Monday, August 18, 2008

A threefer on racism in the campaign

Here's a combo on racism in the presidential campaign. I could probably do a twentyfer without much trouble. First, Clarence Page:

So you think the chorus of white hate groups is seething with rage that Barack Obama could become president? Think again.

Members of the knuckle-dragging set are taking a rosier view, judging by their Internet posts. They say the possibility of a biracial president is helping their recruitment efforts.

"It will be a beautiful day when the masses look at the paper and truly realize they have lost their own country," according to one of the postings spotted by Mark Potok, who monitors hate groups at the Southern Poverty Law Center.

In sort of a perverse way, I take pleasure from thinking of the bassackwards notion of racist bastard white supremacists voting for Obama on purpose to make things 'worse' so they can then save us by making things 'better' later. Fuckin' morons.

Media Matters:

Summary: Despite stating that he had apologized for what was described as a "series of bigoted and hateful posts," Jerome Corsi, author of The Obama Nation, is scheduled to appear with host James Edwards on the August 17 edition of The Political Cesspool Radio Show, which, according to its "Statement of Principles," "represent[s] a philosophy that is pro-White." In a blog post, Edwards has stated that "[i]nterracial sex is white genocide."

Just as an aside, I'm guessing that you've all noticed the not-so-subtle similarity between 'Obama nation' and 'abomination', as in any kind of interracial relationship besides master/slave (gasp!).

If the whole world woke up tomorrow morning and we were all the same color, we'd be about the same shade (Please forgive me for that. I couldn't resist. Heh.) as Sen. Obama. It wouldn't matter, by noon we'd have figured out which groups we're supposed to hate and the reasons why. Any flimsy excuse of cultural or other dissimilarity will do nicely. For some reason, some humans(?) need to look down on someone to make themselves appear superior, and others stand ready to exacerbate, perpetuate, and exploit the flaw.

I stand guilty as charged. I hate wingnuts.

Eric Alterman:

Of course, a presidential campaign cannot openly traffic in racism and xenophobia. So it must conduct this campaign in a kind of code. Historically blacks and dark-skinned immigrants have been accused of "not knowing their place" by whites who see their positions challenged, and are deemed to be "uppity." The code word du jour is "presumptuous."

Think about it: the candidate who won his party's presidential nomination and is leading in every national poll stands accused of acting as if becoming President requires some planning and preparation. Apparently ignorance and incompetence have become prized virtues in George W. Bush's Washington, and so potential competence is considered a cause for concern.

Reminds me of the old story about a Marine General visiting an outpost during the Korean War. Every minute or two, a pfft! was heard, followed by a puff of dust nearby. The General asked an old Gunny what it was, and the Gunny told him it was an enemy sniper on the next hill over. "Why don't you send out a detail and kill him?" the General asked, to which the Gunny replied, "Aw, General, we can't. He never hits anybody and they might replace him with some sonofabitch who can shoot!"

Substitute "corporate war profiteers, Big Oil, religious whackjobs, and other right wing undesirables' for 'Marine General' and you get the idea. They don't want anybody fuckin' with their taxpayer-and-greed funded gravy train.

Especially if it's a nigger.

No comments: