Hummmm...I wonder where are these ideas come from that Republicans don't like blacks.
Oklahoma Black Leaders Upset Over Candidate Remark
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (Reuters) - A Republican Senate candidate from Oklahoma who has run into trouble over verbal gaffes was drawing fire again on Friday for saying black men have a "genetic predisposition" for a lower life expectancy than whites.
Dr. Tom Coburn, a Republican physician locked in a neck-and-neck struggle for a pivotal U.S. Senate seat, made the comment in a discussion of Social Security (news - web sites) privatization during a locally televised debate on Wednesday night.
Coburn said black males were statistically more likely to die before they could benefit from Social Security.
"What kind of plan is that, that we are going to take from those who have a genetic predisposition of less life expectancy, that we are going to steal from those and give it to somebody else?" Coburn asked on Wednesday.
Oklahoma is solidly Republican, but Coburn's largely self-inflicted political wounds have let his Democratic challenger, U.S. Rep. Brad Carson (news, bio, voting record), gain a narrow lead in surveys of likely voters.
Carson brushed aside Coburn's remark during the debate, but black politicians in Oklahoma blasted Coburn on Friday.
Angela Monson, a Democratic state representative from Oklahoma City, said the suggestion that blacks are genetically inferior was "bizarre."
"I think he was so bent on pushing the privatization of Social Security that he took this leap," she said. "A leap off the deep end."
John Hart, a Coburn campaign spokesman, released a statement saying the candidate merely was addressing an issue that Carson has ignored.
"Social Security, as it is structured today, discriminates against African-Americans because they have a lower life span. (Black leaders) should ask Brad Carson why he refuses to address that problem," Hart said.
Coburn has gotten into trouble for his statements before.
Among others, he has been criticized for saying doctors who perform abortions should get the death penalty.
And in 1997, when he was serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, he earned the wrath of his own Republican party by objecting to a broadcast of the Oscar-winning Holocaust film "Schindler's List," as an outrage to "decent-minded individuals" because it included violence, "vile language" and "irresponsible sexual activity."
Coburn's standing in the polls was also dented after a woman told a news conference last month that he had sterilized her without informing her in 1990 when he treated her for an ectopic pregnancy.
Oklahoma Black Leaders Upset Over Candidate Remark
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (Reuters) - A Republican Senate candidate from Oklahoma who has run into trouble over verbal gaffes was drawing fire again on Friday for saying black men have a "genetic predisposition" for a lower life expectancy than whites.
Dr. Tom Coburn, a Republican physician locked in a neck-and-neck struggle for a pivotal U.S. Senate seat, made the comment in a discussion of Social Security (news - web sites) privatization during a locally televised debate on Wednesday night.
Coburn said black males were statistically more likely to die before they could benefit from Social Security.
"What kind of plan is that, that we are going to take from those who have a genetic predisposition of less life expectancy, that we are going to steal from those and give it to somebody else?" Coburn asked on Wednesday.
Oklahoma is solidly Republican, but Coburn's largely self-inflicted political wounds have let his Democratic challenger, U.S. Rep. Brad Carson (news, bio, voting record), gain a narrow lead in surveys of likely voters.
Carson brushed aside Coburn's remark during the debate, but black politicians in Oklahoma blasted Coburn on Friday.
Angela Monson, a Democratic state representative from Oklahoma City, said the suggestion that blacks are genetically inferior was "bizarre."
"I think he was so bent on pushing the privatization of Social Security that he took this leap," she said. "A leap off the deep end."
John Hart, a Coburn campaign spokesman, released a statement saying the candidate merely was addressing an issue that Carson has ignored.
"Social Security, as it is structured today, discriminates against African-Americans because they have a lower life span. (Black leaders) should ask Brad Carson why he refuses to address that problem," Hart said.
Coburn has gotten into trouble for his statements before.
Among others, he has been criticized for saying doctors who perform abortions should get the death penalty.
And in 1997, when he was serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, he earned the wrath of his own Republican party by objecting to a broadcast of the Oscar-winning Holocaust film "Schindler's List," as an outrage to "decent-minded individuals" because it included violence, "vile language" and "irresponsible sexual activity."
Coburn's standing in the polls was also dented after a woman told a news conference last month that he had sterilized her without informing her in 1990 when he treated her for an ectopic pregnancy.
) but I don't see anything wrong with that statement..