Maxine Waters Cautions Calm in the Face of Racist Crazy Talk

By Julianne Hing Aug 28, 2009

Congresswoman Waters goes pretty easy on Rep. Lynn Jenkins, who you can see here spouting more racist talk at a local healthcare reform town hall. But I think she’s right on point. Keith Olbermann seemed to want Waters to give a more dramatic performance of righteous anger, but people fighting for healthcare reform don’t have the time to be distracted by these sideshows. Asked to suggest the correct response to Jenkins’ flagrant racist remarks, or apparent ignorance, Waters said:

The President and the White House are very careful not to let disagreements…disintegrate into racist confrontation. So what we are going to do is to attempt to allow her to defend her remarks in any way that she wants to, but the truth will come out. They will define themselves, they can’t help it. What we should do is step back and watch them so that the American people can really see what we are really up against."

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