How Broad is The Racist Faction of the GOP?
Remember. I cast out the net widely. I do not cut slack. No good comes out of cutting slack, or overlooking the low level sort of ignorance-based, low-yield racism. That shit needs to be treated like a public health emergency (metaphorically speaking.) You treat the outbreak where it is, and you do your best to not only check the spread of the contagion, but you try to defeat it.
And before I mix my metaphors too much more, let me remind you about the Republicans I think are way past the line, or right on it (not an inclusive list): Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, that odious sociopath Sarah Palin. I could go on and on, but between the kind of people who think Paul Shanklin's mocking minstrel show performance of the otherwise racist flavored 'Magic Negro' song (that would be Limbaugh), and the kind of people who are self appointed defenders of American White Cultural Dominance ( Hannity, O'Reilly), and the kind of people who employ selective acceptance of those who look different -- accepting fellow travelers in their chosen extremist cult-like religions, but hating folk who are not members of the cult for being too different (Palin), I think there is a large number of Republicans who are just plain racist.
(Note. Plain racists are not running around setting churches on fire, or desecrating temples and mosques, or committing ethnic-based violent hate crimes. Plain racists just stereotype, demean, and or hate. Their offense is mostly in their heads instead of adding the multiplier of actual racist conduct.)
And here is the part I am leading to. Remember what I was saying about the republican racist faction in my previous post about Michael Steele? Well, one of the hot nasty tidbits of the day is that that plainly obviously racist David Duke has gone bonkers over Steele's success in winning the Chair of the GOP. I will not pat my self on the back for seeing that one coming. That was like shooting fish in a barrel. Now the weirdness of how someone like Duke can still be considered a Republican seems weird, at first blush, but it doesn't when you think about it. This is, to my mind, the GOP racist charge defense version of what I call 'Ugly Friend' theory. In short, one looks better if they are always seen in public next to their uglier sidekick. David Duke is truly past the ugly line for a majority of not only Americans, but a majority of Republicans. And that explains why he and other way far over the top racists have not been purged from the ranks of the GOP. The David Duke types make the Hannitys, and Limbaughs and O'Reillys, and Palins look almost nearly not as racist, by comparison. That is, as long as people fail to see the obvious, and that is the mere fact there are people out there who are far more odious than the usual suspects, does not mean the usual suspects are not at least minimally odious.
Speaking about odious people? Tony Perkins. And you might think I am basing that charge against him on account of his Religious Extremist Bigoted Cultural Warfare, Soldier of God nonsense. But I am not. I am calling him odious for his purchase of David Duke's mailing list, a few years back. Way to go Mr. Perkins. What can we say about the man who wants to recruit KKK members to his own club, oddly named Family Research Council. I say oddly, as it might be more accurate to call it something like Family Racist Council. And yes -- my turn of the phrase there is not cute, clever, or funny. I was going for the factually appropriate way to describe an organization that is using a KKK membership list for recruiting.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050509/blumenthal
And before I mix my metaphors too much more, let me remind you about the Republicans I think are way past the line, or right on it (not an inclusive list): Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, that odious sociopath Sarah Palin. I could go on and on, but between the kind of people who think Paul Shanklin's mocking minstrel show performance of the otherwise racist flavored 'Magic Negro' song (that would be Limbaugh), and the kind of people who are self appointed defenders of American White Cultural Dominance ( Hannity, O'Reilly), and the kind of people who employ selective acceptance of those who look different -- accepting fellow travelers in their chosen extremist cult-like religions, but hating folk who are not members of the cult for being too different (Palin), I think there is a large number of Republicans who are just plain racist.
(Note. Plain racists are not running around setting churches on fire, or desecrating temples and mosques, or committing ethnic-based violent hate crimes. Plain racists just stereotype, demean, and or hate. Their offense is mostly in their heads instead of adding the multiplier of actual racist conduct.)
And here is the part I am leading to. Remember what I was saying about the republican racist faction in my previous post about Michael Steele? Well, one of the hot nasty tidbits of the day is that that plainly obviously racist David Duke has gone bonkers over Steele's success in winning the Chair of the GOP. I will not pat my self on the back for seeing that one coming. That was like shooting fish in a barrel. Now the weirdness of how someone like Duke can still be considered a Republican seems weird, at first blush, but it doesn't when you think about it. This is, to my mind, the GOP racist charge defense version of what I call 'Ugly Friend' theory. In short, one looks better if they are always seen in public next to their uglier sidekick. David Duke is truly past the ugly line for a majority of not only Americans, but a majority of Republicans. And that explains why he and other way far over the top racists have not been purged from the ranks of the GOP. The David Duke types make the Hannitys, and Limbaughs and O'Reillys, and Palins look almost nearly not as racist, by comparison. That is, as long as people fail to see the obvious, and that is the mere fact there are people out there who are far more odious than the usual suspects, does not mean the usual suspects are not at least minimally odious.
Speaking about odious people? Tony Perkins. And you might think I am basing that charge against him on account of his Religious Extremist Bigoted Cultural Warfare, Soldier of God nonsense. But I am not. I am calling him odious for his purchase of David Duke's mailing list, a few years back. Way to go Mr. Perkins. What can we say about the man who wants to recruit KKK members to his own club, oddly named Family Research Council. I say oddly, as it might be more accurate to call it something like Family Racist Council. And yes -- my turn of the phrase there is not cute, clever, or funny. I was going for the factually appropriate way to describe an organization that is using a KKK membership list for recruiting.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050509/blumenthal
posted by Abstentus at 9:06 AM
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