Democrats blast GOP lawmaker's "suppress the Detroit vote" remark

[Cocoa]

the republicans aren't usually this open about their racist strategizing...

http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw101420_20040721.htm

DETROIT (AP) -- Democrats on Wednesday denounced a Republican lawmaker quoted in a newspaper as saying the GOP would fare poorly in this year's elections if it failed to "suppress the Detroit vote."

State Rep. John Pappageorge, R-Troy, acknowledged using "a bad choice of words" but said his remark shouldn't be construed as racist.

Pappageorge, 73, was quoted in July 16 editions of the Detroit Free Press as saying, "If we do not suppress the Detroit vote, we're going to have a tough time in this election."

"I'm extremely disappointed in my colleague," state Sen. Buzz Thomas, D-Detroit, told reporters Wednesday during a conference call. "That's quite clearly code that they don't want black people to vote in this election."

more...

[tom_paine]

1. Wow! It's not often a Bushevik speaks the truth

"Bad choice of words" my ass!

He was just being as honest as a King-Worshipping Bootlicker can be!

[w4rma]

36. Some have gotten cocky, brazen and more arrogant than usual. (nt)

[alfredo]

2. Would you expect anything else

out of the GOP?

[libhill]

3. I'm not surprised -

these fuck wads are so desperate to stay in power, that they're finally revealing their true colors. Nazi, rascist, assholes. Period. Convicted out of their own mouth.

[54anickel]

4. What an ASS! Shouldn't be construed as racist. Well then it's elitist!

Is THAT gonna be his defense? "Oh, I meant suppress the working class votes" :crazy:

Friggen Repugs, can't win an election by simply winning the most votes in a fair election. They've always got to suppress votes or lie or cheat or rig or whatever. Rally your damn base - oh, that's right you don't really have one - just a handful of folks with lots of money to help you suppress votes or lie or cheat or rig or whatever. :grr:

[MidwestTransplant]

5. Even if it's not racist it's facist and totally sick.

Of course I am not surprised.

[fearnobush]

6. Kick this to all

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[mefoolonhill]

7. detroit vote

This guy's last name is Pappageorge? You couldn't make this stuff up if you tried...

[Cocoa]

14. Pappa George

[buycitgo]

34. that's a great site: bushbacklash.com

[Demobrat]

8. Code? That's not code.

What could be more clear? He flat out said it. They don't want Detroiters to vote. Period.

[Karenina]

11. He declares that they MUST

SUPPRESS the vote. It's not about your registering a vote, it's ALL about WHO COUNTS IT.

[livinginphotographs]

27. He doesn't mean people from Detroit...

He means black people. It was just a nicer way of saying the n-word.

[Demobrat]

30. I know. I was using the same dodge.

They don't want Detroiters to vote. Most Detroiters are black. Ergo, they don't want blacks to vote.

[livinginphotographs]

31. That's cool.

I realized after I posted it that we most likely meant the same thing.

Sometimes I can be kind of anal retentive... ;)

[Media_Lies_Daily]

9. Pappageorge was stating exactly what's happened in the....

...last couple of election years. Minorities, particularly Blacks, were hampered in their efforts to get to the polls and vote during the 2000 and 2002 elections.

[IA_Seth]

10. Black or Arab?

Detroit is home to one (if not THE) biggest Arab populations in this country. I wonder if in fact they fear the Arab vote or if in fact it is the black vote mentioned above.

Either way its typical Republican bullshit, but I am curious as to what he meant.

[louis-t]

15. Detroit is NOT home to the biggest Arab

population, but Dearborn area is and it's close by. I think he is referring to the black vote. Period.

[IA_Seth]

20. Thanks!

Your reply made me actually look into it and this is what I found..it actually suprised me some.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/12/03/census.arabs.ap/

U.S. CITIES WITH LARGEST ARAB POPULATIONS
New York, N.Y. 69,985
Dearborn, Mich. 29,181
Los Angeles, Calif. 25,673
Chicago, Ill. 14,777
Houston, Texas 11,128
Detroit, Mich. 8,287
San Diego, Calif. 7,357
Jersey City, N.J. 6,755
Boston, Mass. 5,845
Jacksonville, Fla. 5,751

[truthisfreedom]

12. oh, no, don't construe it as racist. that might make it clear what my

real point was... suppressing the black vote!

[DaveSZ]

13. Bush doesn't have the votes to win without cheating

We need to be wary of this crap.

[truthisfreedom]

21. no kidding. he couldn't get in without cheating the first time... we all

know he'll do anything to cheat his way in this time. look at his lifestyle from his 20's on... he cheated the people out of land for his rangers stadium, cheated at harken, not once but FOUR friggin' times http://www.bushwatch.com/insidertrading.htm.

don't play cards with this guy.

[UpInArms]

16. it's shit like this that makes UN supervision of

our election mandatory.

This is bullshit!

The pigs have definitely run amok.

(anyone read Animal Farm lately?)

[TahitiNut]

17. Pappageorge is an imbecile. (He's just a few miles north of me.)

Of Greek ancestry, he benefits from the diverse (assimilated) ethnicity in SE Michigan but, like other "Got Mine So Fuck You" types, he buys into the embedded racism of this area. "Code"? Ubetcha. The siege mentality around here is pandemic. Racists look warily south towards the city and Wayne County and fearfully imagine a backlash at the exploitation and repression that's run rampant for decades. Things haven't changed all that much since 1967 when I lived in the city while my neighbors rioted.

[Zookeeper]

35. Hi TahitiNut...

As a kid in '67, I remember seeing smoke from the burning buildings down Jefferson Avenue. That certainly hastened the "white flight." I'm always saddened to hear that there is still so much racial antagonism in the Detroit area. What a waste!

STILL....I'm shocked to hear that a politician thinks he can get away with such an outrageous statement!

[geek tragedy]

18. It's weird reading anti-GOP news from the "freep" n/t

[kodi]

19. why would anyone believing in democracy want to "surpress" votes?

apparently, they believe in winning more than they do in democracy.

surprise, surprise

[Ganja Ninja]

26. Exactly! Why would someone that believes in Democracy ..

want to suppress certain voters?

The answer is simple. These assholes are Fascists. The concept of Democracy is lost on them. If people don't vote the way you want them to then don't let them vote at all. This guy should be forced to resign or at least censured for saying what he said.

[struggle4progress]

22. kick

:kick:

[Liberal_Dog]

23. A Rare Moment Of Honesty From The GOP

eom

[AirAmFan]

24. Here's how Republicans suppress Black votes. From Reagan's campaign chair

Remember Ed Rollins, a "Geraldo" regular on CNBC? He was Ronald Reagan's campaign chairman and later authored a classic dirty politics book called "Bare Knuckles and Back Rooms". Here's what Rollins once let slip to a room full of reporters:

From http://archives.cjr.org/year/94/1/cynicism.asp

Columbia Journalism Review January/February 1994

"Insider Cynicism: Ed Rollins Meets the Press, by Christopher Hanson Rollins is, or was, a Republican political consultant. The Sperling breakfast is a Washington institution of sorts -- held some 2,600 times over the past twenty-seven years -- in which journalists, hosted by The Christian Science Monitor's Godfrey "Budge" Sperling, gently question figures like Rollins and report the responses they find newsworthy.

At a November 9 Sperling breakfast, Rollins, boasting about how he had just helped win a governorship for New Jersey's Christine Todd Whitman, said the campaign had spent about $500,000 to suppress the black vote. He said GOP operatives had made payments to Democratic precinct workers in black areas on condition they sit on their hands on election day. And he said the Whitman campaign had contributed to church charities in return for black ministers keeping mum on the virtues of Democratic incumbent James Florio."

[Hekate]

25. Just a little Trent Lott moment of truth...

Let's hope the Democrats and the black community raise a stink and keep this in the headlines for awhile. Couldn't hurt our cause at all, atall.

Hekate

[yellowcanine]

28. Pappageorge (great name, btw) just let the Republican secret slip - their

strategy for winning is to suppress the Democratic vote - one way or another. Real uniters they are, huh?

[livinginphotographs]

29. His explanation is just as bad.

"You get it down with a good message."

Even when he tries to explain it, he's still saying, "We'll have to convince the n****rs not to vote."

What a filthy racist sack of shit.....

[arwalden]

33. My Thoughts Exactly...

Let him keep speaking... he's only making it worse for himself. If this weren't so sad, it would be amusing.

-- Allen

[fishwax]

32. That's not code

It's blatant. Outrageous.

:kick:

[NJCher]

37. Who me? Lie?

We've had quite a number of honest comments from them over the past few years. They can be quite honest about being dishonest!

"You don't roll out a major product in August." --Andrew Card.

Diebold CEO Walden O'Dell said he is, "..."committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."

... are just a few.


Cher

[Mountainman]

38. The repuke's actions are getting so transparent it's becoming laughable

The Berger thing is on all the wingnut talk shows for the last 72 hours and yet it's obvious a political trick with all the stooges falling in line and now this.

[yankeedem]

39. I nominate John Pappageorge for Top 10 Conservative idiots

nt

[gasperc]

40. this asshole is MY State REP, what a small world

I'll shoot off a letter to my dingbat rep on everyone here's behalf.

[noonwitch]

41. MI GOPers are really poed about Detroit's influence in the last two votes

2000 and 2002, Detroit showed up big for the elections and it led to the defeat of Spencer Abraham, and the win for Gov. Granholm. Also, in 2000, Gore carried Michigan and if Detroit gets out the vote again, Kerry will win here, too. And the only thing that the GOP can do about it is find ways to either keep Detroiters home on election day or find ways to discredit the votes.

At least Pappageorge is honest-the DeVos/Engler side of things would just find a way to do it without getting caught.

Bush is here today, addressing the Urban League convention. There are cops everywhere near downtown.

[knitter4democracy]

42. Yeah, DeVos just wouldn't say it

DeVos is pretty close to evil, I think. She's crazy too, but she's smart enough to not get caught most of the time. I live in SW MI, in other words, Republican-Land, and I hope you guys in Detroit can get out the vote! We're working hard here, but we're up against a lot. We have John Birchers in town working against us. Grr!