Barack Obama = suicide bomba?!
I've been kicking around the idea of writing something about racism and the Republican party for a while now. I never acted on it because I'm too busy writing absurdest blogs that espouse socialist values. The reason I'm doing it now is simple - over the past year so many articles and blogs have been written on the topic that I can now freely rip them off while providing little or no new insight of my own. (I'm intellectually lazy, sue me.) I'm also really, really pissed about the fact that the McCain campaign and Republicans in general, are courting the racist vote in a pathetic and nauseating bid to win the election.
Dirty politics have always existed and both parties are guilty but, this election year, the Republican party has hit a low it hasn't reached since Strom Thurmond's 24 hour filibuster against the Civil Rights Act. If you haven't guessed by this point, I'm referring to the over-use of Barack Obama's middle name (Hussein) by Republican Party members and the conservative media.
Outwardly this wouldn't seem to be a big deal, a name's just a name right?. But, to quote over-weight Republican toady Rush Limbaugh, "Words mean things." By constantly reminding people of Obama's middle name, conservatives are saying, "Look, he's not like you. His skin is dark and he has a funny name. He might even be Mooslem!" The broad insinuation being that all Muslims are evil and can't be trusted. This tactic also allows conservatives plausible deniability; they can argue that it's simply his name and there's nothing wrong with using his full name when referring to him. That conservatives expect us to believe they really possess this level of eye-batting naivete is offensive enough without the racist undertones.
If conservatives had any spine at all they'd just come out and say what they're implying - that Barack Obama is a nigger, one that may even blow up the White House if he's elected. That IS the implication after all. If Barack Hussein Obama were named Walter Jamison Merryweather his middle name would never be an issue because that's a safe Christian name. The worst thing about "Hussein-gate" is that the racist imbeciles whom conservatives are pandering to aren't going to vote for Obama anyway. As it stands now, the cons (fitting proxy for conservatives, no?) are exposing themselves for the bigoted white trash they are while accomplishing next to nothing.
As if it weren't bad enough to simply imply that Barack Obama is a dangerous minority, the conservative media is trying to come up with proof to make their case. They have taken the tenuous relationship between Obama and former Weather Underground member William Ayers and blown it out of proportion to try and show that Obama is secretly a radical terrorist. The truth is that there is absolutely no evidence to indicate Obama and Ayers had anything other than a casual working relationship. So they worked together, is that so bad? Would you honestly have me believe that you'd quite your job if you found out a co-worker was, for example, a convicted sex offender?
Another example of conservatives desperately trying to paint Obama as a dangerous lunatic can be seen in reports that circulated, and still continue to circulate, detailing his brief enrollment in a Muslim madrasah. This fact has been used time and time again by conservative talking dick-heads (like Sean Hannity) as proof that Obama is a shady character. Why is this even news? So he went to a predominantly Muslim school when he was a little kid. Oh wait, Muslims are all terrorists that have a thirst for the blood of good Christian children...I forgot.
It's a telling commentary on religious tolerance in America when a presidential candidate can be disparaged for attending a Muslim school when he was young, yet no one criticizes our potential vice president for holding the ridiculous belief that Earth is 4,000 years old and was created out of thin air by God. Another fun fact about Sara Palin: The pastor of her church claims to have driven a witch out of a Kenyan village. He also prayed over her and asked God to protect her from witchcraft. Did you know that? That means we have a vice presidential candidate that may actually believe in magic and witches! I suppose that blessing will come in handy if we decide to invade Oz though.
I'm not going to mince words here. Rush Limbaugh is a racist, Sean Hannity is a racist, Ann Coulter is a racist and you're a racist if Barack Obama's middle name is a real problem to you. Do you actually think someone's middle name is a realistic gauge on how they behave or what they believe? Do you really think that Muslims are so monstrous that even a Christian with a Muslim-sounding middle name is potentially dangerous? If you really believe this then you're the lowest form of idiot.
In closing, let me just direct some questions at all the intelligent, reasonable McCain supporters out there, I know you exist because some of you are my friends. Are you really willing to put someone into office who's so desperate to win that he stands idly by while his party attacks the opponent with blatantly racist rhetoric? Regardless of what you think about the economy or Iraq, is it worth validating the beliefs of the worst segment of our society?
Don't enable bigotry in November,
Shayne
Dirty politics have always existed and both parties are guilty but, this election year, the Republican party has hit a low it hasn't reached since Strom Thurmond's 24 hour filibuster against the Civil Rights Act. If you haven't guessed by this point, I'm referring to the over-use of Barack Obama's middle name (Hussein) by Republican Party members and the conservative media.
Outwardly this wouldn't seem to be a big deal, a name's just a name right?. But, to quote over-weight Republican toady Rush Limbaugh, "Words mean things." By constantly reminding people of Obama's middle name, conservatives are saying, "Look, he's not like you. His skin is dark and he has a funny name. He might even be Mooslem!" The broad insinuation being that all Muslims are evil and can't be trusted. This tactic also allows conservatives plausible deniability; they can argue that it's simply his name and there's nothing wrong with using his full name when referring to him. That conservatives expect us to believe they really possess this level of eye-batting naivete is offensive enough without the racist undertones.
If conservatives had any spine at all they'd just come out and say what they're implying - that Barack Obama is a nigger, one that may even blow up the White House if he's elected. That IS the implication after all. If Barack Hussein Obama were named Walter Jamison Merryweather his middle name would never be an issue because that's a safe Christian name. The worst thing about "Hussein-gate" is that the racist imbeciles whom conservatives are pandering to aren't going to vote for Obama anyway. As it stands now, the cons (fitting proxy for conservatives, no?) are exposing themselves for the bigoted white trash they are while accomplishing next to nothing.
As if it weren't bad enough to simply imply that Barack Obama is a dangerous minority, the conservative media is trying to come up with proof to make their case. They have taken the tenuous relationship between Obama and former Weather Underground member William Ayers and blown it out of proportion to try and show that Obama is secretly a radical terrorist. The truth is that there is absolutely no evidence to indicate Obama and Ayers had anything other than a casual working relationship. So they worked together, is that so bad? Would you honestly have me believe that you'd quite your job if you found out a co-worker was, for example, a convicted sex offender?
Another example of conservatives desperately trying to paint Obama as a dangerous lunatic can be seen in reports that circulated, and still continue to circulate, detailing his brief enrollment in a Muslim madrasah. This fact has been used time and time again by conservative talking dick-heads (like Sean Hannity) as proof that Obama is a shady character. Why is this even news? So he went to a predominantly Muslim school when he was a little kid. Oh wait, Muslims are all terrorists that have a thirst for the blood of good Christian children...I forgot.
It's a telling commentary on religious tolerance in America when a presidential candidate can be disparaged for attending a Muslim school when he was young, yet no one criticizes our potential vice president for holding the ridiculous belief that Earth is 4,000 years old and was created out of thin air by God. Another fun fact about Sara Palin: The pastor of her church claims to have driven a witch out of a Kenyan village. He also prayed over her and asked God to protect her from witchcraft. Did you know that? That means we have a vice presidential candidate that may actually believe in magic and witches! I suppose that blessing will come in handy if we decide to invade Oz though.
I'm not going to mince words here. Rush Limbaugh is a racist, Sean Hannity is a racist, Ann Coulter is a racist and you're a racist if Barack Obama's middle name is a real problem to you. Do you actually think someone's middle name is a realistic gauge on how they behave or what they believe? Do you really think that Muslims are so monstrous that even a Christian with a Muslim-sounding middle name is potentially dangerous? If you really believe this then you're the lowest form of idiot.
In closing, let me just direct some questions at all the intelligent, reasonable McCain supporters out there, I know you exist because some of you are my friends. Are you really willing to put someone into office who's so desperate to win that he stands idly by while his party attacks the opponent with blatantly racist rhetoric? Regardless of what you think about the economy or Iraq, is it worth validating the beliefs of the worst segment of our society?
Don't enable bigotry in November,
Shayne
Comments
"I suppose that blessing will come in handy if we decide to invade Oz though."
*Big grin* Thanks for that, it helped my Tuesday.
From Tim's friend, Mary (the Kiwi).