Yesterday Rep. Eric Cantor (R, VA) announced his office had been shot at and pointed fingers at Democrats for escalating political rhetoric to the point of inciting violence. When asked if she was going to denounce the attacks on members of Congress, Michelle Bachmann (R, MN) balked, blaming Democrats for pushing an “unpopular” and “anti-American” health care bill. Now Rep. Cantor’s claim has unravelled. It turns out the office in question was neither shot at nor even in his Congressional district. So who is escalating the rhetoric now?
The recent rise of domestic terrorism and extremist violence has been well documented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and in an interview yesterday on National Public Radio, the connection between GOP lawmakers and the extremest right came into even greater focus. According to Mark Potok, editor of the investigative journal Intelligence Report mainstream GOP leaders are creating a very scary situation. A new poll from Harris interactive shows that 40% of Americans believe President Obama is a socialist while 14% say he may be the Antichrist.
The modern Tea Party movement may not be to blame, but they are certainly at the center of this renewed vigor by right wing extremist groups. Potok mentioned the number of conspiracy theories circulating in their ranks, such as the Reconquista- a secret plan by Mexico to re-conquer the American Southwest or of FEMA secretly building a series of concentration camps for Americans who resist the coming martial law. The concentration camp theory was spun by Glenn Beck on three episodes of his show before he finally decided it was just a rumor. Follow that up with an off-the-cuff comment by Michelle Bachmann about President Obama and plans for “reeducation camps” and its easy to see how these ideas start to gain political traction.
Not only is this situation spinning dangerously out of control, but ultimately, it is the American public that stands to lose the most. Democracy works best with a multitude of policy opinions, with an open and honest debate over the issues. The Republicans, currently lacking in any real policy initiatives other than to continue to bleed the country dry at the expense of the middle and working class, seem set to sit back and let the radical right drive the conversation. That means a return of racially tinged “literacy tests” for voting, flirtations with secession, and, worst of all, passive suggestions that violence against members of Congress is not only acceptable, but justified.
Read more: civil rights, gop, racism, southern poverty law center, tea party
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Vest wishes to people and animals in Europe.
Thank you for the comment. I recognise that many people aspire to have their own vineyard and winery…
Ridiculous.
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The GOP fans flames of hate, and I'm surprised-how???????????? This election cycle has been just about the nasty time in our history in my memory and I'm in my sixties. Hateful toward the highest positiions of the land. Remember folks, it's okay to respect the office. The shoe thrower upset me tremendously and I'm no Bush lover. But he was MY president at the time, and he should be treated with the respect due a head of State. Please bring civility back in all parts of society, we need it. You aren't going to like it when it's gone forever, no matter which side you're on.
It seems that the Tea Party is not the only ones fanning the flames of hate. Progressive members were caught on video this weekend throwing bottles at police in Arizona. Also a liberal that hates skinheads and Neo-Nazis, stabbed a member of the neo-Nazi movement to death in a hate crime.
Tea Party members, meanwhile, have not resorted to violence. I am not advocating some of the signs that show up or the unsupported accusations of fowl language at Tea Party rallies, but at least there is no violence or murder involved, as with recent Progressive rallies.
well all i can say is look at the video here, and the picture above will make more sense. the tea party is only a subsidiary of the republican party. here in this video is the new defender of the tea party and american freedom...david duke.
http://freakoutnation.com/2010/04/24/david-duke-debunks-tea-pary-racism
May All Beings Be Free From Suffering .
May All Human Be Free From Hatred.
@ 'O' or '.' or whatever pseudonym you are hiding behind today.... your rant proves the point the rest were trying to make.
Case Closed
Barbara the closed minded, read the quote above. I try to be reasonable and provide proof and this is the crap I receive from Lib Tards. I think they must have mental illness.
Case Closed!!! You Judge!!!
@ 'O' or '.' or whatever pseudonym you are hiding behind today.... your rant proves the point the rest were trying to make.
Case Closed
So you see the left are really the ones that promote a righteous violence I guess they forgot history. Now they try to blame the right. Is not abortion a form of violence thrust upon the innocent child? Do they not feel pain?
http://americanvision.org/2010/post/righteous-violence-tactic-of-political-left/
cont
If this isnt enough, there is a bizarre link between the Weathermen, the SDS, and Charles Manson. Bernardine Dohrn was a founding member of the radical Weatherman group who made the FBIs Ten Most Wanted list, told an SDS convention just before she went underground: Offing those rich pigs with their own forks and knives, and then eating a meal in the same room, far out! The Weathermen dig Charles Manson.[8] For a time Manson was the darling of anti-war protester Jerry Rubin. Rubin wrote of Manson in We Are Everywhere: His words and courage inspired us. . . . Mansons soul is easy to touch because it lays quite bare on the surface.[9] Rubin later admitted that he was angered by Mansons incredible male chauvinism. High praises for ritualistic, political murder but indignation for male chauvinism. Typical. A reporter for the Los Angeles Free Press expressed similar sentiments when he found out that Manson was both anti-Jewish and anti-black.[10] If you didnt know, Dohrn is married to Bill Ayers, another former radical who supports Leftist causes.
Why did some on the radical left see Manson as a hero? Perhaps because Manson articulated the same rhetoric of violence that spewed forth from the SDS and Weathermen and actually put it into action as way to bring down the system. Manson believed that the Tate-LaBianca murders he orchestrated would start a race war.
That Manson for
cont
If this isnt enough, there is a bizarre link between the Weathermen, the SDS, and Charles Manson. Bernardine Dohrn was a founding member of the radical Weatherman group who made the FBIs Ten Most Wanted list, told an SDS convention just before she went underground: Offing those rich pigs with their own forks and knives, and then eating a meal in the same room, far out! The Weathermen dig Charles Manson.[8] For a time Manson was the darling of anti-war protester Jerry Rubin. Rubin wrote of Manson in We Are Everywhere: His words and courage inspired us. . . . Mansons soul is easy to touch because it lays quite bare on the surface.[9] Rubin later admitted that he was angered by Mansons incredible male chauvinism. High praises for ritualistic, political murder but indignation for male chauvinism. Typical. A reporter for the Los Angeles Free Press expressed similar sentiments when he found out that Manson was both anti-Jewish and anti-black.[10] If you didnt know, Dohrn is married to Bill Ayers, another former radical who supports Leftist causes.
Why did some on the radical left see Manson as a hero? Perhaps because Manson articulated the same rhetoric of violence that spewed forth from the SDS and Weathermen and actually put it into action as way to bring down the system. Manson believed that the Tate-LaBianca murders he orchestrated would start a race war.
That Manson fore
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