Just because the title of this post is true and funny, doesn’t make it appropriate.
As lame as his sorta-true, kinda funny, way over the top attack website was, Stewart’s excuses for this mess are far lamer:Strib:
“It breaks down to some frat-blog type humor that never was meant to get out to the public…”
Ok, not so much. Stewart’s rabid partisan persona garnered him fans, and there was even significant speculation as to the identity of Rev. Rahelio. Never meant to get out to the public?
Regardless, Stewart was definitely engaged in the public debate via AHS - commenting about, soliciting input from, and linking to and fro…you know, blogging. Anonymous bloggers tend to be pretty far out there, and Chris was no exception. Being untethered by the pesky hindrance of having to stand behind what one writes seems to bring out the poor judgement in people.
“Bloggers associated with my campaign intended this web page to be private…”
I’m not sure if Stewart should step down, and it’s legally up to him to decide. I do think that he should man-up and do the authentic public mea culpa if he wants to quell the chatter from many sides calling for him to resign. As a Delegate to the Minneapolis City DFL convention that endorsed Stewart, I will say that weak excuses about “frat-boy humor”, “jokey conversation”, and phony intentions strike me as profoundly lame.
You are right to call this guy out. Can the DFL un-endorse him now that he is in?
Dan —
No.
But I can tell you this much he probably won’t be getting the endorsement again.
I think he should just say “yep, I’m Chris Stewart. Same guy. Yeah, I said those things and wrote on that website.” Then let’s move on. There’s reason to un-endorse him. He was blogging anonymously and said some things that got some people riled up. So it goes. If you think American Hot Sausage and his Tammy site being linked to him affects his service as a school board member, then maybe he should step down. I personally don’t think it has anything to do with it.
Er, I meant, “there’s no reason to un-endorse him.
Usually, I think you are an undeveloped and juvenile political analyst. Let’s face it, you have posted some spiteful posts on democratic members, but this post is right on. I hope you follow through on pursuing this story and follow your own advice.
This is what I posted last night (Sunday, 11/12) on the Minneapolis Issues List:
When I checked a few minutes ago, there were 89 posts regarding Chris
Stewart, Tammy Lee and the American Hot Sausage (AHS) website page of last
week. That’s a lot of heat, I have to say, and I have been pondering why the
website provoked so much reaction. After reading all the posts somewhat
carefully, I think I have the answer.
There is a litmus test going on here, depending on how you answer the question:
“Was Tammy Lee’s original website itself racist?”
It looks like about 20 percent would answer, “Yes, Tammy Lee went racist in the
last two weeks of the campaign.” Some of those in this group have been keeping
up with the more blatant racism of Minnesota Democrats Exposed (‘NO MUSLIMS! NO
MUSLIMS! NO MUSLIMS!), Strib commentator Katherine Kersten, and Alan Fine.
Racism is pretty easy to see for what it is in those sources: an attack on
candidate Keith Ellison on phony and long-answered “character” issues,
because there are no policy issues that would provide traction for Ellison’s
opponents. Many of those in this camp (and I am one), were deeply disappointed
that Tammy Lee joined the fray in the final days of the campaign. The letter
from Kathleen Anderson, along with many other lightly-coded messages on the
website and in the campaign emails were deeply jarring, particularly in
contrast to the previous positive tone of the Lee campaign.
Those who see racism in the Tammy Lee campaign are unlikely to see racism or
hate in the AHS website. They saw the anti-Ellison racism clearly, so they
either see the AHS page as wickedly funny or tastelessly unfunny, but they do
not see racism in the parody. They recognize that the AHS site is the parody
of previous hate/racism campaigning.
It looks to me like nearly 75 percent of this list did not read the original
Tammy Lee campaign releases or did not see the racism in them. When they
read the AHS site, they see references to white supremacy, the KKK and so
forth…and they are disgusted by what they see. Some of those are forgiving and
would like Chris Stewart to apologize and be a good boy in the future. Some of
those are vindictive and are howling for him to resign from the school board.
Many of those offended seem not to realize that Chris Stewart is himself
black. None of them see the original racism.
I am at a complete loss as to what I can say to those who do not see the
original MinnesotaDemocratsExposed/Alan Fine/Katherine Kersten and (eventually)
Tammy Lee racism. If you haven’t seen the original Tammy Lee releases, you
could always go back and look. If you have, but just don’t consider it racist,
I am not sure I have too much to say. It would be like yelling at my
color-blind brother-in-law because he can’t see red and green. He, of
course, has had many people tell him over the years that certain shirts just
don’t go with certain pants, so he knows that others can see something that
he cannot. He accommodates by asking friends to help him pick out his
clothes.
Perhaps the best I can say is that at least some others see racism here, and
that it is a sincere perception on our part, not part of a political campaign
or other power struggle. I would even go further in telling you that
probably MOST people of color would see the racism in the Lee ending
campaign, because most people of color have been sensitized to subtle racism by
having to deal with it personally for their whole lives. White people like
me may see it because of some quirk of their life experiences. In my own case,
I spent 17 years of my adult life living in Africa and Latin America, so my
perceptions would naturally be different than if I had never left the all-white
suburb where I grew up.
So I will tell you simply that others saw the racism that AHS did a parody on.
I understand that perhaps you didn’t, but perhaps you might spend just a
short reflective moment asking yourself why someone else saw something that you
didn’t. You can dismiss the conclusion that disagrees with yours, but I hope
you don’t write it off entirely. Just notice it, just be aware of it. Perhaps
you will eventually see a pattern that escaped you before.
Lastly, I firmly believe that there are a small number of those posting who
actually DO realize that there was racism in Tammy Lee’s campaigning, yet
they continue to demonize Chris Stewart and ask for his resignation.
Certainly, there is some short-term gain to be had in the Independence Party by
smearing a DFLer. I would warn this small number that you are playing a very
dangerous game, however. Remember my statement that most non-whites would
see through this accusation. If the Independence Party leadership in
Minneapolis decides to play the race card, they will certainly pick up a few
votes from whites too naïve to understand how they are being used, but the
non-white population of Minneapolis will catch on rather quickly. The IP
will soon be seen as more vicious and prejudiced than the Republicans. It is
not a strong position for the IP to claim in an urban area.
As to Chris Stewart himself, I personally wish him well. The parody on AHS was
over the top and perhaps tasteless, but my wife always found the site
wickedly funny. She misses it and wants to know how she can read it again.
I don’t know Stewart personally, but I am sure he must be completely stunned at
the power of unconscious racism. I hope he weathers this storm and comes out
on the other side a little wiser, but no less human and no less perceptive.
Charley
Strib is calling on Stewart to resign.
The Strib finally pulls through and does the right thing. Charley your comments are laced with reverse racism. Shame on you.
First, there is no such thing as “reverse racism” Racism is Racism and the term “reverse racism” shows a complete lack of understanding on racial issues.
Second, one of the most protected types of speech is political speech and in that political parody is the most protected of those.
It has been more than obvious that AHS has been using political parody over the life of that blog. Were some of the parodies over the top - yes, are you supposed to feel comfortable when reading it, no. That still does not mean he does not have a right to write what he did and spoof whatever he wanted, however he wanted.
I find the whining about this very sad, get over it.
I agree with Charley 100%.
I agree that Chris Stewart has the perfect right to post whatever he wants, however offensive. I also agree that Tammy Lee veered into race-baiting in the final days of the campaign. That does not end the discussion, however.
The question I have, for all you Stewart supporters is this: How tolerant would you be of a white person’s “over-the-top” political satire? Would a doctored photo of Keith Ellison with grossly exaggerated lips be written off as a “frat boy” prank?
I am sick of the “whose ox is being gored” way of looking at racial comments. Racism is racism, and it is offensive whether it comes from Alan Fine, Tammy Lee, or Chris Stewart.
Randy, I agree with you.
What would happen is what did happen in responding to all the racial attacks against Ellison. You present the facts that repudiate those false allegations and move on. Its funny how when the questionable actions Tammy took on in the final days are pointed out in an even more aggressive parody, we make more of a deal about the parody than the issues that prompted them.
Ellison ran a classy, positive campaign, in spite of all the crap the Lees, Fines, and Kerstens out there tossed at him. It is a pity Stewart couldn’t learn from his example.
I wasn’t paying any attention to Tammy Lee - will someone tell me what she did that was racist or race baiting?
Type your comment here. I think the excessive reaction to Chris’s comments support the point that white racism is alive and well in Minnesota and the US. It reminds me of the outpouring of venom towards the “crimes” of Randy Moss; the outpouring of hatred directed toward O.J. Simpson for getting away with murdering his white wife (no similar outrage over the thousands of lynchings of black men). Where is the outrage over exploiting black men who are under prepared to attend the University of Minnesota but are recruited to play football and then never graduate from the school. These are only a few of thousands of examples of white racism in our midst that go unchallenged every day. Yet here we see the blog site of AHS humor as a crime against humanity. I think this example proves the point of pervasive racism.
I did not want to get into this discussion, but after reading the last post I thought I had to…
All the people defending Stewart are missing the point. People are not disturbed by the fact that someone would say these things; people are not saying that people do not say these things; people are not saying that racism does not exist; people are not saying that racism should not be discussed; people are not saying that Stewart does not have the right to discuss some of these things as his 1st Amendment right…
People who think Stewart should step down, because of his two websites believe this because they do not think that this type of behavior is befitting of a member who will represent us at the school board. A private citizen’s views and beliefs are different from that of a person elected to represent us, and thus deserve greater scrutiny, and this is why Stewart’s comments have become controversial.
Did Stewart discuss any of these sites or the views expressed on these sites when he sought the DFL endorsement? No.
Did Stewart discuss any of these sites or the views expressed on these sites when he sought the Star Tribune endorsement? No.
Did Stewart discuss any of these sites or the views expressed on these sites when he asked voters to vote for him? No.
If he had shared these views, if he had shown us the websites, would he have received the endorsements of the DFL, Star Tribune, or the voters? I do not think so.
The saddest part of this whole debacle is that Stewart has completely missed the point. He thinks that he has brought the great racism debate to life, and that what he did was harmless, and his only crime is starting a discussion that is uncomfortable. He is not a Civil Rights leader; he is a coward and a fool. Martin Luther King marched against dogs and firehouses with threats to his life, Stewart created an anonymous website presenting a legitimate congressional candidate as a racist. Not only did the contents of the site have racist’s comments, but also sexist and homophobic comments (not to mention links to KKK websites).
It reminds me of a story that an old prof of mine used to say, its not civil disobedience to drink beer in your room, and say that you disagree with the age for drinking. It is civil disobedience to put a keg in the middle of the union and to drink as a protest to the age policy. Stewart was drinking in his room, like a coward. Got caught, and now wants to present himself as some righteous civil rights leader, who brought race to the forefront of our thoughts.
Racism does exist in society, and it is something that needs to be discussed; however this is not the way to discuss it.
Further, believing Keith Ellison was not the best person to represent the 5th congressional district for the next 30 years does not make you a racist. First, Keith did have his share of problems with timeliness. Second, Keith is short on experience compared to some of his primary competitors (did he even pass meaningful legislating in the house?).
Lastly and most importantly, people who did not support Keith may have thought about it like this. Keith (whether he wants to be, or does not want be) is going to be a highly controversial representative. Once elected he will be “the spokesman” for Islam, he will appear on every TV show, get quoted, etc, etc….. As a result of this it is going to be very difficult for Keith to advance to more senior and powerful positions. When you are going to have a rep. for 30 years, having someone who can gain seniority may be the person to choose for that position. It would be best for Minneapolis, and the rest of the 5th.
On the other hand, Keith is going to be a gift to the nation from our great state. Never has the nation needed an articulate, intelligent, and charismatic Muslim representative. Keith will be able to show that most Muslims are peaceful people; he will be able to show people that being a Muslim and loving America are not contradictory. Keith will be great for the nation as a whole.
For some it boiled down to that. Do we want our congressperson to be the person who is the best for the 5th or the best for the nation? The 5th congressional district unselfishly gave a gift to the nation. But in the end, not supporting Keith was not racism; it was having a different view for the 5th.
It is too bad that any of this garbage from Stewart has to be associated with Keith. Keith already has an uphill battle, and Stewart’s acts are only going to slow Keith down.
If we want to have a discussion on racism let’s have one, but a person running for public office starting a website that presents another person and their supporters as racists, with no legitimate evidence to substantiate the claim, is not the way to do it.
Stewart deserves our scorn. Stewart should resign from his post. And I would not be too unhappy if he was sued for defamation of character. I do not believe this because I am a racist, I believe it because Stewart broke the public’s trust, Stewart misrepresented himself to the voters, and because Stewart spent a considerable amount of energy and time to make baseless accusations against Tammy Lee.
Tammy Lee was not racist. You who think you see racism in everyone who expresses any doubts about the character of any “person of color” a re the true racists. Keith Ellison has numerous serious character flaws that make him unfit for office. Chris Stewart is just a plain asshole.
Today’s City Pages interview with Chris Stewart. A good read:
http://www.citypages.com/databank/27/1355/article14918.asp