Also, even though I am not white, I was taken aback by seeing the term “cracker” on this site and thought it seemed a bit inflamotory. I’m pretty liberal and have some very strong views on what constitutes racism and what does not and some issues I have with the modern day Republican party (which are totally irrelevant here) and the use of that term sort of bugged me too. I try to be very careful in what I say in discussions about race with most white people b/c I find it to be a very difficult discussion and, particularly if they are friends or are just nice people who I don’t want to get into an argument with, I avoid using inflamatory words and try to get across my point without hitting them over the head and because some people cannot handle my version of what the truth is. Whereas you felt free to jump in with inflammatory language when it seemingly was at best tangentially related to the topic at hand. I say all that to say, that you are the one who went there with using that term and then you defend yourself using an example that has absolutely nothing to do with what you are saying initally and are trying somehow to show how something that the show did offended you thus deflecting from what you said, and brought up. I don’t care what race you are, using terms like cracker casually especially in a forum like this is uncalled for and trying to paint the show as somehow being offensive to Republicans when from a historical perspective it doesn’t even make sense to the time, seems somewhat unthinking or naive at best and disingenous at worst. I say all that to say, I found the cracker comment offensive and I found your follow up comments to be an annoying attempt to bring modern day partisanship into it in an instance where it is not accurate and to somehow make yourself or Repbulicans a martyr or derided group when that is not the case to be offensive. I don’t know if I’m making sense b/c I’m peeved right now but in essense, I found your apology offensive.

Don doesn’t know what the audience knows about Sal’s deeply closeted self — he just goes with what he thinks he’s seen and what he personally knows about the male sex drive. If he assumed that Sal was already sleeping around on Kitty …

Don’s also rather distracted by everything that’s going on in his life, so he was not his best and kindest self at the time he was confronted with Sal’s firing. Perhaps when Peggy’s problem arose in 1960, Don was feeling more in control of his life and therefore more generous and accommodating.

Neither Harry nor Roger have any idea why Lee Jr. wanted Sal fired — because Lee Jr. didn’t want them to know. If Harry had any organizational savvy, he would have gone immediately to Don about Lee Jr’s phone call because (a) Don was Sal’s boss and (b) Don’s the best strategic thinker at SC, but would still need a heads up to react more coolly.

or you're dating a self-loathing closeted gay man. Look at all of our extremely homophobic televangelists and senators who — gosh, huuuge surprise! — get caught in gay affairs.

I actually think the solution to homophobia is eradicating misogyny. I think a lot of homophobia is hatred of women repackaged, ’cause gay men seem to preoccupy homophobes the most. It’s usually about anal sex, and gay men are perceived as taking on the woman’s role, and women are despised. The woman’s role is less-than. And in a male-supremacy culture, men who take on the woman’s role willingly kind of freak out some of the dudes. If you could eradicate misogyny, homophobia would evaporate. That’s why I always tell women, “If you’re dating a homophobe, you’re dating a guy who’s secretly a misogynist, who secretly hates you. And you shouldn’t.”

SOOO much of the core of homophobia is rooted in mysogyny and sexism.