I know this is vacation time when everyone plays old shows to fill in the slots on cable TV. Still, it was kinda weird, here in August, to see Fox replaying one of the year's weirder moments -- from early April, when Jon Voight went on Mike Huckabee's show and read the following letter:
In one year, the American people are witnessing the greatest lie that is cleverly orchestrated by President Obama and his whole administration.
The lie is a potent aggression that feeds the needs of people who either have not educated themselves enough to understand the assault upon us all or the very poor and needy who live to be taken care of.
President Obama feeds these people poison, giving them the idea that they are entitled to take from the wealthier who have lived and worked in a democracy that understands that capitalism is the only truth that keeps a nation healthy and fed.
Now the lie goes very deep and President Obama has been cleverly trained in the Alinsky method and it would be very important that every American knows what that method is. It is a socialistic, Marxist teaching and with it, little by little, he rapes this nation, taking down our defenses, making new language for the Islamic extremists.
The world looked up to us as a symbol of hope and prosperity now wonders what will become of the entire world if America is losing its power.
The American people who understand exactly what is taking place have come together in the thousands, vowing to try to stay together as a unit of love and freedom for all men and women, from all walks of life, shivering to think that this once great nation will be a third world country.
This will be the first president to ever weaken the United States of America. President Obama uses his aggression and arrogance for his own agenda, against the will of the American people when he should be using his will and aggression against our enemies.
Every loving American for peace and truth and the security of our nation must come out and join the Tea Parties in their states. The opposition will continue their tactics; they will lie and plant their own bullies amongst us. Everyone must pay close attention to who stands next to them. We can weed out the liars and agitators. Let us all stay in God's light. Let no man put asunder. We can and we will prevail. God bless us all!"
Usually when we get summer reruns, the shows selected tend to be somewhat current. And indeed, given that this is now the Republicans' summer of racial resentment, replaying Voight's extraordinarily vicious and paranoid rant -- one that talks about a black president "raping" the nation -- in the current context gains a particular edge. A truly ugly and disturbing one.
I was also struck by Huckabee's reaction: He obviously was just fine with Voight's language. It tells you a lot about what we can expect from Candidate Huckabee in the 2012 race, doesn't it?
