This Breitbart story is getting a fair amount of attention on the right:
On Thursday, a town hall meeting hosted by Al Sharpton and the National Action Network to address gun violence exploded into a revolt against "Chicago Machine" politics, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and the aldermen in City Hall, with panel and audience members calling to vote out their elected officials.I wouldn't exactly say the meeting "exploded" or that there was any sort of "revolt." If you watch the video, you see a few people arguing that all the bums should be thrown out, or that black Chicagoans need their own tea party, neither of which necessarily means that the speaker wants new elected officials who are more conservative, or more Republican. These assertions are edited James O'Keefe style, so you never see the context of what particular kinds of elected officials these speakers want. The assertions are accompanied by some cheers and some boos. There's no "revolt."
And then there's one particular speaker, who dominates the Breitbart story, which is written by a correspondent who unashamedly goes by the name Rebel Pundit:
"This was a historic event," Paul McKinley of V.O.T.E. (Voices of the Ex-Offender) and former 2nd Congressional District GOP nominee to replace Jesse Jackson, Jr. told Breitbart News. "Not because of Al Sharpton coming to town," he continued. "This was first time since electing Mayor Harold Washington in the eighties that all of these grassroots groups and community organizers have come together under one roof to talk about the problems plaguing our community."That would be this Paul McKinley:
... McKinley told the room, "Stop blaming just anybody for the violence in the city of Chicago. Blame the right people, not just white people, but the right people. Because it’s not just white folks a part of this, but it is on the fifth floor. The fifth floor took your schools, the fifth floor just took your jobs that he said that he gave to the ex-offender... and every single alderman was a part of this criminal process."
McKinley called on President Obama to help the grassroots by discontinuing aid and government grants that go through Chicago's political machine to "name-brand-blue-ribbon-negro-organizations" such as the NAACP and Urban League. McKinley told Breitbart News those groups "are poverty pimps, and are part of the problem and not the solution."
Republican voters are suggesting the 2nd Congressional District replace one felon with another after picking ex-convict Paul McKinley as the candidate to run for the seat recently ceded by former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.More:
While official results in the GOP special election will not be certified until next month, McKinley had a 23-vote lead over Eric Wallace, a multimedia company owner from Flossmoor, with all precincts reporting Wednesday.
McKinley, a convicted felon who served nearly 20 years in state prison for burglaries, armed robberies and aggravated battery, declared victory. Wallace, however, was not willing to concede, and he called the prospect of McKinley representing the GOP "an embarrassment."
McKinley--who has been convicted of 6 felony counts and served nearly 20 years behind bars for armed robberies, aggravated battery, and burglaries--refers to himself as an "ex-offender" who wants to get other ex-offenders to work.The latter story, by the way, is from Chicago's Fox affiliate.
McKinley was also arrested 11 times from 2003 to 2007, mostly for protesting. Records show he also owes $14,147 in federal taxes....
"He's not a Republican, obviously, and he doesn't represent the Republican Party," says GOP activist Chris Robling.
As one who's helped lead public and private conversations about rebuilding the GOP in Illinois, Chris Robling said he knows this much: former burglar and armed robber Paul McKinley is not the sort of new leader the party needs. In a series of campaign videos, McKinley said he cared little for Democrats or Republicans....
Look, I don't want to argue that an ex-con can't turn his life around. I don't want to argue that it's wrong to criticize machine politics.
But a right-wing movement that spends much of its time arguing that black people are criminals unless proven otherwise -- Stop-and-frisk? Sure! Stalk and shoot Trayvon Martin? Yeah, he had it coming! -- apparently has no problem embracing a black man who actually does have a lengthy record of sometimes violent criminal behavior, if he says all the right things about Democrats. There's a touch of hypocrisy here.
I guess the message is that right-wingers don't really believe all black people are guilty until proven innocent. What they believe is that all black people are guilty until proven Republican.
