Aug
17
Pumping Up The Hate
Filed Under American Politics
John Avlon writing at The Daily Beast predicts a summer of hate
The increasing heat of the chatter this summer should be a cold wakeup call. We are courting a season of violence in America. We are eroding our common sense and common decency. By pumping up hyperpartisanship as a means of gaining market share or as a recruitment tool, we are playing with forces that can easily get out of control. We are giving cover—and sometimes a sense of purpose—to the crazy among us.
He lists 25 instances in the past few months that support his theory and whilst he cites what he perceives as right wing extremism in the main, he does include token left wing extremist rhetoric.
It’s an interesting, if overly dramatic piece, but he does jump the shark on assassination:
We have enjoyed a relative period of innocence in American politics. We have been mercifully free of assassination in recent years—even as we have pumped up hyperpartisanship and coarsened our civic dialogue. But we are not immune from the larger cycles of violence that occasionally erupt and shock even the most stable societies in history. 1968 is 40 years and one bad day away. That’s the problem with hate; it ultimately leads to violence.
This is not the first time that I have seen the left talk about assassination. It is almost as though they are hoping it happens so that it discredits the right completely. Throwing Obama under the bus for a change. There are certainly loony extremists on the right capable of violence, but they are just that, a loony minority, and I am in no doubt that “birthers” and some of the Obama haters are reacting in that way through racism. But we are also seeing a mainstream left wing commentariat and politicians who are driving the descent to violence. What do they think will happen if they continue to refer to right-wingers being Nazi’s and racists? The Birthers were a non-story until the nutroots made an issue out of it. If violence does occur on the right (something I doubt), the right will have to bear the responsibility for that. But the left will be culpable too. They are currently fueling the flames and creating the culture war atmosphere that may lead to violence.
In truth though, I don’t think that the right will erupt in violence en masse, it is not the rights’ style. I’m struggling to think of any occasion, either here in the U.K. or in the U.S. where the right have resorted to violent protest of any significance. Violence is the modus operandi of left-wing protest; the 1968 Democratic Party convention, the various G8 protests around the world, poll tax riots in the U.K., the Miners strike and Wapping to name but a few.
There is a reason why we are called the ’silent majority’.
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27 Responses to “Pumping Up The Hate”
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Commenting on something does not mean that you are encouraging it to happen. Saying so is another way of closing the debate.
Most people seeing the video recently posted here, making the case for Obama being Satan, would think ‘Oh Shit!’ for a few seconds at least.
Most of us laughed but still, it takes one guy with a rifle…
I’m sure the left are more likely to get on the streets because they are mostly young.
The far-left is pumping the hate for their own political agenda.
And Ronnie is correct, commenting on what is happening politically is not wishing for anything bad to happen to a sitting president.
Any thinking person knows that should something happen to Obama, it would backfire and release a cornicopia of liberal, left-wing programs…it’s what happened after the Kennedy assassination…it brought on ‘The Great Society’ and took us further down the road to Socialism.
It bothers me that the left is using Obama’s ethnicity to win political points when many Americans don’t like Obama because of his far-left socialist agenda. As shockwaver commented recently, if Obama was in the middle politically, he could have been an incredibly popular and successful president…but he is a far-left idealogue and finds it impossible to find the center.
The only way to stop this socialistic drive is at the voting booth…BTW, ‘Dumb as a Rock’ Barbara Boxer is in for a real fight to retain her Senate seat in the next election…some big ones are going to fall and I can’t wait…
I am prepared to wager that Obama will be knocked off. I must emphasise I do not want this to happen to him but I have a gut feeling it will.
I also have a gut feeling Hizbullah and Syria will go to war with Israel before the end of the year.
I also have a gut feeling Japan will suffer a massive earthquake soon, which will cripple the USA stock markets.
Well OT, I won’t take your bet. I’m actually quite surprised he’s got this far.
I think a Chinese earthquake would do more harm to US stocks.
Cabbie:
The left are not hoping for assasination, it’s actually the opposite.
They are looking at right wingers bringing guns to townhalls where the president is going to speak and one carrying a sign with the words “Time to water the Tree of Liberty” in a less than subtle hat tip to Jefferson and a worrying reminder of the t-shirt the american who perpetrated the largest killing spree by a terrorist on US soli before 9/11, the right winger Tim McVeigh wore.
Even Beck has been trying to tone down the rhetoric and that was before most of his major sponsors decided to walk away.
I’m actually very annoyed at the secret service in this. I may not have been a fan of Bush but there is NO WAY the secret service would have allowed anyone with a gun that close to him when he was president 2nd amendment be damned.
Just to let you all know that things are kind of hectic at work at the mo.
I won’t be doing too much online this week, l have to go to the a**ehole end of London (Brentford. Think Philip Henry Sheridan’s quote about Hell and Texas and swap Brentford for Texas!!) for a training course til friday then i’m hopefully off to Tonbridge to visit an old friend for the weekend money permitting.
Have a good week peeps, see you all when l get back.
The group that would gain the most by an assassination of an American president would the Islamic jihadists…
Think of it. There would be complete chaos at home with race riots, even worse financial upheaval and the blame would be laid at the feet of the ‘right’ by the left. In the meantime, the jihadists would have the luxury of time to get a better foothole in Afghanistan, Iraq…the complete middle east, while America would be dealing with complete political turmoil at home…
What do you think?
Okay, i’m off for my “fun” week of sitting in a hot room trying to stay awake, but l will leave you guys with this:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/2009/08/twelve-carry-guns—-including-assault-rifle—-outside-obama-event.php
I am STUNNED that this is allowed to happen by the secret service!! People have been DETAINED for even JOKING about harming the president and in the last 8 years we have seen opponents herded to free speech zones and they were just carrying signs not weapons!!
TPM reader LAG had this to say:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/08/where_are_the_limits.php?ref=fpblg
And l agree with him and with Joe Klein, who has seen many years of protests as a reporter when he says this:
http://tpmtv.talkingpointsmemo.com/?id=3218984&ref=fpblg
This is beyond worrying, and Klein has it right. Just like in the 1st Amendment you have the provision about shouting “fire”, there should be a provision in the 2nd about armed opponents of the president wandering around outside political events he’s at.
Again l say it, and those on the right on this site cannot argue, but there is ABSOLUTELY NO FRIGGING WAY that this would have been allowed to happen under President Bush and i’m shocked that more hasn’t been said by politicians and pundits these guys support to tell them that this is no way to act in a democratic society when asking for debate.
Israel
I know you probably won’t read this, but I don’t see the problem. If it’s legal to carry weapons, then the Secret Service could do nothing anything anyway. I suspect that those 12 people were being very carefully watched however.
Turns out, this was just an Arizona gun group looking for some publicity. They had informed the police the night before that they were attending the rally and were carefully being followed by Secret Service and police. Nothing to see here.
http://www.arizonashooting.com/v3/viewtopic.php?p=595650#p595650
…and I don’t suppose there will be a problem when the Texas nitro glycerine (sp.)society decides to check out the venue of Obama’s next public appearance the night before.
Israel’s right about this. No secret service would ever allow guns so near the Head of State and we all know it.
Ronnie
How would they have stopped it? It is legal to carry guns in Arizona. Now the minions of the government are going to ignore the law to protect the President? What may be another name for that I wonder?
For God’s sake! Since when have unauthorised armed groups been allowed anywhere near a Head of State?
Anwar Sadat: ‘I say, I don’t like the look of those chaps over there. You see them? The chaps with the AK 47s.
Head of Security: It’s fine sir, they are a group of concerned citizens, NRA members, simply giving peaceful expression to their right to bear arms.
RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!!!!
Anwar Sadat: ‘You see, I was right. Ugh.’
Ronnie
Calm down.
The point is, they are not unauthorised, they have the legal right to do it. What powers do you think the police and Secret Services have to prevent this? Do you remember when Dr Walter Wofgang was arrested under the terrorism act for heckling Blair? I’m assuming from your comments that you approve of this sort of attack on civil liberty. Just as the right to free speech is an important right, so is the right to bear arms in America. I could see it going down well for Obama in this current environment as his heavies arrest people for fulfilling their rights. Their restraint on this matter was admirable.
Personally, I think that it was idiotic grandstanding by the gun carriers, but nevertheless, it was legal idiotic grandstanding.
Cabbie.
I’m calm.
As far as I remember Dr Wolfgang was not a Head of State. He was an elderly, unarmed accredited delegate to the Labour party conference. His treatment was ludicrous and made utter fools of its perpetrators, as if they need any help.
I’m not seeing the link here nor am I seeing any basis for your intemperate assumption.
Ronnie
No but Tony Blair was. The police used a heavy handed tactic that breached basic civil liberties to “protect” a head of state. That’s the similarity. In that link I provided, there were pictures of secret servicemen standing directly behind the gun-carrier. I’m sure that if Obama had exited the venue and that gun had moved a millimetre, the guy carrying it would have been on the ground in a flash. That’s why I think this was well-handled. The President was never at risk and the right were given no ammunition (ahem!) to accuse him or the police of subverting their liberties.
I was just playing on your use of “for god’s sake”, an expression of exasperation.
Cabbie.
Dr Wolfgang shouted ‘rubbish!’ at Jack Straw, something I’ve done many times myself in the comfort of my own home, without harrassment of any kind.
Tony Blair wasn’t there and he was never Head of State.
Anyway, what we need here is an arm-chair general to tell us what he things of a bunch of guys with automatic weapons being allowed to parade openly near a Head of State.
Ronnie
OK, my bad on that.
Nit-picking. He was the elected leader, just as Obama is.
Who are you referring to?
You still haven’t addressed the legality of preventing these people from carrying guns. That seems to be fundamental to this issue.
Cabbie.
I think Her Majesty would find it a very big nit.
Maybe we can check on the US Secret Services’ rules of engagement in cases like this.
The arms bearers in the crowd were a “democratic plant” to bring more ammo to the court of banning weapons in America…one of the top priorities for all socialists.
OT not that old chesnut again
OT.
No! They were a right-wing plant to make it look like they were a far left plant, intended to discredit the devious left wing campaign to have weapons banned in America and turn everyone against the socialists.
OT
I think that often, Occam’s Razor is the best answer to issues, namely that the most likely possibility is usually the right one. In this case, a group of shooters keen to show off their hardware and to celebrate their right to carry. They weren’t Democratic plants, nor are they evidence of the “hate” that liberals suddenly seem to think is detrimental to the political process. strange they didn’t think that the last eight years. They even made a film about the assasination of George Bush, and NOW they think assasination is a bad thing.
Ronnie
I suspect we’ll be a long time searching. I would think that that is a very closely guarded secret.
Cabbie, you think!?
I was actually winding Israel up about his horror that people can follow the 2nd amendment with impunity. Liberals dont like these laws when the consequences challenge them, but dont give a toss when a conservative is challenged similarly.
Ronnie…good one!!