Posts by Russell Brown
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The winger talking point on Obama's speech (video here) is shaping up as "it was a cynical campaign rally."
On one level, this response is appalling if not unexpected. On another, it does recognise a reality: Obama's stature has been restored and enhanced by that speech. Sure, he has great writers and a phenomenal command of register, but his pathologically unifying tone -- which hasn't always been fit for purpose in the hurly-burly of legislating -- found a new resonance in that speech.
All the more so in comparison to Palin's self-serving, tone-deaf "blood libel" video speech earlier in the day. What sort of zealot thought that was the right speech to give on the day of the service in Tucson? She didn't get to the two-minute mark before she began pleading that she and her allies were the victims in this.
People will credit the speech if Obama secures a second term, but the momentum actually started shifting shortly after the midterms. The presidential approval polling has been steadily improving for him: on the same TPM page as the Palin video, there's a Gallup poll showing him four points in positive, and even a (generally Republican-friendly) Rasmussen poll with him 49-51. I think it's certain that the next couple of days' polling will give that trend a push.
So, er, yeah. That unifying thing might end up on a campaign poster.
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It strikes me that this thread has been notable for furious dust-ups that seem unnecessary. Perhaps we might all cut each other some slack.
Alternatively, I'm just all touch-feely because I'm watching the Obama speech and crying a little bit.
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Hard News: Holiday Open Thread 2:…, in reply to Martin Lindberg,
Aaargh, that linked post hurt my brain. Then the comments made it hurt even more. It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad. Also, my name (and yours) is apparently hypocrisy. I consider myself duly told off by Anonymous.
The “I’m not saying the Left are exactly like Hitler, but …” comment is really priceless. I don’t think these people have any idea how they might look to anyone who isn’t in their cult.
Was tempted to do some schooling, but a ride seems like a better idea …
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Hard News: Holiday Open Thread 2:…, in reply to HORansome,
More generally (I've been following the thread but trying not to engage with it; this thesis must be finished), the rhetoric we're seeing here, with each side blaming the other and all of them putting forward either the claim that "This is what happens when you talk this way" or "This is what they intended to happen all along!" really is a textbook example of Hoftstader's commentary on American politics (which Russell has already referred to).
I had to stop reading AmericaBlog when it started to develop a kind of mirror-image of teabaggery: a common point being a disdain for Obama that supasseth reason.
When a commenter on a "liberal" blog refers to a black President as "the bellhop" and no one -- except me -- bats an eyelid, that's when I go elsewhere. It still find it hard to tell between good-faith commenters and concern trolls there, but it can't all be concern trolling.
I did post a few comments telling off John Aravosis for being a hysterical dick, but curiously enough, he didn't see my point of view.
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Hard News: Holiday Open Thread 2:…, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
… which is code for?
You know it.
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Hard News: Holiday Open Thread 2:…, in reply to Angus Robertson,
But it’s worse, today, really.
It is not discernably different than 5 years ago. It is just big tent politics, where the opposition party appeals to the widest possible strands of the dissatisfied voters.
I was referring to the mainstreaming of a particularly aberrant strain of political thought, and, yes, it is different, and the current acceptability of that thought is, I'm fairly sure, unprecedented.
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Ah. Now we're getting somewhere:
Osler continued, "he didn't listen to political radio, he didn't take sides, he wasn't on the left, he wasn't on the right." Instead, Banfield reports that Osler pointed to a web-based documentary called Zeitgeist, that focused on currency based economics that "poured gasoline on his fire" as Banfield reports. "The Zeitgeist documentary had a profound impact on Jared Loughner's mindset" Osler claimed.
This makes sense. From the Wikipedia article on Zeitgeist: the Movie:
According to the film, the US was forced by the Federal Reserve Bank to become embroiled in these wars, not with a view to win but to sustain the conflict, as this forces the US government to borrow money from the bank, allegedly increasing the profits of the "international bankers". The film then goes on to claim that the Federal Income Tax is illegal.
This section also claims the existence of a secret agreement to merge the United States, Canada and Mexico into a "North American Union". The creation of this North American Union is then alleged to be a step towards the creation of "One World Government." The film speculates that under such a government, every human could be implanted with an RFID chip to monitor individuals and suppress dissent.
Those of you with your paranoid-style bingo cards ready can begin now.
You'll note one of Senator Rand Paul's favourite batshit conspiracy theories, the North American Union, there. The popular"Federal income tax is illegal" meme. And, of course, an oldie but always a goodie: the "international bankers".
This is why I'm not sure that the 1960s civil rights battles are all that relevant in discussing this episode of political violence. They were part of a completely different kind of politics.
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And in other news, a black Republican district chair in Arizona resigns citing threats from local Tea Partiers: “I love the Republican Party but I don’t want to take a bullet for anyone.”
And this:
Rep. Joe Wilson’s (R-S.C.) health care-era “you lie” interruption of President Obama is now reportedly being commemorated with a place on a new, limited edition line of assault rifle components.
The Columbia Free Times reports that the words are being engraved on a series of lower receivers manufactured for popular AR-15 assault rifles. Lower receivers are one of the primary pieces of the firearms.
“Palmetto State Armory would like to honor our esteemed congressman Joe Wilson with the release of our new ‘You Lie’ AR-15 lower receiver,” the weapon manufacturer’s site writes in the product description. “Only 999 of these will be produced, get yours before they are gone!"
Far out.
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Hard News: Holiday Open Thread 2:…, in reply to Gareth Ward,
Russell when you say the Tea Party are important ‘here’ because of mainstreaming it sounds an awful lot like a definitive link between their actions and this event ‘here’ – completely unprovable and a MASSIVE call.
“Here” as in the context of this discussion.
I thought I’d explained pretty carefully that wasn’t what I was saying. I said Loughner clearly isn’t a tea partier and I doubt he was directly influenced in his thinking by the likes of Palin.
But these things don’t happen in a vacuum, and the particular tropes in Loughner’s ranting aren’t new. Richard Hofstadter’s classic essay for Harpers, The Paranoid Style in American POlitics, was published in 1964 but it could have been written today.
But it’s worse, today, really. The New World Order theories of Cleon Skousen were generally considered beyond the pale when he was alive. Now, thanks to an endorsement and foreword from Glenn Beck, one of Skousen’s crazy books was a best-seller and he’s pretty much mainstream -- namechecked by Mitt Romney, Orrin Hatch, etc, etc. These kinds of ideas have actually never been as acceptable as they are now.
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Hard News: Holiday Open Thread 2:…, in reply to Rich Lock,
As I said then, and to repeat, all those articles, and others, were published within hours of the shooting occurring. All of them laid the blame squarely, and to the exclusion of all other factors, at the door of the tea party and it’s rhetoric.
Speaking for myself, I'm quite aware of the relatively recent history. I was reading up on Tim McVeigh and Eric Rudolph yesterday, and decided that Lougher was more McVeigh than Lynette Fromme -- and not so much like Eric Rudolph, who was a "pro-life" Christian terrorist. Loughner seem even more disturbed than McVeigh, and less coherently political, but his ranting touches on some of the same themes.
But the Tea Party is important here -- even though Loughner clearly isn't a Teabagger. They've mainstreamed the kind of ideas and language that until recently were very marginal. The US has had elected representatives talking about using bullets -- or in the case of Michelle Bachmann, hinting coyly about "Second Amendment solutions" to the Obama administration. Then there's all the loony gold standard and constitutional talk.
It appears from those timelines, though, that only the stupidity of the individuals involved has prevented political murder by actual tea party types.
To take one example, after healthcare reform was passed this year, these dickheads couldn't even get the right address:Federal and local authorities are investigating a severed gas line at the home of U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello’s brother, discovered the day after Tea Party activists posted the address online so opponents could “drop by” and “express their thanks” for Perriello’s vote in favor of health care reform.
Cutting a propane gas line at a family home could have killed someone quite easily. I doubt they're so stupid that they didn't know that.