It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad Country: Special Comment by my 72-year-old friend

By GottaLaff

My impassioned 72-year-old Twitter pal, who goes by the name 42bkdodgr, would like to share his feelings about the increasingly worrisome (read: scary) events of late. I am more than happy to oblige.

But first, a personal note from 42bkdodgr:

Many of you may wonder why I chose to use the “ 72 year old friend” as the introduction to my Special Comments. I selected the moniker so readers could see that from my age and life experiences I give a different perspective to the issues of today.

Now for his Special Comment:

It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad Country

The last time I had such fear about what might happen to this country was during the Cuban Missile Crisis. That fear came from dealings with a foreign entity, the current fear is coming from sources within the country, which is far worse and scarier.

For almost the past two years we have heard and have had events such as “ He isn’t one of us”, He is un-American”, “There are members of Congress who are un-American”, “Death Panels”; “no terrorist attacks under Bush administration”, “ I want my country back”, Mob Rule at Town Hall meetings, Tea Party rallies with hateful signs and banners, the re-writing of history, words of nullification and many more incendiary remarks and events.

But, when I think things can’t get any scarier or crazier, they do.

During the last couple of weeks we have seen the following:

* The Governor of Virginia, Robert McDonnell declare April to be Confederate History Month. In his proclamation, he made no mention of slavery as a being one of the causes for the Civil War.

This is like Germany declaring April is Third Reich History Month and omitting any reference to the Holocaust.

While Gov. McDonnell amended his proclamation to include the slavery issue, the damage was done. Once said, the intent of what was in the original proclamation said is hard to take back.

*On April 13th the Oklahoma Tea Party announced, with support from State Senator Randy Brogdon, the possibility of creating a volunteer militia to be used to oppose the federal government and to protect against any infringements of state sovereignty.

Sen. Brogdon has since taken back that the militia would be used to oppose the government, but now says it will be used as a state force to support the National Guard during emergencies.

Again what was originally stated and its initial intent is hard to take back or how Oklahomans may relate to it.

* On April 13th, the Arizona house of Representatives passed a tough immigration law. The bill is expected to be passed by the State Senate and signed by the Governor.

The law when enacted would allow police to question anyone without cause who they believe may be an illegal alien. Sounds like the start of a police state to me.

What next Arizona, require citizens to wear a badge on their clothing to identify whether they are a U.S. citizen, registered alien, or here on a work visas?

* On April 19th, “Restore the Constitution”, an open carry-firearms rally, will be held in Virginia. The Oath Keepers-- an organization I’ve written about before-- which is made up of police officers and military personnel, announced it is withdrawing from the rally because of the events confrontational stance against the government. Their withdrawal should give one a moment of concern of what possibly could happen.

When you take all these events into consideration, we are truly becoming a Mad Mad Mad Mad Country; but its not like the movie “It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World”. In the movie there was mad car chase to find buried treasure, but what we have here is a mad chase to an abyss, from which this country will never get out of, should it ever fall into it.

The Republican leadership, (Boehner, Bachmann, and Palin) and the Right Wing Media ( Rush, Beck, Hannity, FOX News) let the teabagger genie out of the bottle and it's too late to be put back in. They all promoted the Teabaggers/Tea Party and they own it and are responsible for all the hate and violence that comes from it.

Its like the sign in a China Shop “ You broke it, you own it.”

Many thanks again for another thorough, relevant piece, 42bkdodgr. You often say what many of us are thinking and feeling, and we thank you for your unique perspective.

Washington man charged with threatening Sen. Murray

By GottaLaff

Here we go again. As we've posted here repeatedly, it just takes one extremist, one nutcase, one desperate person with the means (in this case, a gun) and motive (even a baseless one).

This time it was via voicemail from someone who had been harassing Senator Murray for months. He said it would take "just one piece of lead":

A Washington state man has been charged with threatening to kill Democratic Washington Sen. Patty Murray over her support for health care reform.

Court documents say federal agents arrested Charles Alan Wilson in Yakima on Tuesday.

Let's wait together as the GOP either blames Patty Murray for her preexisting Democratic condition, blames health care reform, blames President Obama, or calls it a figment of our imaginations. It shouldn't take long.

I bet Eric Cantor will be first.

VIDEO: FBI raids counties tied to Michigan militia group

By GottaLaff

Remember that Department of Homeland Security report that warned us about extremists?

So do I:

The violent right, however, is a particularly difficult problem for law enforcement. Since the early 1990s, the movement's theorists have promulgated the concept of the "unorganized resistance" conducted by "lone wolves." It's a tactic meant to prevent believers from joining organizations that undercover law enforcement agents might infiltrate. Adherents are urged to keep to themselves, to use the Internet to inform themselves and to avoid rallies where they might be photographed. They're also urged to act on their own.

At the same time, American extremists have the benefit of our lax gun laws. In most countries, would-be terrorists need to join groups in order to secure arms. Here, they can buy them by the carload at a nearby gun store. The NRA is the lone wolves' best friend.

All my previous posts on the report can be found here.

With that in mind, check out the not-Muslim, not-foreigners who are being raided:

The FBI conducted raids Saturday night in Washtenaw County and Lenawee County in an investigation involving members of Hutaree, a Christian-oriented militia group based in Lenawee County, AnnArbor.com has learned.

Other areas have been raided, too, but it is not clear if they are related. The Department of Homeland Security and the Joint Terrorism Task Force are all involved in the raids, and several arrests have been made.



Not a very comforting report, is it?

Once again, we are reminded of the 1990s, Waco, and Tim McVeigh. The climate is unsettling, and the language used by Tea Baggers, Republicans, and even our own Congress members is not helping. Nor are the attacks, both physical and verbal.

We need to hang on to reason and conversation. A lot of citizens are feeling very threatened, whether it's their fear of becoming a white minority, or genuine concerns about financial burdens, taxes, health care, the list goes on.

Whatever the issues are, violence is not the answer. The media and our government officials need to step forward and take the lead in strong denunciation of the irrational actions and words that have become all too prevalent of late.

AUDIO-The Michelangelo Signorile Show: Laffy on the Radio with Lizz Winstead

By GottaLaff

Here is the audio of the Michelangelo Signorile Show that I did with Lizz Winstead (in for Signorile).

It was a veritable Palinpalooza:



It was like two girlfriends chatting. Lizz is so gracious, so much fun, and I thank her again for inviting me to join her.

For the record, Not Joe the Not Plumber is no longer a McCain supporter. I took my info from a report that has since been corrected.

Major thank you to Tim Corrimal for grabbing this off Sirius/XM for me.

The Fuse Is Burning: Special Comment by my 72-year-old friend

By GottaLaff

My impassioned 72-year-old Twitter pal, who goes by the name 42bkdodgr, would like to share his feelings about something very worrisome (read: scary) that he feels is happening to America before our very eyes. I am more than happy to oblige.

But first, a personal note from 42bkdodgr:

Many of you may wonder why I chose to use the “ 72 year old friend” as the introduction to my Special Comments. I selected the moniker so readers could see that from my age and life experiences I give a different perspective to the issues of today.

Now for his Special Comment:

The Fuse Is Burning

Over the past few months I wrote several Special Comments about the growing hate in the United States:

Beginning of the End
It Can’t Happen Here
We’re Sitting on a Powder Keg
The Tumbling Boulder of Racism
The Mob Has Taken Over
It’s Happening Here

In The Mob Has Taken Over, I wrote:

“Until the moderates regain control of the Republican Party and denounce the antics, words and actions of the tea baggers, Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, Palin and Bachmann the hatred will continue and the division in the country will only get wider.”

In The Beginning of the End, I concluded with the following sentence:

“I hope it doesn’t take a climatic event to bring this great country back to its senses”.

In It Can’t Happen Here, I stated:

“If HCR is passed, the hatred will intensify; if it is defeated the haters will become bolder in their action.”

After watching cable and network news this week, I believe the above statements are even more relevant today than they were a few months ago.

It's not a good sign when in one news day you have :

* the former Republican Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain stating to the effect he has no intention of cooperating in any way for the rest of the year.

* the former Republican Vice President candidate Sarah Palin uses the word “reload” and the rifle “cross hair” symbol to identify those Democratic candidates who voted in favor health care reform as targets in the forth coming November election.

* Rep. Louie Gohmert proposing to eliminate the right of U.S. citizens to elect Senators.

* Reports of numerous Democratic offices, from N.Y. to Arizona, having their windows broken from thrown rocks or gun shots.

* A Militia leader telling his followers to get their rifles cleaned and ready.

These statements and acts are intended to rile the far right base of the Republican Party, and at the same time it moves the lit fuse closer to the powder keg.

I know if the powder keg should ever explode, the Republican leadership will react in the same manner as the police captain in the movie Casablanca, “I’m shocked" that there is so much hatred in the country.

I find it somewhat ironic that members of the Republican Party, who like to promote themselves as the party of law and order, always like to use words that can incite fear and violence.

So I beseech you Michael Steele, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell as leaders of the Republican Party, if you consider yourselves patriotic Americans, now is the time for you to denounce the hate and rhetoric coming from within your own party, the Tea Party movement, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and the far right media of our country, as time is running out before the powder keg explodes.

Its time to move your party in a different direction, not only for the safety of American citizens because the future of our nation may rest in your hands.

Many thanks again for another thorough, relevant piece, 42bkdodgr. You often say what many of us are thinking and feeling, and we thank you for your unique perspective

It's Happening Here: Special Comment by my 72-year-old friend

By GottaLaff


My impassioned 72-year-old Twitter pal, who goes by the name 42bkdodgr, would like to share his feelings about something very worrisome (read: scary) that he feels is happening to America before our very eyes. I am more than happy to oblige.

But first, a personal note from 42bkdodgr:

Many of you may wonder why I chose to use the “ 72 year old friend” as the introduction to my Special Comments. I selected the moniker so readers could see that from my age and life experiences I give a different perspective to the issues of today.

Now for his Special Comment:

It Is Happening Here

Several months ago I wrote a Special Comment (“ It Can’t Happen Here”) about the growing hate I saw emerging at the Town Hall meetings and whether the foundation for a fascist type movement has begun in this country.

I’m sorry to report that the hate and militia groups are in full force and growing. Recently, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) published a report (Rage on the Right) that stated there was a 244% increase in the number of active Patriot Groups in 2009. Their numbers grew from 149 groups in 2008 to 512 in 2009, with 363 new groups in the past year.

There are 512 Patriots Groups in the country located in all fifty states and the District of Columbia, with the largest number being in Texas (52) and Michigan (47).

Those organizations in the Patriot Group include, The John Birch Society, Oath Keepers, Constitution Party, We The People, and We Are Change. Besides these groups, we have seen the re-emergence of the KKK, Skin Heads and other white supremacists groups.

We all know what drives the Birchers, KKK and skin heads: their hatred of African Americans, Catholics, Jews, gays, immigrants, and minorities in general.

The Oath Keepers is quite different from the other groups.

According to their internet site, Oath Keepers, consists of those currently serving in the military, reservists, National Guard, veterans and peace officers. Their oath is to defend the constitution, but they will not obey orders they believe are unconstitutional and therefore unlawful.

They have identified 10 orders they have deemed as being unlawful and will not obey, such orders as: (1) to disarm the American people, (2) to conduct wireless searches of the American people, (3) to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty and (4) to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.

All of the above, sounds to me as fears of conspiracies and paranoia all rolled into one.

The SPLC states what makes this era different from the 1990s rise of hate groups is “the movements central ideas are being promoted by people with large audiences, such as Fox News Glenn Beck and U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachmann. You can also include Pat Buchanan and Lou Dobbs who have praised the Oath Keepers organization.

In other disturbing news, this week the Texas Board of Education, in their attempt to rewrite history, has endorsed many changes to the states’ school textbooks. Their recommendations will not only affect students in Texas, but students in many other states whose Board of Education use their textbooks.

The lasting effect of the textbook changes will not be felt for many years, until those in first grade being taught under the new curriculum graduate from high school and enter college.

In October, I wrote an article titled "Separation of Church and State", in which I stated that one of the goals of the right wing conservatives was to become heavily involved with school boards. We are now seeing the effect of them controlling educational school boards.

Among the changes recommended by the Texas Board are :

(a) removal of Thomas Jefferson ( author of the Declaration of Independence) from the Texas curriculum on Enlightenment thinking and replacing him with religious right icon John Calvin

(b) that students not be required to learn the Constitution (which prevents the U.S. government from promoting one religion over all others) and that the founding fathers had not sought a separation of state and church

( c) a reference to the Second Amendment right to bear arms in a section about citizenship in a U.S. government class

(d) to replace the word “capitalism” (because it has a negative connotation) with “free enterprise system”

When you consider that David Barton of WallBuilders is a Texas Board of Education member, you start to get a sense of what is going on here.

David Barton believes the “separation of church and state is a myth” and that our founding fathers wanted this country to be a theocracy governed by Christian principles.

What we are seeing is the Texas form of book burning, by its rewriting the history of our country in their school textbooks. One has to wonder what will be next: eliminating certain authors from the school libraries, not allowing discussions of contrary points of view, the possible censorship of non-pornography internet sites in school libraries and workshops?

We are in very frightening times, and when you take into consideration the growth of hate groups and the action taken Texas Board of Education and the effect they are having and will have on this country, you begin to see we are heading down a very slippery slope toward a militant theocracy.

It is time for the majority of Americans to wake up and see who is truly stealing the country from us, and I want it back.

Many thanks again for another thorough, relevant piece, 42bkdodgr. You often say what many of us are thinking and feeling, and we thank you for your unique perspective

Audio- Beck says Sens. Graham and McConnell have "put on a skirt and heels and started sounding like Nancy Pelosi"

A little close to home, donchathink?

Facebook page: Haiti Haters

By GottaLaff

UPDATE #3, they changed their title to conform to rules so they wouldn't get deleted. Preach hate? Sure. As long as you don't say the F word:


UPDATE #2: They're back, with 1,163 members. (H/t: Alan Colmes)

UPDATE: Looks like our reporting this to FB worked. The link below now sends us to the home screen.

Original post:

I wasn't going to post today, but this came to me from my radio host/pal Angie Coiro, and it needs exposure.

Click on image to enlarge, then feel free to report them and should you feel the urge, leave appropriate comments.

One thing that bothered me, other than the page itself, was the number of members.


I wonder how many of these cretins are so-called Family Value types. Love thy neighbor, right Christians?

Darin Beaudreau You people should see all the hate mail I'm getting. To top it off, they all seem to be fond of blocking me after sending a message so I can't respond... Ahahahah... oh, and... FUCK HAITI!

Fuck The Haiti Earthquake Photos

Yesterday at 10:17pm · View Feedback (15)Hide Feedback (15) · Share

Darin Beaudreau likes this.

Alan Tracy

Darin I'm doing more than just dropping this group...I have an organized effort going on right now to get not only the group banned but each of you individually.

about an hour ago

Darin Beaudreau

Feel free to try... we haven't broken Facebook policy, and the most Facebook can do is to ask us to stop.

about an hour ago

[...]

Kelsey Beckmen

This is the last one. I can't stomach an more:

Cherry Marie Annenkov

Justices block broadcast of gay marriage trial

Hmph, actually what they're worried about is that the witnesses will sound and look like bigoted neanderthals.

SAN FRANCISCO - The Supreme Court on Monday blocked a broadcast of the trial on California’s same-sex marriage ban, at least for the first few days.

The federal trial is scheduled to begin later Monday in San Francisco. It will consider whether the Proposition 8 gay marriage ban approved by California voters in November 2008 is legal.

The high court on Monday said it will not allow video of the trial to be posted on YouTube.com, even with a delay, until the justices have more time to consider the issue. It said that Monday’s order will be in place at least until Wednesday.

Opponents of the broadcast say they fear witness testimony might be affected if cameras are present. Justice Stephen Breyer said he would have allowed cameras while the court considers the matter.

Losing NY-23 is "what we set out to do—crush the establishment-based GOP candidate”

By GottaLaff

Meet Erick Erickson

We've all heard of Dumb and Dumber. Meet Sick and Sicker:

[Erick] Erickson, who runs the influential Web site RedState.com, drew fire on Wednesday from Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, after Erickson expressed glee over the outcome of New York’s hotly contested 23rd Congressional District race. With help from Sarah Palin and Dick Armey, Erickson had led the online charge to drive the GOP favorite, Dede Scozzafava, from the race, believing her to be too moderate. Erickson’s preferred candidate went on to lose to a Democrat—handing the GOP its first loss in this Adirondacks-based district in more than 100 years. Erickson nonetheless declared victory, saying he’d done “exactly what we set out to do—crush the establishment-based GOP candidate.”

Hear that establishment-based GOP? I love the smell of Rushpublic civil war in the morning.

Now let's see what kind of guy good ol' Erick McErickErick is:

[A]t times his red-meat rhetoric has gotten him into trouble on the local and national stage. After he wrote on Twitter that retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter was “the only goatf---ing child molester to ever serve on the Supreme Court,” he told the local Macon Telegraph that he regretted the remark, although he “felt good at the time saying it.”

Erickson said he knows he sometimes crossed the line, “but at the same time you do want to excite and inspire on your own side.”

Thriving on uncivil instant gratification is so mature.

And how reassuring for our country to know that "his side" is excited and inspired by filth.

Imagine if a Democrat had said those words about Scalia.

And then imagine if after we did, we said this:

[...] "I know I’m right,” he said. “I’m talking to my own side, rallying the troops to take action. I want to make things happen. I want to blow things up and get things done.”

Erick is a sad example of the miserable, hateful bunch is trying to breathe life into a dying party. How ironic that he, and those like him, will succeed at nothing more than killing it.

"You should go to some city that's a little more Klan friendly"

By GottaLaff

Mr. Laffy went to the market today. As he entered, he noticed a tall, young, blond-haired man and a spaced-out-looking twentysomething woman standing next to a poster of Obama. The poster read, "I've changed", and depicted President Obama with a Hitler mustache. The young man rattled on, saying something about Lyndon LaRouche, but Mr. Laffy was so put off that he cut him short.

One reason (other than the obvious) Mr. Laffy was so taken aback was that this was a highly unusual occurrence in our neck of the woods. The guy wanted to talk to him some more, but Mr. Laffy interrupted with, "I don't talk to people who have pictures of Obama with a Hitler mustache."

Hitler Guy retorted, brimming with wit, "Well, then he should shave it!"

Mr. Laffy SO wanted to mock him with, "Well if you like it so much, why don't you marry it?" But he took the high road.

Instead, Mr. Laffy retorted, "You picked the wrong town to put up a picture like that. You should go to some city that's a little more Klan friendly," and went inside to shop. As he walked away, he heard the blond man say, "A lot of people are listening to us."

Mr. L went straight to the store manager and told him that he hated being accosted like that, and could he do anything? The manager said, "There's no law against it, we can't prevent them from standing there. Maybe if enough people complain to the county supervisor or other local representative, maybe they could pass some kind of law."

While we wait for that to happen, wingnuts continue to hang out at our grocery stores and harass people with their vile hatred.

Happy Saturday.

VIDEO: 4th-Grader To Obama: Why Do People Hate You?

By GottaLaff

(Sorry for the double video... I can't seem to get around that)

Via TPM:

It took an astute fourth-grader to have the courage to ask that question right out loud in front of the whole wide world.

Had this been at a Rushpublic town hall meeting, or some corporate astroturfy tea tantrum event, the poor kid would have been assaulted with nasty, vicious words, and quite possibly, with lethal weapons.

Good thing it was a friendly crowd of fellow Marxists.

VIDEO- Reggae song advocates shooting gays in head, setting them on fire

By GottaLaff



You know, I was just sitting here telling myself, Self? I said, what we haven't had enough of lately is hate speech. Where the heck is some good ol' down home bigotry when you need it? And before I could answer myself, look what Paddy sent along:

Several gay-rights groups are protesting a Halloween-night concert at a city of Miami-owned hall by Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton, whose hit song "Boom Bye Bye" advocates shooting gays in the head and setting them on fire.

"The message is that gay people's lives are cheap, and that harming gay people is OK," said Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida, a statewide gay-rights group calling for the concert to be canceled. "Any time a message of violence and hatred against any group is put out there, it has to be challenged."

[...] His South Florida promoter, Andrew Minott of Global Vybz Entertainment, says Banton, 36, stopped singing "Boom Bye Bye" years ago. [...]

A YouTube video, however, shows Banton singing "Boom Bye Bye" during a May 2006 concert at Bicentennial Park in downtown Miami.

If Glenn Blech shows up on the Tee Vee Machine years from now, he'll still be Glenn Blech.

Minott:

"It's a dance hall phrase, 'Let's murder him. Murder the boy over there,'" Minott said. "It's not literal. It's figurative."

So, using Minott's own logic, if I say F you to someone, that's figurative too, right? It's certainly not literal, because, see, it's a physical impossibility. Okay, Andrew, what I'm really saying is, that argument sucks.

But hey, I'll try to be open-minded. Maybe Banton's sharing the bill with someone who will suffice as a sort of counter balance, something to soothe the resentment, someone who can calm the waters a little:

Scheduled to share the bill with Banton: Beenie Man, whose song titles include "(Batty Man Fi Dead) Queers must be killed."

Or not.

UPDATE: Looks like Tallahassee succeeded in petitioning him right off that stage he likes to share. (H/t: WeeLaura)

VIDEO: How to become a nasty, vicious bigot

By GottaLaff

Everyone in these two posts should watch this very powerful video, think very hard about who they are, and then watch it again:



This was like, as one of the kids said in the video, a punch in the gut.

It's way too easy to instill hate.

H/t: BoneKnightmare

Obama Art Causes Controversy

Personally, I think it's very unattractive, but I think the major problem "someone" sees with this is what I call the "Triple N" factor. Ask someone point blank what their problem with the president is and eventually you will get the truth, "N****r, n****r, n****r."

For the past 50 years, Sydney Wiathe says art has been his passion, particularly woodwork. With several pieces displayed across the Las Vegas valley, Waithe says he's always heard good feedback about his work.

That was until an unsuspecting phone call came from the management company of a building downtown. That's where Waithe has a sculpture of President Barack Obama on display. They want him to remove the piece.

"Why? I don't know why. But I would just like to know who are these people and what's the reason they are offending by a sitting president," he said.

(snip)

But Waithe says only the president's sculpture appears to be the issue. "It's really strange. How could a sculpture upset somebody so bad," he said.

The building's management company declined comment, but did confirm they've received at least two complaints about the art. They wouldn't say if it was by customers or workers in the building. "This is a private building. I don't want my pictures or my sculptor to offend anybody," he said.

It Can’t Happen Here: Today's Special Comment by my 72-year-old friend

By GottaLaff

Pam Pilger

I have a very caring, impassioned Twitter pal who goes by the name 42bkdodgr, who shares his feelings about recent events here at TPC from time to time. I always welcome his submissions, because he always has wonderful insights.

His latest effort concerns anti-Semitism and the recent increase in other expressions of hate we're all too aware of (examples can be found here and here).

Take it away, 42bkdodgr:

In past comments I wrote about the growing hate, racism and the erosion of our democracy in this country. Recent events have shown me it is still growing.

In the past week we have seen protesters (1) displaying swastikas, (2) showing pictures of President Obama in Nazi like uniform, calling him a Hitler, depicted him as the Joker, (3) armed (legally) with pistols and assault weapons in the crowd and (4) mob rule at Town Hall meetings.

But today I saw a video that made my blood boil. At a town hall meeting, an Israeli Jew was being interviewed. He was explaining to the reporter the benefits and treatment received under Israel’s health care system. A woman in the crowd began to yell “Heil Hitler” at the Israeli. The Israeli was shocked and said to the woman “How can you call me that, I’m a Jew?!”

If there is one thing that gets a Jew extremely upset is the display of the swastika and the Hitler salute. I have had the swastika sign etched into two cars I had parked in my driveway on New Year’s Eve some years ago, so I have experienced this first hand.

Some may say these demonstrators are just ignorant or kooks, to which I respond, that’s what they said about Adolph Hitler and his goons in 1933.

This hatred may go on for the next few years, because whether the Health Care Reform Bill is passed or not, the hate will continue. If HCR is passed, the hatred will intensify; if it is defeated the haters will become bolder in their actions. It’s a no-win situation.

Until such time the Republicans act with some back bone and tell the conservative media, the hate and misinformation they are spewing and encouraging mob rule only splits this country farther apart. This is not how a democracy works.

While I titled my comment “It Can’t Happen Here”, I’m beginning to believe the foundation for it to happen has begun.

Well done and thank you, 42bkdodgr, that needed to be said.

Video- Fear Of A Black President: Conservative Media Drumming Up Racial Fear

Seems to go along quite well with TPM's latest article, Obama-Haters Becoming Increasingly...Racial In Their Rhetoric. It's starting to be much more blatant. Via Media Matters.

Hatred and the far right

By GottaLaff

Nightmare, indeed:

We're not talking here about mere conservative Republicans. This is the lunatic right, for whom the election of Barack Obama was much more than a political defeat: It was a racial and existential nightmare. If he can succeed, if no catastrophe or deprivation of rights ensues, then these people have feared and plotted and hated in vain. [...]

Still, it's clear that something is stirring this peculiarly American cesspool in ways that haven't occurred since the mid-1990s, when an upsurge in activity among so-called militia groups culminated in the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, the deadliest terrorist incident on American soil until 9/11.

Rumors that the new Obama administration secretly planned to seize people's firearms surged through the Internet, which nowadays links extremists like a kind of fevered nervous system, and fueled a run on gun stores that stock assault weapons. [...]

The violent right, however, is a particularly difficult problem for law enforcement. Since the early 1990s, the movement's theorists have promulgated the concept of the "unorganized resistance" conducted by "lone wolves." It's a tactic meant to prevent believers from joining organizations that undercover law enforcement agents might infiltrate. Adherents are urged to keep to themselves, to use the Internet to inform themselves and to avoid rallies where they might be photographed. They're also urged to act on their own.

At the same time, American extremists have the benefit of our lax gun laws. In most countries, would-be terrorists need to join groups in order to secure arms. Here, they can buy them by the carload at a nearby gun store. The NRA is the lone wolves' best friend.

Two months ago, the Republican National Committee and many conservative commentators went into paroxysms of rage over a report by the Department of Homeland Security drawing attention to the potential terrorist threat of resurgent right-wing extremism. The department ended up apologizing for noting the extremist underground's attempts to recruit returning military personnel. (All three of the men involved in the Oklahoma City bombing met and developed their convictions while serving in the Army.) As the body count mounts, the department may want to reconsider that apology.

Hate means never having to say you're sorry.

Republicans Reach Bottom Of Barrel, Keep Digging

This is the "ad" they put out in the fight against the Hate Crimes Bill aka The Matthew Shepard Act. You know, the one that Virginny Foxx is all aflutter over. What Pam said-

The fact is that during debate over this bill the GOP tried to add all sorts of demographic groups that also haven't been the target of hate crimes, like pregnant women, senior citizens, etc. in order to try to derail the legislation -- it didn't work. But you see, 2010 is coming up quickly and the party has no ideas to help out Congressional candidates.

Considering the party's history of enabling and even promoting the pedophiles, rapists, serial adulterers, and sexual predators in its midst, all while projecting piety, it would be refreshing to see the Republicans to actually try to win on the issues. However, this level of desperation shows that they don't think they can sell their ideas to anyone, so it's back to the tried-and-true, garden variety extremist scare-tactic, fear-and-smear lies.

Anti-Immigrant Wishes Swine Flu on Obama

By GottaLaff

Via DKos:

Barbara Cole lives in my home town, in Orange County, California. [...] [N]ow she's at it again, hoping that Obama is stricken with the swine flu that conservatives are blaming on immigrants. Her recent email reminds me of Falwell's cursing of gays with AIDS when she says:

"As many Christians have often spoken, 'The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways,'"

"Wouldn't it be even MORE interesting if some of the anti-American - pro-illegal alien AMNESTY traitors (posing as U.S. elected officials) who just visited Mexico, also contracted this disease and shared it with THEIR loved ones? We wonder if they would still vote for 'Open Borders'?"

It seems hard to blame the cases in the US on Mexican immigrants. Several of the clusters are US student migrants who have returned to the US FROM Mexico. If you're interested in Ms. Cole's histrionics you can find some background here.

Those compassionate conservatives are everywhere, aren't they? Open up that big tent, Rushpublics! Throw a few more Tea Tantrums, wish death on your fellow Americans, and enjoy the results.

H/t: Dr. President