(Updated the title. After reviewing this, it read like I'm disparaging golf and golfers, in general. I'm not -- I love watching and playing golf!)
It appears a bit of an outrage has started over David Feherty's assassination "joke."
Let me first say, as someone who loves watching golf, that I would not be at all upset if he gets canned over this. He's always trying to make jokes or stir things up, but he comes off as clumsy and weird. For a recent example of how awful he is, watch this awkward exchange between Feherty and Tiger Woods. Out of context, it may seem just stupid and harmless, but believe me -- it was cringe-inducing to watch live, as at the time there was an intense, close match nearing completion, and Woods had just finished a frustrating round.
To his credit, Woods responded well to Feherty. But Woods has had a lot of experience with stupid and/or offensive questions and statements from fellow golfers over the years. The PGA is the last bastion of weatlhy, privileged whites in professional sports. Who can forget Fuzzy Zoeller's joke after Woods won The Masters?
And then there was Payne Stewart's "Chinese accent" (referred to here, although I wish I could find a video of it) in response to a statement by a British TV commentator. That didn't get as much play, since Stewart died in a plane crash a week later. But it was jaw-droppingly offensive -- think Krusty the Clown's "Me So Solly" bit, complete with the scrunched-up face.
Early in the 1996 book A Good Walk Spoiled several professional golfers are standing outside the White House, ranting about how much they hate that vile Clinton.
In the years or so since, the number of public racist or anti-Democrat statements has dropped, but the mindset is still there. The PGA is dominated by the same type of people that dominate the modern Republican party.
Which brings me to the title of this diary. I have no idea if Feherty actually believes what he said, or about his life's experiences. But such obsessive hatred of Reid and Pelosi -- that sounds suspiciously like a Country Club Republican. Feherty is Irish, so it's possible since much of his exposure to Americans is through the PGA, he's gotten the impression that "regular Americans" and most military servicemen actually give a shit about Reid and Pelosi. And therefore his joke would be funny.