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Title: [UPDATED: Davenport Defiant] Racist Orange County Republican Email: President Obama and His Parents Are Apes
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http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2011/04/racist_orange_
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Published: Apr 16, 2011
Author: R. Scott Moxley
Post Date: 2011-04-16 22:26:13 by Sebastian
Keywords: None
Views: 8341
Comments: 12
President Obama's father? UPDATE, APRIL 16, 5:55 P.M.: This afternoon, Marilyn Davenport sent an email to fellow Orange County Republican elected officials, apologizing if anyone was offended and blasted the "liberal media" for reporting the story. "I simply found it amusing regarding the character of [President Barack] Obama and all the questions surrounding his origin of birth," Davenport wrote. "In no way did I even consider the fact he's half black when I sent out the email. In fact, the thought never entered my mind until one or two other people [Scott Baugh, Orange County GOP boss, and this writer] tried to make this about race . . . I received plenty of emails about George Bush that I didn't particularly like yet there was no 'cry' in the media about them . . . That being said, I will NOT resign my central committee position over this matter that the average person knows and agrees is much to do about nothing." (*Davenport's entire statement is at the end of this article.) Tim Whitacre, a longtime conservative Orange County Republican activist in Santa Ana, defended Davenport. "Marilyn Davenport is a staunch, ethical Republican lady," Whitacre told me. "There is nothing unethical about this from a party standpoint because it wasn't sent out to the party at large with any racist statements and it wasn't signed as a central committee member. As a private individual, she is just real big on Birther stuff. One of her passions that drives her is the president's lack of forthrightness about where he was born. Marilyn believes that nobody knows where he was born and so this picture says a thousand words. "She is not a perfect lady, but she is no racist. She is a gentle person who would feed you, help you, be there for you if you were in trouble. She is known as a pleasant, loving person and it kills me that she is being attacked by this non-story knowing her mindset." ORIGINAL POST, April 15, 5 P.M.: Orange County might be a beautiful oceanfront locale, but it's also home to Holocaust deniers, vicious anti-gay bigots and freakish big-haired televangelists. Here, one of our Republican politicians welcomed the inauguration of the first African American U.S. president in early 2009 by sending out an email that depicted a watermelon field in front of the White House. That incident drew embarrassing international attention, but now another Orange County Republican has apparently topped the watermelon imagery with another racist attack on President Barack Obama. The Weekly has obtained a copy of an email sent to fellow conservatives this week by Marilyn Davenport, a Southern California Tea Party activist and member of the central committee of the Orange County Republican Party. Under the words, "Now you know why no birth certificate," there's an Obama family portrait showing them as apes. (Donald Trump must be elated to finally have an explanation about Obama's true birth circumstances.) Here's the image attached to the email: The image attached to an email distributed among Orange County Republicans and Tea Baggers. Reached by telephone and asked if she thought the email was appropriate, Davenport said, "Oh, come on! Everybody who knows me knows that I am not a racist. It was a joke. I have friends who are black. Besides, I only sent it to a few people--mostly people I didn't think would be upset by it." The image did upset several local Republicans. "It's unbelievable," one high-ranking OC GOP official told me. "It's much more racist than the watermelon email. I can't believe it was sent out. I'm not an Obama fan but how stupid do you have to be to do this?" Another GOP official, who also asked not to be identified, said that Davenport is "a really, really sweet old lady so I am surprised to hear about this." Scott Baugh, chairman of the OC Republican Party, told Davenport that the email was tasteless, Davenport--a Fullerton-based political activist--admitted to me during the telephone interview. "You're not going to make a big deal about this are you?" she asked me. "It's just an Internet joke." But Baugh believes the email is a big deal. "When I saw that email today I thought it was despicable," Baugh said. "It is dripping with racism and it does not promote the type of message Orange County Republicans want to deliver to the public. I think she should consider stepping down as an elected official." Michael J. Schroeder, an Orange County resident and former chairman of the California Republican Party, also said he was disgusted. "This is a three strikes situation for Marilyn Davenport," Schroeder said. "She was a passionate defender of former Newport Beach city councilman Dick Nichols who stated that he was voting against putting in more grass at Corona del Mar's beach because, he said, there were already 'too many Mexicans on the beach.' She was also on the wrong side of the fence with the Los Alamitos mayor and his White House watermelon patch picture. Now, she has managed to top both of those incidents by comparing African Americans to monkeys. She has disgraced herself and needs to resign. If she doesn't, the Republican Party must remove her." But Davenport does not appear ready to concede she has made a mistake. After this story was published, she sent another email to fellow California conservative activists. It demanded to know the identity of "the coward" who supplied me with a copy of her offensive email. Several Los Angeles television news broadcasts are planning coverage of this story tonight (Update: KCAL and KCBS reported during their respective 10 and 11 p.m. broadcasts that in a telephone interview Davenport blamed the media for this controversy and slammed down the phone.) As a member of the local Republican central committee, Davenport represents an inland section of Orange County: Fullerton, Brea, La Habra, Placentia and, home of the Richard M. Nixon Presidential Birthplace & Library, Yorba Linda. In February 2009, Los Alamitos Mayor Dean Grose, another Orange County Republican, emailed the White House watermelon image and then apologized. 
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#1. To: Sebastian (#0)
Did Obama or any of his supporters ever call President Bush a chimp? I really can not get excited about this story. Tit for tat.
yep, lots did, including myself. But nobody ever went after his parents or kids as is commonplace with attacks on Obama.
#4. To: go65 (#3)
Oh I agree it is in very poor taste. It is not something I would, personally do. BUT- this is the nature of politics these days. I don't think it is attractive, but I also can't get worked up about it , either.
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#3. To: diva betsy ross (#1)
Did Obama or any of his supporters ever call President Bush a chimp? I really can not get excited about this story.
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