If we needed any more proof that we are hitting the throttle on our way to this nation becoming “Idiocracy”, this week the announced presidential campaign of Nikki Haley has brought out the Confederacy of Dunces. Suddenly, it has become fashionable in the press to question an individual’s self-identification, something we have been sternly lectured is a sign of hatred and intolerance.
Best of all – the same press that tells us if a person born male now declares they are a woman then we MUST consider them a woman, is now calling out the rightful claims of politicians to their accurate ethnicity. Last week the Hispanic GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna was challenged over being rightfully Hispanic, and today Nikki Haley is being badgered because she is proudly saying she is Indian-American.
The obliviousness is amazing. First off, Haley once checked a box on a voter registration form that said “White”.
In 2001, for example, Nikki Haley reportedly listed her race as “white” on her voter registration card, and never publicly explained why.
She's also shown a willingness to embrace some of the dog whistles deployed by the current Republican Party.
More: https://t.co/Iq9OqmPlVv
— POLITICO (@politico) February 14, 2023
The word “reportedly” is doing the heavy lifting. There are a number of specifics behind this, going both ways, but few have been able to explain why we are supposed to care about a checked box on a form, made over two decades ago. This registration was before Haley entered political office. What does it matter in regards to – anything?
Now the next “controversy” is over the fact that she goes by the name Nilkki, not her formal first name of Nimarata. This is another of the old arguments trotted against Haley, and the idiocy behind it is amazing. It is alleged that this had been done to put a veil on her ethnicity because supposedly Republicans would reject her if she went by Namarata.
Recommended
Haley has never hidden her heritage. Moreover, her family had called her Nikki since childhood, so accusing her of a cagey name switch is asinine in layers. But this did not stop the MSNBC guest and former CNN analyst, Asha Rangappa.
“Proud daughter of Indian immigrants.” Who identified as “white” on her voter registration in 2011. Hope she gets grilled as hard on that as Elizabeth Warren did for identifying as Native American https://t.co/sdbKrM0gtB
— Ashley Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) February 15, 2023
Asha is also Indian-American, so her critiques of Haley are especially sound and carry more weight. OR, Rangappa’s heritage makes her criticisms of Haley all the more ridiculous because she knows better and still levels these baseless charges. Go with the second choice there, because this is about to get good.
In a now-deleted tweet, Rangappa resorted to the leftist trope of accusing Haley of the name switch out of political expediency.
For posterity… pic.twitter.com/naaspxXnHl
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) February 17, 2023
Throughout Haley’s career, she has been touted as a first-time Indian-American politician. It is not only well-known that Haley is Indian-American, but she did not take on an “Anglicized” name to be seen as a more palpable candidate by racist Republicans. Nikki is actually her given middle name. It is not an uncommon name to see in Punjabi culture. (It translates to “little one”.) Further, her family has always referred to her as Nikki, well before she contemplated getting into politics.
But it gets better. So much better. It turns out that Ms. Rangappa should be well-versed in the practice of adopting a middle name for any particular professional reason.
At least you’re not trying the name thing this time. Btw, what’s your first name? pic.twitter.com/QtLFYmE1yh
— Damin Toell (@damintoell) February 16, 2023
Renuka. Why?
— Ashley Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) February 16, 2023
Ah, so here is what is happening. It turns out the accusation of Nikki Haley opting to use her middle name as an Indian-American is being made by a woman using her middle name as an Indian-American. This became a bit of a problem for Ms. Rangappa, and in the midst of her ranting, she went ahead with a slight alteration to her account.
You cannot get much better hypocrisy:
Joining those criticizing Nikki Haley for using her middle name to "hide" her Indian heritage is @AshaRangappa_ who…uses her middle name and is from Indian Heritage.When she was called out for this, suddenly her screen name changed. pic.twitter.com/Ng9eMAiZFG
— Lie-Able Sources (@LieAbleSources) February 16, 2023
By way of explanation, Asha justifies changing her preferred name, all while scorching Haley – for allegedly doing the same thing.
Jay, my older tweets automatically delete. I go by my middle name (since college) precisely bc people mangled and distorted my first name, Renuka (which my family and high school friends still call me). It’s not a secret. Also, “Asha” is an Indian name, not an anglicized one. https://t.co/vpsKpu5Q2c
— Ashley Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) February 16, 2023
“Nikki” is not an Anglicized choice; it is her given middle name. That being the case, how is it wrong when there is evidence of Haley going by “Nikki” even further back in her history, such as in high school? By this point, Rangappa has come to realize she had stepped in it, but the last thing she can do is admit being called out.
From there it was a downward spiral. Once shown to be “guilty” of doing the exact same things as Haley, Rangappa oddly had to go with skin color.
Guys: I look brown in my picture, right?? Like, I’m obviously not white?? I am so confused right now because it never occurred to me that I could “hide” from my Indian background 😂 https://t.co/LYdZdmOs3k
— Ashley Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) February 16, 2023
And it was never a case of Haley hiding hers. Asha needs the accusation to stand in order to save face. It leads to this odd declaration, from the woman whose parents gave her an avowed and used middle name:
The other thing no one mentions is that Indians (at least of our parents’ generation) typically don’t give “middle” names
— Ashley Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) February 16, 2023
And now — we go full birther. Seriously. While flailing, Rangappa starts calling for birth certificate analysis to take place.
The birth certificate thing is interesting. If you change your name in probate court you can send the court order to the department of vital records and have your birth certificate changed. So the certificate may not necessarily reflect the name given *at birth*.
— Ashley Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) February 16, 2023
Yes. If there is an enterprising person out there they can find her name change order in SC probate records (she obviously changed her name after she got married) and it will list the legal name prior to the change
— Ashley Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) February 16, 2023
This…this is just something to behold. To see someone become this unwound over something that is completely innocuous and irrelevant to politics, and it being something that has been disproven time and again, is rather remarkable.
Best of all, the leftists and press entirely miss their own contradiction. What has all of them upset is that Haley declared America to not be a racist nation, so they resort to a claim that she changed her name because Republicans are racists who would not accept her as an Indian-American. But what set them off is Haley in her introductory video saying proudly she is Indian-American.
Today their argument is that she is wrong to be prideful because she allegedly hid her heritage from the racists before, AND she is declaring it today in order to gain a political edge. But then that would mean Republicans are not the racists – which they will never admit to – so in racist fashion they have to find ways to say Haley is not brown enough and was ashamed of her heritage, which everyone was aware of all along.
To summarize what is taking place in the country this week:
- NIKKI HALEY: “America is not a racist country.”
- LIBERALS: “Yes it is! Hold our beer, let us prove it!!!”
Join the conversation as a VIP Member