Hatred and Stupidity ... But I
Repeat Myself
Saturday 04 September 2010
by: William Rivers Pitt, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed
photo
(Image: Lance Page / t r u t h o u t; Adapted: Chris S., Gage
Skidmore)
2010 is shaping up to be the Year of the Hate Crime in
America, thanks in large part to right-bent Republicans and
their Tea Party allies who have nothing to run on in the
upcoming midterms. Think about it; would you want to run for
office as a Republican these days? Their dearest economic
ideas gave us the current recession, their foreign policies
resulted in a war we lost in Iraq and a war we're losing in
Afghanistan, their environmental designs have resulted in yet
another oil rig detonation in the Gulf of Mexico, a great
many of their supporters don't believe in dinosaurs because
the Bible doesn't mention them, and their biggest national
superstar is Sarah Palin, who by all appearances is so
drastically stupid that she couldn't figure out how to pour
piss out of a boot if there were directions on the heel.
So, yeah, not much to hang your hat on there. In the absence
of anything substantive to give the American people, the
right has gone home to their mothership: sowing discord, fear
and hatred to distract people from the fact that, while
Republicans are good at campaigning, they are walking cancer
cells to the body politic if and when they actually win.
This time around, the right's weapon of choice against this
republic is spreading hatred and fear of Muslims and Islam.
September 11 happened nine years ago, so it may seem an odd
topic to harp on after so much time has passed, but the
Cordoba House controversy gave them an opening and they ran
right through it. Of course, it started before that, pretty
much as soon as President Obama first threw his hat into the
ring for the 2008 election. Once the right figured out his
middle name was Hussein, it was hats over the windmill, and
their incessant blather about his background and religion has
finally begun to bear bloody fruit.
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Wrap your mind around this: at this point, a majority of
Republicans not only believe Mr. Obama to be a practicing
Muslim, but believe his intention as president is to impose
Sharia Law on America and the rest of the world. I'd like
Gallup or Pew to do a special poll so as to determine exactly
how many of those who believe these things were dropped on
their heads when they were babies. I'd wager the number would
pop close to 95%. Of course, the media's love for spectacle -
no matter how deranged or dangerous it is - has motivated
them to run these cretins and their theories across the sky
with klieg lights, and just as the right hoped, it is all
having the desired effect.
There have been other effects, however, and deadly dangerous
ones at that. Mosques have been firebombed. A Muslim
cabdriver in New York City was savagely slashed by a man
screaming anti-Islam epithets. A Sikh man was punched in a
store for wearing a turban, even though he was as Muslim as a
church steeple. The controversy over the Cordoba House
project has inspired a rash of threats against the Imam in
charge, the Muslims involved, and the building itself. In
short, the right has basically stated that if the place gets
built, they will shoot it up and/or burn it down.
There is nothing whatsoever funny or pleasurable about this
phenomenon. The people pushing this vile tactic are someday
going to find themselves burning in a deep ring of Hell, and
rightly so. Sometimes, though...oh yeah, sometimes the tables
get turned, and the hatred and stupidity being peddled by the
right is transmogrified into a special kind of justice.
Street justice, to be sure, but justice nonetheless.
There's a joint in West Haven, Connecticut, called the Fire
and Ice Hookah Lounge. By all reports, it's a nifty little
place; the theme is Middle Eastern, the hookah smoke is
tasty, and the belly dancers are something to see indeed.
Last Thursday, a fellow named Kevin Morris, also of West
Haven, came ditty-bopping into Fire and Ice and staked his
claim to first-ballot entry into the Dumbass Hall of Fame.
Mr. Morris, it seems, decided that any place with hookahs and
belly dancers must be a festering nest of Muslims, and
decided to give the patrons what-for. According to news
reports, he barged through the door and started screaming
racist and anti-Muslim epithets at everyone there. The crowd
didn't really react until Morris tried to throttle the
bartender...at which point, the patrons rose up righteous and
basically beat the ever-loving Jesus out of him. Morris' mug
shot looks like his face went through a wheat thresher, and
as of now, he remains in police custody.
Hatred and stupidity, folks. When they ride in the same
applecart, things can get truly dangerous. But sometimes, and
only rarely, things can also get truly funny.
Thank you, Mr. Morris.
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William Rivers Pitt is a Truthout editor and columnist. He is
also a New York Times and internationally bestselling author
of two books: "War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want
You to Know" and "The Greatest Sedition Is
Silence." His newest book, "House of Ill Repute:
Reflections on War, Lies, and America's Ravaged
Reputation," is now available from PoliPointPress.
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