Randi Rhodes: Gabby Returns, Racist Exposed

Well, the bill to raise the debt ceiling has finally passed both houses of Congress—and with almost 12 hours to spare! Really, guys, what was the rush? The past few days have not been pretty, but at least there was one upbeat moment. Yesterday, with about 2 minutes left in the voting on the bill in the House, Gabrielle Giffords returned to the House floor for the first time since being shot in January, and voted for the bill. Now she has an excuse for doing this at the last minute. It was good to see Giffords return, but if part of recuperating is to avoid stress, the floor of the US House of Representatives is probably the last place on earth she would want to be. You have less stress being on the streets of Pamplona during the running of the bulls.

Much of the Left is up in arms over the debt deal, but I'm having a hard time making sense of all the outrage. First of all, next to nothing happens until 2013. The triggers scare Repubs much more than Dems. Anything evil that comes out of the 'super committee' still needs to pass congress (including a Dem senate) and be signed by Obama. Beyond that, the winners of the next election will ultimately be the budget-setters, as they always are. SO VOTE!

Incidentally, the House vote on the debt ceiling bill broke the Republicans’ own “Pledge to America” saying they would post the text of bills online “for at least three days” before bringing them up for a vote. That’s what happens when Republican pledges collide with Republican reality. The “Pledge to America” says “Legislation should be understood by all interested parties before it is voted on.” I’m not sure this bill was understood by the parties that wrote it.

A Republican Congressman has used the term “tar baby” in reference to President Obama. Congressman Doug Lamborn of Colorado said of the President “I don’t even want to be associated with him, it's like touching a tar baby…” Wow. The only way that statement isn’t racist is if it was read phonetically by a person who does not speak English. Using the term “tar baby” is like dog whistle racism, except you replace the dog whistle with a police siren. All I know is, right now, there are probably some rightwing nutbags on Wikipedia, rewriting the entry for “Tar Baby.”

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