SENATOR McCONNELL TAKING NEW HEAT TODAY AND MAKING
CONTROVERSIAL COMMENTS ABOUT
RACE AND BRINGING OBAMA INTO IT.
HE WAS RESPONDING TO AN NBC NEW
REPORTS THAT NOTES HIS GREAT,
GREAT GRANDFATHER’S SLAVES, HIS
STANCE ON PREPARATIONS.
HERE SENIOR McCONNELL BRINGING
OBAMA INTO IT.
>> I FIND MYSELF ONCE AGAIN IN
THE SAME POSITION AS PRESIDENT
OBAMA.
OBAMA. WE BOTH OPPOSE REPARATIONS AND
WE BOTH ARE THE DESCENDANTS OF
SAVE HOLDERS.
SAVE HOLDERS. >> "THE NEW YORKER’S" JELANI
COBB HELPS US GET INTO THAT AND
A LOT MORE.
IT IS A HISTORICAL FANTASTIC
THAT BARACK OBAMA’S ANCESTORS IF
YOU GO BACK FAR ENOUGH INCLUDED
SLAVE OWNERS ON HIS MOTHER’S
SIDE AND HE IS A DESCENDENT OF
ONE OF THE FIRST DOCUMENTED
SLAVES ON HIS MOTHER’S SIDE.
McCONNELL IS CLEARLY TRYING TO
TROLL OR EXCITE AND GET PEOPLE
AWAY FROM THE NEWS THAT HE FACES
A VERY KED CREDIBLE CHALLENGE
FROM A RETIRED MARINE FIGHTER
PILOT, AMY McGRATHING.
> EVERYTHING THAT’S WRONG IN
WASHINGTON HAD TO START SOME
PLACE.
PLACE. IT STARTED WITH THIS MAN WHO WAS
ELECTED A LIFETIME AGO.
AND WHO HAS BIT BY BIT YEAR BY
YEAR TURNED WASHINGTONING INTO
SOMETHING WE ALL DESPISE.
WHERE DYSFUNCTION AND CHAOS ARE
POLITICAL WEAPONS, A PLACE WHERE
IDEALS GO TO DIE.
>> GEL MANNY COBB IS HERE.
GOOD TO SEE.
>> WHEN WE GET A STORY LIKE
THIS, AND THIS IS A STORY I
THINK YOU WOULD AGREE, I LIKE
HAVING YOU AROUND.
YOU ARE A NONPUNDIT.
AND SO I’M NOT GOING TO ASK YOU
ABOUT THE KENTUCKY CROSS TABS
POLL.
POLL. I AM GOING TO ASK YOU, WHAT WE
SHOULD MAKE OF THE DEVICE THAT
MR. McCONNELL IS USING AND WHAT
IS THE SUBSTANTIVE TAKE AWAY IN
YOUR VIEW.
YOUR VIEW. >> THERE ARE A LOT OF THINGS TO
TALK ABOUT HERE.
ONE IS THAT IT’S OBSCENE FOR
MITCH McCONNELL TO COMPARE
HIMSELF TO BARACK OBAMA IN THAT
REGARD.
REGARD. NOW, TRUE, BARACK OBAMA’SES A
TYPICAL IN THAT HE IS A
DESCENDENT OF SHAVE LOADERS ON
HIS MOTHER’S SIDE.
DOES MITCH McCONNELL REALLY WANT
TO TALK ABOUT IF YOU’RE LOOKING
AT THE SINGLE LARGEST GROUPING
OF PEOPLE WHO ARE DESCENDANTS OF
LAV HOLDERS YOU WOULD BE LOOKING
AT AFRICAN-AMERICANS BECAUSE OF
THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION YOU
HAVE RAPE OF BLACK WOMEN DURING
SLAVERY.
SLAVERY. AND SO MOST OF US COULD SAY THE
SAME THAT WE’RE DESCENDANTS OF
SLAVE HOLDERS.
SLAVE HOLDERS. >> YOU’RE OBSERVING A HISTORICAL
FACT THAT IF YOU GO DOWN THIS
ROAD OF ANCESTRY, BLACK
AMERICANS.
AMERICANS. >> THAT’S RIGHT.
>> HAVE TO PUT IT IN
MR. McCONNELL’S TERMINOLOGY THE
DESCENDENTS OF SAVE HOLDERS
BECAUSE THEY WERE
INSTITUTIONALLY RAPED AS A PART
OF SEXUAL SLAVERY.
>> THAT’S RIGHT, THAT’S RIGHT.
SO THE WHOLE FOUNDATION OF THE
QUESTION OF REPARATIONS AT LEAST
AS IT PERTAINS TO SLAVERY IS TO
REPAIR THE DAMAGE THAT’S BEEN
DONE BEGINNING THERE AND PASSING
DOWN THROUGH SUCCESSIVE
GENERATIONS.
GENERATIONS. AND SO NO, THAT DOESN’T GET YOU
OFF THE HOOK, MR. McCONNELL.
IT’S AN OBSCENE KIND OF
INVERSION OF A VERY TRAUMATIC
AND MORALLY TROUBLING ASPECT OF
AMERICAN HISTORY.
AMERICAN HISTORY. >> HE ALSO SEEMS TO BE TRYING TO
SAY THROUGH THIS DEVICE TO THE
PUBLIC, WELL, DEBATE OVER OUR
HISTORY WILL GET VERY
POTENTIALLY ALLEGEDLY CONFUSING
VERY QUICKLY.
VERY QUICKLY. >> UH-HUH.
>> UH-HUH. >> BUT --
>> BUT -- >> NOT REALLY.
>> I THINK WHAT HE -- RIGHT, YOU
DON’T THINK SO AND YOU MAKE A
VERY GOOD POINT.
HE’S SORT OF TRYING TO SAY THAT.
I PUT ON THE SCREEN THE NAACP
RATING OF HIS CIVIL RIGHTS
RECORD.
RECORD. HISTORY IS RELEVANT ALSO FOR HOW
WE LIVE AND WHAT WE DO.
HE HAS AN ABUSINESS MALRECORD ON
CIVIL RIGHTS WHICH IS A
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BARACK OBAMA
IN TERMS OF WHAT THEY’RE DOING
WITH THEIR POWER IN OFFICE.
>> THAT’S RIGHT.
IF WE’RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT
THIS, BARACK OBAMA HAS INHERITED
RACE AS A HEADWIND.
IT’S SOMETHING THAT HAD TO BE
NAVIGATED IN HIS LIFE.
MITCH McCONNELL RACE HAS BEEN A
TAILWIND.
TAILWIND. AND WHEN WE TALK ABOUT YOU KNOW,
MY FRIEND ED BAPTIST IN HIS BOOK
"HALF HAS NEVER BEEN TOLD,"
THERE’S A BODY OF LITERATURE ON
THIS HISTORIANS HAVE WRITTEN IN
THE WAYS IN WHICH THE WEALTH
GENERATED BY SLAVERY HAS PASSED
DOWN SUCCESS ESFULLY THROUGH
NUGS INSTITUTIONS AND
CORPORATIONS AND SO ON.
WHEN WE LOOK AT THESE QUESTIONS,
IT’S NOT KIND OF ABSTRACT THAT
WE CAN GOING OH, LET’S MUDDY THE
WATERS AND DON’T UNDERSTAND
WHAT’S HAPPENING HERE.
THE MORAL LINES ARE VERY CLEAR.
MAYBE THIS IS AN ATTEMPT TO
DISTRACT FROM THE ENTRY OF MISS
McGRATH INTO THIS RACE BUS IT
HAS THE POTENTIAL OF ACTUALLY
GOING DOWN THE ROADS OF SOME
VERY UGLY HISTORICAL PATHS NO
MORE BENEFICIAL TO HIM I DON’T
THINK.
THINK. >> WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE
MESSAGE TO PEOPLE WHO WANT TO
OVERCOME TO USE THE LANGUAGE OF
THE 1960s BUT SAY GOSH, WHY ARE
WE ALWAYS TALKING ABOUT HISTORY?
>> IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND THE
PRESENT WITHOUT TALKING ABOUT
LIFT.
LIFT. THE PRESENT IS THE PRODUCT OF
THE PAST.
THE PAST. AND WE DON’T HAVE ANY PROBLEM
WITH THAT AS IT PERTAINS TO THE
THINGS WE THINK ARE VIRTUOUS
ABOUT THERE COUNTRY.
IF WE TALK ABOUT THE ROOTS OF
THE CONSTITUTION AND THE THINGS
THE FRAMERS WERE CONCERNED ABOUT
OR WHY THERE’S A FIRST AND
SECOND AMENDMENT.
SECOND AMENDMENT. WHAT THE 14th AMENDMENT MEANS,
ALL THESE THINGS WE THINK ARE
THE HALLMARKS OF AMERICAN
DEMOCRACY THAT CAN BE PROUDLY
SHOWN TO THE REST OF THE WORLD.
IN THAT CASE, THE PAST IS
PERFECT.
PERFECT. WE CAN ALWAYS IMPORT THAT INTO
THE PRESENT.
THE PRESENT. TALKING ABOUT THE UGLY LEGACY OF
THIS COUNTRY, ITS FOUNDATIONAL
SIN OF EXPLOITING AFRICANS AND
NEARLY EXTERMINATING THE
INDIGENOUS POPULATION THAT
BECAME THE BASIS OF WHAT WE CALL
THE OLDEST CONSTITUTIONAL
DEMOCRACY IN THIS COUNTRY WHO
REMIND OURSELVES DEMOCRACY IN
THIS COUNTRY IS YOUNGER THAN THE
ACTUAL CONSTITUTION.
ACTUAL CONSTITUTION. WHETHER HE WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
THE WAYS IN WHICH AMERICAN
DEMOCRACY WAS BIRGED BY THE
STRUGGLES OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE
BEEN EXCLUDED FROM IT TO TURN
THIS INTO A FAIR ASSEMBLAGE OF
WHAT COULD BE CALLED A
DEMOCRATIC NATION WHEN WE SEE
THE RELEVANCE OF HISTORY.
NOBODY WANTS TO GO THERE.
>> I HOPE PEOPLE ARE LISTENING
CLOSELY.
CLOSELY. YOU SAID SEVERAL IMPORTANT
THINGS.
THINGS. ONE OF THE THINGS YOU JUST SAID
IS DEMOCRACY IS MUCH YOUNGER
THAN THIS COUNTRY.
>> OH, YEAH.
>> AND THE NOSTALGIA OF THE
POLITICAL MOVEMENTS THAT ATTACH
TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT WHICH WAS
REAGAN AND TRUMP, IMAGINES A
TIME WHEN THINGS WERE MUCH
BETTER.
BETTER. AND THAT HAVE OF COURSE, THEN
RAISES THE DIFFICULT QUESTION OF
BETTER FOR WHOM BECAUSE AS A
DEMOCRACY, IT WASN’T A DEMOCRACY
FOR WOMEN FOR MOST OF HISTORY OR
MINORITIES OR FOR THE NATIVE
AMERICANS WIPED OUT IN GENOCIDE.
AT WHAT POINT DO WE HAVE
CONVERSATIONS AS PART OF THE
DAILY POLITICS AND NEWS BECAUSE
THEY ARE NOT EETH.
THEY ARE THE OVERORGANIZING
FIGHT THAT’S HAPPEN SNUG CAN’T
HAVE A DEMOCRACY WHEN THE
MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION IS
DISENFRANCHISED.
DISENFRANCHISED. WE’RE STILL HAVING THE STRUGGLE
NOW.
NOW. LOOK AT WHAT’S HAPPENING IN 2016
ON THE HORIZON FOR 2020 AND THE
BATTLES OVER VOTER ACCESS AND
VOTER SUPPRESSION AND THESE
KINDS OF THINGS.
BUT AT THE BEGINNING, THE OUTSET
OF THE COUNTRY IS VERY CLEAR.
MOST PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN THIS
COUNTRY COULD NOT VOTE.
SO IT’S PROBLEMATIC TO SAY WE
WILL START WITH THE KIND OF
HALCYON DAYS OF AMERICAN
CONTROLALISM AND TALK ABOUT THE
IDEALS OF THE FOUNDERS WITHOUT
TALKING ABOUT THE WAYS THEY WERE
CIRCUMVENNED BY RACE I DIDN’T
FEEL, SEXISM, BY CLASSISM, BY
THE STRUGGLES THAT PEOPLE TO