Jake Knotts isn't the only problem

South Carolina state senator Jake Knotts was just exercising his right to free expression when a sudden s***storm broke out. (You really need to read the linked article before continuing, or you won't appreciate the story's full impact.)

Dropping in unexpectedly on an online political talk show, Knotts remarked of fellow Republican Nikki Haley, who is running for governor: “She’s a f#!king raghead.”

As the article goes on to note: "He later clarified his statement. He did not mean to use the F-word." (Well, that should put everyone's mind at ease.)

Haley's parents are Sikh. Knotts supports a different Republican gubernatorial candidate.

Knotts later claimed he spoke in jest.

What a cut-up.

Knotts would seem to be too outrageous a figure to be credible even in a work of fiction, a thoroughgoing racist ignoramus who is too proud that he is racist and is too ignorant to know he's a moron. Yet surprisingly, he isn't the only problematic figure in this story.

The talk show in question is "co-hosted by Senate Republican Caucus political director Wesley Donehue and his Democratic counterpart, Phil Bailey." Another Democrat, Rep. Boyd Brown, was in attendance as a guest on the show that included Knotts' remarks.

Donehue and Bailey later said Knotts' remarks were beyond the pale, yet they didn't challenge him on the show. Bailey went so far as to assert, "[I]t’s not my job to question Jakie Knotts."

Really?

What kind of talk show are you running, then? What is your job on that show, Mr. Bailey? How about you, Mr. Donehue? Mr. Brown, you weren't quoted in the article; care to comment?

I think there are two possible explanations for Messrs. Bailey, Donehue and Brown's inaction.

One possibility is that we got an unadulterated dose of the kind of talk that goes on when these folks don't think anyone else is listening. And by "these folks," I mean not just Knotts, but Bailey, Donehue, and Brown, too. Any surprise the latter three felt arose from Knotts' making the remarks in too public a forum, not from those remarks being unusual or even problematic.

The other possibility is that Knotts' fellow politicos were simply caught flat-footed with embarrassment. A number of years ago a fellow whom I considered a friend offhandedly made some sexist and insulting remarks about his wife, who was sitting next to him and with whom he had had a fight, it seemed. I was appalled not merely at the terrible impoliteness of dragging a third party, me, into their private dispute, but also that my friend could utter those remarks without any apparent shame. Yet I said nothing. I simply could not think of a proper response.

I'll give the other three gentlemen the benefit of the doubt, and assume they did not confront Knotts for the same reason: they simply could not think of a proper response. However, they have a problem I hadn't. Their colleague is an elected official who made his remarks in a public forum under their auspices, or in Brown's case, in his presence. If they don't subscribe to Knotts' beliefs, they should say so. Forcefully. Repeatedly. Immediately. And lukewarm pablum about "regrettable" remarks won't do it. Knotts used the epithet "raghead"; their repudiation of that term needs to be as impassioned as was Knotts' belligerent use of it.

Oh, and if you have the misfortune of being represented by Knotts but don't subscribe to his bigotry, you should let him know what you think of him. He feels he represents his constituents well. Does he?

UPDATE: It seems Brown is trying to distance himself from this mess. According to CNN:

Rep. Boyd Brown, a Democrat, was one of the show’s guests Thursday. He said he was “taken back and appalled” by Knotts’ remark.

“He said some things he shouldn’t have said. That’s Jakey,” Brown told CNN. “If I could have crawled under the table I would have.”

That's a pretty mealymouthed response. I suppose legislators consider one another coworkers, and it's hard to push back against the stupidity of coworkers with the same vehemence one would employ against strangers. Nevertheless, Brown should try harder. What I hear in his words is embarrassment. What about outrage and offense? You don't have to be Sikh to think "raghead" is ignorant and offensive.

(Salon has an interesting take on Knotts and what "racism" is all about. The essay left me wondering if I've been bandying the term "racist" about too readily here. Alas, the essay undercut itself at the very end with its inaccurate summary of Conor Friedersdorf's defense of the "tea party" movement against the charge of racism.)