I think that Rick Santorum’s statements about the repeal of DADT during the Republican debate were not just a revealing look into how conservatives view sex, but also a good example of how conservatives are using dog whistles.

I was having a discussion about this with a friend, and he asked me why the crowd would dare show such disrespect to a soldier, and how Santorum didn’t even thank him for his service. It’s obvious that their intolerance and bigotry have lead them to otherize gay and lesbian people, and so they don’t see the need to consider their feelings. They do not care that a gay or lesbian soldier would need to lie under DADT, the idea that they should consider the unfair predicaments it created does not cross their minds. And yet they know, on some level that this is not acceptable to express – so they get angry when a gay person dare put them on the spot and feel compelled to tap dance around the topic whenever it comes up.

As to why they don’t just come out and say what they are thinking and take the criticism as anyone else with a controversial opinion does, I think they prefer dog whistles for three reasons. It enables them to simultaneously proclaim that “gays are icky” pretend that they aren’t saying it and feel clever for not saying anything that can be directly attached, and finally feel brave and courageous for being so “un-PC.” Until we realize how much smug satisfaction the latter of these two points give conservative, we won’t be able to effectively argue against them.

Whether it is a better tactic to insist on clearer answers to questions or to simply point out their contradictions is open to debate. But we should keep in mind that conservatives are often speaking on multiple levels and we shouldn’t always take what they say literally without careful consideration.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 26th, 2011 at 6:00 am and is filed under Editorials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.