Electing and/or killing the right people

Commentary: Some may call it a Freudian slip. Others call it, saying the quiet
part out loud. And then, sometimes, it’s just a case of ignorance so blatant that it reveals who a person really is.

Last month, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem took time off from having her goon squads terrorize the streets of America to elaborate on her plans for the upcoming elections.

“When it gets to Election Day, we’ve been proactive to make sure we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders to lead this country,” Noem said.

“The right people voting.” “Electing the right leaders to lead this country.” Those two phrases should scare the living daylights out of all Americans. The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for helping protect U.S. election infrastructure from threats, but it has nothing to do with preventing election fraud.

Noem has no idea what she is talking about. Maybe all those Botox injections have destroyed a few brain cells, and she is just rambling, but even without a brain, there’s a lot of evil that remains in that dog killer.

Noem waved off criticism of her comments, calling the remarks “commonsense.” Then she pulled out her Pam Bondi playbook of insulting the questioner and said, it “must be exhausting to regularly manufacture outrage even over the most commonsense statements.”

When Noem used the phrase “the right people,” I had a flashback to a 1987 episode of Designing Women. The season 2, episode 4 showing of the CBS sitcom titled “Killing All the Right People” aired at the height of the AIDS crisis, a time when hospitals had entire wings set aside for AIDS patients, when people were afraid to touch an infected person, and a diagnosis meant certain death most of the time.

In the episode, Kendall Dobbs (Tony Goldwyn), a young interior designer and friend of the Sugarbaker firm, approaches the women with an unusual request: He wants them to design his funeral because he is dying of AIDS. Initially reluctant, they agreed to take the assignment.

A brief summary from Wikipedia says: “Kendall drops by to go over his funeral arrangements. He is shocked when Charlene (Jean Smart) casually takes his hand, saying that even some of the nurses in the hospital refused to enter his room. In the background, Imogene Salinger (Camilla Carr), an acquaintance of Julia’s and a client of the firm, overhears the plans for the funeral and states that gay men like Kendall are getting what they deserve. ‘As far as I’m concerned,’ Imogene says, ‘this disease has one thing going for it: it’s killing all the right people.’”

Julia (Dixie Carter) angrily confronts Imogene over her belief that AIDS is God’s punishment for homosexuality. “Imogene, get serious! Who do you think you’re talking to?! I’ve known you for 27 years, and all I can say is, if God were giving out sexually transmitted diseases to people as a punishment for sinning, then you would be at the free clinic all the time! And so would the rest of us!”

Imogene storms out of the store, announcing that she will take her business elsewhere in the future, while Julia, in turn, tells her that bigots like her will not be welcomed at her firm. Julia slams the door on her. It is noted that during the confrontation, Suzanne sticks up for Kendall by asking that if AIDS was so rampant in the gay community, “Then how come lesbians get it less?”

The episode ends at Kendall’s funeral. A closed black coffin is shown, and the funeral home room is designed French Quarter-style as Kendall requested, since his family is from New Orleans. A Dixieland band plays “Just a Closer Walk with Thee”, also as Kendall requested, because that’s the hymn he grew up on. All of the ladies, as well as Anthony and Bernice, are present.

“Killing all the Right People” is one of the most emotional and important episodes of Designing Women. It shed light on a disease that was killing off an entire generation of gay men and put a human face on it.

Kristi Noem and Imogene Salinger are one and the same: two sanctimonious people who have convinced themselves that their hatred and bigotry put them above all others. The difference is that Noem is a real person with a position of authority, which makes her bigotry and hatred all the more dangerous.
Do not take her words lightly.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent those of the Montrose Star. Johnny Trlica is the editor of Houston Rainbow Herald Facebook page and has been published in several newspapers and magazines. He grew up in Rosenberg, Texas, lived for over 30 years in the Montrose and now resides in Galveston, Texas. He may be contacted at HRHeditor@gmail.com.

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