Pretzel Logic 0

Aurin Squire tries to understand the means by which conservatives are convincing themselves that the fellow who killed nine persons while declaring that he was doing so because they were black was somehow not motivated by race. Here’s one little example from the article.

At this point, Roof’s bigotry has become clear in myriad ways. Yet as late as this afternoon, when cornered by a reporter and asked if the shooting was racially motivated, presidential candidate Jeb Bush said “I don’t know.” This means Bush is either incapable of basic logic, or he has willfully decided to blind and deafen himself to one of the nation’s biggest problems.

Read it.

I do not think that the Republicans’ self-deception can be wholly attributed to bigotry on the part of every self-deceiver. Rather, it’s a matter of perpetually putting party over principle.

Nixon’s odious southern strategy is the centerpiece of the Republican Party’s appeal in the South. Maintaining that strategy is no longer a tactic; it’s a two-generation-old habit, deeply ingrained in Republican reflexes.

Another idea, also related to the southern strategy, is this: in attempting to appeal to the Southern bigot vote and its dupes, symps, and fellow travelers, Republicans have spent so much effort overlooking, ignoring, apologizing for, and explaining away racist acts that they can no longer recognize racism, even when it stands before them and shouts, “Here I am. Look at meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.