The Truth Recognized by Someone
I want to express my gratitude to E. J. Dionne at Politico for writing a piece which I am going to take the liberty of quoting from at some length:
Once again, the weak Democrats have been bullied by the threat of endless Republican attacks into denying this guy's obvious right wing bent, and the clear connection between the violent rhetoric which has become a standard tool of Republicans, and acts like this. It is absolutely clear that Loughner and others like him have been influenced by the deliberate incitement which passes for political dialogue from a party that knows it cannot win the votes of the American people by being honest about its corporatist, everything-for-the-rich agenda. So it has perfected the art of using the same vicious tone which causes these acts in the first place, to scare off anyone who wants to see the truth told. And with Democrats, it works.
"...in the past week, the question of whether a carefully planned assassination attempt on a member of the United States Congress might have had anything to do with politics has been mocked into oblivion. Well, let’s see. The dominant theme of Loughner’s ravings was suspicion of the government. He apparently didn’t believe in paper money and thought only gold has value. He believed the government was responsible for Sept. 11. And so on. This is not a random collection of nutty opinions. There is a theme to it, and it is not simply that the guy was crazy.
"... we live in a political atmosphere in which nutty views (President Obama isn’t a U.S. citizen.) and alarming rhetoric (“Second Amendment remedies” are the answer to disappointment at the ballot box.) are widespread and often go unrebutted. The suggestion, finally, is that the right is largely responsible for a political atmosphere in which extreme thoughts are more likely to take root and flower.
But all of this is now too uncivil to bring up. So wherever could Loughner have gotten his paranoid contempt for government? Who told him that the government was this hulking, all-powerful “other” determined to control and ruin his life? Official answer: He’s crazy! What more do you need to know?"
"... we live in a political atmosphere in which nutty views (President Obama isn’t a U.S. citizen.) and alarming rhetoric (“Second Amendment remedies” are the answer to disappointment at the ballot box.) are widespread and often go unrebutted. The suggestion, finally, is that the right is largely responsible for a political atmosphere in which extreme thoughts are more likely to take root and flower.
But all of this is now too uncivil to bring up. So wherever could Loughner have gotten his paranoid contempt for government? Who told him that the government was this hulking, all-powerful “other” determined to control and ruin his life? Official answer: He’s crazy! What more do you need to know?"
Once again, the weak Democrats have been bullied by the threat of endless Republican attacks into denying this guy's obvious right wing bent, and the clear connection between the violent rhetoric which has become a standard tool of Republicans, and acts like this. It is absolutely clear that Loughner and others like him have been influenced by the deliberate incitement which passes for political dialogue from a party that knows it cannot win the votes of the American people by being honest about its corporatist, everything-for-the-rich agenda. So it has perfected the art of using the same vicious tone which causes these acts in the first place, to scare off anyone who wants to see the truth told. And with Democrats, it works.
Comments