Charles Pierce, author of 'Idiot America', writes about racism and the GOP.

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/477336/slacker_friday

Bottom of his column:

The horror, the horror. People are talking out loud about race in connection with the conservative movement--or, at least, its demented self now bungling all over the landscape. The ol' sobersides in the punditocracy are assuring us that, while racism certainly exists--although, you will note, they never, ever say where exactly--that it's wrong to assume that racism in the basis for the opposition to the president's attempt to pry a healthcare reform package through Congress. This is, of course, true. Racism is what the folks on the arson squad call an "accelerant." It is that which intensifies and directs the flame. Everyone who opposes the administration on this issue is not a racist. But, I'm sorry, everyone who does so by bleating, "I want my country back!" pretty much is.



More to the point, the fact that this surprises anyone is sad evidence that we don't teach history at all well any more. The accelerant of racism was bottled up for use by the rising conservative movement--and by the Republican party, to whom it pledged itself--as far back as 1964, when the party committed itself to the support of the remnants of white-supremacy for reasons of pure political advantage. Since then, it has been poured out when and where necessary. (Although George Wallace also manufactured his own distilled brand in 1968 and in 1972, which the GOP bought out, like Pabst buying out Schlitz.) It was there when Richard Nixon talked about "law and order," when Lee Atwater dropped Willie Horton on Michael Dukakis's head, and it was there when kindly old Dutch Reagan kicked off his campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi, talking about states rights, and when he blathered on about fictitious "welfare queens" and when his administration went to court to defend the tax-exempt status of segregated Southern academies. The difference is that conservatism was usually careful about how it calibrated the amount of accelerant to pour into the conflict. It got so good at measuring the amount that it forgot the simple fact that, sooner or later, the fire can consume the arsonist as well. Now that the national Republican party is solely the province of meathead politicians and radio maniacs, there are "sensible" conservatives who are alarmed by what they see. It should be agreed upon in our politics that these people drift into the wilderness for a while and muse upon where their movement has led them. But the first thing they all should do is apologize to the nation for choosing to take a course 45 years ago in opposition to the transcendant moral issue of America. They prospered through bigotry, and then through a deft ability to package it, and they made the ensuing four decades immeasurably crueler as a result.There's not enough sackcloth in the world for these clowns.

He was on Mamma's show about a week ago. They must have gotten a lot of responses (including mine :)) because he did Right Wing World with them this morning. He's going to be a regular. He's hysterical. He called Mary Matalin a "lizard brain." :rofl:

I'm ordering the book, but I may wait until it's out in paperback. :bounce:

I hope you like it.