Nativist Tancredo Dooms Tea Baggers By Proposing "Civics Literacy" Test

Tom Tancredo, the grandson of Italian immigrants and a former Congressional representative, kicked off the much anticipated Tea Party National Convention in Nashville, Tennessee with some typically racist comments, imploring a very white audience to take back their country.

Tancredo worked hard to put immigration issues at the forefront of the tea party agenda. He expressed his gratitude that John McCain had not won the election because that may well have spelled an “amnesty.” Then, Tancredo call for a “civics literacy” test because apparently, the people who voted for Barack Obama “can’t even spell the word vote or even speak English.”

It’s Black History Month, so maybe Tancredo is expressing nostalgia for the days when African-Americans were denied suffrage through the use of literacy tests. Yay for Jim Crow! He wants to bring back those days but couches it by saying that all Americans must take the “same basic test we give legal immigrants applying for citizenship.”

I am almost gung-ho about the idea because after reading Tom Tancredo’s Twitter feed, I am left wondering if he could pass a literacy test. If Americans knew anything about their own histories, they might not elect people like Tancredo in the first place. Although, like Jimmy Kimmel in the video below, I am not so sure that Tancredo should be demanding a “civics literacy” test in order for people to vote. That may make most of the tea baggers, his very own base, ineligible for voting rights. Take a look:

Nancy Pelosi has got to be thankful that Republicans like Tom Tancredo exist. They continue to give Democrats a slight edge among minorities.

Video Credit: JimmyKimmelLive