More Republican Racism, That Way Too Many Republicans Would NOT Consider Racism.

Pay attention to what Elisabeth Hasselbeck says about Deepak Chopra:



Now before I comment about how and why she was acting like a classic low-level racist republican, I will state the obvious (and this is definitely a huge part about how these racist republicans can be in denial that they are indeed racists.) She is not the most over the top of racists. She is not advocating violence, or denial of civil rights of a group of people or individual people based on their being members of a different ethnic group than hers. And she did not use any of the usual racist bigoted slur words, either.

And that is part of the disconnect with these lower-level racist republicans. They persist in believing under the individual and group supported delusion that as long as they are not (caught, as often the case is they remember not to go over the top) acting over the top, that they get a pass, or otherwise do not commit an act deserving of the name racist, and the shameful status that goes with that name.

And in answer to that hate-enabling belief, I have a pointed message for all the racist republicans who believe that shit (and them who cut them slack.)

You are not being held to a set of rules like those for a round of Archery. The appropriate set of rules would be more like that for a round of Horseshoes; close gets you the point!


Now I am ready to get into the nature of the gross offense that Elisabeth Hasselbeck made there, as shown in the clip. And to make my point as clearly as possible, I am going to pose a rhetorical question. You know when someone is being purposefully and deliberately condescending to you, don't you? You know it when someone is doing the "I'm better than you are," thing to you, by the generally dismissive and insulting tone and words, don't you? Well that is the perfectly accurate way of describing Hasselbeck's offensive and racist swipes at Chopra. Intent to insult and diminish are clearly there in tone and chosen insulting words. The fact that she put a cross ethnic spin on it (that little flourish about burning a bowl of incense) just makes it clear that this was not only a personal insult but a racist flavored insult.

Let me translate her little presentation there.

"I, Elisabeth Hasselbeck am a white American chick, and that foreigner said something that challenges my personal bigoted views about America. It offends my bigoted sense of personal and nationalistic pride to be challenged by some non white culturally different foreigner, so I insult him and his inferior to American culture, by making some crack about his inferior culture."

And let's be honest here. Ya know that she knows that. Ya know she meant it. But would she admit it? Not there in front of the TV cameras and the studio audience, but it is not at all hard to see her tacitly admitting that, in the right company. And that is really what is going on inside the heads of so many of the racist republicans. One the one hand, they know that they have to avoid being obvious about the real deep level of racist beliefs they still hold, but on the other hand it is so deep that it is going to leak out. And Ms. Hasselbeck sprung a mighty big leak there, no doubt.

And before I end this post, I want to call her out on what is not, I admit, a singularly personal or even republican failing. Unfortunately this defect is universal in existence, which is to say, people from all walks of society are offenders. And what I am talking about here is that generic root bigotry and intolerance that can be described as (and apologies to Jon Stewart -- I saw a vid of him today speaking of such), "You said something I don't agree with -- so you are a dick," thinking.

Now do I think Elisabeth Hasselbeck was first and foremost attacking Chopra for being Indian? Hell no. But because he dared say something that challenged her (warped, I do say, but since I am already going long here, I will pass on the topic of her jingoistic, culturally, if not racially oppressive) world view? Well, merely on account of challenging her warped world view, he (in her pea brain) deserved lots of shit. But it was her acting on her ideological bigotry and going into attack mode that freed the racist in her, that lives just below the surface. She may not be a total hater, or even a half way monstrous hater. But she made it clear that she has a well enough nurtured contempt for 'others,' and it seems that holds true on matters of ideology, and culture, and ethnic background, which is the same as if it were purely on account of race. It is equally offensively excuse less.

But no matter the racial or ethnic or cultural dimension being obviously in play or not, we are going to see a hell of a lot more of this shit from the republicans. Like that article I mentioned a few posts back about the Joe McCarthy Gene, that I translated to asshole gene? Let's make no mistakes here, and let's not gild the lily. The hate and contempt that republicans have for anything or anyone that differs from their narrow, insular and bigoted views is all they have. So that is all we will be getting out of them for a while, I guess.


And some people actually wonder why I spend so much time worrying about racist republicans, and the dominionist theocratic allegedly christian nationalists here in America. I worry as I am awake enough to know them bastards do not know how to live and let live. How did I describe it earlier in this post? Culturally, if not racially oppressive? Ya. Even if the republicans are out of power, for now, I am not going to relax about that threat. It never goes away now, does it? Instead it is like malaria to the body of the nation. You might get better, but you are never cured of it.