(Virginia Beach Republican committee chair David Bartholomew at left with House candidate Scott Rigell.)
Republican House candidate Scott Rigell of Virginia has called for local party chair David Bartholomew to step down immediately after allegedly sending a racist joke over e-mail. Dated March 15, the e-mail that looks to be from Bartholomew's account comes with the subject line of "my dog." It's not funny:
MY DOG
I went down this morning to sign up my Dog for welfare.
At first the lady said, "Dogs are not eligible to draw welfare".
So I explained to her that my Dog is black, unemployed, lazy, can't speak
English and has no frigging clue who his Daddy is.So she looked in her policy book to see what it takes to qualify...
My Dog gets his first check Friday.
Is this is a great country or what?
With Bartholomew's alleged e-mail going public two weeks before the election, the Republican pol in his territory didn't have time to mess around. Rigell is running against Democratic incumbent Rep. Glenn Nye for a seat largely based in Virginia Beach. That's where Bartholomew is commitee chair.
Tonight Rigell called Bartholomew's alleged e-mail "reprehensible." Writing on Facebook, Rigell said that the e-mail "stands in stark contrast to the core values of the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln, and my personal belief in a colorblind society."
H/T to Daily Kos diarist @lowkell and Blue Virginia, first out of the blocks with this developing story.
After the jump, the official statement from the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus.
The state Black Caucus writes:
The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus is outraged by a vile and hateful email distributed by David Bartholomew, Virginia Beach Republican Committee Chair and chief lieutenant to Republican Congressional candidate Scott Rigell. The email promotes ignorance and hostility towards racial and ethnic minorities and those who have been left unemployed by the recession. Bartholomew has expressed the same evil and callous attitude displayed by too many Republicans this election year. As a party chair, Bartholomew is not merely in a position of leadership, he serves as the standard bearer for the principals and aspirations of his members. When Scott Rigell confers and shakes hands with his chairman, every Virginian should be concerned with the bargains being made. It would behoove Mr. Rigell to disavow Bartholomew's actions, request that he apologize and step down as leader of the Virginia Beach Republican Committee. To do less is to condone Mr. Bartholomew's actions.
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Sadly, with it being Virginia, there will be people applauding him for it. :(
Not this Virginian. Fingers crossed this sinks Rigell's run. Hopefully Nye's camp can spin this into something damning.
I'm a Virginian and I am appalled by what he had to say. This is a racist thing not a Virginian thing. Many of us are nice people. :)
As a Virginia resident, I find this appalling. As a human being, I find this appalling. As a student of human nature, I find that racism is alive and well, just (though not in this case) perhaps more subtle. I hope the voters in the Va. Beach area make sure that the GOP candidate does not win. Do not vote in anger, do your homework and realize that the GOP got us into this mess, they surely are not going to get us out of it.
How many of these need to be revealed before people start seeing the GOP for what it is.
There are no words to describe how I feel after reading this about Barfolomew. I'm speechless with rage.
He is slime personified and should be prosecuted.
I don't think the GOP will ever think any differently than they do now. If it isn't about power and money, the feelings of others are of no consequence to them. They have no decency or ethics, IMO.
They have done more to divide this country since the Civil War and I hope they are the first to fall into the chasm they have created. Unfortunately, it really doesn't work that way -- we all fall and we have them to thank for it.
Amendment to my previous post.
On a scale of " most loathsome", I think Carl Palladino edges out Barfolomew.
Why are we surprised? Bartholomew was probably the surprised one, it is likely he thought in today's t-party's atmosphere, it was OK to make jokes like that again, did he even believe it was a joke? I say it reflects his real beliefs. I'm waiting for his resignation but not holding my breath.
This is a classic tea party "joke." Our local tp published this on its site, with welfare misspelled "welfair." Then they have the gall to complain about being called teabaggers.
It is so hard for me to comprehend that anyone in this day and age would think that funny. My father was born in 1916 and died in 1974 and HE would not have thought it funny. It's the kind of elitise malicious "humor" that I thought we had out grown. Alas, the guy is probably sexist too. I feel for those in VIrgina who may be tainted by this jerk.
The hatred expressed by David Bartholomew speaks to his lack of ability to be compassionate and open with those who he wants to elect him to office.
Here, Here, Jimspice!
You know I am kinda sick of every time a Republican in the South does something racist people say "what do you expect? It is the South".
Have you taken a good look around the country lately? New York and Arizona for example seem pretty backward to me.
Christian Democrat in Alabama.
Sorry my friend, I am sure no offense was really meant. You are correct on peoples opinion of the south. I am from Ohio and I know people who brag about a town south of mine that has the largest branch of the klan than any other place in the United States. Will not name the town since I have no data to support such a claim, but I personally believe southern Ohio is full of racist. Discrimination does not discriminate, it is everywhere my friend.
Racism is all over this country. Some hide it better than others.
I completely agree with you. I am sick and tired of us Southernors being singled out as some sort of racist mob. If you want to see racism throughout the history of this country all you have to do is look north and west. What country barred Jews from entering their country unless they had value? What country said, Irish need not apply? What California school district came up with a 'permit' solution to prevent integrating their schools? Do you really think racism is a southern issue? Take a look at Detroit, Chicago, Boston to name a few cities.
The U.S. culture is racist. There is not a penalty for being a white racist. It is excused and ignored by the media.
I don't blame shae for being upset. White liberal racism is alive and kicking in the north, south, east and west.
tanyars5--You mean White Conservative Racism is alive and kicking. What democrats have you heard of, making racial slurs, and sending racist e-mails......
Sad thing is the people who are elected to represent the south are racists and bigots.
I was disgusted by this joke 30 years ago when I first heard it. And we're suppose to believe they are a party of new ideas?
What amuses me about that joke, is that just like blogs posted by Right Wing Conservatives, the sentences are misspelled and grammar is incorrect. Too bad that stupid people can run for office and vote, if there was a voting ban on stupid, Republicans would lose every election.
How sad
Why did it take 6 months for action to be taken? The message is dated March 15. The only reason this happened is because they got caught!
It seems to be more of it everyday and it will continue, because folks still can't have an honest discussion about race issues in America. You don't have to go far to find stories or emails or jokes like this one. Look at the NY candidate for governor, Mr. Paladino. Prime example.
These clowns are idiots. How many brain cells does it take for one to figure out that anything sent in an email will become public knowledge in about a half hour? So this guy is either clueless or he didn't seem to think what he was sending was at all offensive. Or both.
"We're too dumb to make it in no Northern town and we're keepin the niggas down"
Randy Newman from "Rednecks" circa 1974-75. Some things never change do they?
GOP = Generally Obnoxious People
Wow, you weren't kidding. That's really not funny.
This man was just expressing what most Republicans and Teapartiers really believe but are afraid to say. That he did it in an email speaks as much to his stupidity as to his bigotry. The dumbing down of America is advancing exponentially. That there are still voters out there who support Republicans on any political level is distressing. The prospect of the Republicans actually governing again after this mid-term election is more than I can stomach.
To those of you who say "this reveals what the Republicans are all about," I would say that this is good evidence that the entire party promotes a different agenda in public than in private. The entire campaign is about using fear of change to motivate people toward more racist attitudes.
Look at the way the Republicans use the "pro live v. pro choice" question as a divining rod for being fit to govern. Why do they do this? Because they know that the only way to fix the problem is with a constitutional amendment, and that with more than 50% of the population being female, that will never happen. So even though they can do nothing to change the national laws on abortion, they run on the platform because it is the only way to mobilize the zeal of the Christian Right. They never intend to do anything about abortion because it distances them from half the electorate. But they talk about this non-stop so that they can get the votes.
This is the classic reason you should watch what Republicans DO instead of listening to what they say. They run on shrinking government and reducing taxes, and they pass laws that benefit only the rich and the captains of industry. This email isn't shocking, except for the fact that he got caught and outed.
Alleged? You have to be kidding me. Alleged?
Those two chuckleheads (thanks to the Three Stooges) would be welcome in Utah. Senator Chris Buttars, (his "Black Babies" comment) would welcome both with open arms. Everyone seems to forget Utah was a "slave state" before the 13th Amendment was passed. If some of Rachels viewers want to see Chris Buttars and Utah in action watch Reed Cowans movie about Prop.8
It would be nice if Nye came out strongly against this but it's not his style to slam people.
Unfortunately.
Here's my question: what's with the word "alleged"? There's certainly no doubt that it's racist.... and how do you "allegedly" send an email? Are we to assume that his defense will be someone else typed it and hit the send button from his computer email account or mobile phone?
Do they have evidence it came from his computer? It's actually quite easy to send an email and make it look as if it came from someone else. It could easily be a set up. Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending this guy; just saying that's why the offensive email is being characterized as "alleged."
What's that old saying? You can tell a lot about a person by what makes him/her laugh?
I'm sorry to say, I have heard this type of disgraceful 'humor' before, and it has always been coming from the mouths of conservative Republicans. I would like to believe they don't all think this way, but it's bad enough that they knowingly tolerate this attitude within their ranks - at least when they think no 'liberals' are listening.
It's the hypocrisy that really burns me. This is the same type of politician who can turn on the smiling, family-values, faux-Christian persona when they are stomping for votes. When will the average hard-working Republican voter realize that they are being played for a fool by people whose real allegiance is pledged to corporate wealth?
Whether it's this fool, or Paladino and his pornographic and racist emails, or the many other holier-than-thou's with their secret mistresses, these people are crude and disgusting. Too bad they don't appear to feel true shame over their words and actions. If they did, they would crawl off into the woodwork. Instead, they pretend that their views are somehow consistent with ones which value 'the dignity and sanctity of life'. Whose life is valued exactly? Certainly not blacks, gays, women or other minorities. Evidently, it's easier to show respect for people before they are born.
Democrats, don't let these perverts take the moral high-ground any longer. Please speak out proudly in favor of the truly fair and decent American values that we've been working for all along.
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