@MSNBC echoes what-I-see-as a Nationally-Held #Xenophobia - #Xenophobic #Xenophobe

I watch Rachel Maddow delivering commentary on the former Special Counsel's testimony and ... I don't get it. Maybe this is just 'a part of my mind that'll never grow up,' but I don't see how "accepting help from a foreign party" equals "treason" or "double-crossing" or whatever other "High Crimes & Misdemeanors" we want to accuse Trump's group-with.

I'm sure there are people out there who–if I asked them about this–they'd get all 'incensed' about it ... "What do you mean 'you don't get it'? The people accepting help are cooperating with Our Enemy!"

To which I would answer (although they would probably follow that statement with some sort of 'insult' to make sure I don't respond to 'that statement'—something like, "and if you don't understand that, then you're an unpatriotic idiot who doesn't even understand the basic morals of an American citizen!" or some other nonsense that stems from the old 'you don't understand `coz you've got cooties!)

... I digress; I would answer (cutting them off before the schoolyard insults), 'No they are not "cooperating with our enemy!" Yes, they are cooperating with 'someone who is not American.' But the foreigners with whom they're cooperating don't bear any ill will to any Americans!'

But—I guess most Americans believe "any political party that isn't their own" is 'An Enemy'—that all the political candidates come to an election to "fight to the death" all the opposing candidates ...

I know that 'disagreeing with that picture of "the regularly-scheduled Governmental Thunderdome"' would fall on deaf ears (like when an atheist tries to convince a believer that God can't exist), because our human-animal minds are gripped by Fear of the Unfamiliar ... I think of Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne's comment the danger of allowing a super-powered alien to stay on Earth ...

That word (the 'built' one below, linked to MSNBC's analysis of Robert Mueller's recent testamon-athon where he and his colleagues promoted that fear unabated)—there might be something more to that word ... something crucial that firms the foundation upon which the our lexicon stands ...

The word “Xenophobia” is built on “|Foreign, |Strange + Fear” (words also used for |Agoraphobia—fear of |Going |Out|side the Home).




You know something about that word-history that
 I don't mention (and that probably isn't mentioned
 below)? 'Fill us in on it'- or just tell me what you
 think (or ask me about something in this- or another-
word that confuses you) with a comment below,

And Subscribe by Email to keep up with the new
 things we (any commenters & I) are learning & sharing here.

Comments