Washblog

Having watched the Gibson affair for a full week now and the non-stop replay of his drunken diatribe on my heritage, I honestly feel more offended by the public reaction than I do by the racist slur.

Frankly, this nation must seem to outsiders like nothing more than a collection of disingenuous and self-righteous, self-obsessed and vanity driven xenophobes, all eager to point a finger anywhere but at themselves.

I am offended, yes, as a Jew by Gibson and as an American by the Bush administration.

.... The "values voter" is and has always been a propaganda concept, sold and bought by the mass media to justify the inexcusable and twisted "compassionate" authoritarian agenda.

... A nation that purchases enough Ann Coulter books to put her hate products on domestic bestseller lists is not a nation that can claim outrage at a comment made by an intoxicated actor.

... Her neo-Nazi product, however, is being bought and touted by the same people who are running Gibson's comments as proof of the Hollywood evil, drunk and perverse, hating everything different from themselves.

... What about Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly - who advocate hate and endorse the executions for those they label "Anti-American" and even traitors? Usually the traitors identified by O'Reilly and Limbaugh are liberals, defenders of the Constitution, peace activists, and non-Christians - basically calling for attacks on those who would dare to have a different political perspective?

... Is this not a culture that openly sells, buys, endorses, and lives hate on a daily basis? The only thing that makes this hypocrisy worse is that the people who claim the wound and the status of victim are the same people who are inflicting the wounds and creating victims.

... Who is more dangerous, a drunken man yelling profanities and racist slurs or a man on a "news" show making racist statements and supporting hate crimes? What about the White House Press Secretary using terms like "tar baby" without batting a lash or the Secretary of State making statements that civilian casualties in Lebanon are nothing more than the "birth pangs" of democracy?

There's much more to read and well worth the time it takes to do so.

      Larisa Alexandrovna is a journalist, essayist and poet. She is currently managing news editor for Raw Story, and contributes regularly to other publications in the alternative press.