Generally, I try with great effort not to buy in to the whole “Shit Conservatives Say” meme; it generally entails cultivating manufactured outrage to serve as link bait, and diverts attention away from actual issues. But I have to give credit where credit is due, however grudgingly: John McCain hit the Sunday show circuit this past weekend with an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union, talking racial politics, and what he had to say was roughly equivalent to dousing himself in gasoline and setting himself on fire by conservative standards. Think Progress reports:
“Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) called on lawmakers across the country, including in his home state of Arizona, to review the Stand Your Ground law that allowed George Zimmerman to walk free in the days after he killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and conceded that the country still has “a long way to go” towards achieving full equality for African Americans.
Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, McCain described Stand Your Ground as “very controversial legislation” and rejected GOP claims that rolling it back could lead to more “gun control.”
The report goes on to state that:
“Noting that the city of Detroit, home to many African Americans, just filed for bankruptcy, McCain said that Americans “cannot be complacent in our society when we still have a dramatic disparity between black youth unemployment and non-black youth unemployment when we still have these contradictions in our society.” He also called on lawmakers to “continue and emphasize affirmative action programs.” (emphasis mine)
In classic Pavlovian lockstep, a swarm of conserva-trolls flocked to the Interwebz to vent their outrage at the traitor McCain.
Whether you agree with the man or not, John McCain doesn't give a shit what you think. He's going to say what's on his mind, and probably tell you to fuck off if you don't like it. This is the same guy who just called Rolling Stone's recent
decision to put Boston bombing suspect Dzokhar Tsarnaev on its cover "stupid" and "inappropriate", but doesn't think the magazine should be judged for it. Go figure.
For the political Right, politics has been a team sport for decades. There is so much time and energy spent demonizing the enemy as a way to fuel the party base that any semblance of thoughtfulness within their ranks is taken as an immediate heresy. As such, it takes tremendous courage and will to stand up and do the right thing. Either that, or a cantankerous old bastard of a Senator with no more fucks to give.