Plastic In the Afterlife

The Word "Muslim" is a "metaphor for racism"?

Amid a "firestorm" of controversy, President Obama finally released the long form version of his birth certificate, proving that he is---gasp!---in fact, an American citizen!  Dumbass attention hog Donald Trump trumpeted his self-gratification and pride at having "accomplished something nobody else has accomplished...I am really honored to have played such a big role in hopefully getting rid of this issue."  You the fuckin' man.  Please, please, please run for president---the GOP needs you!

In a recent Associated Press article, Charles Babington cited a new New York Times-ABC News poll in which 2/3 of adult Republicans "either embrace or are open to" the false claim that Obama is a foreigner.   ABC News pollster Gary Langer thinks that the real reason some people polled claimed that they believed in the birther issue is because "Some people who strongly oppose a person...will take virtually any opportunity to express that antipathy."  I do see what Langer is saying.  I know some people who don't like Obama, not only for his politics, but also because the man himself makes them uncomfortable, as if having a man of color in the highest public office in the nation makes some white people feel as if they're "losing ground" and need to regain this ground at any cost. 

 In a roundtable discussion Easter Sunday on This Week, ABC reporter Cokie Roberts and a team of panelists had, what I like to call "A Jerry McGuire Moment"---that is, they said what many people think, but do not have the balls to say, because once you say it, you get neutered.  So, what was their "Jerry McGuire Moment"?  It was that people's objection to Obama is often times a reflection of deep-seeded or even just-under-the-surface racism and xenophobia.  Panelist Steven Roberts said during the discussion that: "The word Muslim is a code word, and it's a metaphor. It's a metaphor for racism. It's a metaphor for he's different from us, he's not like us, he's got this funny name, which he says all the time. And it is - and he's an alien on some level...there has always been a strain of America that wants to exclude the other. Exclude someone who's different..."  Cokie Roberts added: "But...the bad part about this is that...it's acceptable to say that he's a Muslim...because the same people won't - won't say, 'I don't like him cause he's black.' " 

Now pause a second to listen for the gasps and outcries of shock and admonition.  Then wait a bit longer for the predictable network reproaches and apologies, accompanied by statements of remorse by the panelists in question.  Finally, take a step back and take a look at yourself and think about the people you've encountered in your life.  Think about all of the times you yourself have held a bias against someone because of some perceived or real difference.  Maybe you or people around you teased someone in your school days because that person was obese, very tall, very short, too white, too dark, had a speech impediment, wore the wrong clothes, had a strange name, was very poor or rich, etc.  People are devisive.  People take note of differences, and some people are uncomfortable with those who are not like them.  Being able to tell the difference between things and people is a necessary survival skill, like knowing to eat those berries, but not those other berries because they're poisonous.  But being that we are endowed with the ability to "reason", the perception of those differences between people can be skewed to fit that person's perception of the world.  As they say, "perception is reality".

So, let's not get all huffy-puffy about what was said in the program "This Week".  This birther issue, along with the Christian-or-Muslim issue, are just a reflection of the larger issue of fear/hate of "the other".  Noel Sheppard, who writes for "Newsbusters" (whose byline reads: "Exposing and Combating Liberal Media Bias"), wrote in response to the "This Week" discussion: "Calling Americans racist, despite there being an African-American in the White House, is acceptable on Easter Sunday.  I doubt I'm the only one that felt this was highly inappropriate on such a holy day."  Some play "the race card", some play the "religious holier-than-thou card"---I prefer to throw down the "truth hurts card".  No, not that all Americans are racist---that wasn't what they were saying.  But, having watched enough videos from the 2008 election in which people at McCain-Palin rallies spewed racist and xenophobic slurs about Obama, and having seen videos of Tea Party rallies where like comments were also in abundance, in addition to national polls (such as the aforementioned one) which reveal pervasive and persistent adherence to falsehoods, even in the clear light of the truth, it is then accurate to say that some Americans are, in fact, afraid of those who are not like them, and sometimes for those Americans, it goes far beyond simple politics.

 

Rush Limbaugh: Don't Meet Me In Saint Louis

Rush Limbaugh was recently dropped from the group that was trying to buy the Saint Louis Rams.  Par for the course, Limbaugh went on his radio show and started pointing the finger (at everyone but himself, of course).  Limbaugh lashed out angrily at the NFL Player's Association Executive Director, DeMaurice Smith, who Limbaugh dubbed an "Obama-ite", and at Reverend Jesse Jackson and Reverend Al Sharpton, who LImbaugh called "race hustlers", for his being dropped from the group and being denied a minority share in the Saint Louis Rams.  Reverends Jackson and Sharpton had voiced their objections to Limbaugh's being a potential minority owner (now, doesn't that choice of words sound strange?), citing racially-insensitive comments Limbaugh had made in the past in regards to black NFL players.  Limbaugh was forced out of the broadcast booth at ESPN in 2003 when he said of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb:  "I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well."  He also implied that McNabb was overrated and was only getting the attention and accolades he was receiving purely because of his race.  In 2007, Limbaugh said this insightful statement on his radio show:  "The NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it."  I'm sure there were some die-hard Limbaugh devotees who exclaimed, "Finally!  Someone said it!  It's about time!" 

Ever the voice of reason and wizard of social commentary, Limbaugh tried to draw a connection between the Obama administration's actions during the recent economic meltdown and his own recent ousting from the ownership group.  Said Limbaugh:  "What is happening to the National Football League, what is about to happen to it, has already happened to Wall Street, has already happened to the automobile business."  Limbaugh said that he has "lost nothing" over the incident and would still be a supporter of the NFL; however, he stated emphatically that "On the other hand, our country has lost a great deal. A lot more than most people realize at the moment."  He capped it all off by saying that what happened to him in this recent incident was "Obama's America on full display."

Perhaps the biggest oversight in all of this is the fact that Limbaugh was kicked out of the ownership group because he had suggested a radical change be made to the name of the Saint Louis Rams.  You see, he wanted the name "Rams" to be an acronym that would stand for:  Racists  Advocating  Mandated  Segregation.

Boycotting Glenn Beck

I've been doing this for years, only now, after accusing President Obama of being a "racist" with a "deep-seeded hatred of white people", advertisers are also starting to boycott conservative talk-show host Glenn Beck.  That's right, back in July on Fox and Friends (aw, how quaint it sounds!), Mr. Beck shot off his mouth and shot himself in the foot, not once, but twice.  You see, after the initial allegation of racism, host Brian Kilmeade gave Beck a chance to remove his foot from his big mouth, and Beck, instead of retracting his original accusation, promptly put his other foot in his mouth and added: "I'm not saying he doesn't like white people, I'm saying he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist."  

In response to Beck's irresponsible rantings, the African-American advocacy group Color Of Change has, through its many members, pressured companies that advertised on Beck's program to cease, lest they be associated with his inflammatory conservative rhetoric, and thus be seen as tacitly condoning such views.  Thus far they have commitments from 36 major corporations that they will not advertise during Beck's time slot.

Beck has fired back on his FoxNews show by attacking the character of Van Jones, who was a former co-founder of Color of Change and a current environmental consultant (dubbed the "Green Czar") to the Obama administration.  Beck referenced how Jones had been arrested twice for political protests in the past, which led Beck to opine "Why is it that such a committed revolutionary has made it so high into the Obama administration as one of his chief advisers?"  Hello---conspiracy against White America!  Duh!    

To say that Glenn Beck is an idiot is a charge that I refuse to make, not only because it is the same kind of inflammatory rhetoric that Beck spews out, but also because it would be an insult to idiots everywhere, who themselves possess more sense than Mr. Beck. 

Ah, but issues of race and the wonderful complications that always arise from them are never as simple as they seem on the surface.  Do you remember Kanye West's angry assertion that "Bush doesn't care about black people" during a fundraising drive for the Katrina hurricane victims in New Orleans back in 2005?  First of all, that has to be one of the best television moments ever---I just love the shocked and uncomfortable expressions on Mike Meyers' and Chris Tucker's faces after West dropped his comment.  Classic!  Anyway, Color For Change, while decrying Glenn Beck's charge of racism, are guilty themselves of marketing a racist viewpoint in the fact that they are selling t-shirts that state "Kanye Was Right" boldly on the front of the shirt.  Hmmm...

Barack Obama's going to "Play It Cool".

Comedians everywhere are lamenting the loss of such mockable figures as Bush and Cheney, and are scrambling to find ways to find something funny about Barack Obama.  While Bush had his malapropisms and Cheney had his "assholeness", Obama is a largely sedate and pragmatic speaker who actually consciously chooses his words before they leave his lips (imagine that!).  Of course, there's always the issue of race and what non-African-American comedians will be able to say without eliciting automatic accusations of racism from the African-American community.  Larry Wilmore, the self-described "senior black correspondent" on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart offers the following ray of hope: "People just can't be afraid of offending because he is black — he is half white, and you can always make fun of that."

If there's any comedian who seems to be finding a foothold, it's Saturday Night Live's Fred Armisen, the Hispanic-Asian-American comedian who does a pretty dead-on impression of Barack Obama.  In a recent sketch, Armisen plays up the "No Drama Obama" angle of our new President in a hilarious sketch entitled "Obama Plays It Cool"---check it out!  

 

People still think Obama's a Muslim? Yep.

A University of Texas study found that 23% of Texas voters STILL believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim.  So...what if he was---then what?  I guess a Muslim can never be President because, well, being Muslim is evidently fundamentally UN-AMERICAN.  Yes, doesn't being a Muslim automatically make you a terrorist?  Shit, I remember passing this 10 year old burqa-wearing girl in the mall yesterday, and I breathed a sigh of relief when she decided to not snuff me out, y'know?  I think I saw her walk into Old Navy shortly after---poor fucks...

Evidently discrimination IS inherently American.  Why does it seem like such a "foreign" concept that  someone who is Muslim or Jewish or Buddhist or even an Atheist (GASP!) may one day aspire to our nation's highest office?  I've always been a huge admirer of Colin Powell, and I was so proud to hear him say on Meet the Press how disturbed he was about the negative and fearful reactions of many McCain supporters to the false rumors that Obama is a Muslim.  To that Powell said, "And what if he were?...Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no. That's not America. Is there something wrong with a 7-year-old Muslim-American kid believing he or she could be president?"    

How I lament all of the breath wasted by Obama and his campaign workers who felt the need to vehemently declare that he is a Christian!  Why the hell is religion even an issue in politics?  What about this separation of Church and State crap?  How shameful it is that they even felt the need to assert his Christianity, which almost further reinforces the view that being Muslim is a negative and scary thing!  Unfortunately, he feels the need to appease the fear of voters like Leah Moreland, from York, Pennsylvania, who, in an NPR series on Race and the '08 Vote, said that her "gut" tells her to not trust Obama.  The reason why?  Moreland explained that, "I look at Obama, and I have a question in my mind...Years ago, was he taken into the Muslim faith? And my concern is the only way you are no longer a Muslim is if you are dead, killed. So in my mind, he's still alive."  And just earlier in the interview she claimed that she grew up on a farm "totally unaware of prejudice."  Well, evidently, her unawareness bred ignorance.

So is Barack Obama a Muslim?  No.  Would that matter to many Americans if he were?  Yes.  And the sad thing is, no matter how many times he refutes the claim, there will be a large percentage of the American electorate that will not vote for Obama purely because they refuse to believe that he isn't Muslim, which shows how deep-seeded Anti-Muslim sentiment is in this country. 

Oh, by the way, Barack Obama's middle name is Hussein.  RUN FOR THE HILLS!   

Who the Hell is "Joe Six Pack"?

In the 2000 election we kept hearing the moniker "Soccer Moms" as a big demographic to pander to. In the 2004 election they tweaked it to "Security Moms", as Republicans played upon people's fear of imminent future terrorist attacks (does anybody remember what the hell "orange-level" means?). Yes, in this way-too-long 2008 election we're hearing this oh-so-annoying Sarah Palin creation of "Hockey Moms" (which are really nothing more than pitbulls with lipstick on), but even more annoying than that is this "Joe Six Pack" nonsense!

And what kind of image does this "Joe Six Pack" engender? A Japanese-American tipping back a brew in his local watering hole? A Syrian-American sharing some cold ones with his buddies after a softball game? An African-American sharing a beer with his dad as they cook some burgers on the grill on a summer's day? How about a Mexican-American sipping some suds with his buds at a Superbowl party? OR, is your first image of "Joe Six Pack" a Caucasian-American wearing hunting camouflage, crackin' an ice cold Pabst Blue Ribbon with his hunting buddies over the carcass of their first buck of the season? Is this guy slightly overweight, with a day or more worth's growth of stubble on his face and is he wearing a trucker's-style hat with the mesh back that says "GIT ER DONE!" on the front? Heck, while you're at it, why not throw a Southern accent in there, just for style points?

Is this a stereotype? You bet it is. Is this what most people think of when they hear "Joe Six Pack"? You bet they do. Do you think McCain and Palin are speaking to anyone of color when they refer to "Joe Six Pack"? Don't bet on it. When you think about it, do you think any American of color would ever identify themselves as being a "Joe Six Pack"? Not unless they were looking for a serious pounding; and I'm not talking about slamming beers.