There wasn’t a Billy left in the hills on Saturday, when tens of thousands of anti-government types, gun nuts, white supremacists, religious zealots, tax evaders and crazies streamed into Washington. It was pure delirium, as the National Mall resembled a sanitarium.
In a sea of American (and many Confederate) flags waved by more than a few secessionists, Obama was pictured as Hitler and portrayed as Stalin. The federal government was likened to an alien invader run by an illegitimate, foreign-born black president, who just happened to be elected by the American people.
I wish I could say that this unruly behavior is an anomaly, but it seems to be a growing and vocal part of the Republican Party. In the 1980′s, Rev. Jerry Falwell and Ralph Reed used direct mail and talk radio to organize what were previously known as busybodies into the Moral Majority. Today’s GOP has harnessed the power of the Internet and cable television to lure the loons and create a constituency of crackpots.
The result has been disastrous for this nation. Our healthcare system is broken and we are rated near the bottom when compared to nearly every other industrialized country. We pay more per person for healthcare and we live shorter lives. There is instability, as families often go broke when a loved one falls ill and there is insecurity because losing a job means forfeiting coverage. American businesses are saddled with growing healthcare costs, which make it more difficult to compete in the global marketplace.
Yet, instead of an adult conversation about an issue that is crippling our nation, our dimmest citizens have derailed the debate. These out-of-control, severely under medicated, surreptitious partisans hijacked town hall meetings and may cost the rest of us decent healthcare reform. Obama’s powerful speech last week helped mitigate the damage, but having frittered away the summer, it may be too late for the president to regain momentum.
At fault is the media — who routinely offer right wing sickos a stage to air the most outrageous allegations. Max Blumenthal, author of the new book, “Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party”, discussed the media’s culpability last week on National Public Radio.
“The mainstream media attempts this veneer of balance of entertaining both sides,” said Blumenthal. “But when one side is completely hysterical, conspiratorial, and leveling baseless attacks, should it be taken seriously? And what are the consequences for taking these attacks seriously in a democracy?”
The result, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), is an explosion of militias and hate groups. In a new report, the SPLC documents at least, “50 new militia training groups — one of them made up of present and former police officers and soldiers.”
“Almost a decade after largely disappearing from public view, right-wing militias, ideologically driven tax defiers and sovereign citizens are appearing in large numbers around the country,” says the report. The bizarre theories include:
1) Nativist theories about secret Mexican plans to “reconquer” the American Southwest
2) A secret network of U.S. concentration camps to imprison “patriots” who stand up to the federal government
If these were just harmless blowhards, that would be one thing. The problem is, these nuts are heavily armed and are a staple at shows that hawk firearms. SPLC reports that, “Sales of guns and ammunition have skyrocketed amid fears of new gun control laws, much as they did in the 1990s.”
Unless the media culture changes, there will be another Oklahoma City-type disaster or even an assassination attempt on our President. Responsible media outlets must stop offering platforms to serial distorters such as Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck. The next time Sarah Palin makes up a lie, such as death panels, the story should be about how she twisted the truth. Not a single story should be written or broadcast giving legs to the lies and allowing mistruths to run amok.
Thanks to the press winking and nodding to the nuts, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) felt empowered to heckle the President during his healthcare speech. More disturbing are reports that say many people in Wilson’s district applaud his sophomoric actions.
Clearly, it is time we stop calling these people “conservatives.” True conservatives, who believe in respecting authority and protocol, would have been appalled at the example Wilson set for children. After all, how can young people be expected to obey parents and teachers when the president is catcalled in the halls of Congress?
I’ve had it with such antics. This crowd destabilized Bill Clinton’s presidency. Then, they stole the 2000 election, by sending partisan thugs down to South Florida to disrupt the recount. Now, the paranoiacs are in a full-blown panic over the first black president.
This fight is no longer about healthcare, nor is about deficits. It is about the very health of the political process and turning back the deficit in decency exemplified by Joe Wilson, Sarah Palin and the demagogues out to undermine our system of government.
Tags: Ann Coulter, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Glenn Beck, Joe Wilson, Max Blumenthal, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Southern Poverty Law Center, the media23 Comments »
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wayne
it really must stick in your craw to see conservatives
yes conservatives having the audacity (no pun intended)
to excersize thier constitutional right to assemble
and protest. This may come as a complete shock
to you, but the right to protest is not the exclusive
purview of liberals. While I do not nesessarily
agree with every one who was in D.C., I do know
that most of those there were concerned citizens
expressing thier dismay at what Obama has and is
doing. You are so blinded by your left wing
idealogy and your infatuation with obama, that you
refuse to see that he has added trillions to
the national debt, and in fact had to admit that
he was wrong in his debt projection. I also do
not apologize for Joe Wilson, but do I really need
to remind you of the boorish and disrectful
way the democrats in congress treated Gearge
Bush during his speeches( hilary clinton rolling
her eyes, for example). Wayne, you are the paranoid
one here, if you think that just because we conservatives are protesting that obama might
be assinated, or that there will be another
oklahoma city bombing. I for one am getting very tired
of you and your fellow liberal left wing buddies
little games of guilt by association. You seek
to paint us all with the same brush, sorry but that
just does’nt wash. Finally wayne, I attended
our protest here in great falls, mt, and I have to
tell you that the people there do not fit your
hateful and ludicriss discriptions, in fact,
for example one was a parent who was there with
he family, she was there because like every parent
there she was very concerned with what was happening
with the goverment and she was protesting because
she did not want her children to be saddled with
a $90,000 share of the national debt(according to
latest projections) by the time they reach
college. That’s what motiviates her. In fact
wayne, that is what all the protesters had in common
so for you to treat them the way you do is hateful,
childish, and narrow minded. When you spew your
hateful bile like this, you lose all credibility
and respectability.
Comment by brad anderson — September 15, 2009 @ 2:46 am
I love the way radical conservative activists revile decent Americans for speaking up against the indecent antics and spectacles we have seen at town halls and around the country.
Yes, everyone has the right to protest. No one is disputing that. But when the protests are based on anger created by lies, something is wrong. I don’t mind people protesting with real grievances. But when they start protesting death panels, paid abortion on demand, a Muslim president, an illegitimate president, socialism, nazis, etc., it becomes a theater of the absurd. Mr. Anderson may call this “freedom of assembly,” but I call it what it is: an attempt to sabotage the President in order to comply with the Republican god Rush Limbaugh’s desire to see the President fail. When someone is killed, watch how quickly Mr. Anderson and his fellow protesters wash their hands of all involvement even though they are the ones inciting it.
Comment by Michael — September 15, 2009 @ 3:07 am
Brad Anderson’s choice of language and tone merely confirms Wayne Besen’s characterization of the paranoid reactionaries.
Comment by Michael Airhart — September 15, 2009 @ 8:21 am
Dude, have you forgotten the words of your master:
The First Amendment guarantees us all the right to express our views and be heard by our elected officials. For years, the ACLU has fought the White House policy of shielding the president from dissent. The First Amendment protects the right to free speech, but that right is undermined if protesters can’t be heard. http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/protest/index.html
OMG it’s from the ACLU!
Comment by Mediaspin — September 15, 2009 @ 9:25 am
Brad Anderson says: “I also do not apologize for Joe Wilson.”
Need I say more?
Media Spin talks about the First Amendment. I had no idea the First Amendment guarantees us all shows on Fox News. Actually, people should have the right to free speech but with that comes responsibility. The cable channels, however, have the right to keep irresponsible people off the air. The broadcast networks used to do a goo job, for the most most part, at weeding out nutjobs. But, unfortunately, that has changed.
False speech under the guise of free speech is harming this country. People are free to speak, but should be accountable for their lies.
Comment by Wayne Besen — September 15, 2009 @ 9:47 am
A DEFICIT IN DECENCY, according to Wayne…
* hillbillies
* anti-government types
* gun nuts
* white supremacists
* religious zealots
* tax evaders
* crazies
* resembled a sanitarium
* out of control
* severely under medicated
* surreptitious partisans
* right wing sickos
* hate groups
* tax defiers
* sovereign citizens
* nativist theories
* heavily armed nuts
* serial distorters
* the nuts
* partisan thugs
* paranoiacs
“the deficit in decency exemplified by Joe Wilson, Sarah Palin and the demagogues out to undermine our system of government.”
Yep, there is definitely a decency deficit – thanks for pointing it out SO clearly Wayne.
Comment by Gay Christian 101 — September 15, 2009 @ 12:52 pm
Rick, do you deny that many of those adjectives are accurate? Which ones?
Comment by Michael Airhart — September 15, 2009 @ 3:09 pm
Yeah, I think Wayne did a good job too.
Comment by Emily K — September 15, 2009 @ 3:10 pm
Rick,
Your site’s home page says:
“We are authentic Bible-believers, swimming against the tide of Bible rejecting theological liberalism, upholding the truth of God’s inerrant, infallible word.”
Reasonable, rational, theologically sound people oppose various Biblical writers’ opposition to individual liberty, their endorsement of polygamy and the slaughter of innocents, their historical inaccuracies, their prejudiced mischaracterizations of rival tribes, and descriptions of the creation which are contrary to basic facts of geology, astronomy, and genetics.
Your rejection of reason and your use of “liberalism” (liberty and free thought) as an epithet leave me wondering whether you have some planks to remove from thine eye.
Comment by Michael Airhart — September 15, 2009 @ 3:18 pm
Gay Christian:
I think I was quite easy on those folks. Their actions, words and signs speak volumes. The very fact they
1) Draw Hitler mustaches on Obama
2) Call him a socialist and communist
3) Actually believe in death panels
make them ignorant whack jobs. If you believe in these things, you are also nuts (or just dumb).
Sorry, if you don’t appreciate reality – but many of us still believe in facts. This disgusting movement to undermine the president is a disgrace to our nation. It is unfortunate if you find the truth painful.
Comment by Wayne Besen — September 15, 2009 @ 6:06 pm
The whole world knows the GOP has a screw loose
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/09/12/the_extreme_republican_party/?page=1
Comment by Wayne Besen — September 15, 2009 @ 9:00 pm
To be fair, I believe the Democrats are almost as corrupt as the GOP. Neither party practices true moral integrity.
Unlike the GOP, however, the Dems are not institutionally and financially committed to deliberate ignorance, contempt for reality, and a foreign policy of indiscriminate violence and subversion against allies.
Comment by Michael Airhart — September 15, 2009 @ 10:10 pm
The Golden Rule, taught by all major religions is to do unto others as we would have done unto us. Why speak against these protestors with more hateful and insulting language? Why respond in kind? Peace and compassion will never become the norm in this world as long as we continue to insult one-another. Someone needs to stop it first.
Comment by G.J. — September 15, 2009 @ 10:11 pm
G.J.
Please grow up already and join the reality based community.
Obama DID stop the cycle of vitriol. He has gone out of his way, to a fault, trying to make nice, be inclusive and respect Republicans. Have you not noticed, or is that you don’t read newspapers?
Obama made a valiant effort and they spit in his face. When this repeatedly happens, one has to be attuned to reality and acknowledge that the golden rule only works when both parties have an interest in peace.
The indisputable fact is that Obama’s gestures or reconciliation have been rejected by a party that has gone on record as wanting to see him fail. Are you too blind to see that the Republican “health” plan is to undermine the Obama presidency?
And by knee-capping and deligitimizing him, they will also damage other issues – such as gay rights and global warming, etc. This is the goal. Wake up and smell the coffee.
Comment by Wayne Besen — September 16, 2009 @ 7:50 am
just to clarify: what i wrote about joe wilson
was not what i meant, i meant to say is I do
not excuse what he did, i stand by my point
democrats have no room to complain considering
the horribly vile things they have said about
George W Bush in the last 8 years. I also am
disgusted by thos signs comparing obama to hitler
and using the term facist etc. let’s be fair and objective here, how many times was and is
bush compared to hitler by liberals and democrats?
I do wish, however that the national leaders
of the tea party patriots would address the issue
of those signs, they are counter-productive and
harm our credibility. but the fact still remains
the vast majority of those protesting in D.C.
and elsewhere are just everyday americans
something that wayne and michael if they would
set aside thier obviously myopic and narrow
minded views would have to acknowledge (i’m
not holding my breath here!) by the way we have
the best health care here in the USA, that is
why the world comes here for care, and we are
living longer than before, so the system is not
in as bad of shape as wayne would have you believe.
finally, wayne, you and michael owe the vast
majority of the protesters (including me) an
apology, for indeed painting all of us with
the same brush). by the way wayne, I and most
of the protesters pray to and worship Jehovah
God not Limbaugh!
Comment by brad anderson — September 16, 2009 @ 1:34 pm
Oh, Brad–look in the mirror. You and the “vast majority” of the protesters are exactly what Wayne was talking about, and has no need to apologize for simply pointing out the painfully obvious truth.
And if you don’t worship Limbaugh, you might want to tell us exactly how you differ from Limbaugh’s talking points? Hm?
Comment by gary l. day — September 16, 2009 @ 4:39 pm
Wayne,
I didn’t mention anything about President Obama or Republicans. I was referring to the mean-spirited tone of some of the protestors, of your article, and some comments posted. And, I don’t believe the Golden Rule applies only if both people agree to use it. In fact, that’s the whole point of the Rule to begin with! Disagreeing with people is a fact of life. Being mean-spirited and insulting isn’t helpful to one’s cause. In fact, it just causes further division and puts others on the defensive, making it all the more difficult to work together.
If living in the “reality-based community” requires me to be unkind, I’m happy staying “blind,” “immature,” and “asleep.”
Comment by G.J. — September 16, 2009 @ 10:30 pm
G.J:
Of course you conveniently failed to mention Obama – because the example severely undermines your rhetoric. He has been a gentlemen and worked for true bipartisanship. For his efforts, he has gotten attacked and had Hitler mustaches drawn on his face. The Republicans sensed his likability was a weakness – and they may be right (but i hope not).
G.J, what you do is not helpful to our cause. People like you make a habit of attacking those who choose to fight back. What you want to do is neuter the movemet and people like me will not allow that to happen. It appears your goal is to elevate yourself in a position of faux moral superiority – where you can bash the right and left and say, “look how enlightened I am.”
What you are essentially doing is ceding the argument and expressing the view: “Let’s smile and be nice and the Republicans will come around.” That is why nice liberals are usually losers in politics.
I’m sorry, but your view has been badly discredited by the treatment of Obama. There are many of us who choose to fight back and don’t think waiting for social conservatives to play nice is a wise strategy.
I tell you what. When the Republicans prove you right and play by your golden rule, we can revisit this conversation. In the mean time, there are those of us who will resist the extreme right.
As for Brad Anderson – it appears he has swallowed the right wing Kool-ade. No, America does not have good health care system. Sure, very wealthy people may come here for certain procedures because of our technology (paid for with government investment FYI). But, that means nothing for the person denied for pre-existing conditions, or the sick person denied access to procedures the insurance companies deem too expensive.
Brad, please do your research. The U.S. is ranked near the bottom worldwide on almost every category that matters in healthcare. While you may think this is fine, I think our country can do much better. Indeed, it must if we hope to remain a power and a world leader.
Keep defending the status quo Brad, and you and your friends will drive this country into the ground.
Finally, anyone who was a supporter Bush should be humble enough to question the wisdom of their opinions. After such a monumental failure, what makes these folks think they know what they are talking about? Have you people no shame?
Comment by Wayne Besen — September 17, 2009 @ 11:00 am
no wayne, it is not people like me who will drive
this country into the ground. It is the disatrous
policies of this president and democratic
congress along with the help they got from
the previous president who spent tax payer
money like he was a democrat, and the republicans
in congress who didn’t do a thing to stop him. Wayne,
I am not rich by any means, and I was able to
benefit from our health care system. Insurance
companies should be able to decide who they
should insure. Why should those companies
be forced to insure those who have a previous
condition that was self inflicted (drinking,
drugs,smoking, no exersize,etc.)at the very least
those people should have to pay a substantually
higher rate than those who take care of themselves
and refrain fom thos things that are harmful.
it sound as if that will not happen with obama care.
wayne, do you not think that if even 20 million
people get insured by the government that
at some point there will be rationing? (think
sweden or the U.K.) and when there is rationing
who will be the one excluded? those that are the
least productive members of society (elderly, infirm special needs, etc) do you not think
that end of life counsiling would be a part of that?
let’s face it the government is not the be-all
catch-all panacea that wayne and michael thinks
it should be. finally wayne, as I hve previously
stated, I do not support bush in every thing he did,
but there were things he did that I do support
(Just as I do with obama), it seems that you and
michael are so blinded with bush hatred that
you cannot even acknowledge the positive
things he did. perhaps you and michael
should remove the plank from thine own eyes!
Comment by brad anderson — September 17, 2009 @ 12:34 pm
Brad, you make me laugh with your “logic”.
Let me get this right – a Republican president and Congress went on a pork-laden spending spree (including the Iraq debacle based on outright lies and tax cuts for the rich) and drove this country into a ditch. Yet, it was because they behaved like Democrats and have no control over their own behavior.
God, I really miss the days when Republicans stood for personal responsibility and laughed at stooges like Brad.
And, no, health care companies should not have the right to send a person to their death simply because they are not rich. You appear to be an incredibly selfish, heartless individual. I bet you would be the first to cry foul and whine if it were you who did not receive the coverage you expected.
I find it interesting Brad, that you mention smoking, drinking and obesity as things that should not be covered.
Brad, do you have a car? Do you drive? Because if you do, your lifestyle is infinitely more dangerous than mine – as I walk to work. Perhaps, if you get into a wreck, insurance should not pay for it – as you are engaged in risky behavior. Based on your logic, there are all kinds of “risks” we can use to deny health insurance. What are you willing to give up? Your car? Seafood, because of the mercury? Non-organic veggies? Meat? The list goes on….let’s just kill everyone, according to your logic, who does not live the perfect life. It seems to me Brad, that you are promoting some form of death panel, to quote Sarah Palin.
Actually, we should just get rid of all private insurance. What are they insuring – as everyone gets sick and dies. No, they are a middle man and exist for greed – at the expense of the nation’s health.
Comment by Wayne Besen — September 17, 2009 @ 1:18 pm
Brad said “Insurance
companies should be able to decide who they
should insure. Why should those companies
be forced to insure those who have a previous
condition that was self inflicted”.
Brad, most pre-existing conditions aren’t self-inflicted, that’s a poor excuse for you to attempt to justify the evil of insurance companies. Everyone deserves health care. It is astounding that you should claim the UK and Sweden ration health care when in no way do they and in fact it is your insurance companies who are rationing health care by creating all manner of imaginative loop-holes to deny as many people as they can the care they need.
Comment by Priya Lynn — September 17, 2009 @ 2:09 pm
Pre-existing conditions often involve genetic and organic abnormalities at birth which have lifelong consequences.
It seems that Brad subscribes to the myth that everyone is born with the same predisposition to good health — or perhaps he doesn’t believe in genes at all.
Comment by Michael Airhart — September 17, 2009 @ 3:48 pm
Our wonderful healthcare system in action. Basically, a bunch of insurance bureaucrats denying coverage to people in need to maximize profits.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/17/insurance-company-must-pa_n_289841.html
Comment by Wayne Besen — September 18, 2009 @ 11:20 am