September 3, 2018: Bullhorns and Dog Whistles, Ramparts of Racism, Depths of Discourse

“By giving a wink and a nod to the White Nationalists in Charlottesville; by railing against black athletes; by belittling black women and calling Mexicans gang members and rapists; Caesar Disgustus has unleashed the furies.”

              ---from “The Quotations of Chairman Joe”

It didn't take long. No sooner was the vote in the Florida primaries counted when the scum moved to take control of the political debate employing the time-tested tactics so familiar to their white ancestors. 

“An assertion by a white gubernatorial candidate that Florida voters can't afford to "monkey this up" by voting for his black opponent was widely viewed as a "dog whistle" to rally racists.

“If it were a dog whistle — and GOP candidate Ron DeSantis denies any racial intent against Democrat Andrew Gillum — then a jungle music-scored robo-call that has circulated in Florida is more akin to a bullhorn.

“If nothing else, the minute-long audio clip is a clear sign of how quickly racism — subtle in some cases, overt in others — has entered the contest to determine who will lead Florida.

“Well, hello there,” the call begins as the sounds of drums and monkeys can be heard in the background, according to the New York Times. “I is Andrew Gillum."

"We Negroes . . . done made mud huts while white folk waste a bunch of time making their home out of wood an' stone."

“The speaker goes on to say he'll pass a law letting African Americans evade arrest “if the Negro know fo' sho' he didn't do nothin'."

“It is unclear how many people heard the call.

In a statement emailed to The Washington Post, Gillum's spokesman, Geoff Burgan said: “This is reprehensible — and could only have come from someone with intentions to fuel hatred and seek publicity. Please don’t give it undeserved attention."

People on the other side of the aisle also spoke out against the telephone campaign, which was first reported by the Tallahassee Democrat.

In a tweet, Gov. Rick Scott (R), the current occupant of 700 N. Adams St. in Tallahassee and a candidate for the U.S. Senate, blasted whoever was behind the robo-call.

"There is no room for any racial politics here in Florida — none,” the tweet said. “Florida is a melting pot of people from all over the globe, and we are proud of it. No attempts to divide people by race or ethnicity will be tolerated, from anyone. THIS. STOPS. NOW."

“ And a spokesman for DeSantis — a U.S. congressman who has been criticized for his racially tinged comment about Gillum a day after Tuesday's primary — called the robo-calls “disgusting."

"This is absolutely appalling and disgusting — and hopefully whoever is behind this has to answer for this despicable action,” Stephen Lawson, a spokesman for the DeSantis campaign, said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “Our campaign has and will continue to focus solely on the issues that Floridians care about and uniting our state as we continue to build on our success."

DeSantis has said his comments were aimed at Gillum's policies, not his skin color. (1)

Of course it is...once again the Rescumlicans are tearing a page from the Reagan cum tRUMP playbook where they rush to the ramparts of racism and then walk it back nevertheless sending a trumpet call to the deplorables that registers like a hammer on a tuning fork. In this case, tRUMP-backed DeSantis sought cover by telling the press that he was criticizing the Democrat's 'socialist' proposals, not his race. We are having none of it.

Florida will be a closely watched election for it is not only a major 'swing-state' but the Rooskies are already reported to be fiddling with the mechanisms of democracy, already probing Senator Nelson's campaign. It also pits Disgustus-inspired DeSantis against Democrat Andrew Gillum, a Bernie-Sanders backed liberal in a struggle that will, perhaps, define the new boundaries of political possibility as well as a referendum on who will seize the populist mantle. It will also, by all appearances, define the depths of our discourse.

The scum, of course, know they can't win on the merits. Disgustus is becoming increasingly unpopular as he soils the brand with incompetence, mendacity and corruption. So, with a little help from the Rooskies, the Scum have set about using all the old tactics, voter suppression, smear and, of course, the ever reliable old bludgeon of race.

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1. Wootson Jr., Cleve R. “'We Negroes' Robocall is an attempt to weaponize race in Florida Campaign.” The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/01/an-appalling-robocall-racism-invades-floridas-governors-race-