America is great, Mike Huckabee. Just not your vision of it.

Tap to see the original, terrible, bigoted tweet.

Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, political commentator on his own show, and combination Fox News contributor and Southern Baptist minister (which should not come as a surprise), posted the tweet above yesterday.

As the Arkansas Times noted, he chose Christianity’s most important holiday to post a racist gibe. Attacks against Asians are on the rise, and Huckabee’s greatest concern is that people he thinks of as lesser and not American are getting treated like equals and Americans.

Thankfully, a number of people have called him out, including Representative Ted Lieu of California’s 33rd congressional district in this tweet that captures my sentiments perfectly:

Tap to see the original, righteous tweet.

The odds that Huckabee will listen to Ted Lieu are pretty low. He did get called out by someone he does listen to — author and evangelist Beth Moore:

Tap to see the original tweet.

His response was to deny he did anything bad, which is the first step of the DARVO tactic — Deny. I expect to see the remaining phases, Attack and Reverse Victim and Offender soon enough:

Tap to see the original tweet.

More context on Huckabee’s tweet:

At a time when anti-Asian attacks are on the rise…

Graph from Swelling Anti-Asian Violence: Who Is Being Attacked Where, which appeared in the New York Times on April 3, 2021.

…Huckabee’s statement shows his annoyance at a group of non-whites getting special attention because violence is being directed at them.

Some more context if you need it:

NBC News: There were 3,800 anti-Asian racist incidents, mostly against women, in past year
NBC New York: Man Wanted for Yelling Anti-Asian Slurs, Spitting at Mom and 3 Kids on Subway: NYPD
Seattle KING 5: Rise in attacks on Asian Americans highlights history of tension and solidarity
UC Berkeley News: The long history and present surge of anti-Asian violence
The Daily Show: Hate Crimes Against Asian Americans Continue to Rise

Creative Commons image by Mike Licht. Tap to see the source.

Huckabee’s complaints about Coke, Delta, and Major League Baseball are about their opposition to Georgia’s voting law, which appears to be designed to suppress voter participation, especially among minorities. Even the act of giving water to voters in line is now illegal in that state.

All of this was in response to results from the recent election, when Georgia, for the first time in a very long time, voted Democratic in both the presidential and senate elections. The new law is an attempt to make sure that such a thing never happens again, and thus preserve minority rule — a oligarchy of upper-class white people.

Yours Truly, on my move from Toronto to Tampa, 2014.

Back in 2015, a couple of weeks before marrying an American, I wrote:

In less than a fortnight, I’m marrying an American. As the husband of a U.S. citizen, I would be eligible for a green card, and eventually, citizenship. I’m also the direct descendant of a U.S. citizen, but I’m told it’s easier to get it via my wife rather than my great-grandfather, James O’Hara. One option is to stay here in the subtropical climes of Accordion Bay, which may mean that someday, I might apply for citizenship.

I come here bearing goodwill, skills in the areas of technology, writing, and rock and roll accordion, cultural and language skills that surpass those of many of the locals (it’s Florida, man!), and a jacket (pictured) that cannot possible be any more American than it already is. I have what it takes to be American. But the question lingers in my mind: will Americans ever consider me to be one of them?