The Conservatives' Dangerous Game of Hate and Consequences

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John Ridley
Emmy-Winning Commentator and Writer for Esquire
Posted April 17, 2009 | 08:12 PM (EST)

The Conservatives' Dangerous Game of Hate and Consequences


Empty of better ideas -- of any ideas -- of how to remain relevant, the reactionary wing of the conservative movement has chosen to quit faking respectability and get back to doing what they do best: cranking up the hate to eleven.

This is the week we have lived:

A week when Texas Governor Rick Perry -- a man with presidential aspirations -- gets comfortable being flippant about the idea secession, raising the specter of both the anti-civil rights movement and the Civil War.

A week when Texas Republican State Rep. Betty Brown (what is it with Texas?) told a hearing on voter registration that if Asians wanted to avoid problems at the polls they needed to change their names to something that's "easier for us to deal with."

A week when Illinois Republican Congressman Mark Kirk said he thought the people of Illinois "are ready to shoot" anyone who's going to raise taxes.

A week when the Caucasian Stepin Fetchit Glenn Beck -- which is more of a slam against Lincoln Perry than it is Glenn -- thought it was humorous to take on the guise of our president and pantomime him pouring gas on the average citizen before setting a match to him.

This is the week when even his cover as GOP Chairman couldn't outweigh his blackness and Michael Steele was unwelcome at the not-even-slightly-white-fright based tea parties where signs stoking the fears of WHITE SLAVERY were as prevalent as any saying: I LOVE AMERICA.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-ridley/the-conservatives-dangero_b_188514.html