As not wanting to be accused of exploiting the tragedy in Arizona I decided to wait a little while before I published this diary. Many people have been justifiably outraged at the traditional media's insistence that "both sides" use violent rhetoric. But since 1980 the numbers of deaths by right-wing terrorist numbers over 200, versus 7 by the left.
This is a fairly comprehensive list and I urge you to take a look. Afterwards do not be alarmed if you get a sick feeling in your stomach and suddenly see Sarah Palin's violent rhetoric in a whole new light.
Update: And the Right Wing violence against those they disagree with continues still.
From TPM:
Roger Stockham, a 63-year-old Army veteran from California who was reportedly angry at the U.S. government, was arrested by police in Michigan and charged with allegedly threatening to blow up a Mosque in Dearborn.
It will be interesting to learn whether or not Fox News is willing to label this a domestic act of terrorism.
Because you know that if the shoe were on the other foot, and this was a Muslim threatening to blow up a church they would not hesitate.
A little O/T, but it still relates...
ReplyDeleteLast night I was watching the Kennedy special on TLC. It was a collection of never before seen home movies. Even thought JFK and RFK were assassinated over 40 years ago (I was born in '69), I found myself weeping. I sat there and listened to their words, about how they wanted to make a difference. RFK said this world should be about peace and love and accepting each other. Not about violence.
I sat and wondered with sorrow how different things could have been had they lived to fight for their dreams.
That is a stunning post at Daily Kos. I hope Obama will do as David Plouffe promised, and give a speech on gun control in the very near future. The time is now. If not NOW, when??
ReplyDeleteI like to track this site, it's a good indicator.
ReplyDeletePalin has gone from 14 to 10% in terms of being the GOP nominee since Friday. That's a big move.
Romney remains around 23.5 and Mitt isn't Tweeting 24/7 or playing the victim card.
I've long said she wouldn't run....and I'm sticking with that.
I see she's now saying she's kept a media boycott because she didn't want to be blamed for the uprising in Egypt.
Yeah Sarah, cause it's always about you.
http://www.intrade.com/
She's toast.
Unfortunately, Sarah is still at it. Her Safari Club speech is, understandably at the hunting club gathering, all about guns. But it is also anti-environmental, anti-government, and anti-Obama and - oh yeah, anti-gun regulation.
ReplyDeleteSee that Daily Beast article. Sarah simply cannot stop talking about guns - though she did mention Gabby and the other victims - but admission that a semi-automatic weapon with a large ammo clip made a tragedy much worse than it might have been.
That's out little Sarah - classy (and stupid)all the way.
Every time I encounter a conservative troll who makes these kind of false equivalency claims by citing a single questionable incident of liberal support for violence - usually anecdotal with no verification - I respond: "You compile a list of liberal invocations of violence and I will do the same for the right. I bet my list will be demonstrably longer than yours by a factor of 100-200:1."
ReplyDeleteNot a single troll has ever taken me up on my challenge. Even they know that they employ such rhetoric FAR more frequently than the left. Hell, all by himself Beck easily surpasses the entire left. He usually has multiple such utterances each week.
If you strip conservatives of their violent rhetoric, lies, hyperbolic bombast, and batshit crazy conspiracy theories, what is left?
Punctuation.
Thank you for directing us to that article. It was moving and educational. I hope it enlightens many who are duped by the media - particularly those who watch Fox but drop by here.
ReplyDeleteMaybe some of the trolls we see here will read it and be shamed by the evidence.
And to think how many folks laughed and scorned Hillary Clinton when she mentioned the right wing conspiracy so many years ago. I don't think many on the left are laughing much any more.
ReplyDeleteThe right wing will NEVER admit to this. I have seen so many conservative commentators in the past few months try to say both sides use violent rhetoric. There is no comparison, at least for the past 50 years! The author if this article did a great job. I'd love to see some on the right try to still make their argument after reading this. It would be interesting to see a debate about this, but we won't. The right is great at denial, just listen to Sarah. Almost everything coming out of her mouth is a lie, and look how most deny she's lying. It's crazy.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Sarah, and OT sorry, but I looked up Todd Palin on google news. There are many articles saying she denies any part of the prostitute story. Almost all the articles imply the NE article is a lie. It seems she thinks she has taken care of this whole thing and it's over.
I hope a lot more is coming out. She practically announced her run for president during her Reno speech. We are counting on you Gryphen and wish you could just talk. Why wait for another media outlet as you implied.
Gasman says:
ReplyDeleteIf you strip conservatives of their violent rhetoric, lies, hyperbolic bombast, and batshit crazy conspiracy theories, what is left?
Punctuation.
6:27 AM
I say perfect, Gasman!
However, To be most accurate, it is improper punctuation!
Episode of Right-Wing violence at my work
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2011/1/31/940147/-Episode-of-Right-Wing-violence-at-my-work
I happened to visit the dark side last night - C4P - and there's one dude over there who outright scares me. Rip somebody. His articles read like something from the Unabomber. In his mind, there's a full-blown war going on...with the Left. Very creepy language:
ReplyDelete"The Left had been dreaming for more than a year of an opportunity such as Tucson, and it seized it. It couldn’t help itself. Leftism is a savage religion constituted of fear, grievance, rage, moral vanity and social superiority."
Sarah sure knows how to attract the crazy.
Great Daily KOS post!!! Wow!
ReplyDeleteI hope Maddow picks this up and does a segment on it. Ot better yet John Stewart- since he seems to shame the media into talking about these things and actually doing their jobs of reporting the truth. he did it with the 9/11 first responders health bill and within 24 hours ALL of the main stream media was finally doing their jobs! And the bill was passed within 10 days.
This is not mentioned at the Daily Kos post. It may be in the comments IDK.
ReplyDeleteThe Greensboro massacre.
Wikipedia link
"The Greensboro massacre occurred on November 3, 1979 in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. Five communist protest marchers were shot and killed by members of the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party. The protest was the culmination of attempts by the Maoist Workers Viewpoint Organization to organize mostly black industrial workers in the area.[1]
The marchers killed were: Sandi Smith, a nurse and civil rights activist; Dr. James Waller, president of a local textile workers union who ceased medical practice to organize workers; Bill Sampson, a graduate of the Harvard School of Divinity; Cesar Cauce, a Cuban immigrant who graduated magna cum laude from Duke University; and Dr. Michael Nathan, chief of pediatrics at Lincoln Community Health Center in Durham, North Carolina, a clinic that helped children from low-income families.
Link to video that includes footage of the actual murders, and efforts to reconcile the community 25 years later.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV07Z5C2kHg
This is one of the things that comes to mind when seeing the goon squads marching with firearms in the streets.
And from wikipedia again:
One of the most questionable aspects of the shoot-out is the role of the police. Police would normally have been present at such a rally. However, no police were present, which allowed the assailants to escape. A police detective and a police photographer did follow the Klan and neo-Nazi caravan to the site, but did not attempt to intervene. Edward Dawson, a Klansmen turned police informant,[1] was in the lead car of the caravan.[3] Two days prior to the march, one of the Klansmen went to the police station and obtained a map of the march and the rally.[2] Bernard Butkovich, an undercover agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATFE) later testified that he was aware that Klansmen and members of the American Nazi Party unit he had infiltrated would confront the demonstrators. In a previous testimony, the neo-Nazis claimed the agent encouraged them to carry firearms to the anti-Klan demonstration.[4]
I just want to know why these people are so cowardly, weak and fearful.
ReplyDeleteNo offense to gun owners, but outside of hunting....I personally consider them, particularily in the case of open carry to be a thin facade for fear. More than guns, it is the fragile and damaged self esteems of too many people that I find extremely unsettling.
" Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteI just want to know why these people are so cowardly, weak and fearful.
No offense to gun owners, but outside of hunting....I personally consider them, particularily in the case of open carry to be a thin facade for fear. More than guns, it is the fragile and damaged self esteems of too many people that I find extremely unsettling.
12:23 PM"
Yup. I always think of gun people as wussies.
Good God--you can't defend your woman, your
family, your garbage on your own? Sheesh! I've
lived in the worst neighborhoods in Chicago &
never had a gun. Maybe if I lived waaaaay
out in the country, and there were bears around,
I'd have a gun, but just for living my life
amongst people, nah. I do have pepper spray
on my key chain, and a baseball bat by my
bedroom door.
This guy wanted to kill Bush too. He is just plain nuts. I wish everyone would quit labeling nutty people since they don't fit into labels.
ReplyDelete