Today's MOZEN: God, Guns, Country

F LoBuono

Perhaps, you've seen them - the campaign ads for Brian Kemp, the current Attorney General of the State of Georgia and Republican candidate for governor. They are making the rounds on national TV because of the nature of their message: god, guns, Country - with a heavy emphasis on the guns. In one ad, he sits next to a young man with a shotgun across his lap. He questions the young man as to his intentions towards his daughter. The youngster responds sheepishly that he will respect Mr. Kemp's daughter and, of equal importance, the 2nd Amendment. Kemp snaps the open shotgun's breach closed with a click of approval.

Really.

It might be funny as comedy skit but it does not work as well as a theme for a person running for Governor!

In another ad, Mr. Kemp explains that he owns a large vehicle as he opens the door to step into said enormous pickup truck. While he does, he says (paraphrasing): I own a large truck with plenty of room to throw illegals in the back and drive them to where they came from. And, yes. I just said that.

Really. With a BIG smile on his face, his makes no apologies for his naked bigotry. In fact, he's proud of it - and, his supporters love it!

Again, it might be funny as a comedy routine  . . .

People like Brian Kemp are not unique (see Don Blakenship of West Virginia), nor are they new. They number in the millions and have been with us since the formation of this Country. They are the zealots and bigots who hide under the guise of phony Christianity and sycophantic patriotism, waiting for the opportunity to rear their ugly heads. And, now, they have been given a full-throated rebirth in the presence of one Donald J. Trump.

Make no mistake about it. These people believe in their hearts that they are Making America Great Again. The problem is that THEIR vision of America is one of EXCLUSION instead of INCLUSION, NO rather than YES, and HATE over LOVE. They loath the word PROGRESSIVE because they are stuck in a time that never really existed. The have forgotten that Jim Crow, backroom abortions, Child Labor, 70-hour work weeks, race-based lynchings, and voting inequality  (women didn't receive the right to vote until 1920) to name just a few, were all part of the good ol' days. And, then they will call you an elitist if you've had the audacity to educate yourself to improve your own lot in life!

Well, for my money, that ain't very good at all!

People in rural areas have complained that they are a forgotten lot. And, unfortunately, that is mostly true. We have tended to focus our attention on urban areas while much of Middle America went to pot. However, they manifested that hurt and anger into a sort of revolution that elected a man woefully inadequate for the job. But, he tells them WHAT THEY WANT TO HEAR and, in their limited capacity to see into the future, he helps them to cling to a past that wasn't all that great in the first place.