Nearer My God to Thee

We've got a live one here.

The raving lunatics at Townhall.com have really outdone themselves. Their bigotry, hatred and self-righteousness know absolutely no bounds. This insane column from certifiable nutjob Rebecca Hagelin is the absolute #1 without a doubt Most Disgusting Thing I have read about Hurricane Katrina. And I've read Barbara Bush's wildly insensitive put-downs.

Hagelin's thesis, essentially, is that the horrific chaos that erupted in New Orleans last week, following the near-destruction of the city by Hurricane Katrina, was the fault of hip "gangsta" culture. She uses the occasion of the deaths of 10,000 Americans to offer a tsk-tsk column about violent video games.

The whole thing is so clearly a thin veneer for hideous racism. Every time Rebecca refers to "gangsta" culture, who do you think she's talking about...black people...but don't say it too loudly cause some of them actually have Internet access now...

In fact, the only reason this column appears less than a week after the deaths of thousands of Americans is that they were black Americans. And therefore not really important. You know, what Kanye said.

10,000 potential casualties. That's about 4 9/11's. Imagine if someone, a week after 9/11, said that the problems in the World Trade Center were largely caused by the capitalist culture of greed that blossommed within its walls. How do you think that would have gone over?

Hagelin uses a comparison to the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 to "prove" that gangsta rap has caused the downfall of civility in American society.

The harsh reality that dreadful day in 1912 is that most of the passengers would die, and they knew it. Yet, amid the panic and impending doom, the accounts of survivors remind us of a time when civility and honor were more important to many than survival itself.

So how is it that in fewer than 100 years we have digressed to a society where, when disaster strikes, the story is marked by a display of the worst side of human nature rather than the best?

Hagelin has been watching too many old movies. Because the only way the sinking of the Titanic could be considered a civil and honorable affair is if you think leaving scores of poor people to die is civil and honorable.

As Roger Ailes points out on his excellent blog, there was much violence on the sinking Titanic as rich and poor people alike fought for survival. Some of the violence was even later blamed on black passengers.

Even when Harold Bride in his testimony, told about the man that broke into the radio room and tried to steal his life jacket, some newspapers made the man "Negro" for better effect. (Just as a sidelight, there were no African-Americans on board the Titanic.)

Nice!

So, really, Becky's analogy was more correct than she could ever know!

Could it be that in a pop culture where the gangsta style is "hip" and is reflected and perpetuated in everything from violent rap and hip-hop music, to the clothing styles, to the language and gestures used in "normal" communication, to the negative attitudes toward females and children, that the "style" isn't just a fashion trend but has actually become a way of life for some?

Style is always a way of life. That's the entire point of having a style.

The gangsta style was hip 10 years ago. Now everything is about having a shitload of money and/or loving Jesus and Ray Charles, near as I can tell. Anyway, you're an idiot. What the fuck does gangsta rap have to do with Hurricane Katrina and the fact that the government left thousands of black people there to die?

In other words, in a culture where many people dress like gangstas, talk like gangstas, and strut like gangstas, should we be shocked and horrified that they start engaging in gangsta crime when given the opportunity?

Um, yes. And I have yet to see proof that a sizable group of "people"...[black people]...actually acted like gangsta...um, excuse me, gangsters. Just some random accounts from some police officers and some repeated footage on TV of a few people senselessly grabbing for electronics.

I can't help but conclude that if the tragic natural disaster in New Orleans had occurred in a culture that had daily practiced the Golden Rule, rather than the Gangsta Rot, we would have seen more scenes of neighbors helping neighbors and far fewer scenes of neighbors preying upon neighbors.

The Golden Rule, of course, being "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." So, remember, if Rebecca Hagelin's property, family and livelihood is washed away by flood waters and the government leaves her in a sinking couldren of filth with no promise or hope of rescue, she wants you to write columns about how it's all her fault.

And, of course, there were thousands of stories of neighbors helping neighbors, whether or not the neighbors happened to dig Ludacris' last joint. Idiot.

It's time to ask ourselves a few obvious questions

Why does Rebecca Hagelin have a job, is one question. Oh, another...What the fuck are you talking about, you fool?

Why do we as a nation produce and embrace a pop culture that glorifies rap and hip-hop music, that teaches men to prey upon women and engage in senseless violence, and that is now, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation's recent survey on media and youth, the number-one music choice of teenagers from all races and every socio-economic status?

The Kaiser Family Foundation of course being that wacko right-wing "everything black people do in pop culture is rotting your children's brain away" reactionary groups. But that's beside the point...Hip-hop music may not always have the most positive messages, I'm not defending that.

But trying to connect the negative aspects of popular black music with the situation in New Orleans, a situation caused by Mother Nature and governmental incompetance, is just "blame the victims" racism of the highest order. Black people aren't like us, they're animals, and so they deserve to all drown together? It's shameful in 2005 that this sort of thinking is taken seriously by anyone. Anyone.

Why is it that we produce, en masse, hedonistic movies, television programs, and Internet content? Why is it that we continue to make ever more graphic and violent video games for our children? Why have we allowed such selfish messages to have such a powerful voice in our culture?

How could anyone possibly take this argument seriously? What do video games have to do with the fact that people were stranded in a city the government knew full-well was capable of flooding? Isn't it obvious to everyone who reads this column that Hagelin is trying for an ambitious smoke screen. Distract people from the real issues - diversion of funds away from security, the inefficiency of emergency response in America, barely concealed race and classism - by focusing attention on, of all things, violent video games and rap music, for the hundred thousandth time.

Mind you, I'm not advocating government censorship, but rather pleading for social and parental rejection to replace the current proliferation and acceptance of such barbaric and destructive messages.

Again, it's all the "parents" fault. The parents whose kids listen to rap music...Those darn black...Oh, I mean those darn black people...

Why is it not only common knowledge but also accepted practice that organized crime and gangs hold much of the power and control much of the commerce in New Orleans? Will New Orleans return to business as usual? Or will you uplift the entire community by throwing out the thugs and their vile wares for which New Orleans is infamous? When you think about it, the values of the thugs involved in the post-Katrina crime wave really weren't all that different from those that have flooded sections of New Orleans with societal sewage for years.

So, the citizens of New Orleans, who are criminal scum, are no different from the toxins and pollutants that currently fill its streets...You are a real piece of work, Becky. A real piece of work.

Corpses are still being airlifted out of this city, and you're already gloating about how the organized crime has been washed away? Organized crime? That's your concern for New Orleans' future? How about pumping out all the shit water and dead babies? Isn't that Priority #1?

Did it just get too real in here?