Gods, Guns and Glenn

[Galen Sevinne]

been meaning to write this myself but Charles Blow beat me to it:

Lately I’ve been consuming as much conservative media as possible (interspersed with shots of Pepto-Bismol) to get a better sense of the mind and mood of the right. My read: They’re apocalyptic. They feel isolated, angry, betrayed and besieged. And some of their “leaders” seem to be trying to mold them into militias.

At first, it was entertaining — just harmless, hotheaded expostulation. Of course, there were the garbled facts, twisted logic and veiled hate speech. But what did I expect, fair and balanced? It was like walking through an ideological house of mirrors. The distortions can be mildly amusing at first, but if I stay too long it makes me sick.

But, it’s not all just harmless talk. For some, their disaffection has hardened into something more dark and dangerous. They’re talking about a revolution.

Some simply lace their unscrupulous screeds with loaded language about the fall of the Republic. We have to “rise up” and “take back our country.” Others have been much more explicit.

For example, Chuck Norris, the preeminent black belt and prospective Red Shirt, wrote earlier this month on the conservative blog WorldNetDaily: “How much more will Americans take? When will enough be enough? And, when that time comes, will our leaders finally listen or will history need to record a second American Revolution?”

Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, imagining herself as some sort of Delacroixian Liberty from the Land of the Lakes, urged her fellow Minnesotans to be “armed and dangerous,” ready to bust caps over cap-and-trade, I presume.

And between his tears, Glenn Beck, the self-professed “rodeo clown,” keeps warning of an impending insurrection by saying that he believes that we are heading for “depression” and “revolution” and then gaming out that revolution on his show last month. “Think the unthinkable” he said. Indeed.

All this talk of revolution is revolting, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.

As the comedian Bill Maher pointed out, strong language can poison weak minds, as it did in the case of Timothy McVeigh. (We sometimes forget that not all dangerous men are trained by Al Qaeda.)

At the same time, the unrelenting meme being pushed by the right that Obama will mount an assault on the Second Amendment has helped fuel the panic buying of firearms. According to the F.B.I., there have been 1.2 million more requests for background checks of potential gun buyers from November to February than there were in the same four months last year. That’s 5.5 million requests altogether over that period; more than the number of people living in Bachmann’s Minnesota.

Coincidence? Maybe. Just posturing? Hopefully. But it all gives me a really bad feeling. (Where’s that Pepto-Bismol?!)

of course whenever progressives speak like conservatives are speaking these days they are accused of being elitist and unpatriotic.

[Galen Sevinne]

about the guy who shot the three police and killed three others in Pittsburgh:

A man opened fire on officers during a domestic disturbance call Saturday morning, killing three of them, a police official said. Friends said he feared the Obama administration was poised to ban guns.
Three officers were killed, said a police official at the scene who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Police spokeswoman Diane Richard would only say that at least five officers were wounded, but wouldn't give any other details.

... One friend, Edward Perkovic, said the gunman feared "the Obama gun ban that's on the way" and "didn't like our rights being infringed upon." Another longtime friend, Aaron Vire, said he feared that President Obama was going to take away his rights, though he said he "wasn't violently against Obama."

Perkovic, a 22-year-old who said he was the gunman's best friend, said he got a call at work from him in which he said, "Eddie, I am going to die today. ... Tell your family I love them and I love you."


all of this communist/socialist talk is becoming more than just unhinged but more and more dangerous as unstable people with guns actually believe it.

Its one thing when you campaign on such nonsense ---- you just don't get elected but when it keeps up in a daily basis after elections its just plain dangerous. All of the Chuck Norris' and Glenn Becks and Hannitys and Bachmanns, etc...they all take on some of the responsibility for acts such as this recent one in Pittsburgh.

[Dade]

Interesting thought Galen. Sometimes I feel that people don't realize how dangerous words can be.

It amazes me how people truely believe Obama is taking their rights away. But no one batted an eye when habeas corpus was suspended or the patriot act.

The right are wrong for spreading this fear and the left are wrong for allowing it.

When will we learn to put our differences and allegiances to party aside.

[jonboy79]

Taxation without representation. The middle class is going through this right now. NO ONE is looking out for our interests.

Revolution might not be too far away if the power and wealth grab continues. Start taking food out of people's mouth's and you will see where this goes.

[Galen Sevinne]

Taxation without representation. The middle class is going through this right now. NO ONE is looking out for our interests.

Revolution might not be too far away if the power and wealth grab continues. Start taking food out of people's mouth's and you will see where this goes.

seriously??? The middle class just received a tax break.

The power and the wealth grab??? The was the last 8 years! The top 1% grew infinitely more wealthy while the rest of us endured less in wages...the first time the middle class saw a wage drop in decades.

Revolution??? You're scary dude. Put the tea bags down and do something good for the country instead of being so hysterical. Your answer completely reinforces the point of my post.

[Galen Sevinne]

Interesting thought Galen. Sometimes I feel that people don't realize how dangerous words can be.

It amazes me how people truely believe Obama is taking their rights away. But no one batted an eye when habeas corpus was suspended or the patriot act.

The right are wrong for spreading this fear and the left are wrong for allowing it.

When will we learn to put our differences and allegiances to party aside.

You're right Dade. The left was certainly critical of Bush in the last 5 years or so of his presidency. BUt there were things to be critical of. The right has jumped all over Obama even before his first 100 days are over...shit before his first 100 hours were over.

You never saw Keith Olberman (like Glenn Beck) talking about apocalyptic end of times. You never saw the hollywood elite (like Chuck Norris) talking about the need for revolution.

We on the left endured the Bush presidency and then started knocking on doors and created one of the greatest political and healthy ground games in election history to get the better man elected. No talks of revolution...no hysterical rants about freedom...no dire warnings to spark militia minded people.

Just wait until another Oklahoma style bombing occurs from some unhinged right wing group. Maybe then some of the rethoric will subside. Maybe then they will realize how absurd they sound.

The Rights response to Obama has been as embarassing to witness as Bush's response to the world since 9-11. Thank god they can only bitch and complain about things at this point and lets hope it stays at that.

[jonboy79]

seriously??? The middle class just received a tax break.
The power and the wealth grab??? The was the last 8 years! The top 1% grew infinitely more wealthy while the rest of us endured less in wages...the first time the middle class saw a wage drop in decades.

Revolution??? You're scary dude. Put the tea bags down and do something good for the country instead of being so hysterical. Your answer completely reinforces the point of my post.

Tax Break? Please explain?

Have you been in the US the last 10 years?

The Bush yeats, were times when most americans had more disposable income then ever before. Consumerism exploded. The first 6 and a half years of his presidency was the best he economy has ever been. Obviously it was fake and bloated spending but that is another story.

The middle class is RAPIDLY decreasing in size every single day. It is scary.

You have it so wrong, Obama is the president whose policies are pandering to the uber- rich. The have's in our society are stealing our assets at drastically discounted prices.

It is you that is scarty dude. How can you sit by and smile and think everything is great? The Anerican dream is being taken from us, and you are happy?
Call me an alarmist, bur you are asleep at the wheel. But then again, you're a global warmist too. That says it all.

[HoustonRaven]

You only need to read the title of the post to see the box the left tries to paint the right into. The left loves it labels.

Bush used fear to to push The Patriot Act down our throats and now Obama is using fear to push through his policies. The left, calling for Bush's head when the deficit was growing, now are silent when Obama has tripled it in less then 100 days.

Beck describes himself as an entertainer. Much like the left tries to paint our pundits into this narrow boxes, Beck is now viewed by the left as "the rights new leader" as Carvell said on CNN last week. It's a tired tactic that only shows their fear of our gaining momentum.

And the gun debate intertwined in this thread is plain silly. A nut job is a nut job -- the tool he uses to cause his death is completely irrelevant. It's an emotionalistic response to a problem that requires a solution void of emotion.

Since FBI stats are being thrown around, the violent crime rate in areas that have liberal carry laws are well below areas of the country and have banned any sort of weapons carrying. Texas, Florida, Arizona are but 3 examples of areas of the country where the violent crime is nothing compared to say .... Pittsburgh for example.

[HoustonRaven]

"You never saw Keith Olberman (like Glenn Beck) talking about apocalyptic end of times."

Olberman in March of 2004: "And about Mr. Rumsfeld's other main assertion of that this country faces a new type of fascism as he was correct to remind us that a government that knew everything could get everything wrong. So too was he right when he said that. Though probably not in the way he thought he meant. This country faces a new type of fascism, indeed."

October 5, 2006 .... “A President who comes across as a compulsive liar is nothing less than terrifying ... [he] has savaged the very freedoms he claims to be protecting from attack through his terrifying attempt to hamstring the fundament of our freedom -- the Constitution -- a triumph for al Qaeda, for which the terrorists could not hope to achieve with a hundred 9/11's. You want to preserve one political party's power. And obviously you will sell this country out, to do it. These are lies about the Democrats, piled atop lies about Iraq, piled atop lies about your preparations for al Qaeda.” Here is video ...

And his finest gem ... Bush was responsible for 9-11 ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L25jjSyiyks

Now I read the same article Galen did in the New York Times .... the one that was pretty much word for word from his posts on this thread. But I found all three quotes above while waiting for my coffee to brew. Galen and the NYT were unable to find any. No wonder the paper is going in the dumps.

[Dade]

The first 6 and a half years of his presidency was the best he economy has ever been. Obviously it was fake and bloated spending but that is another story.

Have to disagree with that. The first 6 years were not the best the economy ever was. Check out this chart. There's a spike in 2003 because of the war.

[HoustonRaven]

Dade, the percent increase or decrease has nothing to do with the GDP of the country. Can you source that chart?

[Dade]

That chart came from a classmate who submitted it as part of paper. I'll email him to get his source. The way it was explained to me was that it shows the GDP growth percentage rate.