Our country is in the midst of a fierce civil war between those who cherish our nation’s traditional values and those who want to radically remake America into a secular progressive country.
So says “Minnesota Majority”, which is run by former Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer, Drew Emmer and Jeff Davis, who is also behind “Minnesota Citizens in Defense of Marriage”, a group that claims that the legalization of gay marriage would put kindergarteners at risk of contracting AIDS:
Children, as young as kindergarteners, will be indoctrinated with a curriculum that seeks to legitimize homosexuality and same-sex relationships as a normal part of our society. Children will be enticed to experiment with homosexuality, putting kids at increased risk for HIV, hepatitis, gay bowel syndrome and a variety of other sexually transmitted diseases that are common amongst homosexuals.
The Pioneer Press published an article about Minnesota Majority over the weekend, noting some troubling language in their health care page:
“Black women, for a variety of reasons, are more prone to underweight babies than are Caucasian and Asian women. It is not surprising that Sweden has a lower infant mortality rate, or that Japan has a longer life expectancy than the United States does. They are nearly racially pure; we are not,”
Minnesota Majority has defended their language, claiming on their website that “There is no tinge of racism in the issue paper nor does it imply any negative judgment about single-parent households. It simply states a statistical fact that helps explain some of the medical differences in between countries.”
Kiffmeyer went even further, telling Rachel Stassen-Berger that
“[Racially Pure is] a genetic term,” said Kiffmeyer, who is a nurse by training. “It does matter when you are doing medical studies.”
But Minnesota Majority has had a change of heart. Today, the passage from their health care page reads:
The U.S. health care system serves the most diverse population of any country in the world. Our statistics are affected by that diversity. Black women, for a variety of reasons, are more prone to underweight babies than are Caucasian and Asian women. Consistent genetic lineage also contributes to Sweden having a lower infant mortality rate and Japan having a longer life expectancy. These factors must be taken into account when comparing statistics around the world with U.S. statistics.
UPDATE: Eva has also been tracking this story
Yikes
Hmmmnn…. I’ll beat our trolls to the punch here, and bring up Mark Ritchie.
“[Racially Pure is] a genetic term,” said Kiffmeyer, who is a nurse by training. “It does matter when you are doing medical studies.”
Ritchie may have done things that were shady. But they were not illegal (and the campaign finance board agreed with me), and has the all important ‘not a Nazi’ thing going for him. If my choices are between ethical gray areas (but no violation of the law) and this… I know who I want overseeing my elections.
So again - lets hear from you all how Kiffmeyer would make a better Secretary of State. C’mon, lets hear it.
John, you make it sound like there was something illegal here? When in fact the only legal challenge is with Ritchie.
Kiffmeyer did a great job, just because she would not let democRats run elections, you hated her. She is so much better than Ritchie it would be like saying Wellstone accoplished more than Coleman.
Another lefty political hero who did nothing, but is worshiped none the less by the left. ;)
“She is much better than Ritchie”.
I’d like people to read Kiffmeyer’s quotes, and then thank BK for showing us all the real face of his politics. I mean, I didn’t realize this when you were talking about torture, but this would show why you would believe people in other parts of the world to be too dumb and animal like to be affected by torture.
BK, it seems that you are blindly supporing your party. It’s ok to think she’s a slimy racist! She is!
“Shady?” Ethical “gray” areas?
The primary function and purpose of the office of the SOS is the receipt, processing, and dissemination of information, election or otherwise, to and from the public. Ritchie’s transferral of public information received by the SOS (not Ritchie) to Ritchie’s campaign for his own private, political purposes is a little more than “shady” or “gray,” it’s an obvious and gross abuse of the office.
wtm-
And no law was broken. I guess I just have that silly liberal attachment to the rule of law, I guess. Now, wtm, defend the Republican alternative - c’mon, if you say we Democrats have to defend every loopy remark our guys make, get behind your fascist! Or if we have to condemn every suspect word any of our politicians say, lets hear your condemnation of Kiffmeyer! Where’s Brodkerb now, demanding apologies for these shocking words. (On Kiffmeyer’s payroll already, I know, but the question should be asked for forms sake.)
It is truly unfortunate that fear of the PC backlash prevents conservatives and Republicans from publically stating that straight white gun toting property owning males are the naturally ruling elite. But then every once in a while the real core values of the right shine through.
What is next will Mary Kiffmeyer limit her role in society to church, children and kitchen?
Will Michelle Bachmann tell us what a White Christmas means to her?
Or maybe Governor Pawlenty will show us what “If its brown, its down” means at the Governor’s First Annual Urban Hunting opener.
Did anyone really expect that an organization teaming up Kiffmeyer, Emmer, and Davis would be anything but a thinly-veiled hate group? I give it a year before the SPLC starts monitoring these guys.
To get back to the actual subject of the thread:
Even the correction still doesn’t make any sense. I’ve never read or heard of any study that ties Japan’s longevity to any genetic markers: everything I’ve ever seen talks about the stress management and diet.
I’m less familiar with the Swedish case - but since the article doesn’t cite peer reviewed journals in either case it’s bunk until proven otherwise.
What is interesting is that several generations of healthy Japanese may have altered the epigenetic material of their decedents (emphasis on MAY) - giving them an edge on longevity - but that’s merely conjecture…
Um … “racially pure” cannot be a genetic term because “race” is not a scientific concept. It is a social construct
(http://racerelations.about.com/od/skillsbuildingresources/g/racedef.htm)
Tim Pawlenty could go on an ax murdering rampage and these guys would still be talking about Ritchie’s email list.
When you get into the depths of extreme conservatism, you find things like this racial purity talk. Keep shining a light on these people and expose them for what they are.
What a bunch of politically correct boobs.
Blasa, blaa, blaa….
One could write all day on BS given by liberals day in and day out.
Talk about blind support, how about Clinton, Kennedy, Ritchie, Reid and so on….. No matter what those idiots do you all support them 100%
if a tree falls in the forest but no one is there to lisen does it make a sound? Well, MN liberals hate conservatives and post all the time about what they think is wrong, but does anyone ever really listen to them?
I think not.
I think you could add up all the readers of all the liberal blogs and you might come up with half the number MDE gets. ;)
waffletushie,
Race is a scientific concept even if it is in part a social construct. There are sciences based around the study of these things even if they are “soft sciences”.
race: /reɪs/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[reys] — noun
1. a group of persons related by common descent or heredity.
2. a population so related.
Also, in order to have hereditary characteristics they must be genetic and not simply a social construct. The link you placed is simply terrible information. The 2% of our genetic information that it states is the differences between human races seems pointless if you realize that there is only a 1.23% difference between chimps and humans.
There are going to be some real genetic differences between groups of people that have very different backgrounds. Many people are asking drug companies to make sure they include testing for people with different racial backgrounds because of the real differences it can make in a persons treatment.
The problem with the Minnesota Majority statement was in part the use of the term “pure” which connotes an overall superiority that simply does not exist.
” the term “pure” which connotes an overall superiority that simply does not exist.”
How in the hell does “pure” imply superiority?
This post is pure crap, does that mean it’s superior? Obviously not.
Aren’t you kids a bit embarrassed by taking Eva’s lead on this non-story.
MoN,
Well for for starters racial purity doesn’t exist. Everybody on the planet is some sort of mix depending on how far back you care to go. Using the word pure is in that case nonsense and shows an ignorance that is inexcusable while making the kinds of statements made by Minnesota Majority.
Pure implies superiority even in your use trying to say it doesn’t. “Pure crap” in your use implies that the crap is as crappy as it gets. In other words, a superior grade of crap. I guess part of your problem is that what appears obvious to you is often wrong. Maybe instead of looking for the obvious you should be looking for the truth.
I think the point here is to point just how unashamedly far out some segments of the Republican Party have gotten. And while every party has its nutjobs, the point here is that Mary Kiffmeyer was a three time nominee for a state-wide office, while espousing viewpoints suitable to some of the darker times of the 20th Century. Again, we are not talking about a Republican Jeannene Garafalo or Jello Biafra here, we are talking about a nominated candidate for a major state-wide office. And those quotes are not out of context, or deliberately mis-framed - they are her stated views, in 2007.
This is a story. The more sane Republicans who comment here (not counting BK, lowercase, or Swiftee) often highlight the words of the more extreme members of the Democratic party. So now we get to talk about influential Republicans and views that could come right out of Mein Kampf.
KH,
Minnesota Majority didn’t say anybody was racially pure. They said
“They are nearly racially pure; we are not,””
which is an absolutely true statement. In no way did this statement make any judgment on the superiority of being “nearly racially pure”. It merely state that you can’t compare societies of differing racial and cultural diversity when it comes to health care.
Race and culture play an important role in health care and to ignore that fact is a disservice to people of all races.
BTW, pure crap is just crap. Just like your moronic response.
Just to clarify, it was not the Pioneer Press article that got them to take the “racially pure” statement down. It was after I quoted the statement in a comment to Brodkorb’s blog.
http://www.minnesotademocratsexposed.com/2007/12/15/narn-the-final-word-today-from-3-5-pm-6/#comment-146841
I do have a screen shot of the page prior to it being edited.
After Stassen-Berger’s column, Jeff Davis put up a defiant post whining about “media bias.”
http://www.minnesotamajority.org/Home/tabid/112/Default.aspx
“There is no tinge of racism in the issue paper nor does it imply any negative judgment about single-parent households. It simply states a statistical fact that helps explain some of the medical differences in between countries.”
This was before the website was scrubbed to remove the “racial purity” statement.
Here’s the Minnesota Majority posts on Lloydletta’s Nooz:
http://lloydletta.blogspot.com/2007/12/minnesota-majority-suggests-lack-of.html
http://lloydletta.blogspot.com/2007/12/minnesota-majority-scrubs-racial-purity.html
http://lloydletta.blogspot.com/2007/12/plate-of-meatballs-to-go-please.html http://lloydletta.blogspot.com/2007/12/minnesota-majority-does-more-editing-of.html
Why would they scrub their website if they believe their statements are defensible?
because ,eva, they are wimps just like mike brodkorb, I believe it is factual that blacks are unhealthier than whites..and probably fatter as a whole, why does saying so make one a racist… the Godmother of abortion was a racial purist (Margaret Sanger) she advocated eugenics, the practice of creating a master race… once again stating facts is construed as racism…wha ta shame
Hmmm, why did MDE pull Drew Emmer’s blog (Wright County Republican) from it’s Minnesota Daily Reads section?
“I believe it is factual that blacks are unhealthier than whites”
Just keep talking buddy.
“Consistent genetic lineage” is just a euphemism for “racially pure”. They haven’t changed their beliefs, only their words. The meaning is the same, and the thinking is just as flawed.
Just like the difference between black and white test scores is primarily the difference between good and bad school environments, the difference between the health of blacks and whites has more to do with the availability of affordable, good quality health care and healthy child-rearing environments than any innate genetic difference.
The real clue to the racism of the Minnesota Majority statements has to do with the glorification of the Swedish (i.e. Nordic, ie. Arayan) health, and the implied suggestion that “racial purity” is the key to health.
The ironic twist is that racism is likely a PRIMARY CAUSE for higher infant mortality number. Deaths come from premature births, which come from stress, which comes from racism and all the disadvantages that this entails:
// A new series of studies from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies’ Health Policy Institute, along with a small but growing number of neonatalogists nationwide, suggests that the stressful effects of racism play a role.
“That’s the elephant in the room,” said Michael Lu, an obstetrician-gynecologist and professor at the University of California at Los Angeles who studies disparities in infant health. “When we’re studying racial disparities, for decades people have looked at stress and infant mortality without looking at the reasons for the stress.”
…
“We know that one of the leading causes of infant mortality among African-Americans is preterm birth,” Lu said. “We know that stress is an important risk factor, and it initiates the release of stress hormones leading to preterm birth and increase susceptibility for infection. The question is, do we think racial discrimination and racism is stressful?” //
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/20099.html
So here we have the Republicans blaming the victim again. Are we surprised?
i will dan, do you dispute my comment?
I do. Please explain it to me. Use as much detail as possible.