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May 25, 2016 12:53 PM UTC

Republican County Chair Jokes about Obama Being a Monkey

  • 22 Comments
  • by: Jason Salzman

(Stay classy – Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Delta County Republican Chair Linda Sorenson shared an image on her Facebook page last week depicting Ronald Reagan nursing a chimpanzee. The photo is sandwiched by the phrase, “I’ll be damned… Reagan used to babysit Obama.”

Sorenson told me in a very brief phone interview today that it was a joke.

“I really don’t care if people are offended by it,” she told me of the post, which I received from a source. “Un-friend me. Stop looking at me on Facebook.”

A similar photo was among a group of images exchanged via email among Ferguson, Missouri police and a city official, according to a 2015 report in the Washington Post, which obtained the emails as part of a public records request. The three officals involved were fired. The Post reported at the time:

City officials in Ferguson, Mo., on Thursday evening released the full, unredacted content of racially charged and religiously insensitive e-mails sent by the city’s former court clerk as well as two former supervisors in the police department.

The e-mails, released to The Washington Post in response to a public-records request, were sent and received by Mary Ann Twitty, who was Ferguson’s court clerk, as well as former Ferguson police captain Rick Henke and former police sergeant William Mudd. All three were removed from their jobs after the Department of Justice discovered the e-mails, which prompted an internal investigation by city officials. The unredacted versions show for the first time which employee sent which e-mails.

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22 thoughts on “Republican County Chair Jokes about Obama Being a Monkey”

      1. truly..

        I do recall an incident in Delta back in the late 70s. My wife and I stopped in to a leather shop, I think it was, to look for some item she wanted.

        The proprietor was very rude in informing me he would not do business with a "fucking hippie" with long hair ( past my shoulder blades, at the time), and told me to get out.. Things haven't changed all that much in Delta. They still have a thriving drive-in theater…but, as a side note, whoever is the person who takes care of the flowers for the town of Delta is a genius…with two green thumbs…. 

        1. I was in charge of a business office there for several years, and have called on a number of businesses there in the years since.  

          My general impression is one of nice; neighborly; polite; salt-of-the-earth; down home; traditional folks … 

          … stiff-necked; obstinate; closed-minded; tribal; deathly afraid of change, forbidden knowledge, and the outside world.  

        2. Duke, like your imagery of the 1970s swing through Delta and easily see how you and your wife were looked at flower children commies! Lol! Back then I think folks were afraid of free spirits – whether it's a guy with hair longer than a crewcut or a woman who refused to strap on a bra or smear makeup on her face. Dangerously anti-establishment! So… that "fear and loathing" still exists in Delta County, but may be more prevalent in the Republican activist circle – not beyond that barbwire fenced corral.

  2. Just a racist joke. The Chair is a racist or she woudn't have it on her page. If Rs are OK with that, fine. If that's the kind of person they think is a good choice for Chair, fine. But it is what it is. People who aren't racists don't think it's fine.

    1. When your party’s nominee calls a Native American woman "Pocahauntus" it is really very very surprising to find racism further down the ticket.

      1. There are so many people, over here in the sticks, who can't bring themselves to even say the name "Obama", without spitting on the ground to get the taste of hatred out of their mouths. It almost makes me not want to live here…but this place is waaayyyy to beautiful to let these "wise use " bastards have their way with it, unchallenged.

        Just one of the many reasons I stay here.

    2. Good choice for county Chair?  Shit.  Have you looked at their Presidential candidate?  This woman is on the fast track in Republican party politics!

      1. Guess that whole reaching out to minorities thing never got off the ground because, even though they know they need more minority voters to ever win the presidency again and that pretty soon minorities will make up the majority, they just can't help themselves. They know they're supposed to say they aren't racist and even let a few of the "good ones" be window dressing candidates and such for them. They just can't manage to hide their racism for more than 15 minutes at a time. And it’s not just in places like Delta where they don’t have to worry about that stuff. Rs are constantly forwarding this shit at every level all over the country because they really don’t know any better and really love this stuff.

    1. Agreed, the Delta County GOP chair's joke is racist and insulting – and she should apologize and resign her post. Does her FU attitude and racist joke reflect state GOP Chair Steve House's vision of the Republican Party? Mr House, please don't be shy! Denounce this racial slur or just condone this woman's comment as no different than those uttered repeatedly by GOP prez nominee Donald Trump – 

  4. Ah well, can't excuse the so-called joke in any way. But need to take into account that Delta County is going through some economically wrenching times due to the demise of the nearby coal industry. From a practical perspective, the Republican chair would be advised to spend time thinking about, and doing something about, the county's economy, rather than making tasteless jokes about a bad Reagan movie ("Bedtime for Bonzo" perhaps). 

    1. Seriously?  Delta County is going through some tough times so that is why this woman compares our President to a monkey?  I would argue that this woman could be sitting in Malibu in a $100 million mansion and she would still be making the same type of joke.  Morals and ethics are not a function of economics.

      1. Very true.

        Racism is, was, and will likely remain an entrenched driver of western slope society. Grand Junction was, for many years, the home of a very powerful branch of the KKK. Delta county is so "independent", I am pretty sure they don't yet bother with enforcing building codes…

        1. Lot's of nice non-racist people in the sweet Delta County town of Paonia. No shortage of the other kind, I'm sure but plenty of musicians, artists, craftsemen, vinyard and winery owners, orchards, refugees from the old hippie days in Carbondale. A lovely little Delta County oasis.

          The mine closings have been tough on the area's economy so if you want to take a long weekend to a beautiful part of Colorado and spend some money where it's needed, eat at few really nice but not arm and leg expensive restaurants that focus on local sourcing, stay at a B&B, some connected to a farm or winery, do some wine tasting, enjoy the local produce at the farmers market, especially from the local orchards starring cherries, catch some music at one of several small venues that feature local bands, various festivals,  enjoy easy access to outdoor activities and have beautiful mountain views, you won't regret a trip off the beaten tourist path to Paonia. Oh, and the climate has been likened to that of Provence.

          1. Thanks for that very well written and accurate travelogue, BC. The North Fork Valley is indeed, a not-so-little, tucked away, paradise. In the years I had the honor of working with the late Dr. Theo Colborn of The Endocrine Disruption Exchange, who had a home there, and in many prior vacationing visits, I really came to admire the special nature of that "Little Provence" . I spent so many great weekends in the Crawford area…ah, memories..smiley

            I certainly hope my mentioning of a chapter in Delta counties' past, and some lingering residue from that openly racist era, doesn't discourage anyone from visiting the area today. Delta, itself, is a nice town, and while some of the counties ' leadership and entrenched interests still make progress a challenge, it is the "City of Murals". You should check it out.

            1. Been to Delta but only under very sad circumstances. Will have to return. We visit  friends in Paonia a couple times of year. The ones who live in other towns nearby usually come to see us there. We also still have friends on Missouri Heights and in Redstone.

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