Letters to the Editor
Dear Sir:
I was stunned by Robert L. Nipper’s hate filled words in the September El Ojo Del Lago. His comments reminded me of a previous visit to Ajijic.
I was living in Ajijic on 9/11/01. Like many I sat staring at the television in disbelief as the World Trade Center towers collapsed, killing thousands. After several hours of watching, I went to at a restaurant which had the television showing the tragic events. While the diners sat glued to the television, one elderly man said so all could hear. “If they’d had a little better aim, those terrorists could have gotten rid of two problems. Yeah, they could have aimed for Harlem and gotten rid of the niggers and Clinton.” Harlem is largely African-American and former President Clinton had recently moved into an office there.
I was speechless as were the other diners by the man’s remarks. He laughed and said he was only joking. Really? Making a joke out of racial hatred and the deaths of thousands of innocent people. Seeing that no one found his “joke” funny, he quickly paid his bill and left. His car was a cream-colored Cadillac, with a Bush-Cheney bumper sticker.
Coming back to Ajijic this September, I see the tone has not changed amongst the Lakeside conservative community. Ultra- conservative Republicans in the US have turned the party into the party of hate. They hate Hispanics, African-Americans, gays, women’s right to choice, the poor, immigration reform, Hillary Clinton and mostly President Obama. Conservative talking heads spew out thinly veiled racist remarks when talking about the Hispanic or African-American community.
Rush Limbaugh, the spokesman for many of the conservatives, stated on his show that any woman who uses birth control pills before marriage is a whore. Glenn Beck on Fox News promoted a gold buying scheme that swindled elderly, retired investors out of millions of dollars. Mr. Hannity also tried to make a Nevada rancher who is an avowed racist into a national hero.
The conservatives in Oklahoma have given their full support to candidate Scott Esk who believes that gay people should be stoned to death. Mr. Esk has stated that although he wouldn’t sponsor a bill for the stoning to death of gay people, if someone else sponsored it, he would certainly sign it.
The thought of gay marriage drives conservatives nuts even though a large percent of the population has no problem with it. Conservatives such as Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh spew their “Marriage is between one man and one woman” slogan. In both those cases marriage for them seems to be between one man and one woman, and then a younger woman, and then an even younger woman, etc.
Sarah Palin, another of the conservatives beloved heroes went on television and gave a near orgasmic speech lauding Vladimir Putin, stating that he is a great and wonderful leader. I could go on, but this is enough for now.
Mr. Nipper and his ilk with their snide, divisive, hate-filled comments do not help the United States of America. They divide us and make our country look weak and fractured, but then maybe that is the aim of conservatives.
Now I have two strong memories of Ajijic. The hate-filled racist remarks of the conservative Republican on 9/ll and conservative Mr. Nipper’s snide, self-righteous, bigoted article in the September issue.
Steven Karker
Portland, Oregon, USA
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