November 13th 2019

By Dartagnan (of the Daily Kos community)

Daily Kos

Every so often we get a glimpse into the heart of darkness that represents the true face of the modern Republican Party. Sometimes that face grins balefully at us with an insensate, unfocused expression of pure, unbridled hate. Sometimes that face is just one of bland stupidity and ignorance. Whichever face emerges from the gloom, it is these occasions that provide a moment of clarity revealing the real nature of those that have hitched their belief system to the likes of Donald Trump.

A gentleman from Alabama name Hoyt Deau Hutchinson provided one such moment of clarity this week, when he went on a right-wing radio show called “Rick and Bubba” to explain the emotions that supposedly coursed through his mind when he decided to slash a hole in the “Baby Trump” balloon that detractors of Donald Trump had hoisted into the skies in order to embarrass the Orange Menace last Saturday, as Trump sought to bask in the adoration of media-friendly crowds gathered to watch a University of Alabama football game.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama man charged with criminal mischief in the slashing of a towering "Baby Trump" balloon has defended his actions, saying it was a matter of good versus evil.

Al.com reports Hoyt Deau Hutchinson called the syndicated radio show "Rick & Bubba Show" on Monday to describe what happened. Hutchinson said he was shaking in anger when he drove past the balloon and its handlers Saturday during President Donald Trump's visit to see Louisiana State play against the University of Alabama.

Unable to contain his steaming anger at the folks who had insulted his deeply-examined concepts of right and wrong, Hutchinson claimed afterwards that he drew upon the Bible for inspiration in his act of vandalism.

"I get so mad about people not taking a stand," he said. "The left wants to use religion against you like you shouldn't act like this and stuff but I'll tell you this — the Devil knows the Bible as good as we do."

Asked if the slashing was Hutchinson's attempt to echo the Biblical story of Jesus turning over the temple tables of money changers, he said yes.

The Biblical account of Jesus cleansing the Temple of merchants by overturning their tables appears in all four of the Gospels of the New Testament. It has been the subject of centuries of Biblical study. The common interpretation is that Jesus intended to criticize and condemn the cheapening and materialism of religious faith, as well as to make a social protest against those “moneylenders” who routinely cheated the poor. The slashing of a balloon intended to mock an American political figure, particularly one credibly accused of massive and widespread corruption, would not seem to present a viable analogy here.

Perhaps dimly realizing the apparent disconnect between his actions and this rationale, Mr. Hutchinson quickly pivoted to a different analogy.

"It comes a point when you gotta take a stand. We don't have two parties anymore. We have good versus evil. When you got one party that says it's OK to kill babies and by the way, this is the first time I'm ever seen a liberal get mad about chopping up a baby."

Despite the fact that no person of sane mind, liberal or otherwise, has ever advocated “chopping up a baby,” this would appear to suggest that Mr. Hutchinson’s real justification was rooted in some type of anti-abortion views. In committing an act of property vandalism by stabbing a balloon, then, perhaps this was Mr. Hutchinson’s way of demonstrating allegiance, however symbolically, to a long line of right-wing fanatics who have threatened violence as a way to enforce their religious persuasions against others.

But, as inviting and plausible as that might sound, we need to look into his past a little more closely than he would probably want us to.  Here is a video of Mr. Hutchinson expressing his feelings regarding those (black) football players who kneel during the national anthem as a way of protesting rampant, discriminatory police violence towards African-Americans. Apparently Mr. Hutchinson’s father had made some sort of veiled threat against such football players, about two years ago, that led to a visit from some unspecified arm of law enforcement.

It’s not hard to discern who has fueled the attitudes represented by Mr. Hutchinson in these videos. In fact, he was quite forthcoming in his radio interview.

When asked about his motivations, the 32-year-old Hutchinson told the radio station he keeps up with politics by watching Fox News and his two favorite anchors, Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity.

Here is a video Hutchinson has since deleted of himself explaining his intent to slash the Trump balloon.  It is reminiscent of other “manifestos” we have seen from other Trump supporters eager to justify and publicize their actions, be they merely slashing a balloon, or committing mass murder or domestic terrorism.

Significantly, there is no mention of any Biblical motivation for his action, which strongly suggests that Hutchinson may be more interested in self-promotion than anything else.

Finally, here is a video of Mr. Hutchinson explaining his racist views on immigration, with a little misogyny and Islamophobia thrown in for good measure. This video actually captures the feelings and beliefs most Trump supporters commonly hold about immigrants, and is a classic example of the working class white resentment and sense of wounded entitlement that drives his base of support.

So once we cut through all the self-serving “Bible” rhetoric, once we get past the “abortion” shtick, what we have in Mr. Hutchinson is an out-an out, run-of-the-mill sorry-assed--and curiously opportunistic--racist (there’s one more video out there, with Mr. Hutchinson proudly demonstrating how to shoot a handgun. I won’t link that here, because, by now, you probably get the idea). After his arrest, Mr. Hutchinson immediately created a GoFundMe page (ostensibly for his legal defense costs) that has already exceeded $45,000, an amount well beyond any reasonable fees he is likely to incur.

That’s who he is. That’s who they are. Hutchinson embodies it all in one package: a veneer of dime-store religious hypocrisy, fueled by anti-choice rhetoric, hiding a core of pure, unadulterated racism and a wounded sense of entitlement.

That’s the heart of the darkness, as banal as it seems. That's Trump’s true base of support.

It’s just not often we get to see it laid out so clearly in one ugly package.

Posted with permission