By Bill Mefford
I could see it coming, but I still laughed when I read it: it was Ambien's fault. The day after the furor of Roseanne's racist tweets (yes, plural, there were more than one), and her show being cancelled as a result, she once again took to Twitter (even after saying she was "quitting" it), and offered up a whole host of defenses; some from her and others she retweeted. She apologized yesterday for one of the racist tweets she has posted but apparently it didn't do the trick. So, she has now switched back to comfortable ground for conservatives who do something wrong: blame everyone but themselves.
Having grown up in Texas, having served churches in Texas and Kentucky, and having twice attended a very conservative seminary, there is one familiar remark I hear consistently from conservatives when it comes to addressing social issues: "I wish people would just take responsibility for themselves and their actions." I have heard racism dismissed with the refrain above, as are issues of poverty, undocumented immigration, mass incarceration, and even climate change. You name the issue, I have heard the above statement uttered constantly.
Never mind the fact that many immigrants coming from Central America are forced into moving north because of the foreign and economic policies of this country. Nope, doesn't matter, they should take responsibility for themselves and their actions.
Never mind the fact that our prisons are filled with people of color who often committed the same crimes as white people (or who did not commit the crimes at all), and who receive substantially longer sentences because our criminal justice system is innately racist. Nope, doesn't matter, they should take responsibility for themselves and their actions.
Never mind that poor neighborhoods do not just happen - cities have been historically designed to segregate and discriminate against certain neighborhoods, especially when those neighborhoods are beginning to fill with people of color. Nope, doesn't matter, they should take responsibility for themselves and their actions.
But when Roseanne takes to Twitter and tweets racist, xenophobic, and alt-right conspiracy theories without any basis at all - the problem is not the individual who should take responsibility for herself and her actions. No!! The problem was Ambien (whose maker apparently forgot to list racism as one of the possible side affects). Even more, the problem with Roseanne's racism and tendency to espouse outright lies isn't Roseanne - it's the liberal media's persecution of conservatives.
Please.
Pull my other leg and it'll play Jingle Bells.
Listen, you guys are not persecuted! Conservative Christians are not persecuted. Mueller is not on a "witch hunt" (which is usually in all caps and is misspelled). Roseanne, donald trump, and conservative Christians come across as privileged, whiny, spoiled brats who have had the world handed to them and they are complaining that more people are not asking what else they can do. Here is a hint y'all: if you don't want to be persecuted, then don't be racist, don't be xenophobic, don't be homophobic, don't be stupid, and use your enormous wealth and power for the good of others and not just for yourselves. The persecution will quickly be a thing of the past.
Roseanne, donald trump, and the conservative Christians who follow them increasingly love to blame others for what they themselves have done while they non-stop castigate vulnerable groups and communities. They have the disease of self-consumption and the rest of us are dying from it.
Just stop.