World bids adieu to a scumbag's scumbag: South African white supremacist leader Eugene Terreblanche

The man known throughout South African for his distinctive two-hands-in-the-air (like he jus' don' care) stance, white supremacist, Eugene Terreblanche, died today.

It was rumored that Eddie Murphy had taken Terreblanche's trademark pose and incorporated it into his Saturday Night Live characters Gumby and Buckwheat. Who could forget Murphy coming onstage dressed in the green foam rubber Gumby suit, thrusting his hands heavenward and proclaiming, "I'm Gumby, dammit!"

So, too, did Terreblanche make his presence known on the crowded scene of South African racism in the early 1970s.

According to the BBC Web site: "Mr Terreblanche, who campaigned for a separate white homeland, came to prominence in the early 1980s."

It's unfortunate that his racism took up so much of his time that he neglected getting any semblance of an education. Had Terreblanche been exposed to even a few days of school in his youth, he would have learned there was a separate white homeland. It's called England.

But Terreblanche never let ignorance slow his pursuit of hatred, intolerance and simple contrary-ass-backwardness.

As his obituary by BBC New states: "Terreblanche's thunderous voice and magnificent style of delivery -- alternating between roar and husky whisper, with gestures to match -- helped to disguise the complete meaninglessness of what he was saying.

"His oratory would sweep from the plight of white farmers, to ancient Greek philosophy, to the state of the Soviet Union, without any apparent logic."

It's thought that Mr. Terreblanche began his lifelong foray into racism when, at the age of 15, he was rejected as tambourine player for a black South African Sly & the Family Stone cover band.

He apparently never recovered from the blow.

But he channeled his considerable hatred into a life of paid hatred and hatred for hire, earning a living as a professional white supremacist.

Now, a lifetime of carefully cultivated racism has come to an end without the dignity of being part of racially motivated violence.

Reports from the region have it that Terreblanche was killed "after a payment dispute with two workers, aged 21 and 15, who have been arrested in connection with his murder.

"'He was hacked to death while he was taking a nap,' a family friend in the town of Ventersdorp was quoted as telling Reuters news agency."

Weary from a day of racist activities, he sought some untroubled repose, only to be murdered, allegedly, in the name of greed.

But Mr. Terreblanche will be remembered -- and more than for simply having a name that translates into English "White ground." He will be remembered for his snowy beard, confused, unfocused eyes and for bringing just a little more ugliness to an already wretchedly ugly country.

As Rush Limbaugh was heard to sob today on an all-white golf course: "They don't make haters like Terreblanche anymore!"

Dick Cheney's reaction was said to be more muted. Simply: "There are no words."