alan Grayson recently sent out funding letter
that spelled the word Tea Party with
that teehee being a burning cross but now it was
hyperbole his cock clearly connecting the Tea Party to the
Ku Klux Klan well the media saw this
and absolutely lost it then they ask a reason
if you want to apologize for it and he said quote if the hood fits wear it
so he wasn't backing down at all and he went on:
a Martin Bashir show to talk about this on MSNBC
and this happened we have some sympathy for your
analysis given that over the last five years we've written witness plenty of
instances a
racial hatred toward the president whether it's the revolting
rush limbaugh the embassy or Sarah Palin or tea party supporters
spewing their hate at various rallies but I have to ask you how can you
possibly compare
racist that perfects with the racist
actions have the KKK which actually lead
to racist murders well today Martin
the home of discrimination and bigotry in our country in our political system
is the Tea Party
to the same way that the home bigotry and discrimination generations ago was
the Ku Klux Klan
I'm pleased that we haven't gone so far as to see those murders
but the analogy hold to that degree in fact we saw it on your show last week
when larry claimant I exited gross racism
we saw it last week when a confederate flag was waved in front to back white
house by Tea Party finesse sure
now I i accept what you're saying sir but I have to ask you on the night of
june the twenty first nineteen sixty-four
Michael Schwerner James Chaney and andrew goodman
well lynched by the KKK near Philadelphia
mississippi how many young black and white civil rights workers
has the Tea Party lynched Martin
I have given a reproduction up the painting of that and send to our local
african-american History Museum
I am well aware of what you're describing sometimes analogies are in
perfect
but the fact remains that said New Years the tag militia Martin
do anything yes may have been any inappropriate
analogy know and I'll tell you why because the modern-day torch bearers
the civil rights movement the NAACP three years ago
implored the Tea Party to remove the races from their midst
and they fail to do so and two years ago another
african-american congressman said specifically
you and me they'd like us hanging from a tree
and yet still even after that the races
them continues okay so no I think the point is valid
and in fact what needs to be done is for the Tea Party to expunge
the races from its now the the GOP Civil War is due in large parts
because it cannot prevent and often will not condemn
some of its most hateful members for making the most
you know in Centurion discriminate re comments don't you yourself thereby
debase your own party by arguing on their level
morn do you think that racism is the same as calling out racism
do you think that my effort to end racism in america is somehow
analogous to race in itself know that's ridiculous what I'm saying to you said
though
is that you've heard your colleague John Yarmuth
say that he felt that that wasn't the best analogy that using that kind of
thing
example is inappropriate and doesn't it actually did nude
the very evil of the KKK who did
perpetrate such horrific murders upon people I mean let's be honest the Tea
Party has not done
I imagined John armitt does not have emails from Tea Party members
going to him saying go to hell Jew boy
or I wish that it were you on that cross so maybe join Yarmouth does see it
differently from the way
tonight I receive emails from people regularly
describing me in the most inappropriate times and asking the IB murdered
and shot and Hong I accept that that happens
the point I'm simply making to you is that
is it appropriate to use such heinous crimes
and to analogize them when describing the Tea Party when you and I know
members of the Tea Party have not perpetrated murders
all lynchings and the pointer making to Martin
is that if you don't speak out against it an NFL infect your collaborating with
it
and and in fact if you give someone like me a hard time for speaking out against
it
then maybe your collaborating with I'm I'm not collaborating with it but
representative alan Grayson we've run out of time thank you sir for joining us
thank you martin mmm yeah
Alan you lost me a little at the end there obviously Martin Bashir is now
with the Tea Party
but let's break this down here cuz on split on this
so on the one hand the right-wingers always call
democrats socialists communists and now lists I mean they make comparisons to
Hitler on a daily basis
we just had one the other day were you know somebody on crossfire brought it up
to do to look like Uncle Jesse I think you had a one India
right-wing think tanks an immediate response was nothing banjos call them
out right there
nobody wanted talk about a further and again limbaugh all the time these guys
are always making of stalin communism is that you guys know the way it works a
they do with that ad nauseam ad infinitum
and a there is a double standard there and I think a lot of that has to do with
the
expectation that the people on the far right
are lunatics and I mean I guess some sort of
level love acceptance that the people on the left are not
so we're kind of held to a much higher standard
but on the other hand I mean Martin Bashir is right in the sense that
it is literally not true that the Tea Party
is like the KKK because I mean it
did KKK what their most known for
other than the obvious being an overtly racist organization a goofy white
outfits
is the lynchings they actually murdered people fairly regularly
that's not what the Tea Party duce
right at and you could argue arm
that their largely races there's a large chunk in a tea party trace it and in
fact that's true because there's overwhelming evidence for that
but you can say that they're the same as the KKK cuz they're not they're just not
so what what's lying overall takeaway here
well number one let's be honest
who when the klan vol.4
in the United States of America today
I mean you guys are not Bernie Sanders fans they don't watch Rachel Maddow on a
regular basis
I mean it on me as they would vote for the for this right candidates available
in any election
and what does that happen to be it happens to be the Tea Party
but since it's true that they never murdered anybody
here's what I'll say I personally would make the comparison that Grayson made
but I'm not gonna jump down his throat about a car pile on
and the reason why I'm not going to do that is because their is
a significant portion of the Tea Party that is
overtly racist and also I think there's some
up there's some good that comes out Nov
somebody going over the line that I wouldn't cross
because what alan Grayson does is he ships the debate
whereas instead the media before focusing on
hey the what's the Tea Party opinion on taxes for the deficit
now we're focused on pays the Tea Party like the klan
or are they not like the klan and of course when it comes to
having a political debate or discussion it's in the question it's not in the
answer
and that's the more appropriate question you know in the Tea Party like the
clatter are they not
because here's what is not an appropriate question about the Tea Party
under any circumstances
do they have anything substantive to add to the political conversation
because they flat out don't