Thom Hartmann: Romney Camp Wants Anglo-Saxons (Master race?) in the WH

[thomhartmann]

On last night's show I talked about dog whistle politics - and how Mitt Romney isn't afraid to talk in code to appeal to the racist whackjobs in his party who really think President Obama was born in Kenya - or that somehow he's a "foreigner." Well, just as I was saying those words - the Romney campaign was taking a deep breath and getting ready to give another really loud toot on the dog whistle. As reported yesterday in the British Newspaper the Daily Telegraph - a Romney campaign adviser told Telegraph reporter John Swaine that Mitt Romney will have better relations with the U.K. than President Obama...mainly because one of President Obama's parents was black. Here was the exact quote from the Romney campaign advisor as reported: "We are part of an Anglo-Saxon heritage, and [Romney] feels that the special relationship is special...The White House didn’t fully appreciate the shared history we have." As Swaine writes about the comment: "In remarks that may prompt accusations of racial insensitivity, one suggested that Mr Romney was better placed to understand the depth of ties between the two countries than Mr Obama, whose father was from Africa."

Maybe it could be called racially insensitive because one of the main definitions of "Anglo-Saxon" means blonde-haired people from the German state of Saxony who conquered the British Isles thousands of years ago. So, to prove just how white and Anglo-Saxon he is - Mitt Romney will return to the UK the Winston Churchill Bust that President Bush had displayed in the oval office. You know - because people whose parents came from Africa just can't appreciate Winston Churchill, and one of them is in the White House now - hint hint - have you noticed what color his skin is??

Romney arrived in London today - on his "Anglo-Saxon Appreciation Tour" - and met with British Prime Minister David Cameron. The U.K. is currently mired in a deep double-dip recession thanks to Cameron's austerity policies - the same sort of austerity that Romney wants to bring to the United States. It's an austerity that makes banksters like Romney and Barklays much richer, but screws average working people - so much so that working people have been protesting in the streets of London for months. And such austerity hit young people and minorities particularly hard.

Let's face it - from here until November Mitt Romney will use dog-whistle politics - either through bashing President Obama's "foreign" dark-skinned heritage - or through promoting his own white-skinned "Anglo-Saxon" heritage - all in an effort to speak to the racists in his party...who turn out and vote in large numbers. And he's hoping that if he blows that dog whistle loud enough - then his own genuinely foreign ties will remain hidden - like the fact that he has more offshore, foreign bank accounts than Carmen Sandiego. Or the fact that he has working for him a lobbyist and campaign bundler named Tom Loefller who - as the Center for American Progress reports - is a paid agent of a foreign government - earning a paycheck to: "...protect, promote, assist and develop Hong Kong's economic and trade interests in the United States of America..."

Or the fact that one of Romney's biggest supporters - Sheldon Adelson - a Macau Casino tycoon who's pledged to spend more than $100 million helping Romney - is known to have business dealings with Chinese gangs. President Obama is a not a foreigner - he was born in America, raised in America, went to school in America, and has devoted his life to public service in America. But Romney knows he can pick up a few million more votes if he blows the dog whistle to get one simple message across to racist voters - and that is: he'll bring a white man's touch back to the White House. Let's all keep pointing out the appeals to twisted hatred that lie just under the surface of Romney's rhetoric, and put an end to dog-whistle politics in America.

The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann on RT TV & FSTV "live" 9pm and 11pm check www.thomhartmann.com/tv for local listings