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July 10, 2007

Dancing with the Devil

I've got to tell you, I am REALLY PISSED OFF at conservatives right now. I mean, rarely have I seen the level of pure bullshit from the Right as I have seen in the last two days, and it plainly demonstrates why the terminally stupid are going to take this country down. God help us because we apparently really are headed for a bloodletting. Specifically, I am talking about how a relatively unknown liberal blogger's expression of frustration over the fomenting of hatred by prominent right-wingers has lit a match to that kindling of hatred that is spreading yet another fire throughout the right wing-nuttery machine, including Fox News's Hannity and Colmes, Brent Bozell, WorldNet Daily, and a host of right-wing bloggers, not to even mention the ignorant masses of people commenting on their various websites. Why am I so angry? Because these people are hell-bent on destroying this country. They are literally drooling for a civil war that pits liberals against conservatives. And they don't seem to understand how utterly heinous that would be.

Last night when I arrived at home, Fox News was already blaring on our television and Sean Hannity was running a promo about his upcoming show, in which he would be talking about a liberal blogger who said he wanted to kill Rush Limbaugh. Of course they had to point out his past as a writer for Hustler magazine (I will at this point refrain from listing the MANY sexual indiscretions of Republicans that these same pundits excuse, though that would probably serve to prove that we are ALL THE SAME - human beings - and it's time we learned to get along). Hannity somberly said, "Should he be arrested? Should he be investigated? Should he be silenced?" And I wondered to myself, "Is he feeling intimidated?"

Brent Bozell, President of the right-wing Media Research Center, was a guest on the show and he, too, was quite somber about the supposed death threats leveled against Rush and Nugent. He wondered how it was fair that the liberal media pounced on Ann Coulter recently, "distorting" her comments to say she had called for the assassination of John Edwards "when she hadn't," but were silent on Hart's comments. The discussion that ensued overlooked entirely any context for Hart's statements until the nearly-worthless Alan Colmes timidly quoted a bit more from the piece.

If you want to watch the episode, here are links for watching it on Windows Video and Real Media Video. And here is an MP3 file.

First, I want to summarize what Hart's message actually was, because it was not an expression of a desire to get up right now and go kill Rush Limbaugh and Ted Nugent. Here is how I would paraphrase what Hart wrote:

Ted Nugent's liberal-hating letter to the Wall Street Journal was yet another example of how the right wing is fomenting hatred of the left. And the anger that is building on the right toward liberals is reaching such a degree that I do not know where else it can end up but in a bloody civil war. So if it comes to that, let me tell you right now that I am going to go after one of the chief instigators of this hatred that is dividing America: Rush Limbaugh. And if one of you wants to go after Ted Nugent, let me know so we aren't redundant in our effort to rid the planet of the people who are turning Americans against each other.

Though I agree that we are in serious trouble and if hatemongers on the right don't stop pushing buttons we could end up in a civil war, I would not have said what Hart said. But Hart did say it. And now he is getting some very negative attention.

Brent Bozell's blog is just brimming with rabid right-wing comments like these following the Hannity & Colmes discussion:

Bigtimer: "I have had my fill of these people."

Blazer: "Gotta love those crazy, crazy commies on the left, and how they love to swim in thier toilet bowls of irony, and hypocrisy. This folks is the kind of scum, that are pulling the Democrat puppet strings. … BRING IT ON SCUM!! "

Bassndude: "Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!"

The right-wing bloggers have also had some things to say about it. Here is a sampling:

1. "Another Civil War? The Moonbats are getting bolder and dangerously stupid. First we have Left Winger Blogger Hart Williams wishing for a Civil War so he can shoot and kill Rush Limbaugh and asking for a volunteer to kill Ted Nugent. Then we have derranged Anti War Looney Matthew J. Marren shooting Airman Jonathan Schrieken as his anti-wat statement. It seems that the Moonbats are developing a twisted pair of testicular organs. But it might backfire (pardon the pun) nastily. Their hatred of anything guns and military might be clouding their brains enough as to ignore that a section of law-abiding citizens are armed and may not sit quietly while they try to go on a rampage. And that group of citizens regulary train with guns so it is safe to assume that they are much better shots. Warning to Mr. Moonbat: We will shoot back & we won't miss." Adding to the understanding of this blogger is the header at the top of his web page, which reads: "'Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.' H.L. Mencken"

2. "Bring it, Beeyotch! The first shot that these anti-American asshats fire will be their last. Period. End of story. And not only will we NOT have to listen to them whine and snivel anymore, but we'll have that many less people trying to tear America down and turn it into a socialist shithole. So bring it, beeyotch. People like this are the domestic enemies I swore an oath to defend the Constitution against."

3. "Go Ahead: Make The Nudge's Day Knowing the title of his famous cookbook, Kill It And Grill It, the assassin wannabe might want to look his best… to become his next wall trophy."

Contrary to what these right-wingers believe, liberals do not have a lock on hate speech. Here are just a few quotes from some well-known conservatives:

1. Mel Gibson on Frank Rich: "I want to kill him. I want his entrails on a stick. I want to kill his dog."

2. Fresno City Council Member Jerry Duncan in 2003 wrote in an email that police should "Cap" members of the Human Relations Commission and wrote, "If I had one dirty bomb and I could eliminate all the liberals in Fresno at once." When his comments became public, Duncan said "The response I have gotten from the public on this has been 100% supportive."

3. Rush Limbaugh: "I tell people don't kill all the liberals. Leave enough so we can have two on every campus – living fossils – so we will never forget what these people stood for."

4. Senator Phil Gramm: "We're going to keep building the party until we're hunting Democrats with dogs."

5. Rep. James Hansen on Bill Clinton: Get rid of the guy. Impreach him, censure him, assassinate him."

6. John Derbyshire intimated in the National Review that because Chelsea Clinton had "the taint," she should "be killed."

7. Ann Coulter: "We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too."

8. Ann Coulter: "My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times building."

9. Bill O'Reilly: "[A]ll those clowns over at the liberal radio network, we could incarcerate them immediately. Will you have that done, please? Send over the FBI and just put them in chains."

10. Rabbi Daniel Lapin (good friend of Grover Norquist): "I am absolutely convinced that God is far from finished with the story of the United States of America. First of all, [there's] the matter of the little battle that must be fought, just as it was in the 19th century." Could he be referring to the Civil War? I think so, because he goes on to say there were at that time and are now "two incompatible moral visions for this country. We had to settle it then. We're going to have to settle it now. I hope not with blood, not with guns, but we're going to have to settle it nonetheless. The good news is that I think our side is finally ready to settle it. Roll up its sleeves, take off its jacket, and get a little bloody. Spill a little blood. We'll settle it. And we'll win. And then there's no holding us back."

And let's not leave out the lesser-known right-wing bloggers – here is a very small sampling of what can be found in the blogosphere:

1. This blogger in 2004 described a "fantasy episode" which "has a following in the darker parts of my mind." In it, a paramilitary group, the Christian Liberation Front, storms Washington, killing five Supreme Court Justices, 50 people at a Senate Democratic Caucus meeting, all Democratic senators from states with Republican governors – and names the 21 senators killed, then "proudly" confessed to police. " Would five extra conservatives on the Supreme Court and a filibuster-free Senate be worth the bloodshed? It is opposing evil, given some of the less-than-biblical decisions that have emanated from the court."

2. "Screw the Democrats and kill the liberals. IM SICK AND TIRED OF ALL THIS TALK OF ETHICS IN CONGRESS AND CHARGES BEING BROUGHT UP AGAINST REPUBLICANS! THE GOVERNMENT KNOWS WHAT ITS DOING SO LIBERALS SHOULD BE QUIET! WE NEED TO ARREST AND KILL ANYONE WHO SPEAKS OUT AND HAVE THE FCC TAKE CONTROL OF ALL THE MEDIA AND REQUIRE LICENCES FOR JOURNALISM! LETS PRAY FOR TOM DELAY THAT HE GETS OUT ALRIGHT! AND THAT ALL THE DEMOCRATS ARE THROWN IN JAIL UNTIL THEY DIE WITHOUT TRIAL! THIS IS A WAR WERE IN! TRUST THE GOVERNMENT FOR ONCE OTHERWISE YOU ARE AN IDIOT AND A COMMUNIST TRAITOR! GOD BLESS AMERICA!"

3. This website is entirely devoted to hating liberals: "Liberals Will Kill Us.com."

There is more. Much more. Find out for yourself. Google the words "kill liberals" and be shocked.

Back in February of 2004 and again in January of 2005, a blogger at Orcinus wrote two very chilling editorials about the inevitable result of the "eliminationist rhetoric on the right" and where it would take this country. I highly recommend both of these articles, which you can find here and here. Through the years, I have been told by several right wingers that they were ready to take up arms against the liberals, a group now successfully dehumanized by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity. I wonder if they really understand what that would mean for this country, or if they are so completely lost in their own fantasy world about "the way things ought to be" that they would feel patriotic, inspired, and so very right in slaughtering millions of their fellow countrymen.

The dehumanization of the enemy, drilled all day long into the heads of their fellow countrymen through radio broadcasts, resulted in a brutal genocide in Rwanda. The right-wingers have no trouble understanding that evil. Why can't they see that they are themselves dancing with the very same devil right now?

Posted by Becky at July 10, 2007 11:05 AM