Senator Kennedy Has a Sad About Racism*

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA): "It hurts to be called a racist. I think it's one of the worst things you can call an American." pic.twitter.com/XobtSQLDtm

— The Recount (@therecount) October 12, 2020

A racist is one of the worst things one could be as an American, that much is true, but I think it would be far worse to allow discrimination against others go without comment for fear of hurting the feelings of actual racists, right? 

Talking about the terrific pain experienced by one who has been called a bigot is a fairly shocking take for someone who obliquely slammed Democrats for being against Judge Barrett for her religion when not a single one did so. 

 And there is certainly something one could make of his decision to label the protesters at the Kavanaugh hearings a "freak show" resembling the cantina scene in Star Wars. What I saw there were Americans concerned that a person credibly accused of sexual assault (amongst other issues) could be approved, voicing a desire for their elected representatives to step up to the challenge of truly being a functional deliberative body rather than a perfunctory rubber stamp. What exactly was "freakish" or "alien" about them, I wonder? 

It sounds to me like Kennedy didn't enjoy experiencing that challenge very much. I hope he experiences several more interesting challenges in the future (perhaps in a galaxy far, far away--although I'm not sure that even a wretched hive of scum and villainy would be thrilled with our current crop of Senate Republicans).

Being called names is very terrible, though. Being called names repeatedly over a lifetime for no other reason than one's identity is a horror.

*I guess one should add "being called out." He doesn't like it being called out. The racism itself? I can not pretend to know for certain, but I can guess.