David Weigel: Newt Gingrich, totally not a racist, though I went out of my way to provoke people into calling him one. Shame on them!

This is the gist of Dave’s posting, explaining, or, rather, explaining away, an earlier posting that I and others picked up on, in which a feisty Newt Gingrich told a New Hampshire crowd: “I will go to the NAACP convention and tell the African-American community why they should demand paychecks instead of food stamps.”

Well, says, that isn’t quite what Newt said, as Dave admits. Instead, it was “So I’m prepared, if the NAACP invites me, I’ll go to their convention and talk about why the African-American community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps.”

Yet, as Dave also admits “The phrasing doesn’t change the content.” But, having admitted all this, Dave claims that the original quotation “has been wildly misconstrued.” People actually think that, just because Newt told an all-white crowd that he was “prepared” to lecture black people, and only black people, on why “they should demand paychecks instead of food stamps,” that Newt is a racist!

Yes, why would you think that? Because, contrary to what Newt implied, more whites than blacks are on food stamps?* Because, as Newt knows, you can be working and still qualify for food stamps? Because he strongly implied that black people, and only black people, need to have it explained to them that they should want jobs instead of handouts? Because he delivered this total bullshit line before a virtually all-white audience?

Here’s Dave’s defense of his actions: “My telepathy isn’t as developed as I’d like it to be, but the way I heard this was that Gingrich, who spent years being attacked as a racist—over welfare reform, over tax cuts, etc and etc—was pre-empting any arguments about his motives. He had an idea that would be good for black people; the media would call it racist; he would take it right to black voters. He was aiming for a nerve with Republicans who frequently ask why black voters, suffering from an unemployment rate that’s twice the national average, like Barack Obama so much. I wanted to see what the rest of the press made out of it, assuming some sort of point-and-sputter reaction. Indeed: We got lots of stories about the quote, not much context.”

I don’t think it’s your telepathy that needs work, Dave. I think it’s your honesty.

Afterwords
“He was aiming for a nerve with Republicans who frequently ask why black voters, suffering from an unemployment rate that’s twice the national average, like Barack Obama so much.” Sorry, Dave, I’ve never heard a Republican, or anyone else, say that. Your “telepathy” sounds suspiciously post hoc, kind of like Newt’s press secretary called you up and bawled you out—you know, for telling the truth. For which you have now most capaciously apologized, you ass-kissing shit.†