Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

DemocratsForProgress

(545 posts)
Wed Jul 18, 2012, 06:48 PM Jul 2012

Walter Rhett: Sununu’s Gallows of Hate



At first, for a fleeting second, the irony seemed delicious. A sycophant of Mitt Romney, the American candidate with foreign bank accounts, says, “I wish this President would learn how to be an American.” But this quickly turned ugly. It was worse than being called “nigger.” That word has a history, is anchored in the nation’s fabric, is a backlash that marked progress, represents barriers climbed and conquered, and sounds the warnings that those who lynch and burn are coming again. That word has hate but has a life tied to the blood and sweat spilled as a people moved from slavery to freedom. It is a racial slur but it is also a moral compass that marks the cliff, the place America has currently claimed as too far. Ironically, it was a common public word in the 19th century. It routinely appeared in newspapers and in conversation.

But there is no fleeting irony or routine sentiment in John Sununu’s view of our President’s past. His is the kind of insubordination and attitude for which those enslaved were physically whipped or put on wheels, punished within an inch of their lives, but he drew his bias with impunity:

“He has no idea how the American system functions, and we shouldn’t be surprised about that, because he spent his early years in Hawaii smoking something, spent the next set of years in Indonesia, another set of years in Indonesia, and, frankly, when he came to the U.S. he worked as a community organizer, which is a socialized structure.”


To which a reader of the Atlantic replied, “Romney needs more Sununus.”

Hatred meet causal indifference, a hate that does not have to be inflamed, but is a snack food, a lollipop flavor, easily consumed for its comfort, embraced by its supporters with a smug revelation that the sky will not fall in their hatred of undeserving, non-American (or American!) Negroes. So hate is the new feel-good fitness track, the workout that makes others sweat, the stress reliever of American politics. It has taken on a creative life. But its purpose is the same: to strip anyone who isn’t ideologically white of any shelf space in American life. Hate is the post-date expiration for the American dream...


More at: http://www.democratsforprogress.com/2012/07/18/digging-deeper-sununus-gallows-of-hate/
2 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Walter Rhett: Sununu’s Gallows of Hate (Original Post) DemocratsForProgress Jul 2012 OP
Whoa. Really well written and powerful; thank you and recommend! nt babylonsister Jul 2012 #1
Sununu is a disgusting pig, I remember him well. bemildred Jul 2012 #2

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
2. Sununu is a disgusting pig, I remember him well.
Thu Jul 19, 2012, 10:22 AM
Jul 2012

I'm surprised they let him out from under his rock, they must be desperate.

Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Editorials & Other Articles»Walter Rhett: Sununu’s Ga...