“I can’t be a bigot! I like Ben Carson!”

(Or Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio)

You know very well at this point I am very left wing and a Bernie Sanders supporter (I probably will vote for Jill Stein in the election). I felt like I had to say something about this topic and this is a personal blog of sorts, even though I talk mostly about classic rock. I think social justice issues tie in very well to classic rock because many classic rock songs are about social justice issues. So here’s my rant:

Someone commented on a Snapchat I posted of a person with a Trump sticker and a Ben Carson sticker on their car (I captioned this with an angry face) that how can this person be bigoted if they have a Ben Carson sticker?. Well this made me facepalm. This is pretty much “I’m not racist, I have a black friend” or “I can’t be sexist, I have a wife and a daughter”. Here’s an interesting opinion blog post about how Ben Carson might be seen as a token candidate. 

Racism isn’t just black or white. There are people who are prejudiced against Latino/as, Asians, Native Americans, and mixed people. I can say from experience that I had to deal with a lot of racist comments thrown at me because I am mixed (Hispanic of black, Spaniard, and native descent and Jewish American). Some people are racist only against one or two ethnicities. Anyone can be racist, regardless of background.

Bigotry isn’t just racism. It includes prejudice against sexual orientation, gender, nationality, religion, disability, etc. 

Let’s start with some reasons why a bigot might have some things in common with Ben Carson, and therefore might support him:

He said that he would not support a Muslim president. This country has no official religion. Separation of church and state, remember? So long as the president is professional and does not insert their religion into laws, I don’t care what religion they believe in or don’t believe in, in the case that we have an atheist president. There are American Muslims who are very patriotic and love this country. Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2015/09/ben-carson-bigot/406390/ 

Not only that, he has compared gay marriage to paedophelia and bestiality. How dumb. These same sex couples getting married are consenting adults, they aren’t hurting anyone. He’s also subscribing to the logical fallacy called the slippery slope fallacy. Source: http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/03/28/1790741/newest-darling-of-the-republican-party-compares-same-sex-marriage-to-nambla-bestiality/?mobile=wt 

He’s also implied that being gay is a choice. Even if sexuality were a choice, why do you care so much who other people are attracted to? I thought Republicans were about smaller government. I guess not. Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/24/opinion/charles-blow-the-soft-bigotry-of-ben-carson.html

But wait! There’s more! Ben Carson has compared America to Nazi Germany. It’s in very poor taste, words can’t describe how shitty that comparison was. President Obama is not bigoted or a Nazi. Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/hes-already-a-famous-surgeon-and-author-so-why-is-ben-carson-toying-with-a-longshot-presidential-bid/2014/08/28/

That Nazi comparison belongs to Donald Trump. He scapegoats, he’s hateful, the KKK support him. Even Republican Joe Scarborough thinks that Donald Trump is Nazi like. I think I have some authority to speak on this subject considering I was raised Jewish. Sure I don’t speak for all Jewish people, but many people will agree with me, whether Jewish or Gentile. If you don’t want to take my word for it, fine. Read this article about a Holocaust survivor who thinks there are similarities between Donald Trump’s rhetoric and Mein Kampf. 

Even then, this person with the Trump bumper sticker (obviously) likes Donald Trump. You can’t say that someone who likes Donald Trump’s politics isn’t bigoted. Anyone with a working heart and brain would know how hateful he is. I could talk all day about how awful he is and who he has offended. But the information is out there and it’s easy to find. He says something awful every day. Someone should just tell him to stop, to be honest.