Lying To Make Friends

Republican Congressman Devin Nunes of California has come to the defense of Tea Party protesters hurling racial and homophobic slurs at members of Congress, finding such behavior understandable because “[w]hen you use a totalitarian tactics, people, you know, begin to act crazy.”

Both halves of Rep. Nunes “totalitarian tactics justify hate speech” rationale are incorrect.  For one, a democratically elected legislature passing a piece of legislation by majority vote is not a “totalitarian tactic.”  And even if the Democrats’ behavior was illegitimate, it would not justify racist or homophobic hatred.

The absurdity of Rep. Nunes statement is made clear by the fact that one of targets of the slurs was Congressman John Lewis of Georgia.  Rep. Lewis knows something about actual totalitarian tactics.  In the face of  the actual totalitarianism of the Jim Crow south, John Lewis, Martin Luther King, and the rest of the Civil Rights movement sang hymns, preached non-violence, and responded with protests based in peace and love.  In face of the fictional [totalitarianism/fascism/socialism/whatever the hell they want to call it] of Barack Obama, the Tea Party crowd has held a series of protests marked by hatred and violent rhetoric.  I’ve never had fewer doubts that I’m on the right side.

-AR