In my
last blog I documented efforts by the Christian Right to justify slavery. A good friend and astute political observer
responded by asking,”Why aren’t more of our black pundits who are so quick to
point out Obama’s failings drawing more attention to this stuff? This Christian version of the Taliban could
end up leading the country. Where’s the
battle cry?”
I have
to echo these sentiments. Where is the
battle cry? It seems that it wasn’t that
long ago that whenever an African American appeared on television, to speak on any subject, before that person
could address ANY issues, the gauntlet
would be thrown down: “Will you denounce Louis Farrakhan?” It did not matter whether the Black person
had any affiliation with Louis Farrakhan or not, he or she was immediately
challenged to denounce Minister Farrakhan because of remarks Farrakhan had made
regarding Jewish people. The
denouncement served as a litmus test as to whether the individual would have
any credibility to speak on any subject whatsoever.
We now
have large segments of the right wing community, including at least one who is
seeking the highest office in the land, attempting to justify one of the most
horrific crimes against humanity, and nobody has demanded anybody denounce
anybody! I’d always considered Glenn Beck to be a sort of
comedic figure, like the hilariously inept Stanley Tucci
would be assassin in the Dennis
Quaid, Kathleen Turner
action/ comedy film, “Undercover
Blues.” The Tucci character called
himself “ Muerte” or Death, while the Quaid and Turner characters called him “Morty.”
Beck was always “Curly” to Rush
Limbaugh’s “Moe.” He lacked the gravitas of the head stooge.
But when Beck declared slavery “couldn’t have been that bad,” he crossed
the line. He reminded me that, although
he was inept, the Tucci character was
trying to kill Turner and Quaid. Beck
aint funny no more. Why has no one been
called upon to denounce him?
There
has been almost no pressure on presidential candidate Michelle Bachman to
denounce her own endorsement of racist documents. Rush Limbaugh is so powerful in the
Republican Party that no one seeking office in that party will challenge him on
anything. Limbaugh’s racism is a matter
of public record. He once told an
African American female caller, “Take
that bone out of your nose and call me back.” I have never heard anyone call on anyone to
denounce Limbaugh.
The
Republicans made Michael
Steele the head of their National Committee so that they would not appear
racist while being racist in their attacks on Obama. Once they discovered that there would be NO
repercussions, they dropped Steele like a bad habit, and have been going all
out. Why wouldn’t there be repercussions? Say
what you will about our Jewish friends, but there is much we could emulate from
them. For one thing, they have an
organization called B’nai B’rith
that provides an array of services to the Jewish community, not the least of
which is that they monitor anti-Jewish commentary, and attack it immediately. This new wave of justifying slavery is tantamount
to the Neo Nazis trying to say there was no holocaust.
We must
challenge those who have access to the major media to take a stand. Mainstream racists will gradually increase
their vitriol, checking for repercussions, and when there are none, they push
the envelope further and further. The
fact that they have gotten to the point where they can justify slavery shows that
there isn’t much that isn’t acceptable anymore; especially since we don’t have
anyone to challenge them.
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I’ve been having a difficult time
trying to get my head around the evil that is coming from the right. During the Republican Primary debate, Texas
governor Rick
Perry was asked about the fact that
Texas has executed some 235 people, far more than any other state, during his
administration. When the figure was given, the audience cheered! Americans cheered Americans being
executed. Perry himself declared he “never
struggled”with the idea that innocent people might have been executed, despite the
fact that twelve
people have been exonerated from death row since 1973. The Republican front runner for the nomination
for the Presidency of The United States of America, has no problem with a few
innocent Americans being killed by the state, and the audience cheered!
My final rant against the right
wing (for right now) is based on their ongoing class warfare. While steadfastly refusing to close any tax
loopholes for the wealthiest Americans, John Boehner, Michelle Bachman and, of
course, the entire team at Fox News have
taken up the battle cry of broadening the tax base. That means taxing the poorest
fifty percent of Americans. “The
Daily Show” host, Jon
Stewart shredded
their pathetic arguments masterfully.
The good folks at Fox pointed out that over 94 percent of the poor own
refrigerators as proof that they should have to cough up some dough. I’m not going to comment on this any further.
I’ll let their argument speak for
itself.
I sincerely hope somebody out there
is getting angry. I know I am.
