So I was driving across Nevada, flipping through the radio and along came the Mike Savage show, crystal clear. 265 miles away from California. It was very interesting of course, from a sociological perspective but also very disconcerting.
Maybe you're thinking, "well of course, quartz, what are ya, a maroon?"
"At times, yes..."
What was so disturbing to me was the first caller on last Friday's show. He said his name was Sam and that he was a Coptic Christian from Egypt. Savage obviously knew him as a regular caller.
As the conversation was pushed by Savage to the subject of Islamofascists, something very strange happened....
The caller's "Egyptian" accent disappeared!
He dropped into a dialect of "high redneck"...but for just a second....
I blinked and looked around; maybe it was just a hill our mountain, the signal cut out, and I wasn't hearing well.
But then, it happened again.
This time it was obvious. Sam said, "they are multiplying like rabbits." A very odd thing to say in Middle Eastern vernacular. It was also said in "high redneck" rather than "faked Middle Eastern."
It was mind bending. Faking an accent to disseminate hate. An agent provacateur of the most radical sort. Making up facts about Islam. Legitimacy through lie.
Savage finally said something like, "Okay, that's enough Sam, we don't want to freak out our audience too bad."
Freaked out, freep out.
Superb diary by Nim is related to this subject.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/5/24/101417/432#98