Rep. Allen West (R-FL) is now making the rounds of the right-wing talk radio circuit, in the wake of his e-mail to DNC Chair and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), in which he declared that she has supposedly “proven repeatedly that you are not a Lady, therefore, shall not be afforded due respect from me!” His message for the GOP base: Liberals hate African-American conservatives like him for leaving their “21st-century plantation.”
West appeared Wednesday evening on the Mark Levin radio show, and criticized Wasserman Schultz for, among other things, her remarks against his vote on the House Republicans’ budget proposal (for which he sent the e-mail), and for having organized a protest outside his campaign headquarters during the 2010 campaign in which he was accused of sexism. No mention was made during the interview about the conflicting reports that he claimed to have apologized, though both his own office and Wasserman Schultz say he has not.
“The thing that really most aggravates me is that there is this double standard, in that the people on the hard left can continue to attack conservatives and especially minority conservatives, and female conservatives,” said West. “But yet when all of a sudden you stand up and you say that you will not tolerate this anymore, then they claim to be a victim — which I find just absolutely laughable.”
Later in the discussion with Levin, West further elaborated on the theme.
“Well the thing is when you look at myself, or even think about what Jon Stewart said about Herman Cain — you know, the remark about how he doesn’t want to read — people who are black conservatives,” said West, referring to Stewart’s jokes about Cain’s declaration that he would only allow Congressional bills to be up to three pages in length (Cain later said that this was an exaggeration, not an “absolute promise.)
“I grew up in the inner city, strong values, came from a strong military family and background,” West continues. “What we do is we totally invalidate the liberal social welfare policies and programs. And you know, I’m the threat because I’m the guy that got off their 21st-century plantation, and they cannot afford to have a strong voice such as mine out there, reverberating and resonating across this country.”
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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