New Ignorant Dolt: Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins

Or, better yet, Congress's "Great White Dope".

That being Kansas Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins, for bursting through to grab the Ignorant Dolt Crown and Sceptre.



We go to the local Kansas paper for the call;

Jenkins' remark raises eyebrows

"Republicans are struggling right now to find the great white hope," Jenkins said to the crowd. "I suggest to any of you who are concerned about that, who are Republican, there are some great young Republican minds in Washington."

[snip]

The phrase "great white hope" is frequently tied to racist attitudes permeating the United States when heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson fought in the early 1900s. Reaction to the first black man to reign as champion was intense enough to build support for a campaign to find a white fighter capable of reclaiming the title from Johnson.

[snip]

Mary Geiger, a spokeswoman for Jenkins, said the reference to a great white hope wasn't meant to denote a preference by Jenkins for politicians of a particular "race, creed or any background." Jenkins was expressing faith fellow GOP representatives in the House would be key players in returning Republicans to a leadership role in Washington, Geiger said.

"There may be some misunderstanding there when she talked about the great white hope," Geiger said. "What she meant by it is they have a bright future. They're bright lights within the party."

Sorry, there Representative Jenkins (and Mary Geiger).

If you meant to reference the young, "bright lights" PartyofNoicans, then you would have said something like "we have some young bright lights in the PartyofNoicans"

There is no other context to "Great White Hope";

The phrase "great white hope" is frequently tied to racist attitudes permeating the United States when heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson fought in the early 1900s. Reaction to the first black man to reign as champion was intense enough to build support for a campaign to find a white fighter capable of reclaiming the title from Johnson.

If you don't want to go back to Jack Johnson, just go back to the early 1980's, and the Larry Holmes - Gerry Cooney fight;

Holmes successfully defended the WBC belt 17 times until December 11, 1983, when he voluntarily relinquished that title for the championship of the new International Boxing Federation. In 1982, Holmes gained some measure of notoriety when he fought Gerry Cooney, a white boxer who many thought had a chance to unseat Holmes. A lot of racial tension was involved with this fight, with Cooney considered "the great white hope" and the best white heavyweight since Rocky Marciano. During the prefight introductions, Holmes was announced first and Cooney second. Although champions are traditionally announced second Holmes himself had been introduced second when he won the title from Ken Norton. Despite bitterness and racial tension among fans of both fighters, the two became friends. In the 1990s, a movie called The Great White Hype starring Damon Wayans and Peter Berg was loosely based on the Holmes-Cooney fight. Holmes defeated Cooney by TKO in the 13th round.

We're fairly confident, that in referring to Gerry Cooney as the "great white hope", the boxing world wasn't articulating they thought Cooney was one of boxing's "young bright lights".

Ignorant Doltness of this level, the stupidity to say it, and then, the extra dollop of stupidity, to try to spin a different meaning on it ...

This should disqualify Jenkins for any elected office, at any level, including grade school government.

Let it be known, with our growing roster of Ignorant Dolts, Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins is one of our young, bright lights of Ignorant Dolts.

We can only look forward to more incredible denseness coming from her.



Bonus Ignorant Dolt Lynn Jenkins Riffs

Logan Murphy: KS Republican Lynn Jenkins Says GOP Struggling To Find "Great White Hope" To Take On Obama

Ta-Nehisi Coates: GOP In Search Of A "Great White Hope"

Colby Hall: Health Care Debate Gets Racial With “Great White Hope” Comment

Matthew Yglesias: GOP Member of Congress Looking for “Great White Hope” to Tackle Obama


Bonus Bonus

Hmmm ...

Wonder if Ignorant Dolt Jenkins will be putting this on her iPod?

Miles Davis - A Tribute to Jack Johnson(Remix)