At first things go Stafford's way. A veteran Democratic politician, seemingly a shoo-in for the nomination, decides not to run due to a family health issue, and he unexpectedly endorses Stafford. Capitalizing on the endorsement, and finding an unexpected joy in (and talent for) campaigning, Stafford wins a narrow victory in the primary and prepares for the general election. His opponent, Mark Ligett, is a fellow alumnus of the University of Missouri, a smarmy white classics major who spent his college years as a right-wing provocateur, inviting controversial speakers to the campus and then capitalizing on any impropriety in the resulting protests.
Early in the race, Ligett goes on Fox News and claims that under Stafford's leadership the black students on campus had tried to "subjugate" the Mizzou football team, an explosive charge in Missouri. Stafford responds angrily, arguing that Ligett's attack is a preposterous racial provocation. The fact of the matter is that Stafford had requested that the football team enter the practice field through a pathway on the opposite side of the field from an area where BLM activists gathered during a campus protest. Stafford's request was simply meant to keep the activists from getting in the players' way and vice versa, and he can't imagine why it would be considered "subjugation."
But by this point Stafford's luck has run out. The path that he had suggested for the football team took it beneath an ornate gateway—literally, the team was being asked to walk sub jugum, "under the yoke" (that is, beneath the horizontal cross-piece of the gateway). "Subjugate," far from being a racial provocation, was in fact a refined, erudite, and completely true way to describe Stafford's proposal. Stafford faces near-universal condemnation for his ignorance of history and his haste to play the race card.
Stafford soon lags Ligett by double digits in the polls, and his campaign sheds staff as donations dry up. Stafford crisscrosses the state with a few loyal volunteers, trying to convince voters that he is not the caricature the media has portrayed him as, but as election day approaches it seems like an impossible task.
Once again, though, fortune smiles on Stafford. With just a week to go until the election, Ligett goes on Sean Hannity's show to crow about his inevitable victory. Hannity asks him what he plans to do in office, and Ligett says that he wants to fight back against all the policies that have been put in place by "Obama, Schumer, Pelosi, etc." Hannity, stunned, asks Ligett to rephrase his point. Ligett repeats himself using essentially the same words, and Hannity buries his face in his hands.
Then, his voice tinged with regret and breaking at times, Hannity explains that while et cetera and et alia both mean "and others," et cetera means "and other things," while et alia is the expression used to mean "and other people." Ligett has just referred to three politicians—a black man, a woman, and a Jew—as things rather than people. Ligett tries to plead ignorance, but Hannity, who spent hours talking up Ligett's knowledge of the classics during "SubjuGate," won't hear it. He kicks Ligett off of his program and apologizes to the audience for what they have just seen.
The next morning, Rush Limbaugh coins the nickname "Ligett the bigot," an epithet that will follow Ligett for the rest of the campaign. Republican candidates across the country disavow Ligett in an attempt to contain the damage. For the most part they succeed, but Stafford wins in a landslide that brings with it majorities in both the Missouri House of Representatives and the Missouri Senate. By this point the "subjugate" controversy has come to seem quaint and overblown by comparison to Ligett's open bigotry, and Stafford holds his victory party on Mizzou's practice field, where supporters can walk "under the jugum" in tongue-in-cheek celebration. A new day has dawned for racial justice in Missouri.
Early in the race, Ligett goes on Fox News and claims that under Stafford's leadership the black students on campus had tried to "subjugate" the Mizzou football team, an explosive charge in Missouri. Stafford responds angrily, arguing that Ligett's attack is a preposterous racial provocation. The fact of the matter is that Stafford had requested that the football team enter the practice field through a pathway on the opposite side of the field from an area where BLM activists gathered during a campus protest. Stafford's request was simply meant to keep the activists from getting in the players' way and vice versa, and he can't imagine why it would be considered "subjugation."
But by this point Stafford's luck has run out. The path that he had suggested for the football team took it beneath an ornate gateway—literally, the team was being asked to walk sub jugum, "under the yoke" (that is, beneath the horizontal cross-piece of the gateway). "Subjugate," far from being a racial provocation, was in fact a refined, erudite, and completely true way to describe Stafford's proposal. Stafford faces near-universal condemnation for his ignorance of history and his haste to play the race card.
Stafford soon lags Ligett by double digits in the polls, and his campaign sheds staff as donations dry up. Stafford crisscrosses the state with a few loyal volunteers, trying to convince voters that he is not the caricature the media has portrayed him as, but as election day approaches it seems like an impossible task.
Once again, though, fortune smiles on Stafford. With just a week to go until the election, Ligett goes on Sean Hannity's show to crow about his inevitable victory. Hannity asks him what he plans to do in office, and Ligett says that he wants to fight back against all the policies that have been put in place by "Obama, Schumer, Pelosi, etc." Hannity, stunned, asks Ligett to rephrase his point. Ligett repeats himself using essentially the same words, and Hannity buries his face in his hands.
Then, his voice tinged with regret and breaking at times, Hannity explains that while et cetera and et alia both mean "and others," et cetera means "and other things," while et alia is the expression used to mean "and other people." Ligett has just referred to three politicians—a black man, a woman, and a Jew—as things rather than people. Ligett tries to plead ignorance, but Hannity, who spent hours talking up Ligett's knowledge of the classics during "SubjuGate," won't hear it. He kicks Ligett off of his program and apologizes to the audience for what they have just seen.
The next morning, Rush Limbaugh coins the nickname "Ligett the bigot," an epithet that will follow Ligett for the rest of the campaign. Republican candidates across the country disavow Ligett in an attempt to contain the damage. For the most part they succeed, but Stafford wins in a landslide that brings with it majorities in both the Missouri House of Representatives and the Missouri Senate. By this point the "subjugate" controversy has come to seem quaint and overblown by comparison to Ligett's open bigotry, and Stafford holds his victory party on Mizzou's practice field, where supporters can walk "under the jugum" in tongue-in-cheek celebration. A new day has dawned for racial justice in Missouri.
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