UPDATE: After two days of refusing to respond to reporters' questions about this story, the Romney people are now claiming that the phrase he's been using is "Keep America America" instead of "Keep America American." (The latter was reported by the Los Angeles Times.) Note that the Romney campaign has offered no proof of their claim as to what Romney "really" said, and the media, oddly, and typically, is asking for none. Putting aside the discussion of whether "Keep America America" is a nuance without a difference, it seems odd that Romney's people didn't simply tell the press this from the first phone call two days ago. Instead, the Romney campaign has been stonewalling the media for two days, permitting the story to grow and grow, without comment. It just seems odd, if in fact Romney is now claiming he never said it in the first place - why didn't they just admit that up front and end the speculation? And why are they offering no proof of what he "really" said - none of the speeches were written out? Really?
UPDATE: Mitt Romney appears to have flipped out on MSNBC. They're now "apologizing" for mentioning this story and this blog. Which is odd, because it's not entirely clear what they're apologizing for. The story is true. Romney used the phrase at least twice, and it is an old Ku Klux Klan slogan. So what about the story is incorrect, or as Al Sharpton is now calling it (he works for MSNBC) "innuendo." Innuendo? It's a Klan slogan, he said it.
He's said it repeatedly for over a year now. Here is Romney a year ago, using the Klan slogan in what appears to be an appearance at CPAC (I had earlier thought this was a campaign ad, it may not be - but the video is Romney using the phrase).
Romney said it again four days ago.
In an era in which it's apparently okay for Republicans to accuse President Obama of being a socialist, I guess we now need to ask if Mitt Romney is a Ku Klux Klansman. Not whether Romney inadvertently is using the KKK's number one slogan from the 1920s on the stump, no, the Republicans would say, if this were a Democrat, that clearly the candidate was a closet member of the KKK. So, is Mitt Romney a closet member of the KKK? Keep in mind, that even Romney is now claiming, between the lines, that President Obama is a socialist. So why shouldnt' America be asking if Mitt Romney is a Klansman?
(By the way, I'm waiting for the traditional media to poo-poo this and ignore it, or write it off as funny, while they freely quote the GOP candidates, and members of Congress, repeatedly calling the President a "socialist," and never write articles about how kooky or ridiculous (or un-American) that accusation is.)
Here's a Klan publication from the 1920s using Romney's slogan.
And from a book:
More from another book:
More video of Romney keeping America American.
