Diane Fedele

Her Non-Racist Eyes Couldn't Save Her

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Thursday, 10/23/2008 2:28 pm

It looks like Diane Fedele, the women responsible for the racist "Obama Bucks" newsletter has realized that she wasn't convincing anyone with her "I'm not racist" pleas and decided to step down:

The president of a San Bernardino County Republican club resigned after apologizing for distributing a newsletter with a caricature of Barack Obama on a fake food stamp surrounded by ribs, watermelon and fried chicken.

In a letter sent Wednesday to members of the Chaffey Community Republican Women, Federated, Diane Fedele said she was sorry for showing "poor judgment and lack of insight and sensitivity."

...

Fedele denied racist intent but in her letter defended the message: "The point, that has been lost in the subsequent discussion over images, was that Obama will 'take from the rich and give to the poor' and that we ALL would be buying food with his 'Obama Welfare Dollars.' An ideological statement, not a racial one."

The best part of all of this? The fact that the original image was reportedly made by a Democrat in order to satirize the Right's over-the-top attacks on Obama:

The Riverside Press-Enterprise said the cartoon was created by Tim Kastelein, a 31-year-old Minnesota Democrat who said he made it in a satirical attempt to make fun of right-wing pundits afraid of a Democratic presidential candidate.

She’s Got Lovely, Racist Eyes

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Friday, 10/17/2008 10:31 am

Following up on the racist “Obama Bucks” mailer we wrote about yesterday, the LA Times today has this quote from Chaffey Community Republican Women's Club President Diane Fedele explaining that it was not racist at all because she doesn’t have “racist eyes”:

Fedele said the mailer merely parodied the statements Obama made during a debate last summer and wasn't racist.

"If I was racist, I would have looked at it through racist eyes," she said. "I am not racist, which is why it probably didn't register."

Club member Kristina Sandoval agreed.

"None of us are racists," she said.

The use of watermelon, ribs and fried chicken was innocent, she said.

"Everyone eats those foods, it's not a racial thing."

How does one determine if they have “racist eyes” exactly?  Maybe only if they are looking out through this?

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Diane Fedele Posts Archive

Her Non-Racist Eyes Couldn't Save Her
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Thursday 10/23/2008, 2:28pm
It looks like Diane Fedele, the women responsible for the racist "Obama Bucks" newsletter has realized that she wasn't convincing anyone with her "I'm not racist" pleas and decided to step down:The president of a San Bernardino County Republican club resigned after apologizing for distributing a newsletter with a caricature of Barack Obama on a fake food stamp surrounded by ribs, watermelon and fried chicken.In a letter sent Wednesday to members of the Chaffey Community Republican Women, Federated, Diane Fedele said she was sorry for showing "poor judgment and lack of... MORE >
She’s Got Lovely, Racist Eyes
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Friday 10/17/2008, 10:31am
Following up on the racist “Obama Bucks” mailer we wrote about yesterday, the LA Times today has this quote from Chaffey Community Republican Women's Club President Diane Fedele explaining that it was not racist at all because she doesn’t have “racist eyes”: Fedele said the mailer merely parodied the statements Obama made during a debate last summer and wasn't racist. "If I was racist, I would have looked at it through racist eyes," she said. "I am not racist, which is why it probably didn't register." Club member... MORE >