On Wednesday, 88-year old WWII veteran, rabid anti-Semite and racist James von Brunn walked into the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC and opened fire, shooting to death a heroic 39-year-old security guard. Nine days earlier Abdulhakim Muhammad, a Muslim convert, fatally shot army recruiter Pvt. William Andrew Long, 23, in Little Rock, AR. The day before that, controversial abortion Dr. George Tiller was shot dead in his Wichita, KS clinic. And ten days prior to that the FBI arrested a four-man homegrown terror cell that planned to blow up two Bronx synagogues while simultaneously shooting down a commercial jet airliner. There's something crazy and violent in the air lately, with much of it rooted in an alarming increase in intense right-white hate.
Back in April, the Department of Homeland Security issued a report citing right-wing extremism and warned that "White supremacist lone wolves pose the most significant domestic terrorist threat because of their low profile and autonomy -- separate from any formalized group -- which hampers warning efforts." The 9-page document erupted into a political shitstorm, and unleashed a torrent of harsh criticism of DHS Chief Janet Napolitano, who was vilified over her suggestion that returning war veterans in particular might be susceptible to these violent radical groups who could turn them into homegrown terrorists. Those piling on the Napolitano-bashing-wagon included leading conservatives such as House Minority Leader John Boehner, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and radio blowhard Rush Limbaugh. The attack on Napolitano was so vicious, so partisan and so premature but now she and DHS appear quite prescient, don't they? Funny how two months and back-to-back murders by right-wing wackjobs can shine a whole new light on things.
Earlier in the day Wednesday I appeared on FoxNews' Strategy Room, where a lengthy panel discussion took place about the Little Rock army murder. This was hours before ethe D.C. shooting news broke. Some in the group asked "where's the (media) outrage," and were incredulous as to the lack of coverage of Pvt. Long's killing versus that of Dr. Tiller's. There was also great concern expressed that not enough attention was being placed on this type of violent crime by extremists. I reminded the panel of the April DHS report, but more importantly, of the beating Napolitano took over it. I suppose conservatives will be giving Napolitano and the security report another look after Wednesday's shooting death at the Holocaust Museum.
So why the recent spate of deadly right-wing hate crimes? As Salon.com's Joan Walsh cited, it could be in no small part due to the incendiary rhetoric of talking heads like Bill O'Reilly and Limbaugh, who've been accused of fanning the flames of hate with their inciteful on-air rabble-rousing. O'Reilly relentlessly attacked Dr. Tiller for years, over two dozen times in fact, calling him a "Baby Killer" and accusing him of doing "Nazi stuff," while warning of "Judgement Day." Over on the radio, Limbaugh told his audience last week that President Obama is more harmful to America than our terrorist enemies. Said Walsh on MSNBC's Hardball Wednesday night: "When you say that our president is more dangerous than al Qaeda, you've gone off into crazy nutjobland. You are off the charts crazy, and you are whipping people up."
Is it any wonder then that these right-wing lunatic freaks feel a sense of duty, of obligation, to 'right the wrongs' that these instigators in the media hammer into their psychotic heads day after day? Perhaps law enforcement authorities should begin investigating the role conservative commentators like O'Reilly and Limbaugh play in the death of innocent people. Maybe then these despicable hate-mongering loudmouths will shut up once and for all.
I think that's pronounced "FOX News"...
-- Isaac Asimov
Why else would Hannity, Beck, Limbaugh, et al. keep making such inflammatory and irresponsible statements? Above and beyond anything else, these people exist and are paid to accomplish one goal: GET REPUBLICANS ELECTED. That's the ONLY goal, and their only reason for being. They're prepared to do it by any means necessary.
Give the Republicans back the Congress in 2010, America, and you damn well better put a white male Christian Republican back in the White House in 2012, or else we're coming after you.
This tactic goes by the name of "leaderless resistance" and is quite difficult for the State to counter. Make of it what you will.
Facts really don't matter much to the writer of this, do they?
But then, why would anyone expect facts to matter to someone who actually thinks a legitimate role of law enforcement is silencing people for their political views?
So what you conveniently scapegoat as "white-right" hate, includes a black Muslim, and four other black Muslims who plotted to bomb Bronx Synagogues.
So your big "right-white-hate" conspiracy is made up of FIVE black Muslims, and TWO white guys, one of whom has written manifestos blasting Capitalism, religion and praising socialism.
Since when are black Muslims opposed to the US support of Israel and wars in the M.E. examples of 'right-wing' not 'left wing'? Since when would such people be more likely to listen to and agree with Rush Limbaugh, rather than raving leftists who hold many of the same views they do? And how did five black people suddenly morph into white people just to pad your goofy conspiracy?
The irony is, all your rant has really illustrated is how the left simply labels EVERYTHING as some right-wing conspiracy, and then not only ignores/waxes overs/covers up things that easily could be labeled as the opposite- but actually lumps them into their right-wing conspiracy checklists as padding.
Of the people who committed an actual murder, it seems to be 2/3 white racists and 2/3 anti-Israel (one thing extremists seem to agree on.) Perhaps if the government spent as much time infiltrating white hate groups and they do the black ones the numbers would be different...
http://bostonist.com/2009/01/16/alleged_racist_massholes_arrested_f.php - 3 here
http://www.rfi.fr/actuen/articles/106/article_1984.asp - 2 here
Money still makes the world go round.
It actually is painful to listen to things these people say. I wish that 'We the People" were not the only ones to boycott or ignore "the hate spewers" or gop, I wish credible newspapers and news stations would not report anything they say. Maybe we need to start writing them asking them not to cover the whackjobs.
What a wonderful world it would be if we could help each other up instead of tear each other down, but how do you fight injustice without calling these horrible anti-AMerican people out?
To call GOP and Fox News the only hatemongers is proof that you are a hatemonger yourself.
Thats typical Liberal hypocrisy on your part.
And I love how the author says there is a lot of right-white hate going on....yet his own article mentions the black man Muslim convert who shot up his fellow troops. How is that right-white hate?? And do we also forget the hundreds of black and latino commited crimes in this country, to only worry about the media driven right-winger hatred?? I guess all those bombs blowing up in pakistan and Afghanistan are done by white neo nazis.
And how is Janet Napolitano right here?? This guy was an 88 yr old....not some recent war veteran returning from Iraq or Afghanistan. What a BS article, and typical hatred spewing left wing drivel.