Observations from the (Irrational?) Right

I was talking to a family member recently who is a staunch Republican. After some heated discussion about Obama and Palin, and discussion about apparent media bias (he calls ABC the “All Barak Channel,” NBC the “Nearly Barak Channel,” and CBS the “Completely Barak Side”), we had a rather interesting exchange that I think reflects where the American psyche is for many people.

“ ‘Don’t call me Hussein!’ That's what he says. Barak won’t let people call him by his name!”

Antagonistically, and out of frustration, I said, “Because right-wing fear-mongerers use it only to imply that he’s Muslim! And he’s NOT!”

“You don’t know that! How do you know that?”

“Because he’s been going to a Christian church for 20 some odd years! He was married there, baptized there!”

“And it is a hate-mongering anti-American church!”

Another brief exchange: In the course of discussion, I pointed out that he was in Indonesia because his mom worked there. I said, “It is not like at age 8 he was like ‘Oh, I think I’ll go to the Muslim-predominant country of to Indonesia!’”

“Well, there are some questions now… Haven’t you heard? He may not have been born in Hawaii, he may have been born in Indonesia, and may not even be a U.S. citizen!”

I think that such exchanges demonstrate the deep concerns people have… and perhaps it shows how effective media spin (conservative and liberal) is at giving words, concepts, and phrases to deep-seeded, wordless feelings.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t believe for an instant that this family member is racist. Nor is he ignorant. When asked why he just doesn’t watch Fox when he gets angry at the “media bias” on CNN, he stated he likes to hear “the other side.” He may be mistrustful of Muslims, but he is a phenomenally hard working, intelligent man whose work ethic impresses me to this day. Yet, more than anything, I suspect that he simply has a deep mistrust of anything smacking of liberalism, which in his mind is centralization of government, which in turns means taking individual liberty AND individual responsibility away from people.

I can understand that line of argumentation. In fact, I am sympathetic. It frustrates me, however, that he grasps at minor and often outrageous claims to build his case against Obama, instead of building a case for individual liberty and responsibility (with the resultant consequences).

And on that note, of being against something, I will pick up in my next post.