It's got to be the hat . . .
In an entertaining interview with Tamron Hall on MSNBC this afternoon, Dem congresswoman Frederica Wilson of Florida cited "racism" first among causes of high black unemployment. She also: called for a second stimulus; said now is not the time to criticize President Obama; took a sideways swipe at Maxine Waters; and asserted President Obama would be defeated for re-election if he tried to help the black community. Video after the jump.
I wonder: by her haberdashery, could the good congresswoman have been sending a subliminal message of support for Rick Perry?
TAMRON HALL: Let me get your response to David Axelrod saying the jobless issue, the unemployment issue, is not exclusive to one community.
FREDERICA WILSON: Well, it sounds good, but it is exclusive to one community.
HALL: But with the national unemployment rate --
WILSON: Well, when you look at African-American males, 40% of them are unemployed, those under 30 years of age. And I understand exactly that the entire nation must be involved in this recovery, but the black community is experiencing a great recession. That's what we're experiencing. And all of the growth in the past 30 years, we see it slipping away. From home ownership, the middle class: it's slipping away from our hands. And it has a lot to do with a lot of issues: racism, shipping jobs overseas, access, no access to technology, you know, the digital divide is there.
HALL: So are you making the case for a second stimulus? Because there is word that the president may offer it up as part of his proposal.
WILSON: I am making the case for a second stimulus . . . I think now that we're in this election mode, it's not the time to challenge the president.
HALL: You said it's not the time to challenge the president, so was Congresswoman Maxine Waters out of step when she said to that audience tell us to let go and we will, meaning we will challenge the president and demand that he come up with something for this community?
WILSON: I think that she says what she wants to, and that's her, you know, opinion. I think that right now, this election, the whole goal of the Tea Party is to make President Obama a one-term president. So we have President Obama, or we have Michele Bachmann. So we have to decide: who will we support? Who will we get behind? Who will we make a lame duck president so can see him make efforts toward the black community? If he does that now, he will lose his election. You know that. I know that. And I think that's why the public is acting the way it's acting--absolutely.
