Freepers Aflame

By Baxter

The folks who post over at Free Republic apparently don't want John Ensign, Mark Sanford and Sarah Palin to feel lonely. So they've obligingly decided to self-immolate as well.

It all started when Malia Obama appeared in Rome wearing a peace sign T-shirt. The Freepers went wild. But unfortunately, more wild than usual. "Typical street whore." "Ghetto street trash." "[The Obamas] make me sick .... The whole family... mammy, pappy, the free loadin' mammy-in-law, the misguided chillin'... This is not the America I want representin' my peeps."

Hm. We cats have to admit to being a little surprised. We had no idea that the globally recognized peace symbol was anything but benign. Goodness gracious, it's been around for 50 years, people. Chill out!

But we're also a tad startled that the racist comments, now deleted, were left up for so long. The creator of the site, Jim Robinson, is fairly diligent about scrubbing them. (Homophobic slurs, however, he lets stand. Some bigotry is still acceptable, you see.)

Still, though, what's notable is that Mr. Robinson needs to scrub any racist remarks in the first place. We're sorry, but in Liberal Land, we just don't have that problem. Maybe that's one reason the Democratic Party is doing so well these days.

So, fine. If conservatives (and, by extension, the Republican Party) want to continue in this vein, it's no skin off our little cat noses. Let them self-immolate. The country is changing — has changed — and these narrow-minded, furious and frustrated hatemongers are doomed to minority status forever. In fact, they know it — which is why they're so furious, so frustrated, and so full of hate.

P.S. We hate to break it to you, Freepers, but the analogy you keep trying to draw about alleged attacks on the Palin children doesn't scan. First, David Letterman is a single individual. (Also, he apologized, which Jim Robinson refuses to do.) Second, our criticisms stem not from the Palin children themselves rather from their mother's actions with them — for example, dragging a six-month-old along on the campaign trail, or pushing an unwed mother as a spokesperson for abstinence. Third, the Palins can't have it both ways; they can't thrust their children into the limelight and then demand privacy. Finally, don't even get us started on the right's treatment of Chelsea Clinton.