From today’s TFN News Clips:
“This is who they are — the proud and ignorant. If you believe that if we still had segregation we wouldn’t ‘have had all these problems,’ this is the movement for you. If you believe that your president is a Muslim sleeper agent, this is the movement for you. If you honor a flag raised explicitly to destroy this country then this is the movement for you. If you flirt with secession, even now, then this movement is for you. If you are a ‘Real American’ with no demonstrable interest in ‘Real America’ then, by God, this movement of alchemists and creationists, of anti-science and hair tonic, is for you.”
— The Atlantic writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, commenting on the explosion of far-right nuttiness and extremism in America today.
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It starts with, “Do you mean to tell me…? It is usually said by one or many local rednecks (pronounced “Rayud Nayuk”) around these here parts. We do not have any cowboys here in the east. We have redneck cowboy wannabees. If a bus ticket to Texas will not do the trick, a half-fare to Nashville can result in a near-beer transfiguration. Now, you have to understand the basics. The following phrases are usually uttered with one eyebrow raised high above an open eye and the other eye squinched tightly shut. There is also a sort of leaning in of the body with a slightly curving upward thrust that goes with it. It is usually stated way inside someone’s Usually American yard of social space. Here we go:
“Do you mean to tell me that Barack Hussein Obama was not born in a Muslim country?”
“Do you mean to tell me the boy really does have a Highwallyun birth certificate?”
“Do you mean to tell me dinosaurs and men never lived together?”
“Do you mean to tell me…?”
Yep. That’s what all the sane people in the world mean to tell you.
Whoa. Whoa! You’re tellin’ me muh hair tonic don’t work ???