YR Committeewoman Cassie Wallender: Speaks Out On Facebook Controversy
By HHR | July 6th, 2009 | Category: Featured, Opinion/Reviews |
HHR Blog was given this letter by Cassie Wallender the National Committeewoman for the Washington Young Republican Federation. Cassie was on of the person removed from Audras Facebook pager over after she complained about the actual racist comments.
Below is her letter she has sent to HHR blog and her State YR’s National Committee.
In addition, The Daily Beast has an article out today surrounding the controversy. Also, this blog and Lenny McAllister are mentioned in the piece.
The Daily Beast:
Note to Republicans: Racist “humor”, the Internet and political ambitions don’t mix. Audra Shay, vice chairman of the Young Republicans and the leading candidate to be elected its chairman on Saturday, is now the latest in a growing list of GOP officials learning this lesson the hard way, based on pictures of a now-deleted Facebook page obtained by The Daily Beast. [...]
On Wednesday, Shay–a 38-year old army veteran, mother and event planner from Louisiana who has been endorsed by her governor, Bobby Jindal–was holding court on her Facebook page, initiating a political conversation by posting that “WalMart just signed a death warrant” by “endorsing Obama’s healthcare plan.” At 1:52, a friend named listed as Eric S. Piker, but whose personal page says his actual name is Eric Pike, wrote “It’s the government making us commies… can’t even smoke in my damn car… whats next they going to issue toilet paper once a month… tell us how to wipe our asses…”
Read the whole story: The Daily Beast
YR Committeewoman Cassie Wallender: Speaks Out On Facebook Controversy
Members of the National Committee,
I am sorry to take your time with another email, but I feel I can add a fresh firsthand perspective to this situation and want to make sure everyone is fully informed as it is extremely important. If we do not thoroughly vet this situation it reflects very poorly upon Young Republicans (if you are not familiar with what I’m referring to, please see: http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/2009/07/race_and_young_repubs.aspx). Audra Shay’s response to several media articles and blog posts which expressed concern regarding her remarks on Facebook have troubled me. Audra’s response claims that she was “responding to the first post, to continue the fight against big government spending.” This is one of the worst attempted cover ups I have ever seen. Let me tell you why:
Firstly, Eric Piker’s first post, as you can see by this screen shot http://www.arktimes.com/assets/documents/audrashayfacebook.jpg, is not about big government spending. Secondly, Audra made her comments eight minutes after Eric’s racist comment, saying, “You tell em Eric! lol”. Also if Audra really did find these remarks to be “outright disgusting,” then why was her response to immediately de-friend those who made statements against Eric’s blatant racism? I was blocked for stating that Eric’s racist comment was “NOT OKAY. And it is not funny.” Please take a moment look at the entire screenshot linked above, and ask yourself: which comment would lead you to de-friend someone, mine, or Eric’s?
If you look at the screenshot posted on HipHopRepublican.com, http://hiphoprepublican.com/wp-content/uploads/audrashayfacebook-21.jpg, you will see that more than twelve hours later, long after she removed me as a friend, Eric Piker was STILL posting racists remarks saying “…if your ass is black don’t let the sun set on it in a southern town…” Even that comment didn’t cause Audra to remove Eric Piker as a friend. It seems it was only after the media started calling the next day that she knew she HAD to remove him.
I also want to address one other very serious accusation in Audra’s statement. She told the media that this was a “desperate” attempt by her opponent and painted herself as a victim. I can set the record straight firsthand, and this is why I felt the responsibility to email you. What happened did not come from Rachel Hoff or anyone on her ticket. The comments came from me and other offended people who were Audra’s Facebook friends. No one told me to comment, nor did anyone force Audra to make her comments. I saw something that was morally wrong, and as a conservative I took it upon myself as an individual to stand up, and I do not regret it at all. I was attacked for wanting better for Young Republicans - in my lifetime of work for the Republican Party I have never been accused of being a “RINO”, until now, by Audra’s supporters.
I continue to hold that stating “You go get ‘em” and “LOL” to racist remarks are not acceptable for YRs. Her continued inappropriate responses to the situation and utter lack of an apology are quite disconcerting. I do not want to see infighting as we are all on the same team ultimately, but this is unacceptable especially from any of our elected officers. Even despite the red flags of spin pointed out above, and giving Audra the benefit of the doubt regarding racism, at the very best this was extremely poorly handled by turning it into a political attack on people completely uninvolved and by showing allegiance to those making racist statements while choosing to squarely turn her back on those speaking against racism.
All in all, this is a plea to my fellow National Committee Members to look at how this was handled and decide in your own heart and mind if this was appropriate, and if this is how we want to be represented to our country.
Thanks for your time,
Cassie Wallender
National Committeewoman
Washington Young Republican Federation
And you still consider yourself apart of this party??? Its one thing to say “Oh we’re the party of lincoln, who freed the slaves” but gezz this takes the cake on so many levels, is it possible to say your conservative(quiet as kept many blacks are in their beliefs social & fiscal) and NOT republican? Im no political strategist but i can and will tell you that this sort of verbage will not only lower any chance for a repub resurge, it will keep dems in office for some time to come. Also i think this makes it impossible to get even an educated black who may agree with every stance you take to vote republican. It stinks and makes you all look, well let’s just leave it at “primate like” to follow individuals with these sort of views!!!
While I do believe the GOP needs to rid themselves of racist, I don’t think that comments like yours “should dictate to blacks and other minorties” where and how they should vote or to which party they should belong. America and all her institutions belong to all Americans no matter race. Just because we criticise the behavior of someone involved in an American institution is not the same as saying all people of that race should leave that institution. The GOP is the second largest party in this nation and therefore is a powerful force in America. That in itself shoud be a reason why all people should at least consider it.
Also whats the old saying..”Consider the Source”…Democrats calling Republicans racist because of indivisual acts in a party with hundreds of thousands of people. While we have our in house debates and fights much to Democrat glee, this is a healthy discussion were having about our future.
I don’t doubt there are racist white people in the GOP. However, you’re kidding yourself if you don’t think there aren’t racist white people in the Democratic party. The only difference is the racist people in the GOP, probably think you’re innately inferior. While the racist in the Democratic party just think you’re just permenately inferior, which is essentially the same.
Democrats just find it so very convenient to use race in this constructive way in politics. By doing so you never have to justify why your policies are good or be judged by their results. All you have to do is point out the racist flaws in the other party and your good intentions. Screw good intentions. It’s about time the black community want results. We claim not to want to minimize ourselves, but what do you call voting for one party and never holding them accountable?
Quite simply, anyone who is not white, male, and rich and who votes Republican is working against their own best interests.
Trolling from a link on Aryana’s site, so fire off… okay… are we done? Good. I am not a Republican nor would I ever pretend to be - it is, however, sad that so many of you do. This is the latest in a looooong line of incidents that should cement the truth that while they have a(n) (ancient) history of it, these people do not, and likely never will represent or love you. Lincoln… okay, y’all are so predictable on your talking points (just do me a favor and stop with the Dr. King bull$hi+), but for every Lincoln I’ll raise you Southern party affiliation after the Civil Rights Act of ‘64.
Truth is, neither the Republican nor Dmeocratic parties resemble what they were in the 19th century. I find my friends amazed when discussions arise over the birth of the Republican party - that ripe, spring day when a handful of men and women took a stand against the Democrats and their pro-slavery agenda. How they swept into power in 1860 and subsequently passed constitutional amendments extending the Bill of Rights to the states, guaranteeing equal protection of the law and due process to all citizens, banning slavery, and extending the right to vote to people of all ethnicities. I’m often accused of being under the influence when I detail that it was the Republicans, not the Democrats who led the fight for women’s suffrage (I did a school project on Ida B. Wells) and passed the first Civil Rights Act in 1875… shot down by the Supreme Court, it was the precursor to the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Historically, Democrats have been on the wrong side of virtually EVERY human-rights issue, but what a difference a day makes, huh?! Sen. Al Franken said it best, “… it is true that Republicans have been involved in civil rights issues for a century and a half. For the first 100 or so years, they were the party that was ‘for’ civil rights. Then they switched sides with the Democrats, and for half a century they’ve been more involved on the ‘against’ side.” Truth is, the Parties of the 19th century look nothing like the Parties of the latter 20th century to present. In the 1960s, Democratic Party leadership decisively broke rank with its racist, Southern base. It was President Johnson who said at the signing of the Civil Rights Act that “We have lost the South for a generation”. Speaking of Johnson, I place his predecessor, President Kennedy - who was the driving force behind so much of the migration of Blacks into the Democratic party, in the same boat with Lincoln. I don’t deify either man, nor do I attribute their champion of civil rights to anything other than necessity.
At around the same time, Republicans changed and became the welcome home of the racists who were now uncomfortable in the Democratic Party. In 1948, President Truman added a civil rights plank to the platform. Southern Democrats, who made up the bulk of the national segregationist movement, were ultimately defeated with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. You all like to tout your “conservative values”, but it was necks like Barry Goldwater - your father of the conservative movement who staunchly opposed the Civil Rights Act and who found in his 1964 campaign that the main electoral constituency for his brand of conservatism was… white supremacists. White supremacist politicians like Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms switched their party affiliation and found themselves at home with other Republicans like Trent Lott who said of Thurmond’s white supremacist presidential campaign, “… it might have been a good thing if Thurmond had become president when he ran in 1948.” Pointing to Helms as exemplifying what conservatism is all about.
All the shameful and bigoted racists of the Democratic party have found a safehaven under the new shroud of conservatism, and you’re right there peeking from beneath it. How many times do you have to be made fun of, teased, your issues denounced and demeaned? How many of y(our) leaders have to be emasculated before the entire country? How many ethnic slurs have to be lobbed against our people before you leave the confines of the house and join in the fight for equality and the betterment of all people?! My grandmother used to say, “Lie with dogs and wake with fleas” - for all your attempts at inclusion, at the end of the day, you know what they call you… and it “aint fellow Republican!
While true im knocking the republican party based not only on this issue but several instances in which race has been the overbearing sound of repub commentators as a cause for caution, take a look at the recent tea-partys and the some of the presidential rallies in rural communities across our beloved AMERICA, and you’ll get a snap-shot of a parrty who seems to feel(rightfully so) that the White Man is losing his power in AMERICA to minorities from monkeys with obama stickers and the various others racial overtures they present, i can wholeheartedly say that you will NOT find such blatant racism inside the dem party, but i can agree that as a people we shouldnt allow either side a “pass” in the voting booth, david vitter summed up what i think is the most resounding reason that you’ll NEVER get blacks(majority) to support the republican party EVER. I agree there are flaws in both parties, but the application of how those flaws should be repaired lies within the messenger and to my knowledge no leading republican candidate(besides mccain who only did so due to running for prez) has yet to refute the racial overtures, nor are they in a position to champion the rights of ALL americans, thats the most disturbing to me on one hand it is slogans like “Country First” and “Keep america free(as if obama is looking to enslave whites?LOL)” yet turn around and diss gays and pretty much anyone not buying the bs they spew as VIEWS/VALUES???
You can still friend Eric, though, even though he changed his name. Unless this is a fake profile that Shorts created. A Google search shows that Eric S. Piker has made an instant Facebook name change to Eric Pike.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Eric-Pike/100000009838108
This is great! ” . . . i can and will tell you that this sort of verbiage will not only lower any chance for a repub resurge, it will keep dems in office for some time to come.”
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At this moment in the nation’s political history, any concept of a Republican “resurge” could be equated to a full septic tank and a toilet in the house overflowing when flushed. That’s the best the Republicans have to offer.
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Ms. Wallender presents details of the e-mail exchange with Ms. Shay and her integrity is questioned by persons who would prefer to maintain the racist status quo and not rock the boat. An open and very public display of those GOP values so aptly personified by the ever gracious Ms. Palin who has demonstrated her vast executive experience by quitting yet again.
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Ultimately, Ms. Shay personifies the Wal-Mart University-educated dolts that tout patriotic values, whatever those might be, and are quick to exclude anyone who doesn’t accept, let alone agree with, their vacuous values and philosophies. Let ‘em migrate to North Korea where they’ll be much more satisfied with the governance and life styles.
[...] of Ms. Shay, I think there needs to be praise given to one woman for standing up to such prejudice. Cassie Wallender, a chairwoman of the Young Republicans in Washington State responded to Ms. Shay on… She called Shay on her response. The following account comes from writer John Avalon: Cassie [...]
How sad it is when in order to pretend to have some type of superior intellegence/independence this kind of shit must be swallowed and or defended. Pitiful Blacks pretending that the Republican party is not where all the dixecrats fled to after the civil rights era.HOW PATHETIC
It has been said that an abused child will often cling to it’s abuser in public. The same can be said about Blacks that try to identify themselves as Conservatives/Republicans.The Illegal immigration issue taught the Latinos a bitter lesson,but somehow the folks of Hiphop are willing to eat whatever garbage this ignorant knuckle draggers spew into their faces. My father once said black Conservatives/Republicans come in to flavors FOOLS AND SCONDRELS
haha!! A stumbled on this site while reading up on the that dude in drag on the verge on leading the young repubicans back to glory. Boy, your parents must be mighty proud. After getting spit on, hosed, attacked by dogs, and lord knows what else just so you had the right to vote and what do you do but waste it the ones doing the hosing. Yeah, no doubt they’re proud. Also no doubt that any member of this group would have been a house Negro. I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone one of you worthless you know what’s wrote a paper on the same subject: why nat turner was worse than Hitler. Just do your mother a favor- cut out the middle man and spit In her face directly. Oh, p.s. good luck with whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish.
All Y’ll stole my thunder….House, Tom’s…Jindal Types….We know the type, licking the rear end of the Bully that just humiliated them in public!! Lord have mercy!
I couldnt get the knuckle draggers here in SoCal to comprehend what the Jenna6 was about; unequal application of justice!!…STILL!! and then, Fück me, I bump into this site!! OY Vey!
Anyone wanna opine on who’s the most pathetic, these types or the Log Cabin Republicans?
The 1st Latino County Supervisor in predominantly white “the OC”, learned his “lesson” the hard way too. He was presidin’ and gaveling his turn as Pres. pro-tem of the Board when whammo, the county ran into bankruptcy due to some Madoff types advice….sure ’nuff, they elbowed him aside and started the meetings without his tryflin’ ass quicker then youcould say, chili-chokin’ pepper belly…..Not sure where he slithered off to after that public beat down, and I do mean public!!
[...] posted on her Facebook wall. In a nutshell, the back story is here and my statement is online at HipHopRepublican.com and at The Conservatist, as well as other media sources, and I thank them for sharing. It is [...]
I wonder what side you are supporting. All you talk about is a fake controversy, when the real story here is Ms. Shay’s opponent, Rachel Hoff, is guilty of voter fraud. Those are facts. Do your research and tell the truth. WHat did Sean Connor give you to write about this?
Michael obviously you do not get it so let ne help you understand this is not about Rachel Hoff. The event delaing with Rachell happened a while ago. If I am not mistaken the media and blogs wrote about and really atatcked her on this, even though she says it was not her fault.
Mike if Rachel Hoff had racist comments on her page telling black people to keeep “there black asses” away from the South and using words like COON then she to would have made the frontpoage of blogs also…but this is not the case. STOP DIFLECTING ATTENTION….This is classic of apologist like yourself…lets talk about what somebody else did some years ago. The problem here is not the YR race or the or who is running, the issue if JUDGMENT….What would have happened if she were head of the YR;s and this was found by CNN on her page???
The issue is JUDGMENT!!!
*Forget* CNN. This is a small stepping stone towards harsher actions. Condone this now, and the next action will be slightly bolder, until physical violence towards those different will be the only boundary left to push. And *that* is not the legacy we want to give our children.
Michael what on earth does it say about the depth and quality of young republican ranks if as you say the only alternative to a now exposed racist leader is one that is guilty of voter fraud. What a disgrace.
[...] Hip-Hop Republican has pictures of the conversation here and here. [...]