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Pat Robertson Has Officially Become the "Embarrassing Racist Grandpa" of the Religious Right

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Now Pat Robertson is no stranger to saying really offensive and insensitive things. If the Guinness people had a recognized world record for the number of genuinely stupid and prejudiced things one person could speak into a camera or make in a written statement, then the host of the 700 Club would be a hard man to beat.

After all, this is the man who credited the Haitian Earthquake to a pact with Satan.

He’s the man who said that he wanted to nuke State Department headquarters.

He’s the man who threatened Disney World’s annual “Gay Days” with divine retribution.

He’s the man who claimed that Scotland was a “dark land” overrun by homosexuals.

He’s the man who described feminism as “socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.”

And finally, this is the man who “totally concurred” when Jerry Falwell blamed the attacks of September 11th on “the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who try to secularize America.”

So, what has he done this time? Well, watch for yourself. After one of his Christian Broadcasting Network correspondents interviewed former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice about her favorite Thanksgiving dish, Robertson asks the interviewer if Mac and Cheese was “a black thing”

Even more uncomfortable than the question is the way that the interviewer just rolls with it. And it hit me… Unlike the examples above when Robertson is being deliberately provocative, this is something new. And that interviewer’s reaction and complete lack of surprise made me realize something.

Pat Robertson has become the Religious Right’s embarrassing racist grandpa. You know what I mean. The older member of the family who creates awkward silences at family gatherings with astoundingly prejudiced remarks about “the Orientals?”  The relative who the family doesn’t correct because they’re really, really old and “doesn’t know any better?”

That guy. That’s Pat Robertson in 2011.

Just smile and nod, interviewer. Smile and nod. After all, he’ll be dead soon.

 

 

About the Author: Mike Gillis

Mike Gillis is co-creator, and co-host of Ask an Atheist. He hosts the Radio vs. the Martians! and Mike and Pól Save the Universe! podcasts. He also enjoys comic books, the Planet of the Apes, and the band Queen.

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Becky

It was wonderful: I watched this clip just after watching Archie Bunker rip Meathead and Gloria a new one for deigning to consider raising their soon-to-be baby without religion (search YouTube for All in the Family Thanksgiving and it’ll turn up). The similarities between Robertson and Archie are astounding.

Dave

Beg to differ becky. Archie got better over time and learned from his experiences.

Robertson will die a prejudiced assrag.

Rich Lane

Good grief. Mac&Cheese is the most ethnically and culturally neutral dish ever devised.

Devon Stormagedon

If I remember correctly, there was an episode of ‘Friends’ in which Chandler (I think) refused to eat “normal” Turkey-Day food and instead ate Mac & Cheese. I didn’t realize ‘Friends’ was “a black thing”.

Curiouser and curiouser.

Jean

The interviewer had to roll with his question. She is on camera and he is her boss. If she had given a reaction, it would reflected negatively on her.
Macaroni and cheese originated in Europe, people. C’mon. But yes, it is a mainstream American dish.

Jack Aughff

Doesn’t he like to refer to Obama as Obongo for some reason too?

[…] We’ve written about Pat Robertson before.   This is clearly the next installment in Robertson’s crusade[1] to stay media-relevant by campaigning for the position America’s Favorite Racist Grandpa, a position open since the passing of Strom Thurmond in 2003.  And here lies a significant difference between me and Mike– Mike believes that Robertson is a man in his twilight years who’s reason and tact have been robbed from him by entropy. […]

Robert Smith

Is Pat a girl’s name?

[…] are second class and don't matter to much. Not exactly HATE, but it's certainly not love. Pat Robertson Has Officially Become the "Embarrassing Racist Grandpa" of the Religious Rig… […]

Janie Cox

This man is truely a nut case, and they let nuts do what they want. His family should be embarrass. He is what he preaches and thats poision.

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