The Right Is Going Crazy

With all of my experience of the American right and with all of my cynicism, I must confess that I was totally unprepared for the avalanche of hatred, irrationality and barely suppressed hunger for violence that the recent shooting of Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has produced. I have found it impossible to expose myself for more than a few minutes to the ugly ranting coming from all segments of the right. 

The mainstream press has of course totally collaborated with them, ignoring the clear indications (which I presented in a post a couple of days ago) that Loughner was an adherent of the Sovereign Citizen movement- a right wing faction which has been responsible for numerous acts of violence in recent years, including last May's murder of two policemen by a Sovereign Citizen leader named Jerry Kane.  Instead, the press is willingly buying into the notion, desperately being peddled by the right, that Loughner was just a crazy person, and that there is no wider political dimension to his acts.

The right's inevitably coordinated attacks come in a two pronged form.  First, they viciously attack anyone who dares to suggest that their years' long campaign to demonize the left, filled constantly with violent emotions, has anything to do with the actions of people who they have licensed to carry out this conduct.  And second, in a disconnect that would be laughable if lives were not at stake, they engage in the most grotesque demonization of the left as the alleged real source of the antigovernment violence which plagues our country. 

I just don't have the willpower to adequately document this widespread phenomenon, but here are a couple of things that couldn't escape my attention today:

First, Sarah Palin.  What did we do to be cursed with this violent and utterly unprincipled demagogue?  Of course, the narcissistic Sarah is using this incident to 1. turn attention toward herself and 2. portray herself as somehow the real victim of the climate of violence which she works so hard to maintain.  Sarah has this to say:

"... journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn."

I want to spend some time unpacking this short sentence.  First of all, there is the notion of the "blood libel," which is all over the right wing world today.  For those of you who are unaware, the blood libel is a thousand year old anti-Semitic claim that Jews kill Christian babies to use their blood to make matzot for Passover.  For Palin, holding her responsible for her words is equivalent to a thousand year murderous campaign of oppression.  And don't forget the sick irony of this claim, in light of the fact that this crime involved someone we can presume to have been raised as a Christian, killing a Jew.

And, purveying the notion that she and the other purveyors of violence are the real victims, she openly threatens that any discussion of what is really going on in this country will be met with more hatred and violence, which we all know she will be working to generate.  I'm sorry if it offends someone to hear this, but this threat is exactly what made the Sturmabteilung work in the late 20's and early 30's. 

And here is a sample of this mentality at work:

"A nasty battle between factions of Legislative District 20 Republicans and fears that it could turn violent in the wake of what happened in Tucson on Saturday prompted District Chairman Anthony Miller and several others to resign.

Miller, a 43-year-old Ahwatukee Foothills resident and former campaign worker for U.S. Sen. John McCain, was re-elected to a second one-year term last month. He said constant verbal attacks after that election and Internet blog posts by some local members with Tea Party ties made him worry about his family's safety.
"I wasn't going to resign but decided to quit after what happened Saturday," Miller said. "I love the Republican Party but I don't want to take a bullet for anyone."


And this guy is a Republican, not a Socialist, Communist, Muslim Terrorist loving Democrat.  Oh, in the interest of full disclosure, I suppose you should know that Miller is black.

See?  Sarah Palin's tactics work.

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