Threats of Insurrection, Violence Are Common on the Right

By Clavell Jackson

It is clear to me that there is a large segment of this country which is clinically insane -- and much of this madness is motivated by the election of President Barack Obama. There is even a term for this -- Obama Derangement Syndrome.

There is plenty of evidence of this on FOX News and AM radio, but that pales in comparison to the hard-core lunacy on web sites such as World Net Daily and Big Government. World Net Daily, also known as World Nut Daily, is home to conspiracy theories which warn that Obama is a foreign-born Muslim and also publishes the embarrassing work or real-life ditz and Saturday Live vet Victoria Jackson (no relation). Jackson's drivel is so factually and grammatically incorrect that even a high school paper would hesitate to publish her articles. One of her recent columns accused Obama of being similar to Hitler, because Hitler "had a white mother, had a secret army and hated Jews."

Right-Wing Watch, a web site funded by People for the American Way, tracks inflammatory comments from the Religious Right, a group that has always mixed madness with political intensity. A recent article on Right-Wing Watch about William Gheen of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, an anti-immigration group, said Obama is such a threat to White America that his group no longer accepts him as a legitimate president and was considering "extra-political activities that I can’t really talk about because they’re all illegal and violent." Yes, a political group just threatened a violent insurrection against the U.S. government.

Unfortunately, this is not uncommon. Over the last three years we have seen an increasing tide of disrespect and violent rhetoric coming from political figures and media commentators. Lunatic presidential candidate Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.) once said that she suspected Obama of having anti-American views and former Nevada senatorial candidate Sharron Angle suggested angry voters should take up "second amendment remedies" if the polls didn't work.

Is it any wonder that many media sources reported that Obama was getting 30 death threats a day stretching the Secret Service to breaking point. Yes, many people are upset about the recession, but this is more than economically-motivated frustration. This is refusal to accept Obama as the nation's leader. America has been through tough economic times before when Franklin Roosevelt was president, but we didn't see this level of violent rhetoric. FDR did face an attempted coup from a group of oligarchs, including Prescott Bush, who wanted to install a fascist government. You won't find much information about the "Business Plot," in American history books though.

I have to believe that much of this is racial. Although the myopic GOP continues to say that is not, the evidence is in plain sight. FOX News has a long string of racial slights such as accusing Obama of "having hoodlums in the hizzouse," and "chugging forties." Glenn Becks rants were so offensive, FOX finally had to let him go. And there is a long history of racist comments from GOP politicians which include comparing Obama to a monkey, using the phrase "tar baby" and sending cartoons of the White House lawns festooned with watermelons. If you want to see really vile comments check out the commentary section on Foxnews.com. A recent story about Somalia referred to the country as "Niggadishu." Note to the GOP, if you can't see it, that's because you don't want to see it.

Many of the Obama haters will call him a communist, a Muslim, a liberal, even if he is none of those things. Obama has pursued largely moderate positions, to the point of alienating his liberal supporter. But it seems that some white people cannot swallow the idea of a black man in the White House. How dare Obama address the nation, how dare he go on vacation, how dare he take off his jacket in the Oval Office and how dare he fly on Air Force One? Like the other presidents didn't do any of the same things.

This hatred has sunk deep into the core of the political system. We now have an opposition party that will vote against any legislation if it has the hint of making Obama and the Democrats look good. As the recent debt crisis showed, Republicans are willing to crash the economy to achieve their political point.

The future does not look any better. If Obama wins a second term, and I believe he will, the GOP will try to impeach him. Presidential candidate Herman Cain has already said this would be a good idea! It will probably fail and cost the nation a lot of time and money, but as long as it gives the Democrats a black eye, the GOP is happy.

We are only in the Summer of 2012, we have almost a year of political campaigning ahead of us and I am already exhausted. We've got a bumpy ride ahead of us.

Nobody Loves A Spitter

Shock Jock Tactics Are Leading GOP to Oblivion


There is an old trick that black people, and many other disenfranchised people, use. It's a combination of Jujitsu/non violence, where one person uses the other person's rage against them. And that is probably what helped the Democrats win the health care reform debate.

This tactic was used during the Civil Rights era. Civil Rights activists knew they were going into a dangerous environment where riled up white people were going to throw everything, but the kitchen sink, at them. They knew they could not beat Segregationists in a head on confrontation, so they turned the tables on their opponents.

The Civil Rights movement cast themselves as saint-like, non-violent protesters, who sat silently while they were clubbed, hosed, spat on and bitten by dogs. The Pro Segregation protesters came across looking like bullies, who were beating up on a bunch of defenseless students.

Those were the images beamed around the world. Angry, foaming at the mouth, white people haranguing defenseless black people. This was nothing new, Bayard Rustin, who was the architect of many of the Civil Rights movements tactics, had studied the writing of Mohandas Ghandi, who used the same techniques against the British in the fight for Indian independence. This was the reason why Rosa Parks, a saintly seamstress, was cast as the face of the Civil Rights movement. Police officers were not about to use their nightsticks on an middle-aged church lady.

The same thing happened during the Health Care debate. Somewhere along the lines, the Tea Party was cast as the party of angry, old white people, who yell at special needs people, spit on venerable congressmen and shout racial and sexual slurs. No one wants to be associated with that -- not even the Republican party. What people will remember from the Health Care debates is the threats, the slurs and the shouted insults. They will not remember the GOP offering any concrete alternative solutions. (Maybe, because they didn't offer any.)


David Frum, a Republican pundit, has said the Republican party needs to get away from what he calls "talk radio" tactics, fear, anger, hate and hyperbole. People like Rush Limbaugh makes their money by saying outrageous statements, so they can drive up their ratings and charge more in advertising. Frum said, "I’ve been on a soapbox for months now about the harm that our overheated talk is doing to us. Yes it mobilizes supporters – but by mobilizing them with hysterical accusations and pseudo-information, overheated talk has made it impossible for representatives to represent and elected leaders to lead. "

More often than not Conservative shock jocks don't believe in what they are saying, and half the time they don't bother to check if their statements are accurate. For example, Limbaugh said he would move to Costa Rica if health care reform passed. But Costa Rica has a nationalized health care system!

You can't govern like this. Letting shock jocks lead your party with exaggerated speaking points gets you nowhere. All it means is, you have a bunch of angry, ill-informed people repeating the same falsehoods, spitting and making you look bad.

The End of the GOP?

Republicans are still appealing to white males, even as Latino political might grows.
It has been said that one should not revel in the travails of others, but it’s hard to not to smirk at the current plight of the Republican Party. After all this was the same GOP that dragged us into two wars, sanctioned tortured and played a large part in the current financial mess. In addition, the GOP made an unholy alliance with Christian zealots to push “family values” down the nation’s throat, all the while harboring a large number of closeted gays within its ranks.

http://newsflavor.com/opinions/the-end-of-the-gop/