Rudy's New SC Co-Chair Has History Of "Racially Charged" Remarks
At this point, we can make it official: Rudy Giuliani really, really, really has bad luck with members of South Carolina's Ravenel clan.
Earlier this month, Rudy's former South Carolina chair, Thomas Ravenel, quietly stepped down from the gig after getting indicted for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
Today, Rudy's campaign announced that Ravenel's father, Arthur Ravenel, Jr., would serve as the state's campaign co-chair. But now Rudy isn't faring a heck of a lot better with Ravenel the Elder, either.
It turns out that Ravenel pere has a history of sorts. The Politicker's Jason Horowitz has the goods:
On October 18, 2006 The Post and Courier of Charleston, SC wrote " Arthur Ravenel Jr., who is running for an East Cooper seat on the board, caught flack 16 years ago when he was in Congress and made a comment about white committee chairmen who operated on 'black time,' which he said meant fashionably late."As recently as January 2000, the Post and Courier reported in an article headlined "Ravenel stepped outside 'civility,'" that Ravenel called the NAACP the "National Association For Retarded People."
When asked about the comment in the story, Ravenel said that he misspoke. "It was a slip of the tongue. I have never said the NAACP was retarded," he told the Post and Courier. "I made a rhetorical slip, and they want to lynch me for it."
It's all in the family...Rudy's new family.
Update: Here's the full "retarded" quote, from the Austin-American Statesman on January 9, 2000:
Republican state Sen. Arthur Ravenel told the crowd at a Statehouse rally that lawmakers should not cave into the pressure of outside influences when they return next week for a legislative session that is certain to take up the divisive issue.Ravenel told the crowd that he was recently confronted with questions by an out-of-state reporter who asked: "Aren't you people in South Carolina worried about what the people in the rest of the country think about you?" To which the crowd shouted back with a resounding "No."
"Can you believe that there are those who think that the General Assembly of South Carolina is going to . . . knuckle under, roll over and do the bidding (of) that organization known as the National Association for Retarded People?" lawmaker Ravenel asked the cheering crowd.
Comments (22)
Statement of Purpose wrote on June 25, 2007 5:58 PM:Greg,
In the South Carolina GOP they call this a strategy for winning...
well, yes, there's always that little detail...
am4 wrote on June 25, 2007 6:13 PM:It's not bad luck. Through his words and actions, Rudy attracts these people.
Little wrote on June 25, 2007 6:19 PM:Uh, maybe it stands for National Association for Acronymically Challenged People.
judyinnm wrote on June 25, 2007 6:34 PM:Why should this be news? Rudy has to find SOME WAY to appeal to the GOP base....
destor23 wrote on June 25, 2007 7:10 PM:As am4 said, it isn't bad luck at all.
Rudy Giuliani actually has the same "loyalty" problem that Bush does. Once somebody toadies up to Rudy, Rudy considers them a friend forever and Rudy likes to be surrounded by "his" people.
Is it surprising that a state chair was caught in a criminal act? Is it surprising that the replacement has a sordid history? Only if you forget Rudy's longtime friendship with Bernie Kerick.
He's no good at judging people. And a president has to be able to surround himself with people of the best character and abilities. Rudy doesn't have that skill.
thosethingswesay.blogspot.com
bkny wrote on June 25, 2007 7:33 PM:**Ravenel asked the cheering crowd.**
from the gop debate, south carolina:
"referencing the television character who has used torture techniques such as suffocation and electrocution on prisoners.
The audience applauded loudly after both statements."
there's a significant portion of that state that really hasn't evolved much beyond the 18th century.
Whiterosebuddy
Too subtle? How did you possibly take that as an insult to anybody but the idiot who said NAACP stands for the National Association of Retarded People?
Oy
fdeaton wrote on June 25, 2007 8:54 PM:The whole Ravenel story is interesting. I grew up in S.C. years ago. My family still lives there and my mother is in an assisted care facility, but I alway cringe when I cross the state line from Georgia into South Carolina. Let me be fair in saying that I'm not fully aware of the state of affairs regarding regressive behavior, but when I left S.C. so many years ago the consensus opinion seemed to be that we should revert to pre civil war ownership of people. I don't think I would be amiss in placing the Ravenel family in with those who might feel this way.
My problem is much deeper. I moved away from S.C. in 1975 and never looked back. I go back to visit several times a year for two or three days at a time and I wonder if I'm being too harsh on my birthplace. Usually I decide that I am not!
jeffgee wrote on June 25, 2007 8:57 PM:Not much different than the NY cops who told Abner Louima "It's Giuliani time" as they sodomized him with a toilet plunger handle.
ecoflame wrote on June 25, 2007 9:03 PM:Oh...wait! wait... I got it! The National Rifle Association was what Ravenel the Elder was referring. I mean, it works for me.
Wow - what a find...drug-dealing racists. Must be some kind of thug network, say like 'Craig's List' - perhaps 'Bernie's List.'
mrs panstreppon wrote on June 25, 2007 9:08 PM:I think Abner Louima recanted his claim that the cops said "It's Guiliani time."
jackrussell wrote on June 25, 2007 9:51 PM:They haven't evolved much since the Cro Magnon. The 18th century gave us the Enlightenment, after all.
whiterosebuddy wrote on June 25, 2007 10:25 PM:Not much different than the NY cops
yes, it ain't just the south where this is a winning strategy.
whiterosebuddy wrote on June 25, 2007 10:28 PM:Sorry if I missed your subtlty(sp?). It sounded like another spin that was speaking negatively of the members of the organization the acronym stands for. You know,... switching from the members being 'retarded' to 'acronymically challenged' is how I took it.
Daryl Cobranchi wrote on June 25, 2007 10:30 PM:I'm pretty sure that the rally that Ravenel was speaking at was to keep the Stars and Bars flying on Statehouse grounds.
Daryl Cobranchi
Wait 'till Guliani discovers how the KKK feels about Catholics and not-quite-white Eyetalians.
And carpetbaggers.
midnight rambler wrote on June 26, 2007 2:43 AM:Don't forget the full "slip of the tongue" comment (it was reported then, don't know why it isn't now):
"State Sen. Arthur Ravenel, a Republican and former congressman, speaking to a pro-flag rally of about 6,000 people on Saturday, said lawmakers should not bow to the 'National Association for Retarded People.'
"Responding to reports about his comments, Ravenel on Monday said he 'apologized to the retarded folks of the world for equating them with the NAACP.'
"Ravenel, who has a 40-year-old son whom he describes as retarded, said he misspoke and that while his apology to retarded people was genuine, he owed no apology to the NAACP."
marcNYC wrote on June 26, 2007 7:34 AM:This is no surprise. Don't forget how much the NYPD misses "Giuliani Time." He set the tone that led to Amadou Diallo, Abner Luema and too many other racially charged incidents to list. He also did not attend a single funeral or memorial, or expressed any sympathy, for any person shot by the NYPD, no matter how facially wrong the shooting. The track record is there: Giuliani will race bait if he thinks it will advance his ambitions.
In fact, he will do anything he thinks will advance his ambitions. Us New Yorkers have seen it all. The rest of the country "aint seen nothing yet".
sc mom wrote on June 26, 2007 9:14 AM:it hasn't changed much... i moved here a few years ago!
there's a LINK between the Council of Conservative Citizens and the SCGOP
Southern Poverty Law Center "Intelligence Report" - did a story on the "white-supremacist" Council of Conservative Citizens
(CCC) group - and the article mentions SC member Buddy Witherspoon.
The SC GOP lists him as an RNC Committeeman -- and he admits it in this WaPo article.
Then, right before the Nov '06 election, I read this:
Aryan Nations head to South Carolina.
UGH -- I sent the above info to people who I thought needed to know... very few ripples of interest -- oh well...
whiterosebuddy wrote on June 26, 2007 10:57 AM:"Ravenel, who has a 40-year-old son whom he describes as retarded, said he misspoke and that while his apology to retarded people was genuine, he owed no apology to the NAACP."
No wonder his son is a cokesniffing coke dealin' retard. With a bigotted moron like him for a dad, he needed a drug addled mind to survive that upbringing.
Mt57 wrote on June 26, 2007 11:34 AM:This is not "bad luck" for Rudy, it's just a classic page from the Republican playbook. They know they'll get none of the African-American vote, so they don't care if they alienate them. They need the right wing to turn out to have a prayer, forgive the pun, of winning so that's why they sign up guys like this who speak to the right. Now, the cokehead, he was bad.
