AV CLUB: One more: While you were in the thick of protesting the Iraq War, you were quoted as saying “a lot of people who like to wrap themselves in the flag, hide behind Jesus, and be aggressive—some of those people are not intellectual powerhouses. So that’s why they cleave into very us-vs.-them, black-and-white visions of the world.” Do you not think calling all teabaggers “racist rednecks” encourages its own us-vs.-them mentality?
GAROFALO: Well, I would say two things to that. First of all, “redneck” is a state of mind, not a person. So the “racist redneck” thing is a state of mind, not a geographical location. So I don’t mean to imply that it’s just Southerners.
And if you don’t recognize the racist underpinnings and the emotional reactive response you’re getting from these teabaggers because we have a black president, then you are either being dishonest, or you’ve never seen the teabaggers. And also, like I said, if they were so concerned with this stuff, then the year 2000 starting with the stolen election would have been a great time to present themselves. That’s A.
Secondly, when I talk about people wrapping themselves in the flag and hiding behind Jesus—that’s an anti-intellectual thing to do in the political process, because legally, allegedly we have a separation between church and state. That’s a legal precedent that’s never observed. When people are trying to do something that’s not in your best interest, they will wrap it in the flag and hide behind Jesus, which is a corrupt thing to do.
I’ve got no problem with religion if you’re going to use it for the good, like Gandhi or Martin Luther King. But that’s rarely the case when it comes to politics. It’s usually used as a con. It’s just not an intellectual thing to do. I’m not saying that the person is stupid. I’m just saying that in the political process, how is it relevant? How is it relevant to what goes on in the halls of government to bring up questions of religion?
Like the flag-burning nonsense the people used to divert attention from something. Or even when Obama just did the British Petroleum speech, and he did the Fisherman’s Prayer. How in the world is that relevant to anything that anybody needs to know or hear about this corporate corruption? Or about what can be done about it, or how this happened? What would be more important to know is why does Ken Salazar still have his job? I don’t need to know about this prayer. [Laughs.]
It’s an anti-intellectual pursuit, and it’s usually used as a way to pander to people to divert their attention. I don’t know how else to answer you besides saying the teabaggers—do I know every single one of them? No. Can I see that there’s a lot of racist bullshit going on? Absolutely. Would it have been welcome to see more of these “anti-government” types around after the stolen election? It would have been good to see it. I wouldn’t have liked to see them with their immigrant-bashing and their stupid signs.
But let me ask you a question also: What makes you think—and I ask this in general, or of anybody who asks this question—what makes you think the teabag movement isn't racist?
AV CLUB: It’s not that I totally disagree with you, but I suppose the presence of minorities in their videos and such is their way of showing that they aren’t racist.
GAROFALO: And I would say those people suffer from Stockholm syndrome. [Laughs.]
