How much further does the GOP have to go...

...before it hits rock bottom? From Talking Points Memo:

The Topeka Capitol-Journal reports that freshman Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) told a town hall meeting a week ago that the GOP still had to find a "great white hope."

"Republicans are struggling right now to find the great white hope," said Jenkins. "I suggest to any of you who are concerned about that, who are Republican, there are some great young Republican minds in Washington." As examples, Jenkins mentioned Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI).

For non-Americans and those younger than a certain age, this may not make a whole lot of sense. The phrase "great white hope" is astoundingly racist. It had its beginnings in the 1910 boxing match between Jack Johnson and James. J. Jeffries in Reno, Nevada. Johnson, an African American boxer, was then touted as the world champion, much to the chagrin of many white Americans, who were unabashed racists. So, when this match with Jeffries was set up (and Jeffries was an older boxer, who came out of retirement for this fight), these racists started calling Jeffries the "Great White Hope." For the record, the match was called after 15 rounds when the Jeffries camp threw in the towel. Jeffries later said that he couldn't have beaten Johnson even in his prime.

So, for a Republican congresswoman to say something like this, wow, just wow. I mean, seriously, are they going to start talking about darkies and n*****s too? Do they just simply despise the fact that our president is black? *Shakes head* Way to go, GOP, in making us look really wonderful to the rest of the world.

P.S. One of my more acerbic and witty friends has put it this way: the GOP is not looking for the Great White Hope, they're looking for the Great White Hood. As in pointy. And very white.