I had lunch with this brilliant woman a couple days ago, and she told me about the two most memorable things she encountered at the Republican National Convention protest on Sunday.
The first was a pro-Republican counter-protester chanting, “A VOTE FOR KERRY IS A VOTE FOR OUTSIDERS!”
The second was an anti-Republican protester holding a sign that said, “BACK, DEMON SCUM, BACK TO THE SULFUROUS CAVERNS FROM WHENCE YE CAME!”
Now, honestly: if this were a different election and you knew nothing about the people running, which protester’s candidate would you support?
P.S.: I wrestled long and hard–would that it had been with a hunky angel like the one Jacob struggled with all night, but no, it was just with the dilemma of which of these two quotes to put first, because, really, each warrants its own post. But to end with the one about a vote for Kerry’s being a vote for outsiders, in the end, would have been just too fucking depressing, and I am, at heart, an optimist. Now excuse me while I go cry.
It says everything one needs to know about the mindset of the Republican Party as it it now is, that ‘outsider’ is conceived of as a term of abuse.
Akward fact it may be, but a main foundation of Western morality and philosophy for the last 1500 years has been Christianity and whatever Christianjs may actually do the core message of their faith is a passionate concern for the outsider, the reject, the despised.
“It is not the stupidity, it is the hate”
Now I am depressed too.
I thought they think that a vote for a non-insider is a good thing?
I love the “demon scum” thing.
The really sad thing was that, were we to approach the election devoid of all knowledge of either side, save the slogans of those two protestors, half the damn county would still end up voting Republican.