In my second blog, I had intended to talk about my own reasons for wanting health care reform (hint: I'm paying $1950. a month out of pocket for a drug to keep me alive), but I've been moved instead to write about the disturbing trends I've seen from the right wing and it's media outlets: Rush Limbaugh, the entirety of Fox "News", Lou Dobbs of CNN and the right wing radio cadre of hate jocks.
The fruit of their labors has been on full display in the unhinged "Town Hall" meetings in August which were orchestrated by these outlets and funded by several right wing organizations affiliated with the health corporations, particularly Dick Armey's Freedom Watch.
These near-riots were a mixture of some decent people reacting to misinformation campaigns (Death Panels), anti-Government zealots, operatives from the aforementioned corporations including their employees--many of whom were forced to participate--and the subject of my blog today, the unhinged racist and xenophobe crowd motivated by Glenn Beck, Limbaugh and Dobbs among others.
Their signs were not about health care or, if mentioned, it was tangential to a racist attack on President Obama. Now, I ask you: is that poster above really about health care? We've seen these manifestations of overt racism since the Palin rallies. During the presidential campaign, the former half-term Alaska governor, Sarah Palin, introduced the entire "Obama is a Terrorist" "Obama is 'The Other'" meme which ran through the right wing like a wild fire in California.
Soon, her crowds started calling "Kill him!" and "Hang him!" and "Terrorist" when then-candidate Obama's name was mentioned. She never batted an eye; on the contrary, she looked supremely self-satisfied. Senator McCain himself had to try to dial back the rampant hatred when he was faced with one of these seething rallies of his own. But it was too late. The beast had been fed and it was on the rampage.
This had been prepared for in advance. During the Democratic Primaries, a series of scurrilous emails had been circulated claiming that, among other things, Barack Obama was a Muslim, a Socialist, hated America, didn't say the Pledge of Allegiance or salute the flag and was sworn into office on the Koran and, to top it all off, was no doubt the Anti-Christ.
Reasonable people shrugged it off but it did gain wide acceptance among the ignorant and the people of bad will and intent. I'll illustrate this with the example of one of my own cousins who after sending several of these emails even sent me an email claiming that Barack Obama wanted to change the national anthem from The Star Spangled Banner to "I Want to Teach the World to Sing." She believed this. The triumphant last line she added to the forward was, "If he won't say our pledge, salute our flag or sing our anthem, he doesn't belong in our Oval Office." Note the word 'our' in there. She also added, in a remarkably un-Christian way, that no matter what he claims or practices, he is not a Christian and, furthermore, he was 'born in Kenya' and not eligible to be President. This belief later became known as "The Birther" Movement. After the election she claimed that he was only elected through a huge voter fraud perpetrated by the (tiny) community organizer group ACORN. It would be funny if it were not so hateful and vile.
My cousin believes everything bad said about President Obama because she is a racist--that much I know from growing up with her. She circulates this garbage and routinely sent it to me even though she knew I was a Super-Volunteer in the Obama Campaign. I finally asked her to stop (twice) and now she's not speaking to me.
No great loss, that, but I want everyone to note this trend of which she is but one personal example. They are vilifying President Obama and trying to dehumanize him for what reason? To what purpose? What happens when you whip up crazy people? I'll answer for you: JFK, RFK, MLK and others including many dead civil rights activists.
Two weeks ago, they found a census worker lynched in the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky. He was discovered naked, bound by duct tape, a rope around his neck, with his Government ID card taped to his chest and the word "FED" scrawled on his chest.
Expect more of this. This kind of acting out will escalate, I promise you. One of the advocates of this anti-government behavior (read that as anti-Obama because they didn't object when Bush was President) is US Representative Michelle Bachman who told her constituents to be 'locked and loaded' to oppose the census. I guess someone took her literally only they used a rope.
Another example is the doctor who performed abortions being gunned down in his church. And the congregation of the Unitarian Church who were fired upon and several members killed by a man who said he did it to help 'eliminate the liberals.' He was inspired by an anti-liberal book by Bernard Goldberg. And the three Pittsburgh police officers shot by a guy who claimed 'Obama is going to take my guns!' There are more examples but I'll stop here.
I live, as my blog suggests, in the liberal bastion of Austin. Even so, we have a few of these people. Recently, I was parking my car at my doctor's office. My car still has my Obama campaign magnets on it to show support for the President. From my open window, I heard a voice cry, "Fuck Obama and Fuck You!" I turned to see who had yelled and a man was standing by his pick up truck scowling at me with both middle fingers raised. On his bumper was his own sticker "Liberal Hunting Permit." Hatred, violently expressed, is their organizing principle. Since people can carry guns in Texas, I waited until he'd left before I got out of my car.
When I was growing up, the Republican Party was a party of the affluent Country Club Set.
They were reasonable citizens in their oligarch-ist way, conservative in the true sense of the word. Now, the Republican Party has been taken over by this fringe element. The moderate GOP (there aren't any liberal ones) have become Independents or Democrats. The GOP in the legislature are merely obstructionists who oppose everything President Obama does; however, the rank and file are seething, angry reactionaries who are infuriated to have an African American President. The GOP legislators play to them. That is their base.
Superstitiously, I'm afraid to articulate this but I fear for President Obama's life. Frankly, I fear for the lives of all of us who run afoul of these zealots. They are organizing into militias and preparing to launch an insurrection to overthrow our duly elected government. Should we take them seriously? That will be the topic of my next blog.
To end this entry, I'll refer back to the sign at the top of the page from a Tea Bag Party. As you see, the sign was held by a smiling child. To indoctrinate children into hatred and racism is surely the worse sin of all.
