Sarah Palin is a "world class idiot" for comparing the US national debt to slavery, British journalist Martin Bashir raged on his US TV show, suggesting someone should defecate in the mouth of the former vice presidential nominee.
Palin told a crowd at Iowa’s Faith and Freedom Coalition event last weekend: “Our free stuff today is being paid for by taking money from our children, and borrowing from China.
"When that note comes due — and this isn’t racist, so try it. Try it anyway. This isn’t racist. But it’s going to be like slavery when that note is due.”
Martin Bashir takes on Sarah Palin
Famed for his interviews with Princess Diana and Michael Jackson, Bashir, now a political analyst for MSNBC, said Palin had no idea of the hardships of slavery.
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"Given her well-established reputation as a world class idiot, it’s hardly surprising that [Palin] should choose to mention slavery in a way that is abominable to anyone who knows anything about its barbaric history," the presenter said on his show, Clear The Air.
"So here’s an example. One of the most comprehensive first-person accounts of slavery comes from the personal diary of a man called Thomas Thistlewood, who kept copious notes for 39 years.
"Thistlewood was the son of a tenant farmer, who arrived on the island of Jamaica in April 1750, and assumed the position of overseer at a major plantation.
"What is most shocking about Thistlewood’s diary is not simply the fact that he assumes the right to own and possess other human beings, but is the sheer cruelty and brutality of his regime."
"In 1756, he records that a slave named Darby ‘catched eating kanes; had him well flogged and pickled, then made Hector, another slave, s-h-i-t in his mouth.’
"This became known as ‘Darby’s Dose,’ a punishment invented by Thistlewood that spoke only of inhumanity.
"And he mentions a similar incident in 1756, his time in relation to a man he refers to as Punch. ‘Flogged Punch well, and then washed and rubbed salt pickle, lime juice and bird pepper. Made Negro Joe piss in his eyes and mouth'. I could go on, but you get the point."
Bashir suggested that Palin try out 'Darby's Dose' of a turd in the mouth, before she made comparisons with slavery.
"When Mrs Palin invokes slavery, she doesn’t just prove her rank ignorance. She confirms if anyone truly qualified for a dose of discipline from Thomas Thistlewood, she would be the outstanding candidate."