"The obvious intent by NBC was to evoke reaction, and we are confident our fans won't take the bait," (Poston)said.
So, uh: what exactly is the problem? If NASCAR fans aren't racist hillbillies, then there's no danger of these folks being hassled and thus, no story. If anything, such an occurrence would be a vindication of NASCAR fans. I'm not sure how this stunt qualifies as "provocation" either: if NBC was sending Muslim men to a NASCAR event waving "Death to America" signs, burning Bush (or Dale Earnhardt) in effigy and chanting "Allah Akbar!" then fair play. But the only way sending people in Muslim garb to just walk around at a NASCAR event is provocative is if their mere presence is enough to actually provoke somebody, which would validate the thesis. Thus, the shrillness of the righty tighties' reactions implies they are really worried that someone might get up in the face of Muslims at the race, which, to me, perpetuates the whole NASCAR fan/racist paradigm.
Cruising through MadMalkin's posts on the subject, she put up an e-mail from an
Michelle,
I hasten to point out that you've been so engrossed by the staging of the news by NBC, something that is worthy to discuss of course, but you miss something that I found hysterical. The email you cite says the following:"I have been talking with a producer of the NBC Dateline show and he is in the process of filming a piece on anti-Muslim and anti-Arab discrimination in the USA. They are looking for some Muslim male candidates for their show who would be willing to go to non-Muslim gatherings and see if they attract any discriminatory comments or actions while being filmed.
They recently taped two turbaned Sikh men attending a football game in Arizona to see how people would treat them. They set them up with hidden microphones and cameras, etc."
Fair enough, I suppose, if that's what they want to find. But as an example of how their sting operation works, the email cites they sent two Sikhs to a football game. Sikhs are not Muslims, in fact the two religions historically hate each other and there have been wars fought between the two.
While NBC News is out trying to find discrimination, they are already blurring the lines of religious reality by not recognizing a Sikh is neither a Muslim or an Arab. How can viewers react to the news segment if they are misled that the two men at a football game in Arizona weren't actually what the segment was about?
This is considered insightful by people like Michelle Malkin. Of course I have to ask: how many Americans (particularly red-staters) can tell the difference between a Sikh and a Muslim?
Hmmmm....
Joe Bob: "Hey Bobby Joe, lookit than feller down there with the beard and turban. Y'all reckon he's an Eye-racky Mooslim like that there Saa-dam Hoosain?"
Bobby Joe: "Goddamn it, Joe Bob, ya ignant sonofabitch. That man right there is a Sikh. Historically speakin' there's a longstanding antipathy between Sikhs and Muslims, which has often manifested itself in violence. Now git me another Bud Light and pass the Copenhagen. Git'r done!
(Actually I'm not even sure how big the beef between practitioners of Sikhism and Islam is; it's entirely possible the dude above was confusing Sikhs with Hindus.)
Now, if two non-Muslim visible minority types in quasi-traditional garb were targets of anti-Muslim sentiments, that tells me two things
1) Anti-Muslim sentiment is a problem, and;
2) Rednecks can't tell the difference between Muslims and other visible minority types.
Which, once again, confirms (in a decidedly unscientific way) the whole thesis.
All of this is a long winded way of saying the obvious: right wingers sure are stupid.
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