Tag Archives: equality

Huckaphobia

As you know, I developed Huckaphobia almost 2 years ago. You might think it would have abated by now, but you’d be thinking wrong.

Monday night I happened to send Samer the link to Huckalerts, a prank which still makes me laugh until I cry. This is good because I was then able to use it to inoculate myself while watching Huckabee’s appearance on the Daily Show last night.

It was a long interview, a two-parter. The topic I wish to fuss about is in the second half of the interview:

Sure, Jon Stewart gave him what-for, but it’s still chilling to watch because Huckabee is a personable, relatable guy who has the attention of a lot of moderates who don’t feel personally connected to this issue. (I hate using the word “issue”, I feel like “human right” or even just “right” is a better term, but I’ll use issue because that’s the context for the discussion).

It boils down to this: You people are not spending enough time worrying about Mike Huckabee and it’s going to come back to bite us all.

p.s. I hope I haven’t been causing your feed readers to freak out, I’ve been cleaning up some of the old mangled code from the import to this site and sometimes when I update old posts it notifies people and then they get annoyed. Sorry.

white christmas?

Nothing really gets the blood pumping like hate, does it? Makes you feel all warm and cozy. Righteous indigination, a sense of belonging. What could be better? I had a long manifesto on hate, a tangent from yesterday’s mention of the alleged War on Christmas, but I’ve junked it in favor of a link to an interesting read on Alternet today, A Whiter Shade of Christmas:

The holiday song “White Christmas” is a favorite among the white supremacist set, for obvious reasons. May your days be merry and bright / And may all your Christmases be white. Put into the context of white nationalism, the tune becomes a jolly anthem for white pride and privilege. And don’t think that racist activists can’t be jolly or share a little holiday cheer.

In fact, there is an international organization of white supremacist women who devote their energies to holiday activities such as sending Christmas cards to their incarcerated “brothers,” and raising money for needy Aryans. This year Women for Aryan Unity (WAU) is holding its 15th annual Yulefund, which has purportedly raised $2,000 over the last three years to buy gifts for children of incarcerated white supremacists. Women for Aryan Unity also publishes a cookbook, sends welcome packages to new mothers, and runs an Aryan Clothing Drive.

[read the rest of the article]

In her conclusion, the author makes the following suggestions:

In the meantime, you can dedicate your holiday activities to tolerance by giving a year-end gift to one of the many anti-hate organizations and donating to a clothes drive that helps people of all colors. And, for God’s sake, please don’t sing “White Christmas.”

I do hope that her request that one not sing “White Christmas” is some sort of failed sarcasm, because if it’s not it takes her into that silliness zone so cozily occupied by our favorite sitcom host, Bill O’Reilly.

That wacky John Kerry

In today’s Washington Post, Hilary Rosen has an excellent piece titled “Outrage That Rings False.”

Nicolle Devenish, communications director for the Bush-Cheney campaign, said Thursday that John Kerry will pay a heavy political price for what he did. Lynne Cheney, the vice president’s wife, said, “This is a bad man.”

The crime? John Kerry in the final presidential debate suggested that we are all God’s children and used Mary Cheney as an example of a healthy gay person loved by her family.

The response from the Cheneys and the Bush campaign has been blatantly political. In fact, it is they who are using Mary Cheney — using her now to score points against Kerry and John Edwards over an issue on which they themselves are guilty of the wrongs that Kerry and Edwards are fighting against. Even after almost 30 years in Washington, I am surprised by the overwhelming hypocrisy and meanness of the Bush reelection campaign.

[read the rest, and you should]