Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Pat Boone wants to kill President Obama, figuratively speaking

Nothing sweller than seeing a crappy crooner wax poetic about gassing the "alien rodent" that is Barack Obama to his political death.

In time, it seems to happen to all older houses, no matter how well tended they may be.

All manner of parasites, vermin, roaches, rats, worms and termites find their way into the building. Long before they're detected, they infiltrate the walls, the floors, the roofs – and then chew their way into the structure, the supporting beams and the very foundation of the house itself. Silently, surreptitiously, whole communities of invaders make places for themselves, hidden but thriving, totally unknown by the homeowner.

Then, in time, tell-tale signs are seen. Little droppings, discolored trails, proliferating piles of residue appear in corners, on tabletops, little hanging sacs from ceilings – alarming evidence that the grand old dwelling has been invaded. Decidedly unwelcome creatures have made this place their home, and by their very existence will eventually destroy the house and bring it to ruin.

What can be done, when you learn that your house has already been invaded?

Well, the tried and true remedy is tenting.

Experts come in, actually envelope the whole dwelling in a giant tent – and send a very powerful fumigant, lethal to the varmints and unwelcome creatures, into every nook and cranny of the house. Done thoroughly, every last destructive insect or rodent is sent to varmint hell – and in a day or two, the grand house is habitable again.

[snip]

And they will do just that, drastically … unless we act, decisively and powerfully. Our White House is being eaten away from within. We urgently need to throw a "tent" of public remonstration and outcry over that hallowed abode, to cause them to quake and hunker down inside. And then treat the invaders, the alien rodents, to massive voter gas – the most lethal antidote to would-be tyrants and usurpers.
Again, this is why I call this kind of attitude conservative supremacism: any political outcome different from what is desired by the individual in question is by definition tyrrany, thus there can be no legitimate governance that is not "conservative." In his article, Boone asserts that President Obama thinks himself an emperor. Why? Because he is attempting (lamely in some instances) to promote the issues that he campaigned on, the ones that led to voters to vote and elect him.

The sad irony being that the previous president asserted a pseudo-legal theory of presidential power that was imperial, monarchical in nature; yet that doesn't bother Boone. Even the aspects of the imperial presidency and national security state that President Obama has inherited and continues to use do not seem to bother Boone; actual impingements on civil liberty and encroachments of Executive power do not factor in. Imaginary totalitarianism explaining normal democractic outcomes Boone disagrees with is more important. This is a mentality that helps to enculturate a disrespect for the rule of law, as exemplified by the United States being a culture that will impeach a president for failing to acknowledge a consensual sexual affair but not for waging illegal wars.

And as Dave Neiwert notes, Boone's conservative supremacism is expressed with eliminationist rhetoric.

Remember my discussion of this kind of rhetoric in The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right:

What motivates this kind of talk and behavior is called eliminationism: a politics and a culture that shuns dialogue and the democratic exchange of ideas in favor of the pursuit of outright elimination of the opposing side, either through suppression, exile, and ejection, or extermination.

Rhetorically, eliminationism takes on certain distinctive shapes. It always depicts its opposition as beyond the pale, the embodiment of evil itself, unfit for participation in their vision of society, and thus worthy of elimination. It often further depicts its designated Enemy as vermin (especially rats and cockroaches) or diseases, and disease-like cancers on the body politic. A close corollary—but not as nakedly eliminationist—are claims that opponents are traitors or criminals and that they pose a threat to our national security.

Eliminationism is often voiced as crude "jokes," a sense of humor inevitably predicated on venomous hatred. And such rhetoric—we know as surely as we know that night follows day—eventually begets action, with inevitably tragic results.

3 comments:

We Are The 801 said...

Pat Boone would've made Hutu Power Radio proud.

Sick.

Anonymous said...

Has anyone reported Boone's comments to Homeland Security? This sounds like something that needs to be looked into

Hume's Ghost said...

I hope not. As worthy of condemnation as his comments are, calling for the figurative extermination of the President is still protected speech.