I Couldn’t Believe My Eyes

I was watching some of the Super Bowl pregame nonsense yesterday, when I saw an ad from Pete Hoekstra, MI (R), who happens to be running for a seat in the Senate.

The Washington Post had a nice little write-up on the ad, and they include it in their article as well. You can read it here.

No one was watching TV with me, and I was so taken aback by what I was seeing that I stared at the television with my mouth hanging open, before just saying, “Holy shit” over and over.

This is another disgusting example, in a line of disgusting examples, of blatant racism perpetuated by the Republican. Thank you to The Nation for refreshing my memory of the specific examples I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

It’s not new. I know this. Yet it still surprises me. As if after all this time I still expect public officials, whether they belong to a political party I find horrific or not, to adhere to some sense of decency and humanity. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY I EXPECT THIS ANYMORE.

I don’t know which is worse, though. I mean, is this super obvious racism their reaction to their concerns about “political correctness”? Is this backlash? Are they saying whatever stupid shit comes to mind because they know nothing will happen to them? I think it’s a combination of all these things. Republicans try to champion “traditional” American values. Well, those values are reflections of the wants of white, upper-class, white men; this is no novel revelation on my part, I know.

It’s like these dudes that run the Republican party are so desperate to get their hands on some more power that they will appeal to the basest, most disgusting aspects of humanity: cowardice and our ability to hate so deeply because ignorance is easier.

Here’s Hoekstra’s campaign website if you want to contact him.