Friday, November 14, 2008

Straight Talk

Thank goodness for men like Ken Germana, or "Ken the German", as I like to call him. No, I don't agree with pretty much anything he stands for, and I find him repugnant, but it's nice to see the unvarnished face of the conservative base once in a while.

In case you live in a cave, Ken Germana is a guy in Vay, Idaho who decided to protest the election, and some effigies of his hero, Sarah Palin, by putting up a sign that offered a free hanging for Barack Obama, along with Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, and Al Sharpton, complete with a home-made noose.

Funny thing is, unlike Joe the Plumber, Ken the German is the real deal. As we all know, Joe was a guy worried about paying higher taxes on income he didn't have when he bought a business he couldn't afford, which didn't actually fall into the tax bracket in question anyway. Ken just doesn't cotton to liberals, and apparently minorities either, and isn't shy about saying so (although he did deny racism was a factor, wink, wink).

This should not shock you. This is exactly the sentiment Palin was deliberately playing to at her rallies (where she incited the verbal equivalent of Ken's sign). These people exist, and there's more of them than you would like to think there are. This is the heart and soul of the Republican base. If you read a few conservative blogs, such as the one at FreeRepublic.com, Ken is being feted as a good honest hero, and a victim of a left-wing dictatorship-in-waiting. Both Ken and his supporters justify his actions by pointing to their opponents engaging in similar behavior. Strong principles there! I thought the conservatives were supposed to be about right and wrong. I guess two wrongs do make a right, or at least a right-wing hypocrite.

We need people like Ken, if for nothing more than to remind us that we have a long way still to go. Ken's straight talk let's us know that even though we won the battle (the election), the war still rages on. Let's face it, there are a bunch of guys wandering around the south who don't believe the civil war is over, so it's not so hard to believe that Ken hasn't assimilated the more recent defeat. Luckily for him, the internet will allow him to link up with his confederate brethren. In the process, he serves as a great warning against complacency.

So Ken, thanks for the straight talk. You make me proud... to be a Democrat. Besides, if the recent elections are any indicator, if you give these people enough rope...

2 comments:

P Bryant (aka JerryMagicKobe) said...

Oh crap. Ken Germana is now the unvarnished face of the republican party? Great, now I have to grow a beard, and scribble on some card board like a millitant vagrant. And a noose? How the hell do I tie a noose? (hmm...the rabbit comes out of the hole, goes around the tree, and then what - Damn, the holes in my hood aren't big enough and now I lost the damn rabbit).

Ken Germana is not the face of anything except Ken Germana. Apparently he can't get past a stereotype that wrongly separates him from an entire group because of some limitation within his own mind. I doubt you would make the same mistake with Republicans that Ken makes with, ummm, probably everybody not named Ken Germana. You think he treats his kids well? His wife? Think the neighbors are scared shitless evertime Ken comes rumblin' up the dirt road, 3 sheets to the wind? Barrack Obama just had the terrible misfortune of being elected by a majority of the country (including some of the southern [Confederate] states). That doesn't prove that they aren't racist, but given the choice, race was not the determining factor.

Human nature doesn't change based on left or right wing. Choices are personal and beliefs are up to the individual. There are reasons other than greed, racism and religous beliefs that one might have conservative views (I'm sensing a Blog Topic).

Then again, membership is down at the "Penniless, Tree-Hugging Atheists for McCain" meetings...

T. Johnson (aka "24") said...

Well Paul, you might not stand with people like Ken (and they are legion, read the site I cited), but if you vote Republican, they stand with you...