Is nothing sacred?
Well, it’s 2022 and I’ve come full circle. I’m talking about Andy Griffith again. Back in 2015 I wrote a piece about "LonesomeTrump". The title being a take on a movie that Griffith starred in.
I watched this video from CBS Sunday morning where Ted Koppel went with a film crew to Mount Airy, North Carolina that is a tourist attraction based upon the fictitious town of the Andy Griffith Show’s (AGS) Mayberry of the 60s. The video is well worth watching. It’s a powerful segment. The Washington Post did an article based upon the video but it might be behind a paywall.
Remember the 60s? In case you’re too young, Mayberry was NOT an accurate reflection of the times. These were times of segregation and the Civil Rights struggle. In the entire run of the AGS there was only one black actor that had a speaking role. A black woman that was interviewed by Ted Koppel mentioned that Mount Airy still had segregated eating in restaurants in 1973.
In 1970 I was discharged from the Army after a 4 year hitch and immediately ceased getting haircuts. I wanted to see the country so we took a car trip and headed south touring the coastline all the way to Florida. The racism of the south was blatant then and even visible from the road.
It was also hard to get a job then. They were few and far between. One of the many places that I applied to was for the job of being the guy that rode on the back of the trash truck that jumped off and emptied the trash cans. I was turned down because I was a veteran. Yes, you read that right. The “conservative” patriot guy that owned the business wouldn’t hire veterans because well, we all had a bad reputation. Get this. He was a WWII Marine veteran.
Go figure.
Trippin’
There are just some priceless unscripted man-on-the-street moments in the video segment. The “moral values” expressed in the AGS came up early in the production. Followed shortly by a gentleman talking about the“…the Godless society that we see today…” in comparison to the goodness of fictitious Mayberry. He was talking about a Christian God. Just like when conservatives talk about bringing prayer back in school they aren’t talking about bringing back Jewish or Muslim prayer.
The Airy trolley car tour is when things really got interesting. The word that best describes it comes from the 60s. Trippin’. Koppel asked people what they thought about the election and why they thought what they did. The riders managed to cover a good portion of the debunked conspiracies about the election and slip in a little racism within the span of a couple of minutes. Except for a couple of people on the trolley, they LOVE Trump. They avoid the truth…
Like they avoid the plague.
Militant ignorance
A great descriptor. I didn’t come up with the term though. Credit goes to Senator Moynihan.
“Sen. Moynihan became indignant. "In my office, we do not criticize ignorance," he said. "Most people who are ignorant can't help it. They had no opportunity to learn." The senator then paused for thought and added: "Militant ignorance is different. Ignorance that is proud of itself, that holds knowledge in contempt - that must be condemned."
I believe that militant ignorance best describes what we are currently witnessing in America. Almost half of Republicans in addition to not believing in science they don’t believe that we had a fair election and that President Biden is the for real honest to God duly elected President. Nothing will convince them otherwise.
PERIOD.
Branches
To not believe that President Biden was elected in a free and fair election at this juncture is to not believe in our form of government.
The Executive Branch headed by Trump validated that the election was legitimate. The DOJ, the FBI and Homeland Security all found the election to be on the up and up and claims otherwise to be bogus. These were people appointed by Trump. (Remember when he said that he was only going to appoint the best people?)
The judicial branch of government ruled against challenges to the election 61 times. This doesn’t include all the court challenges that have taken place and failed since Biden took office. The Supreme Court sustained the election process. These judges included judges appointed by Trump.
The Legislative Branch, albeit grudgingly, upheld the election attributed at least in part to the attempted coup that took place. Enough Republicans remained that were willing to uphold the truth and voted to certify the election.
MAGA Heads don’t believe the Republicans that were in charge of the elections at state and local levels of government either. They don’t believe all of the subsequent recounts even those conducted by hyper partisan groups that have held that there was no widespread voter fraud. They don’t believe all of the legitimate media that has reported on all of these activities. Anyone that doesn’t believe what they believe is suspect to them.
Willful Militant ignorance.
White time.
They long for the Mayberry that never existed. They long for the old south where people of color knew their place. No BLM for them! And just like in the Civil War they want all of America to go along with them. They want guns! Lots and lots of guns! Guns everywhere! They threaten violence. They want an America where everyone gets along with them. They don’t want more people of color, immigrants. They don’t want more Muslims. They want a mostly white America in charge with their supposed Christian values of intolerance.
And they don’t care how they get there.