Man of principal Basil Marceaux refuses to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance in front of a gold-fringe flag.
Pith had high hopes for the gubernatorial debate at Scarritt-Bennett Center's Harambee Hall last night, and boy, it didn't disappoint. Only one of the three candidates originally scheduled for the debate was present — Basil Marceaux, naturally — while two previously unscheduled gubernatorial candidates (at least in the press release we received) filled in: Green Party candidate Howard Switzer and independent candidate (and head of the Rhea County Tea Party) June Griffin. Yes, that June Griffin, of Daily Show fame.
The theater of the absurd that transpired was astounding, as the 50 or so people scattered around the 185 capacity room stared on with jaws dropped, alternately laughing, moaning and shaking their heads. There's plenty of hard-biting political analysis to follow, and videos galore. (Pardon the shaky video, but your videographer had a hard time keeping from laughing while holding the camera.) For those of you with short attention spans, here's the upshot:
• Griffin is creepy, racist and terrifyingly xenophobic. Fittingly, she's a resident of Dayton, Tenn., (of Scopes Monkey Trial fame) and her rants slandering Native Americans, Mexicans and Muslims and pretty much any non-Anglo Christians were shocking in their bluntness. At least she's open about her hatred, I guess, but she's downright horrendous.
• Marceaux is surprisingly likable in person. There's a certain “crazy uncle” charm when he's talking to you. He clearly knows his Internet celebrity is due to his being a bit of a buffoon, and he likes to ham it up. He may not be articulate, and he may be, as Brantley Hargrove noted, nuttier than squirrel turd, but he's downright enchanting next to the hideously repressed and hateful Griffin. He hates gold-fringe flags, likes Native Americans, likes to invite them to Thanksgiving dinner, and would legalize pot.
