57 members of Congress sign Conyers' letter to Salem Radio (Bennett)

Before reading this post, read "Bill Bennett: "You Could Abort Every Black Baby in this Country" at
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4932192, posted Fri Sep-30-05 12:01 AM

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http://www.conyersblog.us/archives/00000261.htm

Blogged by JC on 09.30.05 @ 10:39 PM ET

Defending the Indefensible
57 Co-signatories so far

Members are flocking to sign my letter to Salem Radio Networks demanding an explanation for Bill Bennett's off the wall remarks on Wedensday. By the end of the day Friday, we were up to 57 signatories (see extended entry), but not a single Republican.

In the mean time, the right wing is having a field day criticizing me for critizing Bennett, if you can believe that one -- see this from something called michnews.com. Their arguments don't add up. First they say I am quoting Bennett our of context, by not observing that he later said it would be wrong to abort all Black fetuses. Of course, I included that in my letter. But what they miss is not the abortion "hypothetical" -- as absurd and tasteless as that is -- but Bennett's suggestion that African Americans are synonymous with crime. It is a text book case of sterotyping and racism, and cannot be explained away. Second they say I am a First Amendment hypocrite. I don't think there are many stronger First Amendment supporters in Congress than I am, but all I am suggesting is that those who use the air waves have a tad responsibility to not foment racism. I am not the FCC after all, but if Members of Congress can't speak the truth to these wingnuts, who can?

Adam Smith, Grijalva, Tierney, Sherman, Baldwin, Pallone, Cleaver, Jackson Lee, Crowley, Larson, Lee, Meeks, Tauscher, Holt, Cardin, Schakowsky, Benny Thompson, McCollum, Al Green, Watson, Corrine Brown, Capuano, Farr, Van Hollen, Butterfield, Filner, George Miller, Lantos, Olver, Solis, Jesse Jackson Jr., Christensen, McDermott, Artur Davis, Stark, Julia Carson, Gutierrez, Payne, Fattah, Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Towns, Kucinich, Lewis, Wynn, Meek, Bardallo, Honda, Serrano, Maloney, David Scott, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Becerra, Woolsey, Ford, Rangel, Velazquez

I think we all should just accept Bennett's remarks as representative of the Republican party's core belief's. He should not be scapegoated for merely speaking the truth.

I also think that we should accept Rush Limbaugh as a spokesman for the Republican party. Repeat his statements as the position of the Republican party.

This is what the right wingers do to vilify Democrats. They embrace the most outrageous statements of some nut supposedly representing the left and repeat it and repeat it as if it were a press release from the DNC.

"I think we all should just accept Bennett's remarks as representative of the Republican party's core belief's. He should not be scapegoated for merely speaking the truth."

In absense of a news system that represents the country as outlined by the founders (and because our previous news networks have morphed into a propaganda machine for the Republican Party), we must do everything possible to get people to know what happened and know the outrage we feel.

They would like nothing better than to get away with this.

P.S. Everyone should remember who he is - on that evening in November in 2000, he went before the propaganda cameras and told us - Wait! Wait! It looks like Gore did not win - it looks like Florida is going for Bush. He sat next to the Bush families at the location the family selected to wait out the result. He was their spokesperson that evening. He pompously pranced for the camera and was in all the photo op pictures with the family that evening-morning.

Bennett - the Black Fetus Theorist - everyone should know and if they know, they will know the outrage.

It must go down in the history books of the Congress and our country.

He is Reverend Bennett - who claims to be America's moralist in attitude, beligerance, arrogance, and put down.

race based public social policy ok by over 200? i see

The house completed its business (so it thinks) in Wendesday(?). It is diffcult to get signatures when they are on a holiday recess.

I am working on Jim McGovern and Marty Meehan. Suggest you do the same, especially moderate rethugs. This should be a non-partisan issue.

I'm sure John will be very encouraged. Thanks for the support.