Daaaaaaaaay-Oh! (Bananas, insensitivity, The N&O, gaslighting, and Wiley Nickel)

Samuel Johnson once described patriotism as “the last refuge of a scoundrel.”  Personally, I think it’s not “patriotism,” but actually “charges of racism.”   When lefties simply run out of logic, they go to their tried-and-true weapon: accusations of racism / bigotry / insensitivity.

That’s what it looks like Wiley Nickel (D), one of the few remaining N&O home delivery customers, has turned to in his quixotic run to replace Ted Budd in the US House.   Nickel, a state senator and Democrat nominee facing Republican Bo Hines in November, spit up a nothing-burger that got eagerly swallowed by one of the few remaining denizens of the N&O newsroom:

[…] The part of [Hines’s] statement that people have reacted to on Twitter came next: “You know, a lot of people have likened the situation that’s going on right now, they say we’re in a banana republic. I think that’s an insult to Banana Republics across the country. At least the manager of Banana Republic, unlike our president, knows where he is, and why he’s there and what he’s doing.”

Some mocked the Yale graduate, 26, for seemingly being unaware that a banana republic refers to as an unstable country sustained by a single natural resource. It’s often derogatory and used to describe Central American countries with a dictator.

The term is traced back to the late Greensboro-born author, O. Henry, who first used it to characterize fictional countries he used in short stories, relating to his own experience in Honduras.[…]

How do you sensitively describe a Central American nation ruled by a dictator?

Grabbing story ideas from social media comments has become quite a disturbing trend for the McClatchy newsroom crowd.  We can all go to Twitter.  Why do we need you guys?

Congressman Dan Bishop also earned some scorn from this drive-by:

[…]Bishop told another reporter on Newsmax that his constituents believe former President Barack Obama and former Attorney General Eric Holder are actually running the country and behind what happened at Mar-a-Lago.

“This is a frightening way to operate law enforcement,” Bishop said. “You see this in a banana republic, not in the United States of America.”[…]

So, invoking bananas in public discussion is now insensitive?  (Who will break this to the monkeys at the NC Zoo?)

Pop star Gwen Stefani encouraged us to “eat bananas” in one of her songs a few years back.   Shall we have the Biden Administration censors address that?

And what about these little guys?

Now comes of the subject of Harry Belafonte.  The legendary singer was a close associate of Martin Luther King.  He also had a huge hit called “The Banana Boat song.”    The newly-offensive word is in the song title, and is repeated throughout the lyrics:

Day-o, day-o
Daylight come and we want go home
Day, is a day, is a day, is a day, is a day, is a day-o
Daylight come and we want go home

Work all night on a drink of rum
(Daylight come and we want go home)
Stack banana ’til the morning come
(Daylight come and we want go home)

Come Mister tally man, tally me banana
(Daylight come and we want go home)
Come Mister tally man, tally me banana
(Daylight come and we want go home)

Lift six foot, seven foot, eight foot bunch
(Daylight come and we want go home)
Six foot, seven foot, eight foot bunch
(Daylight come and we want go home)

Day, is a day-o
(Daylight come and we want go home)
Day, is a day, is a day, is a day, is a day, is a day-o
(Daylight come and we want go home)

A beautiful bunch of ripe banana
(Daylight come and we want go home)
Hide the deadly black tarantula
(Daylight come and we want go home)

Lift six foot, seven foot, eight foot bunch
(Daylight come and we want go home)
Six foot, seven foot, eight foot bunch
(Daylight come and we want go home)

Day, is a day-o
(Daylight come and we want go home)
Day, is a day, is a day, is a day, is a day, is a day-o
(Daylight come and we want go home)

Come Mister tally man, tally me banana
(Daylight come and we want go home)
Come Mister tally man, tally me banana
(Daylight come and we want go home)

Day-o, day-o
(Daylight come and we want go home)
Day, is a day, is a day, is a day, is a day, is a day-o
(Daylight come and we want go home)