Following President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, had a fond look back at his formative high school years. Unlike Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who bungled his video response, Gohmert came out swinging against Obama, particularly his impact on race relations, the Huffington Post reports…. “He’s been so divisive on the issue of race,” Gohmert told reporters. But the key moment came when he decided to whip out his rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia and flash back to the days of his younger self at Mount Pleasant High School…. “But unlike my favorite coach in high school, who happened to be black, he has been more divisive — when I had a coach that brought us together as a team like never before,” he said. “I thought this president would do that. He has divided more than united, so that’s been heartbreaking.”
There are few things in this world I find more truly comical than the idea of a Republican accusing President Obama of engaging in racism. In this case from all people, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), who, with the departure of Michele Bachmann, now reigns virtually unchallenged as The Dumbest Person in Congress ©, and is the poster boy for lack of self-awareness.
John Cleese once said that the defining characteristic of truly stupid people is that they’re too stupid to recognize that they’re stupid…and so they blithely continue being stupid even as they see fit to criticize others for being stupid. Gohmert’s decision to use the equivalent of the “some of my best friends are Black” argument is particularly distasteful given that he’s missed no opportunity- legitimately or otherwise- to criticize the President.
I get the whole idea of Right-wing dogwhistle politics. Gohmert can’t really come out and attack the President on purely racial terms…but he can use language that makes it clear to the racists on the Far Right that he’s attacking the President on racial terms. Since Gohmert can’t very well criticize the President’s record without shining an unwelcome spotlight on the GOP’s record of obstructionism and sloth, he has to nibble around the margins. Given the color of the President’s skin, it’s an easy target for those like Gohmert who are willing to play the race card, however inartfully.
What I find so interesting is that it would be so much easier for Republicans like Gohmert to concentrate on finding common ground to work with President Obama. Together they could figure out ways to move this country forward. Sure, there are and always will be differences that can’t be bridged, but Republicans could cooperate, participate in making legitimate progress, and then claim it as their own. It’s dishonest and disingenuous, but at least there would be something positive to show for their efforts. Instead, the GOP’s become the party of “NO!!” It really doesn’t matter what the President proposes, because Republicans refuse to work with him. They’re adamantly opposed to the idea of handing Barack Obama anything even faintly redolent of victory. They’d rather watch America burn than do something positive that The Black Guy in the White House © might get credit for. How pathetic is that?
Then again, when you consider that Louie Gohmert is considered a leader in Congress, the lunacy and dog whistle politics makes more sense…and yes,
WE DESERVE BETTER.
