Most everyone's seen the graphic image of "comedian" Kathy Griffin holding a blood-soaked mannequin's head in the image of President Donald Trump. Many other folks have seen the video of Griffin and her videographer reviewing the images just after their digital capture expressing her pleasure and recognition of the shock value. An affirming Griffin shakes her head with a high-five to her colleague and declares that they must "move to Mexico today because we're going to go to prison, federal prison."
Yes, Griffin apologized for "going too far." But the intent of her action was absolutely deliberate as evidenced by her expression and words in this 90-seconds of video immediately following her portrayal of a beheading of a U.S. president.
Let's move past the disgust over her action to examine the purpose of these sensational portrayals of one's enemies, rivals or political opponents, recognizing that politics isn't the only arena in which this occurs, just the most recognizable.
Robin SmithDuring Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, those of us who dared to believe in God, observe our Second Amendment rights, and want legal immigration were identified as being "bitter, they're clingers who cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them."
Last year, Hillary Clinton frequently expressed her personal distaste. In September she was quite blunt: "You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic - you name it." Clinton concluded her rant by offering that "some of those folks - they are irredeemable." Wow.
Closer to home, state Sen. Mark Green was blackballed by a single U.S. senator in his confirmation process to serve as Secretary of the Army based on his belief in the Bible. The Democratic senator mobilized the national press to print words the man never spoke to paint him as a bigot and homophobe. The recent publication of full transcripts proves that. Yet, again, through marginalizing and manipulation, a man's qualifications were negated.
These tactics, now consistently employed by the political left and often on the right, are aimed at devaluing the worth and destroying the credibility of an individual or group.
In entertainment, actors portraying an uninformed character are often cast as a Southerner or native of Appalachia. That Southern twang often is exaggerated with speech peppered with glaring grammatical errors. But those of us who grew up knowing we weren't rich also knew we weren't white trash, either. I'd bet the expectations of decency and work ethic of we Appalachians are just as strong if not stronger than many upper-income households.
Some of the most well-spoken, publicly noted individuals are rotten to the core in their business dealings and how they treat others in their quest for personal advancement. Understandably, there are professions and jobs that simply won't permit nonconformity that is disruptive or demeaning. Yet, those who frequently seem to find themselves isolated for "nonconformity" are the mainstream, the average person.
So be mindful of the expanding effort by many in politics, education, entertainment and business to marginalize that which is normal and decent.
Robin Smith, a former Tennessee Republican Party chairwoman, owns Rivers Edge Alliance.