The GOP would have more credibility …
posted at 3:50 pm on June 16, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
… if its staffers would quit sending out e-mails like this:
Newscoma posted details of a racist email sent from Sherri Goforth, legislative aid for Sen. Diane Black (R-Gallatin). The email depicts the Presidents of the United States with President Barack Obama as a pair of eyes in a black background.
I spoke with Sherri Goforth minutes ago to confirm she sent this email. She confirmed she had sent it and also said she had received a letter of reprimand from her superiors but said she will stay on the job.
When I asked her if she understood the controversial nature of the photo, Goforth would only say she felt very bad about accidentally sending it to the wrong list. When I gave her a second chance to address the controversial nature of the email, she again repeated that she only felt bad about sending it to the wrong list of people.
… and if the staffers in question would quit offering excuses like this:
“I went on the wrong email and I inadvertently hit the wrong button,” Goforth told NIT. “I’m very sick about it, and it’s one of those things I can’t change or take back.”
You can see the image at the link; I’ll skip reproducing it here. It’s well described by Nashville Is Talking, and it’s undeniably racist in nature. Given that, I’m at a loss as to why the Tennessee GOP kept Goforth in her position. Part of her job, whether explicitly stated or not, isnot to embarrass the Republican Party. Goforth just got an epic fail on that key mission. Keeping her, especially after the apology not for sending the picture at all but just for sending it to the wrong people, gives the distinct impression that the GOP considers this a minor issue and not a major blow to our credibility with black voters.
Tommy Christopher calls this the worst apology of the week. So far, it might be the worst apology of the year.
Conservatives just spent the last week roasting David Letterman for his crude and misogynistic remarks about Sarah Palin’s daughters. We need to demand the same level of responsibility from our own side, especially from within the Republican Party.
Update: AC Kleinheider says Ms. Goforth isn’t really a player in the game. I understand what he’s saying, but I think he underestimates how this can damage the party. If secretaries at the Tennessee Democratic Party were passing along racist or misogynistic e-mails, Republicans would rightly rip the Dems for it.
Blowback
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Simple rule in politics: If you’re going to use humor, direct it at yourself.
Otherwise, leave it to the professionals.
SteveMG on June 16, 2009 at 4:17 PM
This person meant to send this email to an 18 year old, not a 14 year old.
All fixed. Apology must be accepted.
portlandon on June 16, 2009 at 4:17 PM
So Obama is in the dark. Maybe I need a Harvard degree to see the racism.
infidel on June 16, 2009 at 4:15 PM
Thank you! I’m with you infidel! There are plenty of ways Obama has distinugushed himself as being “in the dark” that have nothing to do with his race….not to mention the more than respectable distance he generally keeps from the truth.
max1 on June 16, 2009 at 4:18 PM
And the @ssholes who threw Oreos at Micheal Steele among so many other cases shows the race problem prevalent in the Democrat Party.
Get off your high horse and quit pretending this is an issue only the Right has to deal with. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can actually deal with this issue instead of pretending it doesn’t exist because we don’t like to be smeared with it.
Esthier on June 16, 2009 at 4:18 PM
The comparison here is not apt. A state legislator and his aide do not have anywhere near the national prominence of David Letterman and, again, the major story with Letterman was the REACTION to the story by CBS and the rest of the MSM. With that said, the person who sent that e-mail needs to be disciplined–either suspended or terminated. That is appallingly bad judgment.
Outlander on June 16, 2009 at 4:18 PM
I’ll see your Sherri Goforth and raise you one Sonia Sotomayor.
Ronnie on June 16, 2009 at 4:18 PM
Or, in the case of the Democrats, you make such racists Senators. See Robert Byrd.
Del Dolemonte on June 16, 2009 at 4:18 PM
I’m not being funny here, but would a portrayal of Bush in the dark look different?
LibTired on June 16, 2009 at 4:18 PM
Dumb cartoon. She should lose her job for it.
rbj on June 16, 2009 at 4:19 PM
Yes the republicans must stand up and slap down this type of racism.
Kind of like when this quote was made.
Man I remember when the democrats threw Robert Bird out of the senate for making that statement…oh wait……..
conservnut on June 16, 2009 at 4:19 PM
But, Obama can consort with anti-Semitic hate preachers for years, Democrats can say all kinds of crap about conservative Jews and African Americans and throw every kind of misogynistic slur at women politicians, and everything is hunky-dory. I am talking about the Democratic President and Democratic Senators like Chuck Schumer etc. But, we’ll all go crazy about some backwater state official sent in an email.
promachus on June 16, 2009 at 4:19 PM
God, you’re clueless.
Grow Fins on June 16, 2009 at 4:19 PM
Preach on!!!!
LibTired on June 16, 2009 at 4:20 PM
I’ll agree she’s a nobody… which will make firing her all that more significant. The Left’s big wigs are famous for racist drivel and they’re tolerated.
mankai on June 16, 2009 at 4:20 PM
Or Supreme Court justices
Ronnie on June 16, 2009 at 4:20 PM
If anyone from TN is reading this: time for the sender of this ridiculousness to go to the unemployment line.
Branch Rickey on June 16, 2009 at 4:20 PM
That is NOT what that picture was going for, and I think you know that. It wasn’t that he’s operating in the dark…its that he’s black so only his eyes show. Its stupid, and she should’ve known better.
changer1701 on June 16, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Hey, it was a joke. Wassa matta, can’t take a joke? Oh, that’s right, wrong ideology. Burn her!!!!!!!!!
mossberg500 on June 16, 2009 at 4:21 PM
It is the same level of responsibility as Repubs are displaying with respect to Letterman. Note that Letterman did not really apologize but merely stated that his joke was misunderstood. And now note that Letterman is getting a “we forgive you” from a butt load of Republicans.
Why would you cashier this staffer for much less when you’re all about accepting Letterman’s so-called apology.
I smell hypocrisy. And it is the hypocrisy and lack of cojones when confronting people like Letterman that are indicators of what is wrong with Repubs.
Not letting some staffer keep her job because she sent a tasteless email to the wrong group of people.
pabarge on June 16, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Fire her immediately. This one isn’t even debatable.
BrideOfRove on June 16, 2009 at 4:22 PM
Could give me a link to your condemnations of Wright, Obama for tolerating 20 years of Wright, Obama for picking “7-11″ Biden, Obama for choosing “Ghandi at the gas station” Hillary…
Otherwise, perhaps you should sit this one out.
mankai on June 16, 2009 at 4:22 PM
Really? When did you call for the AG to be fired? His statement was worse. It was public and we have seen that it expressed his actual policy, too.
And you should be calling for Sotomayor to be thrown out and taken off the bench, too.
These are just two incidents of literally hundreds where this administration has been using race and ethnicity gratuitously and stupidly and dangerously and THREATENINGLY.
Get a brain.
progressoverpeace on June 16, 2009 at 4:23 PM
True, but if anything, Letterman has far less of a responsibility to represent himself respectfully than a state legislator being paid with tax money.
MadisonConservative on June 16, 2009 at 4:23 PM
What in the world is that? Why was she trying to send it out to anyone?
She should be fired for cause.
Cause she was sending out racist material and
cause she’s to stupid to hold her current position.
oldernwiser on June 16, 2009 at 4:23 PM
Surely I’m not the only American that looks at both of these events and thinks that there might be a problem with racial tension that isn’t limited to party or political ideology.
Actually, America has pulled off some amazing things. We freed a slave population that didn’t turn around to kill or enslave the slavers. That’s a fairly rare event in history. We got rid of laws Jim Crow that compelled systematic oppression without them being turned around on the former oppressors. That’s also a historical rarity. All things considered we’ve gotten off light. I think we can afford to own up to any existing racial tensions and deal with them.
dieudonne on June 16, 2009 at 4:23 PM
….all that typing and I forgot to say the woman should go. There’s no excuse for that and there’s no room for it in a party that’s “trying to be inclusive of all races, genders, creeds, and religions” while excluding prejudicial behavior.
She’ll make a fine example of an idiot that the GOP does not want to include within their ranks.
Spiritk9 on June 16, 2009 at 4:24 PM
OK… but he’s far from the only president in our history to do so. The fact that it’s only his “face” in the dark, then sends a very specific message, one I don’t think anyone can pretend isn’t there.
Esthier on June 16, 2009 at 4:24 PM
Letterman jokes about sex with minors. An unknown staffer circulates a photo showing the president in the dark. Yup equal.
infidel on June 16, 2009 at 4:24 PM
the audience size is immaterial. It’s the womans act that counts
oldernwiser on June 16, 2009 at 4:25 PM
“Wrong button” eh? I’m glad you’re a staffer and not president. Let’s hope it stays that way.
cackcon on June 16, 2009 at 4:25 PM
To mock his skin color?
It’s allowed, but tasteless, and I don’t want the party that (and I use the term loosely)represents me to be making those kinds of cheap shots.
MadisonConservative on June 16, 2009 at 4:25 PM
Although he’s trying to slip it all in under another guise
To all his fascist action most foul we must still be wise
In spite of all the Houdini lies
Dancing in Obama’s Mussolini eyes
MB4 on June 16, 2009 at 4:25 PM
I keep looking at the photo and I don’t see the problem. It’s actually one of his better photos. Hid the big ears well.
Jeff from WI on June 16, 2009 at 4:26 PM
I guess I am an idiot, but I don’t get it. I agree with Pilgrim, Beaker in the dark. Why is it racist? Am I missing a cultural reference?
conservativegrandma on June 16, 2009 at 4:26 PM
We have to… until the MSM will give us a pass on crap like this like they give the Dems, we have to police our own ranks… Crap like that is not acceptable and should stay on the chan sites…
liquidflorian on June 16, 2009 at 4:27 PM
Let’s all play the deconstructionist code word game! I know, “starfleet_dude” is actually a nod to the utopian goals of the series, which could only be attained through totalitarian political systems or eugenics! IT’S ALL SO OBVIOUS.
Go deconstruct a high velocity bus ya lying hack.
TheUnrepentantGeek on June 16, 2009 at 4:27 PM
I agree with you 100%
TMK on June 16, 2009 at 4:27 PM
If nobody in the GOP spoke up, you might have a point. Liberals continue to fail at basic logic.
This happens on the Left as well…but they usually don’t apologize or get called out by their own side.
Plenty of ignorant people to go around, no matter what their political affiliation.
Asher on June 16, 2009 at 4:28 PM
Too stupid indeed. You could be an expert.
mossberg500 on June 16, 2009 at 4:28 PM
He has that deer in the headlights look. Or are deer off limits?
infidel on June 16, 2009 at 4:28 PM
Big deal.
Itchee Dryback on June 16, 2009 at 4:28 PM
Don’t worry. I’ll write a note excusing you. You can pick uit up at Trinity Church.
progressoverpeace on June 16, 2009 at 4:28 PM
You’re right. She is a sexist and a racist. A simply evaluation of her repeated comments along those lines confirms it.
I have no clue what the skin color is of those whom defaulted. But if it were an issue in passing the legislation that relaxed the standards, it would certainly be the demoratf**ks who brought it up.
Again, it isn’t a color issue for anyone except the demoratf**cks.
It doesn’t matter that the woman actually existed does it?
And Reagan never mentioned a name or race. It was the demoratf**cks who did that.
You’re right. We are sick and tired of the demoratf**cks enslaving almost entire blocks of Americans by forcing them to identify themselves by their skin color, gender, and sexual preferences. It’s the same old crap they pulled on them during slavery. The only difference is that the minorities are enslaving themselves and the demorarf**cks happily encourage them.
csdeven on June 16, 2009 at 4:29 PM
It is historically racist. Depicting blacks as being seen only by their eyes (and/or teeth) was an old racist slur.
She should have known that.
mankai on June 16, 2009 at 4:29 PM
Why is it racist? Am I missing a cultural reference?
conservativegrandma on June 16, 2009 at 4:26 PM
No, you’re fine, you probably just need to get your knee-jerk oil changed, then you’ll fit right in with everyone else ….
max1 on June 16, 2009 at 4:29 PM
Sherri Goforth should be fired just for thinking this was funny. There is no place for that kind of sensibility in politics.
karlant on June 16, 2009 at 4:29 PM
Is there anything the GOP does that is not offensive to the Left?
Crab Pot on June 16, 2009 at 4:31 PM
It wasn’t that bad. Now if he was shown wearing a chefs hat holding a bowl of rice.
Jeff from WI on June 16, 2009 at 4:33 PM
This mockery of anyone who doesn’t want to sink to the level of the people whose tactics we despise got old a while ago.
MadisonConservative on June 16, 2009 at 4:33 PM
the Chesire Cat was BLACK????
Who knew…
Romeo13 on June 16, 2009 at 4:33 PM
Agreed. We live in an amazing country that can do amazing things. The only thing stopping us (I believe) is the opportunistic fighting for political ends.
I don’t think this country has as serious of a race problem most believe it does, but I do believe we still have one, one that we can’t pretend just belongs to “backward” people.
You’re missing the point and pulling a Letterman here, as though the email in question ever could be considered tasteful with a mere adjustment or as though, had she only sent it to the “right” group of people (I hate to think such people are at all connected to our government) that it would have been OK.
She messed up and in doing so, hurts the GOP far more than herself. That is why, though I think Letterman crossed the line and should somehow make amends with more than his apology (which, even the second time was lame), I’m not out for his blood. He makes his side look worse, not mine.
Esthier on June 16, 2009 at 4:34 PM
When the Dems stop being the PARTY of Racists then maybe she should lose her job over this. Hell, you do something like this on a Dem staff of Congress and you get promoted. You can even even steal a black Republicans’ SS no. and spread protected credit reports around – i.e. Charles ‘Chucky’ Schumer v. Michael Steele. She apologized – move on.
Sporty1946 on June 16, 2009 at 4:34 PM
Actually, as much as I would rag on staffers being dumb, I don’t quite get what is supposed to be racist about that. Eyes on a black background just means hiding in the dark to me.
Does it have some racist history that I’ve never heard about?
Count to 10 on June 16, 2009 at 4:34 PM
They aren’t even human eyes. They are strange googely eyes like those from a stuffed animal or a cartoon.
I was a monk until not that long ago and even I find it hard to believe there are people here so innocent as to not understand that this is a joking reference to Obama’s skin color.
dieudonne on June 16, 2009 at 4:35 PM
BTW, can one of the hyper-sensitives, here, tell me why The Precedent was elected, in the first place? What skills or talents were it that catapulted a totally unqualified, inexperienced moron into the White House? What was it that put the first anti-American marxist into the Oval Office?
progressoverpeace on June 16, 2009 at 4:35 PM
The legislator sent this?
Itchee Dryback on June 16, 2009 at 4:35 PM
Considering he ran as a black person above all else, it could be argued that mocking his race would be an appropriate response to his blatant race baiting. Add to that his militant whitey hating wife and the racist church he attended for 20 years and you have the perfect rationalization for racists to go off on him.
csdeven on June 16, 2009 at 4:35 PM
Red Foreman put it best: Bad things happen to you because you’re a dumbass.
Spc Steve on June 16, 2009 at 4:36 PM
Very good! I’ll be sure to save for future use when I have a need for a well thought out, intellectual retort.
oldernwiser on June 16, 2009 at 4:36 PM
There seem to be all of these subtle things that are racist that I am clueless about.
I mean, I was thirty before I heard about “Eeny Meeny Miny Mo”.
Count to 10 on June 16, 2009 at 4:36 PM
Ok, I get the reference now. I guess I have seen too many movies where eyes glowing in dark have been monsters, aliens, etc. Or Alice in Wonderland’s cat…
conservativegrandma on June 16, 2009 at 4:37 PM
Goforth should be fired, and the Tennessee GOP needs to issue an ardent apology for being stuck in the 1850s (apparently).
bluelightbrigade on June 16, 2009 at 4:37 PM
Facepalm, welcome to the internet 2007… I guess this place is for breaking news rather than memes, so I forgive.
daesleeper on June 16, 2009 at 4:37 PM
She should probably be fired just because she is white. Thanks Ms. Thought Police. I hope you can’t tell what I’m thinking right now.
Sporty1946 on June 16, 2009 at 4:37 PM
Please explain the racist overtones to me. I’m having difficulty mustering up the capacity to care, but if someone can convince me of how egregious this is I promise I’ll try to be offended or something.
TheUnrepentantGeek on June 16, 2009 at 4:37 PM
And then they need to change.
bluelightbrigade on June 16, 2009 at 4:37 PM
I guess the Libs don’t have that edgy sense of humor after all! But, I suppose blasphemy never is funny to Believers.
Still, if they wanted to portray the clueless aspect they could have pasted a wide-eyed deer in there or something.
Dr. ZhivBlago on June 16, 2009 at 4:37 PM
Are you going to write a note excusing me from your “we”?
I don’t despise mockery of any kind. It’s not as if someone is portraying the moron as a feather, every single day in just about every paper in the nation. Now, something like that would go a bit beyond mockery.
When I heard the inauguration, the AG’s idiotic speech, Sotomayor’s insane reasons for being nominated to one of the most powerful positions in the land … I lost my hyper-sensitivity. If people can’t laugh at things, screw them. It’s just a joke. Big friggin’ deal.
progressoverpeace on June 16, 2009 at 4:38 PM
Believe him or not, Letterman at least offered a plausible other explanation for his joke. She hasn’t.
YYZ on June 16, 2009 at 4:38 PM
What’s wrong with eeny meeny? I thought it was a cutesy little rhyme.
TheUnrepentantGeek on June 16, 2009 at 4:38 PM
What a politician’s aides do while in their positions as aides reflects on that politician, right or wrong.
MadisonConservative on June 16, 2009 at 4:39 PM
The term “darkie” pretty much sums up the point of the picture.
It’s not cool.
bluelightbrigade on June 16, 2009 at 4:39 PM
Are you sure? My mother never told me.
Cheshire Cat on June 16, 2009 at 4:39 PM
Yeah. Getting a little tired of the I’M HORRIBLY OFFENDED crowd. Get over it. Nobody but you cares. Hell, you probably don’t even care – it’s all just a game for cheap political points.
TheUnrepentantGeek on June 16, 2009 at 4:40 PM
Right.
bluelightbrigade on June 16, 2009 at 4:40 PM
You’re being mocked for failing to notice that Ochimpy is a racist who ran as a black man and now some one is making fun of him in that vein.
Ochimpy is simply dancing with the one who brung him to the dance.
csdeven on June 16, 2009 at 4:40 PM
Racist and OT epithet from Odie1941 in 5…4…3…
bluelightbrigade on June 16, 2009 at 4:40 PM
As it turns out, “Catch a TIGER by his toe” aren’t the original words.
Count to 10 on June 16, 2009 at 4:41 PM
I grew up in CA in the most racially diverse city in the world. You’re going to have to do a little better, because I sure as hell ain’t googling that.
TheUnrepentantGeek on June 16, 2009 at 4:41 PM
Let me guess. The left called Bush a monkey all the time.
YYZ on June 16, 2009 at 4:41 PM
Wow we go from faux outrage over Letterman to shrugged shoulders and “nothing to see here” for something that is explicitly racist. Eventhough I am usually confrontative, I’m pretty much at a loss for words after reading down the comments. How about if she wore a robe with a white hood, then would you guys admit its wrong?
I mean this isn’t a big deal because she’s some stupid nobody, but come on guys, this is flat out wrong and stupid.
And just because Dems make racist comments doesn’t mean Republicans should make them. The logic on this thread is just flat out crazy.
LevStrauss on June 16, 2009 at 4:41 PM
Oh. OH. Dude.
It’s like how they sanitized fairy tales by Brother’s Grimm except the Klan wrote the originals…
TheUnrepentantGeek on June 16, 2009 at 4:42 PM
But I don’t get the fuss? She said she felt sorry about it, and she would never do it again, and most important it was a joke.
Letterman, Leno, Behar and other left wing “comics” get away with doing crap like this and they get to keep their jobs while making their audience laugh.
The difference is people like me want all of them (including Ms Goforth)fired!
Liberals only want Ms Goforth canned.
gonnjos on June 16, 2009 at 4:42 PM
Was it cool when Michelle Obama played the skin color card to garner sympathy for Ochimpy?
Ochimpy and the demoratf**cks started the race issue and now they want to changed horses in mid stream?
Don’t run on your skin color if you don’t want to be criticized on your skin color.
csdeven on June 16, 2009 at 4:42 PM
If that’s the case, why is Letterman a slug?
Jokes, tasteless or not, are expected from clowns like Letterman. Not from the offices of public servants.
MadisonConservative on June 16, 2009 at 4:42 PM
For sending it to the wrong people, not for sending a blatantly racist email out in the first place. I hope you see the difference.
Yes, it is. Hers, not ours.
How so? The fact remains that ACORN, used the race card to push banks into giving out loans they shouldn’t have given out. It’s somehow racist to point that out?
Yes, because advocating that our own country obeys it’s own laws is always racist, well, when a Republican says it.
And all the Uncle Tom comments about Republican minorities? That’s meaningless? Or that fact that the Democrats actually have a former keagle in the Senate or how it was the Democrats who opposed Civil Rights bills for years until it was politically expedient for them to do otherwise?
Actually, he wasn’t making a joke about a minor, and let’s face it, that much was obvious even the first time. I doubt he even knew Willow’s name before this joke. Second, he’s not just in the dark. The joke, for those of you who genuinely aren’t getting it, is that black people don’t show up in dark photos, cause they’re just so black. I don’t even know why that’s funny, but that’s the joke, and it’s not OK.
Esthier on June 16, 2009 at 4:42 PM
So he’s a racist, so that excuses racists on our side.
Got it.
MadisonConservative on June 16, 2009 at 4:43 PM
Yep. I’m just waiting for some leftist fool to suggest the term refers to anything else.
csdeven on June 16, 2009 at 4:43 PM
Thanks Mr. Dim. You and your party start the changing first. The Dems have been the Party of Racists since about 1840. You have done a wonderful job of projection, but the Donkeys gave us those wonderful multiculturalists known as the KKK. Then they backed it up with the wonderful Jim Crow laws. Show us the way and start changing to somebody who actually likes our country and what it stands for!
Sporty1946 on June 16, 2009 at 4:44 PM
Absolutely. If you can’t understand that everything you do while in that position will be under a microscope and don’t have enough common sense to understand what can be used by the opposition against your boss,then you don’t belong there
oldernwiser on June 16, 2009 at 4:44 PM
I find the “race card” offensive, not the picture.
infidel on June 16, 2009 at 4:44 PM
Yeah.
It annoys me how much of a minefield this kind of stuff is. How is anyone supposed to keep track of all this crap?
Count to 10 on June 16, 2009 at 4:44 PM
That’s nothing. Having kids sing “Ring around the rosy” is a really weird one, when people learn what it means.
progressoverpeace on June 16, 2009 at 4:44 PM
Really? *shrug* OK. Let’s pretend that American history didn’t happen and that there is no historical context of racialist humor in which this would fit like a glove. Leave aside all cultural preconceptions and ANY historical context that might be derived from minstrel acts, Amos & Andy, Little Black Sambo, Tarbaby, etc. and what are you left with when you look at that picture?
Every president in the picture is depicted as a fully realized human being except Obama. Obama is instead depicted as a set of floating non-human eyes in a field of undifferentiated black. Why might you not be able to see a black man on black background except those strange cartoony eyes?
dieudonne on June 16, 2009 at 4:45 PM
I’d say hell is freezing over, but this is just plain common sense.
LevStrauss on June 16, 2009 at 4:45 PM
Personally, instead of doing the eyes “bit”, I would have given The One a little mustache, although that may have gotten some Germans up in arms.
MB4 on June 16, 2009 at 4:45 PM
If it wasn’t for the fact that the Republican Party gets less votes from minorities than the Democrats, you might have a point. As it stands now however, it’s the Republican Party that haa the far greater problem with racial prejudice.
starfleet_dude on June 16, 2009 at 4:46 PM
Whenever WE have a problem, it’s a problem for US. Whenever THEY have a problem, it’s a problem for US.
Can’t win with the state run media. Life in a dictatorship.
Mojave Mark on June 16, 2009 at 4:46 PM
So calling a women a slut and laughing about her young daughter getting “knocked up” is on par with pointing out black skin can’t be seen in the dark?
This country has gone insane………
Hening on June 16, 2009 at 4:46 PM
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