THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC

[xenologer]

Y'know, I love reading about people's experiences and observations. I think there's something to be said for finding out what other people see, and in the current political climate it's easy to miss out on opportunities to observe McCain and Palin supporters in "their native environment," surrounded by other supporters without supervision by those dastardly 100% Jesus-Free Marxist Wiccan Jihadists (no, really, watch this video because it's long but gets better and better as it goes) like Obama and his ilk. They can't possibly spending all their time crying for the death of Barack Obama at one of McCain-Palin's regular Two Minutes' Hate rallies.

Turns out that, no, sometimes they have the decency to be self-righteous instead of violent. I guess it's an improvement.

Upon entering Starbucks, I immediately realized that the McCain/Palin folks were having a little meeting. I saw several women in dresses wearing pink buttons proclaiming "Women for McCain/Palin". A few of them brought their husbands who were sporting buttons saying things such as "Sportsman for McCain/Palin" and "NOBama". I sat down at the table next to the group just as they were starting their meeting.

As soon as the last member of their group came in, they prayed. In their prayer they begged that God "deliver the country from the evil socialists" and even prayed that "Obama find God". Well, damn, how offensive I thought to myself. (...)

They talked a little more about how Obama would destroy our country with "free health care" and "gay marriages". The feared his daughters would probably play loud rap music in the White House while world leaders were staying. They feared that Muslim would become our official religion. One of them even feared that "the Muslim language would be taught in schools." Priceless.

They went back to the fact that they all believed McCain would lose this election, but they were excited that Palin would probably run in 2012. (...)

At that time, I decided to pull out my laptop. You see, I have an Obama sticker on it. Well, one of them noticed and gave the rest of them a look and said SHHHH! One of the men didn't notice and kept talking. He said that "Obama is part of a sleeper cell and he will use our own nuclear weapons against us." One of the women nodded her head in agreement. Finally, the woman who noticed me said in a soft voice, "there's an Obama supporter behind us...BE QUIET". The group suddenly got quiet.

They changed the subject for a while, but on the way out the door one of the men told me "you are a disgrace to white people if you vote for that man."

One blogger commenting on this little account had this to say:

This isn't a movement; this is a psychotic break occurring simultaneously in millions of people. One wonders if mental illness, paranoia to be exact, is a communicable disease. And to all of the professional evangelical Democrats who claim if we just acted a little more friendly towards religion, Democrats could gain votes (although we seem to be doing just fine with black Protestant voters....), how do you respond to this:

"you are a disgrace to white people if you vote for that man."

Do you think that has anything to do with abortion? This is tribalism wrapped in a veneer of religiosity. Someone tell me how exactly we're supposed to reach these 'values' voters?

I have to say. I'm not sure whether this has squelched my curiosity or stimulated it. I rather I wish that I, like an acquaintance of mine, were headed to a Palin rally in the area tonight. I could bring my little ethnographer's notebook and take notes on the capering and posturing of these exotic humans.

And again, because I can't get enough of this video: 100% JESUS-FREE MARXIST WICCAN JIHADISTS WITH BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA AS THEIR SMOOTH-TALKING VOODOO MASTER.

Here's a better question than how we're supposed to reach out to these people.

How can you even satirize them anymore?

Comments

[matrexius.livejournal.com]

A friend posted this:

[virginia-fell.livejournal.com]

I saw that posted a couple places as well. The fact that they can say these things straight out, completely unashamed of how insane they sound... how do you satirize that?

Also, Obama "walks like a duck, talks like a duck," and according to the above sources he probably weighs the same as a duck as well. WITCH!

[matrexius.livejournal.com]

"He turned me into a newt!"
"..."
"..."
"Well, I got better!"

Springtime For Palin

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

If they can't be satirized, just show them being themselves. Thank you for sharing--I have friends who believe racism just isn't an issue in America any more.

Someone on my LJ commented on the difference between liberals and conservatives shows up when the politician they didn't support gets elected. Liberals threaten to move to Canada. Conservatives threaten to kill everyone.

I forget who pointed that one out. For all I can remember, maybe it was you...

Re: Springtime For Palin

[virginia-fell.livejournal.com]

It wasn't me, but it's disturbingly apt.

[kaisharga.livejournal.com]

How.

[nmb86.livejournal.com]

Seriously, you should have to score a 100 (supposed average human intelligence) on a legitimate IQ test to be legally registered to vote. At least it would take out everyone who watched these videos and agreed with them.

[x-eleven.livejournal.com]

Such terrible, horrible people that you can't satirize. Oh well, at least they didn't beat any one up. (http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/obama-supporter-assaults-female-mccain-volunteer-in-new-york)

[arctangent.livejournal.com]

Let's not confuse being really angry and having poor judgment with believing irrational and insane things.

Well-intentioned people who live in a dreamworld of mystic nonsense have the potential to cause a lot more harm than an occasional jerk who freaks out and hits someone. (And, for cripes' sake, we live in a country of 300 million people -- there's been untoward violence all through our history from any political party. Trying to act like a single incident of assault means that "Democrats are violent" is a really idiotic low blow.

[x-eleven.livejournal.com]

You are quite right: acting as if a single incident of assault means that all Dems are violent is a really idiotic low blow. It's as idiotic a low blow as presuming that because one McCain supporter said a stupid thing (that disgrace to white people crack) -- or even more than one stupid thing -- that all McCain supporters, in your words, believe "irrational and insane things", or "live in a dreamworld of mystic nonsense".

[arctangent.livejournal.com]

By no means do I think all McCain supporters do. I think a sizable portion of them do, and it's those supporters that I react with shock and horror to.

I think McCain's policies are bad and wrong, and so yes, to that degree I am opposed to anyone who supports McCain. But the way I react to McCain supporters differs from person to person. I think my dad's reasons for voting McCain, for instance, are shortsighted and ill-thought-out, but I still have a lot more respect for him than the dreamworld of mystic nonsense exemplified by that video clip, which all too accurately matches the kind of thing I've heard from certain factions within my church for the past few months.

No one here said anything about "all McCain supporters", and if you're mad at certain Obama supporters who have done unfair things to McCain supporters, like assaulting them, I have no objection to your anger -- I'd just prefer it not be directed at me or virginia_fell or anyone else to whom it does not apply.

You will notice no one has characterized you, for instance, as believing that Kansas is a hotbed of witches, or believing the logically self-contradictory statement that Obama is at once a Marxist, a Wiccan and a fundamentalist Muslim. I do question why you find attacks on these people offensive, or feel the need to defend them as though an attack on them slights you. By so doing *you* are the one associating these people with the right wing as a whole, not us.

[kaisharga.livejournal.com]

Oh, snap!

...That's all I have to contribute to this discussion.

[x-eleven.livejournal.com]

"By no means do I think all McCain supporters do. I think a sizable portion of them do, and it's those supporters that I react with shock and horror to."

Good for you if you don't. I question how "sizable" though. It's a small minority, but a very noisey one. And, yeah, they are damned embarrassing.

No one here said anything about "all McCain supporters", and if you're mad at certain Obama supporters who have done unfair things to McCain supporters, like assaulting them, I have no objection to your anger -- I'd just prefer it not be directed at me or virginia_fell or anyone else to whom it does not apply.

Virginia has made posts like this one before, and for the most part, I let 'em slide without comment. A bit of hyperbole is to be expected during campaigns, and I certainly don't protest innocense there either. However, statements like this one: "...McCain-Palin's regular Two Minutes' Hate rallies." Referring to Sarah Palin's speeches as "two minutes' hate rallies" is going too far, and it's one of those "unfair things" that piss me off.

"I do question why you find attacks on these people offensive, or feel the need to defend them as though an attack on them slights you."

I don't find attacks on "these people" offensive, nor do I defend them. What I do find offensive is tarring every McCain supporter with the same brush. It's no different from my saying that because a few Obama supporters have misbehaved that all Obama supporters are violent and dangerous.

I'll disown the whackos on my side of the aisle if you disown the whackos on yours.

[virginia-fell.livejournal.com]

I've been elevated to "whacko" now? I may be flattered.

The reason I'm taking issue with the chaos generated by the Republican ticket more so than the Democratic ticket is not that Obama's saintly presence has cleansed all of his supporters of their nastier natures. The reason I'm taking issue with the Republicans is that their behavior is representative of a trend, a trend that creates a hateful and angry atmosphere that benefits them far more than talking about their broken policies.

If people are going to a Obama's rallies because they hate McCain and want a safe space to sling vitriol, if people are going to a a Biden rally because they want a place where they can safely shout "terrorist!" and "kill McCain!" then I'll call those "two-minutes' hate" rallies, too.

But the hate here has been grossly lopsided. There is a difference between pointing out that neither side is perfect and treating their offenses as though they are equal simply because neither has come out unstained. This is a common tactic from McCain supporters who want to rationalize away all the nasty things coming from their own side by saying, "well, we're not the only ones, so it doesn't matter if we're the worst."

Again. There's been nasty behavior and petty slurring and misogyny from all sides. Admitting that does not mean we should let McCain-Palin (or their supporters) off for being the worst offenders here by far.

[x-eleven.livejournal.com]

"I've been elevated to "whacko" now? I may be flattered."

You attacked anyone for carrying a McCain / Palin sign? Vandalized any McCain yard signs lately? That's what I was referring to, and there are your whackos.

If people are going to a Obama's rallies because they hate McCain and want a safe space to sling vitriol, if people are going to a a Biden rally because they want a place where they can safely shout "terrorist!" and "kill McCain!" then I'll call those "two-minutes' hate" rallies, too.

All you have here is two incidents where one individual said those things. We don't know who they are, and I can't say they weren't Obama infiltrators. It's not like the entire ausience joined in with chants of "Terrorist!" and "Kill him!". If that were the case, then you would have a point. All you have are a couple of assholes and two isolated incidents.

"The reason I'm taking issue with the Republicans is that their behavior is representative of a trend, a trend that creates a hateful and angry atmosphere that benefits them far more than talking about their broken policies."

I disagree that that's what they're doing. I suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree on that.

[virginia-fell.livejournal.com]

"All you have are a couple of assholes and two isolated incidents."

So those two guys are responsible for all the racism that's been oh-so-subtly aroused by competition with Obama and his baby-mama, Sarah Palin's disdain for them eddycated elitists, the slurs of the Pennsylvania GOP, (http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/GOP_hits_rock_bottom_Calls_Obama_in_an_official_release_terrorists_best_friend.html) the effigy of Obama that was lynched in Oregon (http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/racial_incident_rattles_george.html), racist news columnists (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_10/015040.php), distribution of bizarre Obama-themed parody foodstamps (http://www.racismreview.com/blog/2008/10/17/american-racism/), etc.

A couple of assholes responsible for all that? Damn. They're good.

I guess they're also responsible for all the worries about the White House becoming the Black House, and the people in the video that was linked in the comments above. I hadn't intended to try and make this an entry primarily about the effect of race on the election (since I get two replies to those statements. Most people say, "well yeah, you'd have to be an idiot to miss it," but some tell me "talking about the effect of race on the election makes you racist. Race shouldn't matter so it doesn't.")

But it's a good example to use of who's encouraging hatred and to what degree.

[virginia-fell.livejournal.com]

I think that Mark Sawyer (http://www.npr.org/blogs/newsandviews/2008/08/obama_has_no_race_card_to_play.html) has it right when he says that Obama has a lot to lose if he "plays the race card," but the more McCain gets people worried about it, the more he benefits. The fact that as the race gets closer to its end (and as McCain gets more desperate) his supporters have become more and more frenzied in their hatred, departing further and further from the excuses they were repeating earlier in the campaign.

Honestly, I didn't think as much of this was about race as I do now... until we ended up with a proudly-uneducated, ideologically-extreme, gun enthusiast mother of a teen mom from the boondocks of America. Have you notied that these qualities are feared and hated in a person of color, but are appealing and folksy from a white woman? The fact that Palin can "energize McCain's base" says a lot about what they're scared of and what makes them feel good about themselves.

That's when I started thinking about how little of this was rational, and how much of it was simply hate. And unlike the Democrats, Republicans cannot write off the racism in this campaign as the action of isolated whackos. Treating the Democrats and the Republicans as though they're equally culpable for the negative and hateful tone of the race is really deceptive.

I actually put up a whole post a while back on the subject of this particular way of rationalizing away McCain's campaign's conduct. In it I said, "Wild and stupid rumors are spreading on both ends of the political spectrum, but only one candidate is encouraging them: McCain. Grouping Obama's campaign in with McCain's is either a startling display of ignorance about what these campaigns are really doing, or it's a deliberately deceptive attempt to drag Obama down to McCain's level in the minds of people who aren't paying enough attention to know the difference."

Democrats are being shits sometimes. But Republicans are also being shits, and they're being encouraged to do so by their candidates. For a good blurb about the racism driving many McCain supporters, check out this entry also from RacismReview (http://www.racismreview.com/blog/2008/10/14/mccain-supporters-reveal-racism/). They're not just griping about McCain, and if you look one of their recent entries is about racism in Obama's campaign as well. But it's not the same.

It is nowhere near the same, either in magnitude or source. The campaign with the worst racism is also the campaign that is encouraging it. This is not a coincidence. We can agree to disagree on that, but you should know that I'm not talking out my ass from watching video of one Palin rally. I'm looking at things like what I've linked here (and keep in mind that this is just what I've already happened to come across and could track down in fifteen minutes while typing a comment), and if you were already aware of them you don't seem terribly bothered.

[arctangent.livejournal.com]

I'll gladly disown the one guy who hit somebody, just like I'll disown anybody who commits an act of physical violence.

I don't think calling Palin's rallies "Two Minutes' Hate" is going too far at all, I don't find that to be "whacko" behavior and I'm not going to disown it. I honestly and fervently believe that virginia_fell's reaction to Palin -- and mine -- is far fairer and more honest than calling Obama a jihadist Wiccan Marxist.

If you can find anything in this LJ's characterizations of Sarah Palin that go that far -- or that even have that degree of irrational internal contradiction -- go right ahead and show it to me.

[arctangent.livejournal.com]

Also, one asshole went out *by himself* to a group of McCain supporters in order to try to pick a fight.

Most of the scary McCain stuff I've seen has always been in a group setting -- mobs shouting scattered cries of "Arab!" and "Terrorist!" at rallies with the apparent full support of the crowd around them. (Because I can tell you that if I were in one of those crowds, or, worse, *addressing* a crowd where people were shouting things like that, I would take notice of it and say something. McCain's total unwillingness to take responsibility for it -- his visibly enraged reaction to Obama suggesting that he should -- is one reason he creeps me out.)

The story about "You're a disgrace to all white people" is a group setting. Making and sending out that video to a group of supporters is a group setting. Mailing out the Obama dollar bill is a group setting.

So no, comparing an individual acting as an individual to groups acting as groups makes no sense at all. Do you really think it's that easy to be the lone crazy racist in a group of entirely sane people who do nothing to stop your insanity?

[arctangent.livejournal.com]

I want you to show me again where anyone has "tarred every McCain supporter with the same brush".

Nothing in this post says anything about "these people" meaning all McCain supporters, nor would I have taken that meaning from it when reading it.

And as far as disowning whackos, frankly, this tit-for-tat thing is BS. I shouldn't *need* to disown my whackos for you to disown yours, as though it were a prisoner transfer. If you have honor and integrity as a human being rather than a political operative, you disown filthy and disgusting behavior because it's filthy and disgusting, regardless of whether it might weaken your position in an ongoing presidential race.

Hell, there shouldn't even need to be a disowning. You shouldn't *own* these people in the first place. You shouldn't be defending these people or caring what people say about them at all just because they're "on your side".

McCain's sudden intense burst of rage in the debate, defending each and every person who goes to his rallies as "good Americans" disgusted me, because it showed that he lacked integrity -- that just coming out and saying you'll vote for him makes you "on his side" no matter how vile the things you say. Had he just said he didn't care about the things people said at his rallies and didn't feel responsible for them I'd've been much happier.

(And yes, it did make him a huge hypocrite for slamming Obama for T-shirts that have been made and worn without his involvement or presence in any way at all.)