Bullhorn Whisper: Sept. 2, 2018
The day of the bullhorn is here.
Battle lines in the 2018 midterm election are gradually becoming clearer as racist reactionaries rally to oppose Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum’s candidacy as first African-American governor in Florida.
Twelve hours after his upset victory in the Florida primary, his Republican opponent, 45*-endorsed Ron DeSantis, threw the rhetorical equivalent of a flash-bang grenade into the room:
“The last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting the state.” — Ron DeSantis
Facing criticism for the remark, and for short handing Gillum as an ’articulate’ candidate, DeSantis claimed phony naïveté and denied his words weren’t drawn from the ancient racist codex of marking black people as inferior.
While DeSantis denies his incredibly loud dogwhistles are anything but, one doesn’t have to look far to see the dogs come running.
Following the event, the neo-nazi group making robocalls to the Florida electorate has used crude stereotypes to mock Gillum’s nomination. The same group has also attempted to exploit the murder of college student Mollie Tibbets for political points.
These are signals that unrepentant neo-fascists will attempt frame the 2018 campaign in the ugliest terms. Morally bankrupt and lacking ideas, they dredge up the basest fears to support racist, xenophobic leaders.
With one of their own in the White House, the odds of their success are unacceptably high.
Posted: September 2, 2018
