I'm watching the Sunday morning political gabfests, and so far all of them have replayed the John McCain rallies with the crazed, terrified Republicans who simultaneously hate and are scared of Barack Obama. Something about these people strikes a familiar nerve for me, but it is difficult for me--as it is for them--to articulate.
One thing that really stands out with both the man and the woman who announce their fears to McCain (and the world), is that they are horrifically inarticulate. Part of that could be blamed on nerves for speaking before a public forum, TV cameras, and McCain himself. I'm sure that is why the man seems to be trapped between fear and a giggle fit.
But neither of these people had a very clear picture to paint about what exactly they are afraid of. The woman's "uh, he's not, uh, uh, he's an Arab!" is as strange as it is stupid. Obama is plainly not an Arab, so obviously the woman doesn't know what an Arab is. And McCain's defense of Obama is off too, acknowledging that Obama is a decent, family man--as though Arabic people are incapable of that.
The mangled, garbled fear that these Republicans are feeling has a name that provokes outrage by those labeled with it: racism. I don't give a flying fig what people think about my saying that. I'm a white guy, raised in a borderline racist household. Due to my parents' line of work, our family associated with a great number of people from "the heartland" (read: rural Midwest, Ohio River valley and Appalachia). I've been exposed to racism, its excuses and its M.O. since I was a kid. Like pornography, I know it when I see it. And you probably do too.
All of this talk of "he's a Muslim," "he's different," "we don't know enough about him," "he's scary," "he associates with terrorists," etc. are an easy way to put a different label on Obama, rather than saying "oh my gosh, have you noticed he's black?" Agree or disagree with me, but you cannot deny the feeling of that undercurrent.
One thing that really stands out with both the man and the woman who announce their fears to McCain (and the world), is that they are horrifically inarticulate. Part of that could be blamed on nerves for speaking before a public forum, TV cameras, and McCain himself. I'm sure that is why the man seems to be trapped between fear and a giggle fit.
But neither of these people had a very clear picture to paint about what exactly they are afraid of. The woman's "uh, he's not, uh, uh, he's an Arab!" is as strange as it is stupid. Obama is plainly not an Arab, so obviously the woman doesn't know what an Arab is. And McCain's defense of Obama is off too, acknowledging that Obama is a decent, family man--as though Arabic people are incapable of that.
The mangled, garbled fear that these Republicans are feeling has a name that provokes outrage by those labeled with it: racism. I don't give a flying fig what people think about my saying that. I'm a white guy, raised in a borderline racist household. Due to my parents' line of work, our family associated with a great number of people from "the heartland" (read: rural Midwest, Ohio River valley and Appalachia). I've been exposed to racism, its excuses and its M.O. since I was a kid. Like pornography, I know it when I see it. And you probably do too.
All of this talk of "he's a Muslim," "he's different," "we don't know enough about him," "he's scary," "he associates with terrorists," etc. are an easy way to put a different label on Obama, rather than saying "oh my gosh, have you noticed he's black?" Agree or disagree with me, but you cannot deny the feeling of that undercurrent.
When a McCain supporter gets up and asks in a manaical, paranoid tone, "how did we get here?," what I hear him saying is, "You're white. This other guy is black. How can he be beating you when he's a n*?" He might as well have been spouting the "frontier gibberish" of Gabby Johnson from Blazing Saddles.
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