Source: Other Words
If youāre a rich Republican whoās done nothing in the House of Representatives for so long that youāre essentially seen as a piece of furniture, what do you do when faced with a popular, well-organized, grassroots opponent whoās about to overtake you?
Apparently, you unleash your inner racist.
Across the country, endangered Republican incumbents are resorting to a shameful, Jim Crow-era political tactic in a panicky effort to deflect attention from their own records: assailing their challengers as zealots who will let Black, Latino, and other ācriminal elementsā rampage through white neighborhoods.
Take longtime Texas congressman Michael McCaul. Used to strolling to victory, McCaul has found himself in a dead heat with Democrat Mike Siegel, a former schoolteacher with a progressive-populist program of Medicare for All and worker and environmental protections. Siegel has forged a surging and enthusiastic movement for change.
So here comes McCaul with a last-minute, down and dirty, million-dollar TV blitz, howling that Siegel is a crazed criminal justice radical whoāll shut down the police and empty prisons. McCaul himself doesnāt appear in this ludicrous dog-whistle piece of racist fabrication. Instead, heās put Joe Trimm, a white Republican constable (wearing his official uniform), on camera to do the dirty work.
The partisan constable cartoonishly tries to gin up voter fear: āTake it from me,ā he dramatically intones, āMike Siegel is a threat to your family.ā
Problem is, Trimm is a notorious right-wing race baiter who justifies police violence against peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters, calling them āthugs.ā But heās just the dummy ā McCaul is the ventriloquist mouthing fear and hate to save his political hide.
Jim Hightower has been described as that rarest of species: "A visionary with horse sense and a leader with a sense of humor." Today, Hightower is one of the most respected "outside Washington" leaders in the United States. Author, radio commentator and host, public speaker and political sparkplug, this Texan has spent more than two decades battling Washington and Wall Street on behalf of consumers, children, working families, environmentalists, small business and just-plain-folks. Right out of college, Hightower went to work as a legislative aide to Texas Senator Ralph Yarborough, a tireless liberal/populist stalwart in a cranky, often conservative state. In the early 1970s he headed up the Agribusiness Accountability Project, writing several books and testifying to Congress about the human costs of corporate profiteering and the value of sustainable, healthy, cooperative farming. From 1977 to 1979, he edited the Texas Observer, a thorn in the side of Texas Neanderthal politicians and a hotbed of first-rate journalism. In 1982, Hightower was elected Texas Agriculture Commissioner and then re-elected in 1986. The statewide post gave him a chance to fight for the kinds of policy and regulatory initiatives on behalf of family farmers and consumers he had long advocated. It also gave him visibility in national political circles, where Hightower became a prominent supporter of the Rainbow insurgencies within the Democratic Party in the 1984 and 1988 elections. In 1997 Hightower released a new book, There`s Nothing In The Middle Of The Road But Yellow Stripes And Dead Armadillos. Hightower continues to produce his highly popular radio commentaries and to speak to groups across the country. His newest venture is a monthly action-newsletter, The Hightower Lowdown, which will provide his unique populist insights into the shenanigans of Washington and Wall Street -- offering subscribers timely information, arguments and language to use in battling the forces of ignorance and arrogance. HIGHTOWER RADIO: Live from the Chat & Chew, a radio call-in show, debuted Labor Day, 1996, and continues to be a success with over 70 affiliates nationwide. This show includes a live audience, musicians, guests, and callers with a progressive populist perspective unheard anywhere else on the airwaves. Updates and more details about Hightower and his projects can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.jimhightower.com.
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