Setting the stage.

 

Not all Republicans are racists, but all racists are Republicans. How many times have we heard that one? And it's true. Not that some Democrats aren't racist, it's just that they practice what I like to call unintended racism. Or, in some cases, paternalistic racism. Which, for the record, I find just as offensive --if not more--than the other forms. The thing about Democrats, though, is that if you call them on their racism they will do some self-reflection and apologize for their ignorance. Republicans, on  the other hand, will do no such thing, and they will even double down on you. They will declare that YOU are the racist for even pointing it out to them in the first place. 

Which brings me to the CPAC conference which took place in Orlando this past weekend. This is something that right-wing republicans throw together every year to remind the rest of us in America that racism can be mainstreamed and dressed up to look like just another political convention.

 Unfortunately for the Republicans who gathered at CPAC, the rest of us were paying attention, and we didn't fail to notice their little wink and a nod to their Aryan friends. 

The following excerpt is from USA Today:

"It’s been said that you should never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity. Applying this maxim to the Conservative Political Action Conference makes it one of the stupidest organizations in American politics today, and that’s saying something.

As difficult as it is to get your head around, the stage at CPAC 2021 last weekend was built in the shape of a rebranded swastika, something called an odal or othala rune. This symbol was incorporated into SS uniforms and is frequently used by white supremacists. Neoget tattooed with this thing. It was even on display at the 2017 Unite the Right protest in Charlottesville. Here’s a picture of the CPAC stage next to a picture of a Nazi uniform. Judge for yourself.

An extraordinary controversy erupted over this, as you would expect. Any normal person on being confronted with such a colossally idiotic mistake would blanch whiter than a Klansman’s hood and take immediate steps to fix the problem while profusely apologizing for the screw-up and Googling to see if the federal witness protection program was accepting volunteers. But not CPAC host Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union.

'Stage design conspiracies are outrageous and slanderous. We have a long standing commitment to the Jewish community. Cancel culture extremists must address antisemitism within their own ranks. CPAC proudly stands with our Jewish allies, including those speaking from this stage.'"

As I said earlier,  right-wing Republicans double down on their racism and ignorance, and they expect the rest of us to stick our heads in the sand and pretend that they aren't doing what we see them doing with our own two eyes. (Although judging from the media coverage the main stream media has been giving this story, it would seem that we are sticking or heads in the sand.)

I am one hundred percent sure that the staging was intentional, and so was the racist call to arms that it was meant to invoke. I am not sure if they thought that we would catch it, but clearly the leader of CPAC is not backing down now that they have been caught white- handed.  

Not all Republicans are racist, but all CPAC attendees, because of that stage and their refusal to acknowledge what was done, most certainly are. 

Image courtesy of economicleft.com