September 18, 2009 6:15 AM

When they tell you it's not about Obama's race....

When Glenn Beck offers an odd-looking icon for his 9-12 Project, or Sarah Palin says something about her native state that sounds a bit to off-kilter to the ears of those in the lower 48, it's tempting to think, well, they're just nuts. Perhaps they are, but that's beside the point. The point is that when Beck throws up a graphic of a segmented snake as his project's mascot, or Palin speaks of her native land as the "sovereign" state of Alaska, they're blowing a kind of dog-whistle for the armed and paranoid who make up the right-wing, neo-militia "Patriot" movement and the broader "Tea Party" coalition. The loose affiliation of right-wing groups under the Tea Party umbrella can make it difficult to discern who's truly dangerous, and who's just an angry blowhard.

Yes, democracy can be (and usually is) an ugly, messy thing to behold. The beautiful thing about a functional democracy is that everyone has the opportunity to open their mouths and voice their opinion...even when doing so reveals them to be a blithering idiot. The Looney Tunes Far Right manages to cross the line between racist and bat-$#!& crazy without even breaking a sweat. In so doing, those who inhabit the lunatic fringe have become a parody of themselves- caricatures so comical and so "out there" that no one save their fellow ideological travelers could ever hope to take them seriously.

This is not to say, of course, that everyone on the Right is a racist, nor that they uniformly believe that Barack Obama is a closet Kenyan Socialist bent on turning this nation into some sort of Islamic Paradise along the lines of Saudi Arabia. Still, when you look at the blowhards who attended Glenn Beck's 9/12 Movement rally in Washington, it's not hard to see large amounts of not at all concealed racism at work here. I'd really like to be able to think that these folks actually have something positive to contribute, but when you strip away the anger and the bluster, what you're left with looks a lot like common, garden variety racism.

If you oppose anything and everything Barack Obama stands for, that's your right in a free democracy. I don't expect you to agree with me (though I wouldn't argue with you if you did). What I do expect, and I don't think I'm being unreasonable here, is reason and balance. If you're screaming about things that are patently untrue, if you're dealing in character assassination, and/or if you're trafficking in code words for racism, why not just save those of us with a functional intellect the aggravation and shut up? If this is your stock in trade, you have nothing of value to add. Then again, if you're willing to calmly and rationally discuss the issues that concern you, I think you'll find that those of us on the other side of the ideological fence are more often than not willing to listen.

There's something else to keep in mind here as well. Y'all spent eight years supporting and Administration that devoted it's energies to shoving its agenda down the throats of all Americans. Then you lost- badly- last November...and NOW America's going to Hell in a handbasket? AND it's Barack Obama's fault? Never mind that the recession began on your guy's watch. Never mind that the Census Bureau has laid responsibility for our current economic state squarely at the feet of George W. Bush. Never mind that Barack Obama was handled two poorly managed wars he never wanted. All this President is doing is attempting to clean up the mess left by the ineptitude and incompetence of the previous one. Y'all had your chance; frankly, you screwed the pooch. Unless you have something constructive to add, I don't want to hear it, because you frankly have no credibility.

Barack Obama is not the problem here; he's simply been condemned to cleaning up the huge mess he was left. Perhaps in a different time, he actually could have made a difference, and perhaps he may yet do so. It's still early, and there's still hope. With all the caterwauling from the racist Right, it's going to be difficult to get everyone heading in the same direction. The more I hear these folks bleat about how they want their country back, the more difficult it is to escape the conclusion that the unspoken ending to that phrase is, "...when our President was White."

I want my country back, as well. I want it back from the fools, and the bigots, and the corporate greedheads more concerned with lining their pockets than anything else. I want it back from the racists, the birthers, and those who traffic in sheer, unrestrained lunacy. I'm more than willing to talk with those I disagree with. What I'm not willing to do is share the floor whose stock in trade is ignorance, racism, and character assassination. Y'all had your chance, and you lost the last election. That's the way democracy works. Now it's time for you to lead, follow, or get the Hell out of the way.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on September 18, 2009 6:15 AM.

Ah, yes...the Good Ol' Days was the previous entry in this blog.

Is our children learning? Uh, apparently not. Yay, edumication!! is the next entry in this blog.

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