Saturday, April 21, 2012

Republicans want a race war

How's that for incendiary? Let's go to the transcript.

Southern Baptist leaders will investigate whether their top ethicist and public policy director plagiarized racially charged remarks about the Trayvon Martin case that many say set back the denomination's efforts on racial reconciliation.

Richard Land, who leads the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission for the Southern Baptist Convention, was accused of lifting remarks for his radio show that accused Democrats and civil rights leaders of exploiting the case of the unarmed Florida teenager who was shot and killed by a volunteer neighborhood watchman. [...]

“They need the Travyon Martins to continue perpetuating their central myth: America is a racist and an evil nation. For them it’s always Selma Alabama circa 1965,” Land said on his radio program, speaking of civil rights activists.

Those comments, included in a partial transcript published by Baptist blogger and Baylor University Ph.D. student Aaron Weaver, were previously written by Washington Times columnist Jeffrey Kuhner.

Go read the comments at this Houston Chronicle.com article if you think this is an isolated case. Pastor Land, apt readers here will recall, was one of the chief organizers of Rick Perry's Prayerpalooza in Reliant Stadium (which I infiltrated) last August.

This follows Mitt Romney's "Obama isn't working" campaign slogan rollout, which followed Michele Bachmann's mangled metaphor about gas prices. I actually take her at her word that she didn't think "tar baby" was racist, because she has repeatedly demonstrated that level of ignorance previously. Still, there are plenty of Republicans who caught both dog whistles.

And all that follows three-and-one-half years of "Kenyan", bone-through-the-nose cartoons, more recently 'Don't Re-Nig' bumper stickers... eh, you know all about it. But it's the ratcheting-up of the latest events surrounding the Trayvon Martin case that has things set to blow, IMO.

(Thank goodness I don't have to mention Ted Nugent, since his psychotic rant had nothing to do with race. He falls into Anders Breivik territory, which is a similar-yet-altogether-different category.)

State of Florida vs. George Zimmerman is almost like the OJ Simpson case with the race roles reversed. If Zimmerman skates, there's going to be a reaction similar to what happened in the wake of the acquittal of the LA police officers who beat the shit out of Rodney King in 1992. Bank it.

Ignore this kind of "put-the-blacks-in-their-place" talk at your -- and your nation's -- peril. These conservative bigots aren't going away even when they lose in November, and they certainly aren't backing off before then. We're stuck with them, as we have been throughout the last several hundred years. We need to figure out a way to better manage them before their xenophobia manifests itself once more into violence that spews all over the rest of us.

Okay then; now that I've filled you with fear and/or loathing, I'm off to the Houston International Festival. Have a great weekend everybody!