Bigotry is alive and well in America

From Pam's House Blend:

Alexandra Pelosi's : Right America Felling Wronged" Captures The McCain/Palin Mobs

What a snapshot in time. Filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi (her last effort broadcast was the Ted Haggard doco), traveled around the country for HBO to speak to the conservative fringe in the run up to the 2008 election and thank Jeebus, "Right America Feeling Wronged" documents what we saw all election season long -- the ignorant, deluded, racist, scared and -- did I say ignorant -- base of the Republican party. The McCain/Palin mobs are captured in all their glory.

This clip is the best segment of the documentary -- Pelosi goes up to a young man who has "socialism" spelled wrong on his t-shirt and asks him to define what it means. I can't even begin to tell you how vapid, confused and sad his answer is. But before that, she speaks with people about how they get their news. It's no surprise that they are all Faux News bots.

Also featured is a stop in Concord, NC to interview self-described rednecks where she asks them point blank if they are ready to vote for a black man. Let's just say they had no shame confirming that we are not living in a post-racial society. These people are scary folks; and they live in my state. I wonder what they thought when NC went Blue? What must they think now that the GOP is led (in name anyway) by a black man?

Just remember this clip the next time some GOP talking head says their party doesn't have a race problem. They can't sweep these die hard social conservatives under the rug -- they are speaking up and speaking out loud and proud. They don't see anything wrong with an outright hostility toward a browning America. That's the GOP in 2009.

And the beauty of the doc is that all Pelosi has to do is let the camera run and these people hang themselves. Now, with the election behind us, you really wonder what happened to these people she interviewed -- the people who said the election of Barack Obama would result in the end of the world or would drive them to leave the country.

Oh, and it's not in this clip, but Pelosi was at the McCain town hall where the lady with the crazy hair stood up to declare that she couldn't trust Obama because "he's an Arab." Below is the clip most people saw. Pelosi actually captured it from a different angle so you could see the woman's face.

At its core, Pelosi's documentary illuminates just how troubled the Republican party is -- Pelosi's subjects are needed by the GOP, but they represent a voter base that rejects diversity, and is proud of its narrow worldview. The Republican party has to choose a new direction in order to recover, but it's pretty clear that any changes will not be received well by these conservatives. As long as the social conservative wing of the party's fear and ignorance is accommodated, the GOP is going nowhere fast.