Fighting the Radical Right

Some of us progressives mistakenly thought that when Barack Obama and his campaign and mandate for change won overwhelmingly last November and we picked up seats in the House and when Al Franken became the 60th Democrat in the Senate that the new government would enact the change that was the substance of the election.

Americ's whacked out radical rightwing, however, has not given up on their agenda to create greater and greater income and wealth inequality, to make the country's public policy a captive of the bizarre free market ideas of novelist Ayn Rand, and to continue to have our health care determined exclusively by insurance corporations for their own profit while 50 million of us lack healthcare and its cost continues to drag down our economy.

So the August congressional recess has been a bizarre season of rightwing brown shirt tactics of real thuggery led by Dick Armey, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, and Newt Gingrich.

Wow! What a revelation! Just as Hitler's brownshirts and Mussolini's blackshirts intimidated the good people of Germany and Italy in the 1930's, America's radical right is attempting to shut down healthcare reform and change by intimidation and force and the power of the Big Lies -- death panels, socialism, government healthcare doesn't work. If you oppose the public plan in the healthcare proposal and you are intellectually honest, then you must favor destroying Medicare and Medicaid and the Veterans Administration and the several other completely government run healthcare systems.

In the most hypocritical tactic yet, the right has compared President Obama to Adolf Hitler.

I think some folks in the mental health profession would call this last tactic projection. They are projecting their own feelings on others.

This is not the time for handwringing and worry and trepidation for those of us who know how desperately our people need real progressive change, the kind of change that can raise living standards and the quality of life for average Americans and strengthen and enlarge our middle class and create an economy that works for all.

Now is the time for us to fight for our vision and our promise and for change, to fight for a healthcare system that ensures quality healthcare for all and checks the insane greed of the insurance industry, to fight to restore workers rights and restore the fundamental freedom in any Democratic society to freely form unions and bargain collectively.

When I say fight I don't mean the thuggishness being used by the right. I mean peaceful, nonviolent mobilization that counters the Big Lies of the right, gives cover to weak Democrats and demonstrates convincingly that our ideas and policies are in the interests of a stronger, healthier, freer, and fairer America.

Comments

[carlosinhp]

Right on Brother Acuff.

http://www.jwjblog.org/2009/08/taking-on-the-right-over-healthcare-reform-lessons-from-vermont/ Here's a link to how folks in VT organized and fought the radical right you spoke of.

[arvay]

Let's not forget the origins of the "birther" movement. Funny, isn't it, how the major media ignore the Israeli connection? Wonder why that is . . . . . ?

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1108110.html

[notmuchofacook]

All these clowns (Rush, et al) need now is Joseph McCarthy. They would totally bend over for him and his little toady Cohn.

[stick458]

Rush is no clown. If you would listen to him, it is likely that you would agree with him. Unless you are forever and hopelessly liberal.

[FormerReaganite]

I have listened to him. 90% hyperbole.

[vie2012ne]

Unsubstantiated hyperbole = lack of solid argument.

[beyondthepale9779]

I see. THe Republicans are like Hitler and Mussolini, thus they are hypocritical when using the posters of radical leftist Larouche with O as Hitler. Cuckoo!!

[Snowball]

Well, the radical right's ideology is indeed similar to that of the 20th Centuries Fascist parties And LaRouche is no leftist.

[DUSAA-1775]

where the heck to you get your history from?? thin air? or is it just thin air that is slowing your brain?
LaRouche is a communist who ran for president as a democrat for 5-6 times.

and before your fog clears... how will you history read this time? the radical right is supposed to be controlled by those evil Christians who want to impose their moral values on others.
the Nazis and fascists were anti-Christian and did not have moral values..most Nazis were atheists... there wasn't any right and wrong...everything was relative. Hmmm..let's see........." atheists, no right or wrong, everything is relative " now that does not sound like the right wing....

[SocialDemocracy]

The right is old news. The Dems have the White House, the Senate and the House. What more do they need to need? The fight is with conservative Democrats and a centrist administration, not the rightist agenda that was rejected in November 08.

[glockman]

"brown shirt tactics"

Whenever either side invokes images of Nazism, they lose all credibility for making an argument.

[CyrusBeaucephus]

Now we have several more credibility destroying sound-bites: "socialism", "death panels" , "natural born citizen", ACORN, and mustardburger. You guys sure are creative

[glockman]

Who are you guys? And am I one of them?

[FormerReaganite]

See "Godwin's Law"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law

[Rescisco]

When they win, the right controls the agenda. When they lose, the right controls the agenda. When they're in, they don't compromise. When they're out, they don't compromise. Never have so few done so much so effectively and so completely to harm so many. Yet they always prevail. This must mean something about this country and its people that is very disturbing.

[SocialDemocracy]

I think says something about the Democratic Party, not this country and its people. The Republicans do what conservative parties do all over the world. They vigorously defend the interests of the wealthy and popular. The problem is the Democratic Party doesn't vigorously defend everyone else. Instead, they pander to the same interests the Republicans do and placate the rest of us with a few scraps.

[FormerReaganite]

Democrat's biggest problem is that they try to "Mister Nice Guy" while Republicans try to be lying, scheming, overzealous hooligans.

[bujudude]

This is more and more feeling like a reply of 1994, only on steroids AND crack! The radical right-wing has held power for 29 out of the last 21 years, and went into full attack mode in 1993 when Clinton was elected. It was escalated to outright insanity after the election of another Democrat AND the first black president

But the failure is on OUR shoulders (the left and the moderates) even more so than the Obama administration or the house Democrats. WHY would anyone in their right minds have expected ANYTHING from the far-right than what is happening right now? The modern Republican party is now represented by two forces: Corporate America who wouldn’t give a damn if this country becomes another Bangladesh, and ignorant, violent racists who hate anyone who is not a straight, white, conservative, Christian.

WE need to fight back, on every street corner, every hamlet, every city, every county and in every state. The lies and sleaze permeating from FOX “news” and conservative hate radio has gone beyond a fever pitch into outright psychosis. I still respect what Obama is trying to do, but he can’t do it alone and we obviously cannot count on congressional democrats who have been cowed into silence for nearly 30 years for fear of being branded “soft” on crime/comm­unism/terr­orism.

When leaders cannot or will not lead, the people must lead the leaders. The alternative is oblivion.

[glockman]

"The radical right-wing has held power for 29 out of the last 21 years"

How is that possible? Did you mean 21 out of the last 29?

[bujudude]

Glockman,

Yeah, I meant 21 0ut of the last 29. Sorry about the typo/

[DUSAA-1775]

i guess that if you are going to make up a phrase...then you can use your own definition to define it...'the radical right wing' ??

but you can't just 'make up" history and say they have been in power for 21 of the last 29 years. unless by 'in power' you mean they they existed.
those who can not remember their history, are condemned to listen to you fabricate it.

[Mike Johnston]

HMO executive salaries (from 1996): http://www.harp.org/hmoexecs.htm

Just one more cost between patient and doctor...

[oddsnends]

The only people defeating us is us. Where's our "I'm not going to take it anymore" moment. You don't need to get down in the dirt with the thugs. Make your tea party a picnic for health care reform. Have block parties. Stand in your yard or outside your work at lunchtime, blow your horn the day congress comes back. Write, call. Be peaceful & meet your neighbors. Start where you live.
This is not about Obama it's about us. It's not about redistributing wealth it's about fairness. This country is nothing without a strong middle class. This country loses all credibility in the world, this country is less save. It's not gu ns that win wa rs. It's the strength & will of the people.This country has become a nation of people in little box's If they don't think it applies to them then it's not neccessary. Wake up someday it will apply & we won't be ready.

[justthefacts17]

How can you get in the "dirt with thugs" when you don't know what's in the bill.
Obama doesn't even know.

[Aaror]

Why do the Republicans hate the middle class?
No, they do, I am serious. Not the rank and file, but the people who control the party, the people with money, hate the middle class, and here is why.
Remember the Saudi Prince who got in trouble in France for beating up his housekeeper? In his native land that would not have been a problem. The more "liberal," and middle class friendly a society gets, the less rights money gives you. In a nation with downtrodden poor who have no rights, you can whip, rape, or otherwise abuse the people who work for you and no one says anything. As a nation gets more liberal, you get sexual harrassment laws, police who respect all citizens, not just the rich, etc.
The Republicans want to destroy the middle class so the rich can go back to doing anything they want to the slaves-er poor.

[glockman]

"Why do the Republicans hate the middle class?"

For the same reason the Democrats (or any party in power) do.

[luziannagirl]

Free Marketeer Trollers: If the worth of anything is its value in money, then what value is human longevity?

Humans are their most productive only through middle age. Old people are a monetary drag on individuals and our national economy. They need SO MUCH from the rest of us. And what do they give us in return? A sense of connection to our roots? Love? A sense of having done our duty?

By your measure, worthless, untrade-able intangibles.

So why are you Randians Righties so wigged out over "death panels", when this monkey wrench is cut entirely from the whole cloth of your own God-Is-Greed worldview? Calling you guys un-American, as one of our Congresspeople did recently, isn't enough.

You guys on the right are uncouth, unattractive and un-cool.

How you've ever managed to find enough like minds and empty hearts to reproduce, I'll never know....take that back, I do know. 30 years of crippled public education and unfettered corporate control of media.

[kitkatborn]

You go, girl. Fanned and faved.

[JohnDonohue]

Let me work backwards..

The media is left-corporate, except for Murdock. The left has unfettered control of corporate media.

Public schools -- crippled or not -- produce lefties, not righites. It takes them years to grow out of it. I know that FIRST HAND. You have an iron-grip monopoly on the philosophy of public education, didn't you hear?

I am cute.

We will stop talking about ObamaRationing (totalization: death panels) when you guarantee that everyone can get whatever they want from DemocraticMedicine whenever and however much they want. Otherwise, there will be a government panel, and it will deal in death triage simply because it has to.

Sorry you think old people are worthless. Will that be part of Democratic­Medicine's legal guidelines? Apparently so, per Ezekiel Emmanuel. You are really sutured into him. Cool.

Progressives are the ones obsessed with money, not we Objectivists.

Anything else I can straighten out for you?

[luziannagirl]

JohnD

First criterion of cute for me = smart.

Distinguished university prof or a motorboat propeller repairman, agree with me or not, as long as a fella can make fact-based, logical cases for his positions, he's smart.

So...afraid you flunked my Cute Fella Requirement Number One.

Unless, of course, the above comments were meant to qualify for Cute Requirement Number Two, which is "funny".

In that case... needs a little work.

[Carl Caroli]

Sadly, way too many people in this country do not care a wit about intellectual honesty. They are totally self centered and easily discard facts that do not conform to their predetermined and desired results and could care less about inconsistencies in their arguments. They are easily manipulated and mostly ill informed and rely exclusively on FOX news for their information. Reading, gathering actual facts and considering other views take too much of their time and cloud their minimalist thinking. They typically know more about Jon and Kate than they do about their representatives or the details of current events and they don't want to pay for anything that doesn't have an immediate return for them. It's difficult to deal with folks like this and I know many of them. The media oligarchs learned from the Romans that distracting the masses with gladiators doing in the arenas allowed them to do as they will with them. Let them eat cake!

[WeAreTheWorld]

"Right wing thuggery".­......blah blah blah.