John Raese, ignorant twit

By Michael J.W. Stickings

The West Virginia Republican, running against Gov. Joe Manchin for Senate, is a global warming denialist, an arrogant rich prick who inherited his fortune (and thinks he's virtuous for having done so), and an ignorant twit who, white as white can be, can't (and can't be bothered to) pronounce correctly the "ethnic" names of some of America's most distinguished non-white public figures. Think Progress:

[A]s the Charleston Daily Mail reports, this does not appear to be an isolated incident:

Last month, he struggled over U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor's name.

"Was it Sarah Manor, Sarah Manorgan, Sarah Morgan?" he was quoted as saying by a monthly publication based in Shepherdstown.

In an appearance several weeks ago in St. Mary's, Raese called U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu by at least two different Asian-sounding last names.

Raese's failure to remember a name that even vaguely resembles that of a recently confirmed Supreme Court justice calls into question whether Raese has paid attention to the kind of issues he would face as a senator. 

Actually, it calls a lot more than that into question.

It's ignorant, of course, but the disrespect, disregard, and disdain is evident here, and, while he has gotten non-"ethnic" names wrong as well, it's hardly surprising that he blatantly mangles the "ethnic" ones.

I know the word "bigotry" gets thrown around too much these days, but there is a sort of bigotry behind this. It's not just ignorance.