The Washington Post smackdown of Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr. is pretty good. They call him a bigot in the headline. They call him ‘colossally stupid’ in the first sentence. Later on they say he is obnoxious and note that “Mr. Goode was evidently napping in class the day they taught the traditional American values of tolerance, diversity and religious freedom.”
Now that’s the way to take on bigotry and racism. You gotta call them names right back. We don’t need special laws, we just need to mock, shun, and ridicule those that exhibit irrational hate on those that are different from themselves. Totally marginalize the fools, narrow the window within which such garbage-talk is seen as acceptable, make them pay a social cost.
Rep. Goode has his right to his opinion. It just got him a good tongue-lashing from the biggest paper in the town in which he works. He’s a laughing stock. As the Washington Post concludes:
Mr. Goode’s dimwitted outburst of nativism is nothing new. No, the real worry for the nation is that the rest of the world might take Mr. Goode seriously, interpreting his biased remarks about Muslims as proof that America really has embarked on a civilizational war against Islam. With 535 members, you’d think that Congress would welcome the presence of a single Muslim representative. Whether it can afford a lawmaker of Mr. Goode’s caliber is another question.
Oh, we can afford him. Every large organization can use a court jester. And Congress usually has at least a couple Trafficants running around. But, if I were his constituent I would be mortified by Goode’s attitude. And I’d get right on a primary challenge for his sorry dimwitted obnoxious bigoted ass.
