Politics Make People Stupid: the Race Card vs. Michelle Malkin

(written 17 Jan 2005)

I should've known Michelle Malkin was Pinay, considering that I'm half-Ilongo.

But anyways... when it comes to the war between the Right and the Wrong, no words, diatribe, slander or invective are spared.

And when it comes to "minority" commentators and activists on either side, tribal insults get a little bit out of hand.

For example, Michelle Malkin and her Wrong Wing counterpart Margaret Cho (who happens to be Korean, not Chinese, FYI) have received letters criticising their respective political platforms. It's one thing to say "You're wrong, Woman!" It's a brand new ballgame when you say something like this...

You're just a Manilla whore shaking your ass and waiting for the Republican fleet to come in, aren't you? You've even got the lip gloss about right. Maybe if you love sailor long time, he bring you home to big American house? I don't think so. Just like in Manilla, Honey, they'll pass you around 'til they've all shot their load in you, and then they'll try to scrub off the stench so they can sail off in their crisp, white uniforms to the land of W.A.S.P.

Or this...

YOU FAT CHINK BITCH!! HOW DARE YOU CRITICIZE THIS PRESIDENT. YOU AND YOUR SEXUALLY DEVIATE FRIENDS COULDN'T CLEAN HIS SHOES. I ESPECIALLY LIKE YOUR WELL INFORMED ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE PRESIDENT'S POLICIES, YEA, "BUSH SUCKS" IS A REAL ARGUMENT WINNER. YOUR IGNORANCE AND VULGARITY ARE ALMOST COMPATIBLE TO YOUR LAME ACTING ABILITIES. YOU AND MOBY DESERVE ONE ANOTHER.

Of course, these are 2 of the fine examples of political discourse in the U.S. of A. The first quote was aimed at Malkin for her support of Bush while the second was fired at Cho for her Democrat sympathies.

One thing I discovered about the comments section on politically-oriented blogs is the tendancy for everyone to run off the fingertips (vis-à-vis the mouth) in the heat of the moment. When it comes to opposing pundits with certain physical features (Michael Moore) or visible ethnic features (Cho, Malkin, Al Sharpton), the desktop pundits throw their insult generators into maximum overdrive.

But what if, let's say, 2 Pinoys/Pinays (or Jews, or Negroes, or fat guys, or queers, or dykes, or Koreans) of differing political viewpoints square off in cyberspace? Chances are that they would spare no slur to denigrate each other. So the two Blacks would call each other "Uncle Tom", "Aunt Jemima" or "dumb-ass Nigga" as part of political debate. The same would go for "disgrace to the race", "an embarrasment to the faith", "you fat fuck tub of shit" or even "race traitor", gradually straying from the original discourse until it would degenerate to grade-school-level name-calling.

In the wake of John Kerry's well-deserved defeat, the level of invective seems to have risen and conspiracy theorists run amok pointing fingers at anyone with some level of intelligence. But the political junkies inhabiting the deep dark recesses of blogdom have maintained their consistency in hurling flame after flame against their foes, both real and imagined. But what would drive those junkies to play the Race Card against the visible "minorities" in cyberspace.

I have a few reasons of my own...

• They probably had a couple too many under the belt. As an ancient saying goes, "In veritas vino" - "Wine brings out the truth". You know... the good old liquid courage. The looser you get, the more dangerous you become at the keyboard. One small insult would become on small insult too many and then you wind up firing on all cylinders, all at once. So what if you hurt that person's feelings in the process - you're fighting the enemy, right?
  


• Some of my friends are... but you're... Yes, Liberals are supposed to "love" everyone. But if you're a sober conservative, a Lib under the influence will have you for lunch. And if you're one of colour, you're game for the enemy, especially one of the same ethnic background fuelled by a few wets/tokes/rails/nasty migraines.
  
  But even worse... if the person were to be of a different race who have like-minded friends from your tribe, that opponent would tag you as a possible "race traitor". And yes... the same would go for Right vs. Left, Gay vs. Straight, Righties vs. Southpaws: you get the picture. The more your heart is into your rabble rousing, the more reckless you become, hence - you become your own worst enemy.
  
  
• "I hate myself - BUT I HATE YOU EVEN MORE!" Those people who see themselves as failures tend to blame the ones who've proven to be succeses. In the world of online politics, the conflict can get bloody.
  
  If you were proven wrong by someone, you'd do one of 2 things
  
  
  1. apologise and stand yourself corrected; or
     
  2. tell the opponent to go fuck...
     
     • himself;
       
     • herself;
       
     • itself; or
       
     • a duck.
  
  Those who are politically obsessed would spare no effort in denigrating the enemy. Lacking any other backup plan, the junkie would degenerate into a name-calling hooligan, full of fire but empty of soul and intelligence. And speaking of intelligence...
  
  
• "Issue? What issue." C'mon, it has always been "us" against "them". Issues don't seem to matter any especially since a member of your tribe has taken "their" side instead of "ours". Fuck the issue and slag the shitskinned papist bastard. It's much easier than attacking with facts, especially after doing the abovementioned intoxicants.
  

Lost in all this jumbled mumbo-jumbo is fact that when someone hides behind the keyboard, that person becomes bulletproof - think of every blogging and commenting cybernaut as a Neo. Maybe this illusion of anonymity granted to the poster is the cause for all this politically-motivated racial stupidity - a drive-by using browsers and e-mail clients as weapons of mass disruption. The perceived invincibility provided by this distance between user and server only intensifies the user's level of vitriol with each blog article - I'm just as guilty of it as the next person.

Which brings me to this conclusion: try and get a life outside the confines of your desktop/notebook PC. Meet new people, even if it means going to a restaurant and trying to chat up the hottest server that you could've ever laid eyes on. Read a book. Watch t.v. Get a job - any job, even if it's temping out here and there. There is a world outside of blogspace. Get used to it and get out there.

And on that note, leave Michelle Malkin alone, will ya?