Political Violence Confirms We’re Living in Third World America

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

Jan. 8., that was the day when Americans realized how screwed up their country really is. Left-wing journalist Arianna Huffington has been recently hawking her book called “Third World America,” and how can you argue with her? A Third World country is characterized by massive debt, (check), corrupt and broken elections (check), and a powerful ruling class (check.) And now we can add to that list political violence as seen in the Tuscon, Ariz. shooting that left six people dead and moderate Democrat Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in critical condition.

Of course, this is shocking but not surprising. In fact it was inevitable. For the past year I have been playing Cassandra and warning that the hatred coming from the right wing would eventually push people over the edge. We are in a precarious time in our country, with mass unemployment, home foreclosures, looming debt, foreign wars and a political system that has been strangled by corporate interests. It is easy for working class Americans to feel frustrated and want to lash out at someone.

After the 2008 elections, the right wing, realizing that working class was beginning to get riled up at the corporate class, diverted this anger to the Tea Party, which is funded by corporate interests. In a brilliant piece of bait and switch, the GOP, badly-tarnished by the disastrous Bush years, was re-branded as the Tea Party, which is essentially GOP 2.0 -- same bullshit, but in a different package.

So now, all those Americans who were angry about bailouts and government spending now are now mad at President Barack Obama, even though George W. Bush approved the bank bailout and ran up the budget with tax cuts to the rich and two unfunded wars. That would have been bad enough, but this rage wasn’t mere political annoyance, it was white-hot rage that had all the possibility of turning into violence. And the end product was politically-motivated terrorism that saw overweight seniors on Medicare screaming about how they wanted to keep government out of health care. During the 2009 health care debate, several Democratic legislators were targeted by violence, including having shots fired at their offices, having their offices targeted by racist graffiti and having gas lines cut at their homes.

Violence has been encouraged with demagogues like Sarah Palin calling for her followers to “reload” and putting Democrats, including Giffords, in cross hairs. Tea Party darling Sen. Sharron Angle suggested people take “second amendment remedies,” if the ballot didn’t work, and Rep. Michelle Bachmann, who is rapidly gaining a reputation as the nuttiest person in Congress, said she wanted her followers “armed and dangerous” about Barack Obama.

And of course there is the 24-hour stream of vitriol and disinformation coming from the right-wing media. FOX News regularly features commentators who accuse the president of being the anti Christ and warn of his government’s administrations attempts to destroy America. And FOX star commentator Glenn Beck has shot to prominence selling his brand of apocalyptic nonsense to people who fear that a black, moderate Democrat will destroy America as they know it.

Beck is the worst culprit and his acolytes have a considerable history of violence. In August 2009, Nancy Genovese was arrested outside an Air Force base along with a pair of binoculars, an assault rifle, shotgun and several rounds of ammunition. A year later Byron Williams, an unemployed carpenter and Beck fan, was arrested by the California Highway Partrol, while wearing body armor and carrying several guns. Williams was on his way to start a revolution by attacking the Tides Foundation, a little know left-wing non profit that was a regular target of Beck’s ire. After his arrest, Williams’ mother said her son was a regularly viewer of FOX News and Glenn Beck in particular.

What has been going on over the past 20 years is an increasing stream of eliminationist rhetoric directed at the left. According to David Neiwert, author of “The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right,” "Eliminationism is a politics and a culture that shuns dialogue and the democratic exchange of ideas in favor of the pursuit of outright elimination of the opposing side, either through suppression, exile, and ejection, or extermination."

This attitude was largely inspired by Rush Limbaugh, who did his best to turn liberal into a curse word, and carried on by harpy Ann Coulter, who has called for liberals to be executed and said The New York Times’ building needed to be blown up. Beck merely put the icing on the fruit cake.

Democrats have long warned of this. Former speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was ridiculed when she warned that right-wing rhetoric would lead to ‘60s style violence . Speaking to the Huffington Post, Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., who received death threats and racist literature for his stance against Arizona’s immigration laws said, “The climate has gotten so toxic in our political discourse, setting up for this kind of reaction for too long. It's unfortunate to say that. I hate to say that. If you're an opponent, you're a deadly enemy."

In April 2009, the Department of Homeland Security release a much-maligned report, warning of the danger of right-wing terrorism. Turns out they were all to right. We have seen the enemy -- and the enemy is us.

Arizona Is Now a Fascist State

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is an evil, amoral fascist -- those are strong words, but after reviewing the political climate in Arizona, that is the only way I can describe her.

How else would you describe someone who knowingly implements a law that will inflame white fears against the growing brown (Latino) population. Yes, I know Arizona has a problem with illegal immigration, but that problem has been around for decades, long before Brewer got there. And it probably won't go away soon.

As long as Arizona borders Mexico, a poor, crime-ridden country, people will cross the border to seek work. And as long as American employers continue to employ migrant labor, the flood of workers is not going to stop.

Brewer's new anti-immigrant laws have more to do with bolstering her political support by tapping into white rage. White people are still currently a majority, but with the growing Latino population, that is going to end soon. Brewer knows her laws appeal to white voters who are angry with some of the current problems in Arizona, unemployment, crime and overcrowding, which they blame on illegal immigrants.

But in reality, crime is down in Arizona. Although you wouldn't know it if you listened to Brewer, who has warned of headless corpses (proven to be false) and accused all illegal immigrants of being drug mules. According to a story by CBS 5 reporter Morgan Lowe, FBI figures show that Arizona has seen a 50 percent drop in crime since 2003. The Border Patrol also says that migrant traffic is down.

It's bad enough that Brewer and other white-leaning politicians have appealed to the worse part of the American psyche. Arizona has now become a destination for white supremacists, some who have taken to patrolling the border.

But Brewer also has a financial stake in this issue, news reports says that several people in the Brewer administration have ties to the private prison industry. So if Brewer passes a law that will lead to mass arrests, guess who is going to benefit from this? The state run prisons will probably turn this problem over to private prisons, and this is where Brewer's cronies clean up.

According to Lowe's story, Paul Senseman, Brewer's deputy chief of staff, is a former lobblist for the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), a company that bills the government $11 million per month to hold detainees. Chuck Coughlin, a Brewer policy adviser and campaign chair, currently lobbies for CCA.

In the 1990s, under Gov. Frank Keating, Oklahoma passed several get-tough-on crime laws and outsourced prisons to CCA, who had made large donations to Keating's campaign fund, according to an article by the Journal Record.

According to a letter from the Oklahoma Senate, Keating approved a contract worth $6-15 million for the government to buy additonal beds from the private prison industry. He also signed the Truth in Sentencing law, which made offenders serve longer sentences.

I believe the idea of a corporate-run prison is evil. The main goal of a corporation is to generate profit. When corporations get involved in the corrections industry, they are generating profit off bondage and misery. In addition, politicians like Brewer and Keating, have a vested interest in keeping inmates locked up for long periods of time. The longer inmates are incarcerated, the more money the corporation makes. Making profit off bonded labor sounds dangerously like slavery to me.

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini once said that the correct definition of fascism was the melding of state and corporate interests, which sounds like a perfect definition of what is going on in Arizona.

Right Wing Using Nazi Tactics to Stir Up Rage

It seems that everyday you hear of a new Arizona law designed to drive brown-skinned people out of the state. The latest proposed legislation will force educators to become immigration agents, by making them determine if the parents of their students are here legally.

Unfortunately many of these policies, and anger at Latinos, are gaining traction. I've listened to liberal radio shows and heard blue-collar workers call in and vent their frustrations at Mexicans who are stealing their jobs, driving down wages and clogging up the health care system.

There is real anger from many segments of America at the state of the economy. Sadly it seems that some politicians are looking to direct that anger at "foreigners," or anyone who looks illegal. It's not surprising there have been incidents of Latino workers being attacked by groups of young men.

This is the same tactic used by the Russian Neo-Nazi movement that takes angry, disaffected men and tells them those black and brown people are the real enemy. Ethnic (white Russians) make up 80 percent of the population, although there are several people from the minority groups that use to comprise the old Soviet Union. However, the idea of a Russian Nazi is darkly ironic considering that about 20 million Russians died in the war against' Hitler's Germany.

So the next time you hear an American raging about how Mexicans have taken his job, stop and think about where that rage is coming from.

The Civil War, Civil Rights Battles Aren't Over

A few days ago, I had a racial epiphany. The Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement are not over. In fact we haven't even won these battles, the other side merely declared a ceasefire.

Both the Civil Rights Movement and the Civil War were battles over the status of black people, and by default all people of color. And even with a black president, and other ethnic minorities running major companies and running for the highest political office, this battle is far from over.

But it is clear from recent political events that there are many forces in this country who are not happy with the new paradigm shift. There are many people, some openly, some covertly, who long for a time, when white men ran everything, and everyone else knew their place.

This is what Tea Party members mean when they say "they want their country back." And this is what people like Pat Buchanan mean when they lament about the decline of America and pine for the 1950s.

However it's more than just believing that white men should control the reigns of the government and commerce, it's also a belief in the inferiority of black and brown people. During Obama's election campaign, we often heard comments from white voters (mainly in the South) saying they "didn't think a black person should be in that position."

It's hard not believe that there are forces who want to reinforce and reestablish white supremacy. Consider these recent events:

• Arizona's new immigration law gives police the power to stop and question people who they deem to be "illegal." And by illegal we are not talking about Asians or Caucasians, this is directed at people who look like illegal Latino immigrants. Not satisfied with that, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, on orders from God, passed another law that banned ethnic studies classes and teachers with heavy accents. .
• Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell signed legislation declaring April Confederate History month. The state's recognition of the Confederacy made no mention of slavery. According to historian William J. Cooper Jr., "From at least the time of the American Revolution white southerners defined their liberty, in part, as the right to own slaves and to decide the fate of the institution without any outside interference."
• According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Southern Legal Resource Center has requested for a "Confederate Southern American" box on the census.
• And most recently Rand Paul, won the Republican primary for the Kentucky senatorial seat. In an interview, Rand Paul said he takes issue with the Civil Rights Act, because it allows the government to dictate to business owners who they can let in their establishments. Effectively Rand Paul is arguing that private business owners should have the right to bar black people from their establishments. This is all the more disturbing considering Rand's father, Rep. Ron Paul, has been pictured arm-in-arm with leading white supremacists. Rand Paul had to fire his media director when it was discovered that he had posted racist messages on his MySpace page.

It's hard to believe that in the second decade of the 21st century we are still having these arguments. Many editorial writers suggest that this resurgence of racial animosity is the last gasp of the dying beast. The days of white male supremacy are over. American society has gone through huge changes which cannot be repealed.

Women now have financial and sexual independence to the point that many of them are choosing not to get married or have children. Black people have penetrated every level of American society, and those numbers are going up. Black culture has morphed into pop culture and almost every kid under the age of 20 has Lil Wayne on their iPod.

And for the all the madness coming out of Arizona, America needs Latinos bodies. White America is simply not producing enough children to pay into the Social Security system, and more and more brothers don't want to fight the American empire's wars.

So let's end this nonsense once and for all. America is not going back to a white male-dominated society and the sooner certain segments of this society understand it, the easier it will be for all us.

Grand Jury Investigating Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Department of Justice officials moved closer to filing criminal charges against Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Arpaio has faced a slew of complaints including racial profiling and human rights abuses. He recently launched a campaign against his political opponents, local judges and attorneys, by charging them with racketeering.

The federal grand jury is calling for evidence from Sheriff's Department officers, including a captain and two deputies. Chances are that Sheriff Joe has probably made enough enemies and has enough dirt to put him away for a long time. Maricopa County has had to pay several civil judgements because of mistreatment of prisoners in jail.

The federal government was pressured by several civic groups and congressmen to launch this investigation. I suspect that they would not have called a grand jury, unless they expected to get a few scalps. I looks like Sheriff Joe's days in charge of Maricopa County law enforcement are numbered.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dawn-teo/sheriff-arpaio-subject-of_b_416412.html

poll by twiigs.com

Arpaio Going After Judges, Political Opponents

In case you haven't heard of Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, he is the 21st century version of Bull Conner. He specializes in keeping prisoners in tents, marching them in chain gangs and making them wear pink underwear. His jail has also faced several lawsuits for inmates deaths, inmate miscarriages and other human rights abuses.

Arapaio specializes in conducting immigration sweeps, where his goons pretty much arrests anyone who looks "foreign," including American citizens. (That means anyone who is not white.) If this sounds like it is against the law, it is and the Justice Department is currently conducting an investigation into Arpaio over accusations of civil rights abuses and racial profiling.

Arapaio, who has conducted several shady business deals, has now taken to launching investigations into his political opponents including a judge. Let's hope that Sheriff Joe soon gets to see the inside of some of his own jails.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dawn-teo/sheriff-arpaio-indicts-po_b_385086.html

poll by twiigs.com