Politics

Garofalo: Herman Cain a paid prop to ‘deflect’ charges of GOP racism

Jeff Poor Media Reporter
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Janeane Garofalo knows why long-shot Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is in the 2012 race. Not to be elected, or to shine a bright light on issues he wants to advance. No, says Garofalo: He’s some sort of plant set up to insulate the GOP from charges of racism.

“It’s actually not new,” Garofalo said. “It’s from the first time I ever saw him, especially after the first Fox debate and Frank Luntz as you know, has zero credibility — has these alleged ‘just plain folks’ polls after these Fox debates — and he asked who won the debate. And he was just about to say raise your hand if you support and before he finished, everybody’s hand went up to support Herman Cain. So it seemed as if they had been coached to support Herman Cain.

“I believe Herman Cain is in this presidential race because he deflects the racism that is inherent in the Republican Party, the conservative movement, the tea party certainly, and the last 30 years, the Republican Party has been moving more and more the right, also race-baiting more, gay-baiting more, religion-baiting more.”

Garofalo also believes that sort of party apparatus is behind Cain’s presidential run.

“But Herman Cain, I feel like, is being paid by somebody to be involved and to run for president so that you go, ‘Oh, they can’t be racist. It’s a black guy. It’s a black guy asking for Obama to be impeached’ or ‘It’s a black guy who is anti-Muslim,’ or ‘It’s a black guy who is a tea party guy,’” she continued. “I feel like, well wouldn’t that suit the purposes of whomever astroturfs these things, whether it be the Koch Brothers or ALEC or Grover Norquist or anything. It could even be Karl Rove. ‘Let’s get Herman Cain involved so it deflects the obvious racism of our Republican Party.’”

Why would Cain, a “person of color,” participate in this electoral process? As she has theorized about Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Garofalo believes Cain suffers from Stockholm syndrome:

“There may be a touch of Stockholm syndrome, because anytime I see a person of color or a female in the Republican Party or the conservative movement or the tea party, I wonder how they could be trying to curry favor with the oppressors? Is it Stockholm syndrome or does somebody pay them?”