I think it's part of the whole "Obama is a socialist who's going to take everything you have and give it to some guy in the ghetto who's never worked a day in his life!" dog whistle. So, yes, playing very much on racist fears, but conflating them with Cold War-era fears of pinko commies coming in and collectivizing all of your property.

It's a two-fer!

We don't want to be like those Zimbabweans, now do we? I defy that asshat to find Zimbabwe on a map.

"whether or not" means "regardless of whether." Drop the "or not."

Racist? Nah... probably used Zimbabwe because he doesn't know enough about history to use the Weimar Republic as a comparison.

Oddly... interesting comparison. That's what right-wingnuts really want anyway. A democratic government to fail and have the country taken over by right-wing fascists.

Maybe it's all part of their plan... (?)

Follow the Bouncing Wingtard Logic:
* Zimbabwe is in Africa.
* Obama's father was from Kenya, which is also in Africa. In fact, they're probably all the same thing.
*???
* Eeee! Brown people scare me!

I propose a Sanford's Corollary to Gresham's Law: the instant you compare the U.S. to Zimbabwe, you lose the argument.

Thanks for debunking this and citing others who do same. But the issue of race may be the elephant in the room. I see it everywhere in insidious, snippy, ugly, passive and not passive aggressive ways: the inane criticism of the First Lady's sleeveless dresses (are they "proper," we were asked to wonder!), the socialist labels, comparisons to Hitler (!), allegations of "failed bi-partisanship," the sound and fury of non-stories spun by so-called (and largely white) MSM. The Establishment is still getting its remarkably empty head around such a different kind of leader in so many ways. As Obama said on the campaign trail, he doesn't look like the usual candidates; two years ago, few of us even dreamed that a black man could be elected president in our lifetimes. I think underlying, deep-rooted racism -- and a forced reordering of how some people imagine their world -- drives a lot of this nonsense. And some people are digging in, absolutely determined to resist even when logic and common sense tells anybody who is still thinking otherwise.

Seems to be a common thread through these last few posts... I can just cut and paste my comments
Like the man said:
Aug 6, 2008 ... "IT'S LIKE THESE GUYS TAKE PRIDE IN BEING IGNORANT." Presidential candidate Barack Obama

Gov. Sanford have you no honor? Comparing a thug to a duly elected president of the strongest democracy in the world is repugnant at the very least, and could only be made by a fool! Gov. Sanford, YOU ARE A FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! -Kevo

OF COURSE Gov. Sanford was being racist. If he wanted to make a (dubious) point about government stimulus spending being hyper-inflationary, he could have just as easily mentioned Weimar Germany as Zimbabwe. That he chose the latter over the former totally gave the game away.

I don't know. . . sometimes I think liberals are at risk of hyperventilating, themselves (a past time usually reserved for the wingnuts).

Repug leaders are dumb and racist enough (some are both, some just one or the other), that liberals shouldn't need to reach for racism. what if he had chosen Venezuela? I mean, it is hard to find 1-to-1 comparisons for hyperinflation that couldn't seem racist if you tried to make it so.

Except Russia. . . which would actually fit with the "socialist" theme, except that it took capitalism to get to hyperinflation.

Steve, you're exactly right. Moreover, the US has more of a threat from DEFLATION right now than hyper-inflation. Obama's policy, in large part, tries to combat this REAL threat, and not some politically cheap strawman argument put forth by the ignorant.

People of South Carolina, I beg you: do something. California recalled its governor, Illinois impeached its; find some legal mechanism for showing this guy the door.

But while I have no idea if the governor is a racist, I do know he's dumb as a sack of hammers.

Steve, you say this as though the two were mutually exclusive. We all know that not only are they NOT mutually exclusive, they are both requirements for any Republican politician.

Maybe it takes growing up in the South to really understand dimwits like Sanford or New York Post cartoons. It's like this: they just can't help themselves. There are two forms of their behavior in keeping with their "separate but equal" beliefs. If African-Americans are in the room these buffoons will inevitably bring up Africa, or pick your country in Africa, or gorillas, or Aunt Jemima, or Buckwheat from the Little Rascals in some ridiculous, far reaching nonsensical reference. Then they smile and say innocently, "What? I didn't mean nuthin'" Often they include the insertion of "Shucks!" with a bashful grin.

If it's whites only in the room, they just come straight out with the N word.

Remember ol' wise one, this governor is on the short list of possible candidates to run against Obama in 2012. The inflation argument is one that conservatives have been using for a while. I had one e-mail me and compare our economy to Germany's in the 1930's. It is an analogy that will sound good if you don't pay attention. Republicans depend on the American people NOT paying attention.

If Sanford had the inflation meme in mind, then he'd be more likely to use the argument with reference to Federal Reserve policy. After all, it's the Fed that controls the money supply and that, in this country, actually does print the money. Using it to discuss the stimulus spending reflects ignorance of the way in which the money supply mechanism works in the US. But it does allow him to imply Obama = Mugabe for his audience.

Sanford's comments are idiotic, but not racist. He compared the U.S. to the worst economic basketcase on the planet. The worst basketcase happens to be in Africa. Doesn't make it racist. Just idiotic.

When we toss around accusations of racism on flimsy evidence, we undermine ourselves and undermine the fight against true racism.

The guy's a southern Republican. Of COURSE, he's a racist. Geez.

why isn't Zimbabwe a rich place?

Note to Mark Sanford. Neither is the libertarian paradise you are trying to emulate, Somalia.

So the comparison would have been okay if Gov. Sanford had said Weimar Germany, Nationalist China, or perhaps even the Confederacy, which under the disasterous policy of South Carolinian Christopher Memminger, Treausury Secretary of the CSA, used a floating paper currency as Dixie's means of financial exchange and set off hyperinflation that brough the South to its knees.

Inflation may be tame now simply because we're in an economic slowdown, but how can we even begin to recover fully when the bills come due and the Chinese don't wish to pay for them anymore? Fiscal policy by printing press has failed throughout history and I don't see any arguments here as to why it will be different this time around. You can't a little planned inflation. Zimbabwe may very well be an extreme case to use and of course the PC crowd around here is just ready to scream "racism" the same way Abe Foxman screams "anti-semitism." But the principle is no different. Mugabe couldn't solve Zimbabwe's economic problems by having million dollar bills printed and I don't see how inflating the money supply to pay for road construction jobs instead of truly pairing back and retrenching our entire government is going to get us out of the crisis we are in.

We're not talking about supply-side here, which nothing more than upside down Keneysianism. We're talking about completly changing the structure of the federal government. That's realy change, not simply propping up the same rotten system.

This is one of those situations where the speaker probably did not intended to send a dog whistle regarding race, but a good majority of his supporters heard one anyway.

I have been to South Carolina several times, and I believe that it is one of the most racist states I have ever been in. On the 4th of July, listening to people sing about Jesus and then talk about shooting N***** because they might move in down the street.

Wrong on so many levels.

Analogies aside, I don't think Sanford could pick out Germany, much less Zimbabwe on a map. I think he's much, much,dumber than a bag of hammers. However, using that analogy doesn't give the proper amount of intelligence or respect due to the hammers, or for that matter, the bag containing them. Nauseating...

As I mentioned before, look at the inflation rates during the last depression....

NEGATIVE inflation...A.k.a. DEflation. We are really close to that right now.

Hoover presided over deflation for the last three years of his term and that was okay by him. FDR's stimulus brought inflation to a whopping 4-6% same as Reagan.

"But putting aside whether or not the governor's comparison is racist, it's definitely stupid. Matt explained, "There's no inflation right now in the United States. None whatsoever. It's actually a big problem,... Zimbabwe-style hyperinflation would be ruinous, but some increase in inflation would be helpful. "

With all due respect--it is not a stupid fear. I am not certain what your economic background is, but this is a small but serious possibility. The way it works isn't just about printing money and seeing nothing today happening, but also having to deal with serious money creation by banks later on; and, the possibility of a seriously tanking exchange rate as foreign investors panic and leave.

True, we don't have much inflation now--everyone (banks, etc) is holding this cash and refuses to lend it (or lending a fraction), so no money multiplier action is occurring to increase the money supply. What happens when the economy starts picking up, confidence rises, and lending begins again? This is the worry. The Fed says they are on top of it--that they can sterilize the excess liquidity though open market operations (selling bonds) and/or by increasing reserve ratios. Maybe they are right, but then again, this is the same Fed that was on top of this crisis to start with, right?

I would assert to oberon that idiotic runs thick with racism and suggest that perhaps you haven't visited the fair state of South Carolina.

Sad truth is I was raised by people like Gov. Sanford and know exactly what they mean. You might not believe the emails I get from Tennessee, and I would rather not myself, but they keep coming...

Hey Kevi, er, Steve...

I hope you're not living in the past too much, but I believe that Clyburn is now the *MAJORITY* Whip, not the Minority Whip. At least, I seem to remember the Dems winning the House in 2006...

Sanford's comments are idiotic, but not racist. He compared the U.S. to the worst economic basketcase on the planet. The worst basketcase happens to be in Africa. Doesn't make it racist. Just idiotic.

Don't forget that Mugabe had his thugs go in and throw white citizens off their farms in the name of "fairness." Trust me, it's an aspect of Zimbabwe that a lot of right-wingers spend a lot of time obsessing about.

That's the fear that Sanford is playing to, and it's a common meme in the right wing blogs.

One of the oddities of the conservative arguments against economic stimulus is the basis for their fears. Most of the time, they say their biggest concern is massive debt....

Under Pelosi/Obama, the United States has become the Bernie Madoff of nations.

I don't think Sanford meant to sound racist, Zimbabwe is currently a rather well-known "poster child" for economic mismanagement and the Wiemar stuff is unknown to many of today's Jay Walkers. It was still stupid.

I'm not sure if race entered Sanford's mind here or not. But while I have no idea if the governor is a racist, I do know he's dumb as a sack of hammers.

He's from South Carolina, the home of American white supremacy, as first articulated by the Barbadian pirates when they arrived in Charleston in 1714.

Let's also recall that South Carolina has been the heart and soul of southern treason going back to John C. Calhoun.

Under Pelosi/Obama, the United States has become the Bernie Madoff of nations.

Can someone find me the Mad Libs that Luther is constructing his comments from?

Dude, seriously, putting your favorite buzzwords together isn't an insight. You could come in here and say, "We really need to work on our proactive synergy to implement the ownership of our market segment" and make just as much sense.

If only the nation in 1861 could have foreseen the future more clearly. We could cut have a deal: we'd have kept South Florida, Northern Virginia, New Orleans, Austin, San Antonio and the future Research Triangle section of North Carolina. (Humanely evacuating African-American Southerners to greater safety first, of course.)

All the rest of the Confederacy could have been allowed to form The United States of Stupidity to work out its own destiny. Think how much happier all the rest of us would be today.