

      September 25, 2012 at 12:25 pm

      But the WCVB write-up doesn’t do the false equivalency as much.
      http://www.wcvb.com/news/politics/Sen-Scott-Brown-staffers-caught-on-video-chanting-Indian-war-whoops-making-tomahawk-chops/-/9848766/16727976/-/tj3yi5z/-/index.html

      • fenway49 says

        September 26, 2012 at 9:00 am

        Just a quote for each side, a chiding of each side. Facts or equivalencies be damned.

  13. kate says

    September 25, 2012 at 12:24 pm

    Kudoes to Lynne and others who have been to both BMG canvasses. Let’s pick a date and a place. We’ll get some votes and have some fun.

    Thoghts?

    • lynne says

      September 25, 2012 at 12:26 pm

      Fired up, ready to go. 🙂

      The Lowell coordinator already nailed me down for my next canvass! She out-Kated you Kate!

  14. johnk says

    September 25, 2012 at 1:45 pm

    ABC News

    Brown said today that, “I haven’t seen it. This is the first I’m hearing of it… I don’t know what you’re specifically referring to.”
    He added, however, “Certainly that’s not something I condone. It’s certainly something that if I am aware of it, I’ll tell that member to never do it again.”

    Are you kidding me. Don’t do it again is the response?

    “Scott Brown’s campaign is flailing and in trouble, and this is yet another sign of that. Scott Brown and his staff are launching outrageous and offensive personal attacks to distract from the issues that matter. The behavior of his staff is completely inappropriate, but the tone of the campaign is set by the candidate,” said Democratic party spokesman Matt House.

    • doubleman says

      September 25, 2012 at 1:57 pm

      From the Globe.

      Still, he struck a defiant tone when asked if he would apologize for his staffers’ behavior.

      “The apologies that need to be made and the offensiveness here is the fact that professor Warren took advantage of a claim, to be somebody – a Native American — and using that for an advantage, a tactical advantage,” Brown said.

      WOW.

      • johnk says

        September 25, 2012 at 2:05 pm

        this is a story on to itself.

        Scott Brown is quoted saying that public displays of racism is not what we should consider offensive. Hey Scott, I would imagine some Native Americans might have a different feeling.

        Brown needs to be called out on his remarks….!

      • Ryan says

        September 25, 2012 at 4:01 pm

        than the actual fact that his staffers did it in the first place.

        He is a serious jerk, and by refusing to take accountability for his staff and apologize for them, certainly cares nothing for Native Americans.

    • methuenprogressive says

      September 25, 2012 at 2:22 pm

      If there are no consequences for their behavior, then Scott Brown is condoning it.
      He has enabled, encouraged and participated in this crap – and without a doubt condones it.

  15. bluewatch says

    September 25, 2012 at 1:58 pm

    Watch the video carefully. The Brown staffers are close to the Warren supporters, and they are clearly taunting them with racist gestures. That’s disgraceful.

    But, wait. These are employees of Scott Brown’s senate staff. That means that they are paid by OUR tax dollars. And, why are Brown’s federal employees participating in Brown’s campaign event?

  16. nboedecker says

    September 25, 2012 at 2:04 pm

    His comment to WCVB: “The apologies that need to be made and the offensiveness here is the fact that Professor Warren took advantage of being somebody, a Native American, using that for a tactical advantage.” (In other words: It’s Warren who needs to be sorry)

    SERIOUSLY?! The racism on display here from our Senator and his staff is downright appalling, and I can’t believe that this has been allowed to continue. His comment during the debate that “AS YOU CAN SEE” Warren is white? If we were talking about ANY other ethnic or racial group, it would be a no brainer. Why do we treat Native Americans any differently? It’s 2012 Scott Brown, I just hope that the voters in Massachusetts are better than Brown seems to think they are.

  17. christopheroleary says

    September 25, 2012 at 2:13 pm

    If Sen. Brown’s Constituent Service Counsel Jack Richard was at this event, which appears to be during the work day, was he taking vacation time? As a public employee, he should be performing his job, not campaigning.

  18. Mel Warshaw says

    September 25, 2012 at 2:15 pm

    Would someone please tell me why the shameful Mass. GOP Cherokee ad is not a violation of the pact between Brown and Warren, which banned unauthorized ads purchased outside of the campaign. If it is a violation, shouldn’t Brown’s campaign pay to a named charity 1/2 the cost of the ad within three days? And shouldn’t that violation become a campaign issue?

    • David says

      September 25, 2012 at 2:17 pm

      embedded in Charley’s post is a web-only video, so it does not violate the People’s Pledge. It has not been broadcast.

  19. billmckay says

    September 25, 2012 at 3:40 pm

    By burying it at the end of a story about Scott Brown attacking Warren as a tool of big business

    There is an AP story about this. The Boston Herald publishes AP stories on its website all day and night. The AP story is not to be found on the website.

  20. stomv says

    September 25, 2012 at 4:36 pm

    There are three significant groupings of Cherokee. In Oklahoma, the Cherokee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. They are both descendants of the Southeastern-originating Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, of Western North Carolina (and likely parts of SC, GA, and TN).

    In any case, any Cherokee heritage of Elizabeth Warren almost certainly comes from one of the two Oklahoma Cherokee tribes, not the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. So why did the GOP go interview members of a tribe from which Elizabeth Warren, if she has Native American heritage, almost certainly didn’t come? Why wouldn’t they go to Oklahoma and interview the Cherokee there? I have a few theories:
    1. They wanted to go to “Cherokee, STATEX” because the optics are better.
    2. North Carolina Cherokee “look more Injun” than Oklahoma Cherokee.
    3. North Carolina Cherokee are culturally more closed off to White Man’s society than Oklahoma Cherokee, and therefore it’s easier to get the kinds of soundbites they got.

    I have no idea if (2) and/or (3) are correct — just flailing here. Still, I have a friend in my town, a girl from Oklahoma. Total white bread. Turns out that she (too?) has Cherokee heritage. Nobody in these parts would *ever* guess that.

    • mike_cote says

      September 25, 2012 at 4:40 pm

      Because REthuglicans don’t care about the truth, only in holding onto power at all costs. ALL COSTS.

  21. Christopher says

    September 25, 2012 at 9:50 pm

    …and gave a shoutout to BMG!

  22. centralmassdad says

    September 25, 2012 at 10:37 pm

    Good on yer.

    I just watched this for the first time after reading about it all day.

    I was not expecting the random “Yankees Suck” chant. Perhaps these Brown supporters are unaware that it is not 2007.

    • Charley on the MTA says

      September 25, 2012 at 10:51 pm

      the “Yankees suck” chant is the one kind of heartwarming thing about it. It’s what brings us together. aw.

      • John Tehan says

        September 25, 2012 at 10:54 pm

        In my defense, I grew up in Connecticut, with two older brothers who were both Red Sox fans – what else would an 8 yer old boy do with a situation like that?

        • lynne says

          September 25, 2012 at 10:56 pm

          We smite thee!

          At least tell me you aren’t a Jets fan.

          • John Tehan says

            September 25, 2012 at 11:01 pm

            But I was a Giants fan for years, starting in the early seventies when Tarkenton was QB. I moved here in 1993, along with Bill Parcells and Bill Belichik, so I started following the Patriots then, since they had delivered two Super Bowls for the Giants. I always said I would only have a problem when they face off in the regular season and if they face off in the Super Bowl – now look what’s happened, twice!

            • lynne says

              September 25, 2012 at 11:17 pm

              So YOU’RE the reason that keeps happening!!! Demon! BEGONE! I BANISH YOU!

              😉

        • centralmassdad says

          September 26, 2012 at 6:26 am

          It’s only an excuse if your town had a metro-north station.

        • fenway49 says

          September 26, 2012 at 9:08 am

          I have extensive family in NYC and lived there, in the midst of the gloating, entitled, obnoxious Yankee fans for too many years. They remind me a lot of Republicans to tell the truth, even if many of them aren’t

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