Saturday, January 21, 2006

My neighbors

Well, not my next-door neighbors, but a house a couple of miles down the road from our neighborhood. I was driving by today and something caught my eye - it was the word 'ass'. Before I passed the house completely, I was able to see the whole thing. It was a phrase in large white letters on top of a windshield of a truck which was facing the road. The whole text was 'Kick raghead ass again!'

I do live in a very red part of a red state in the deep south, but this took me a little by surprise. I think most of the bigots around here (and there are many) have learned to keep their bigotry low key. I mean, I can't imagine the same guy with a slogan saying 'Kick more nigger ass!' or something like that. I guess it shows that openly anti-Muslim, anti-Arab sentiment is ok, at least around these parts.

It does make me wonder what it would be like to live in a place where progressives outnumber neanderthals. But I have too many other things tying me to this area, so it's just an idle thought.

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4 comments:

John Howard said...

I'm sure he only meant the bad ones. He probably has a lot of Muslim friends.

John Howard said...

Did I say the guy should be arrested or shouldn't have the right to show what a bigoted idiot he is?

People should be allowed to be whoever they are, whether it's a gay person or a bigoted jerk. I just wonder why someone would have more sympathy for the bigoted jerks. This kind of hatred is bad for everybody. Being gay doesn't hurt anyone. It really amazes me that you would be more bothered (or appear so from your comment) by someone being gay, than by such hatred.

John Howard said...

Yeah, so I guess you wouldn't have a problem if the sign said "kick nigger ass" because he would clearly only mean the bad ones.

I don't know what the current statistics are as far as what the risk factors for AIDS are. It sounds like you don't either. Just because homosexual sex was once the number one way to get it doesn't mean it is anymore. Maybe it is, but I don't know.

If you have some facts from your local library to share, feel free to share them, otherwise I'm not sure what your point is. I intend to parent by explaining all the risks of sex (gay or otherwise), not just telling my son not to be gay (which is something I can't control anyway). And you do know there are other STDs besides AIDS, right?

John Howard said...

Yes, AIDS is an STD. And it also has treatment, now. Maybe if you would pull your head out of the sand, you might realize things like this.

There are plenty of things that kill. AIDS and cancer are both good examples. So, since you're all for getting rid of gay people based on some ridiculous argument about them ending up with AIDS, are you for placing similar restrictions on smokers, since they're more likely to get cancer?

I'm not sure what your comment about the cause of STDs is supposed to mean. I know it has absolutely nothing to do with homosexuality.

I never said that the sign should be outlawed or abolished, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be called out for what it is, which is racist and bigoted. I'd also be pretty upset if someone got arrested for having such a sign, not so much for them, but for the obvious implication to the right of free speech.

Also, how can you argue that I'm trying to infringe on people's rights when your guy in the White House is systematically destroying them and you're all in favor of it?