Saturday, August 8, 2009

Republican Mobs, Is the Worst Yet to Come?

We have been exploring the Republican mob mentality over the past few days. Now I ask the question, is the worst yet to come? Will they resort to murderous violence. We must remember that the Republican base is made up of those who often do not think for themselves and are easily swayed. The majority are filled with racial hatred and cannot accept that fact that we have an African American president. The public references to him are Socialist, NAZI, Muslim, and dictator, all of which make no sense what so ever, unless you take into consideration what they really mean.

I read recently that the Secret Service receives many death threats daily on President Obama. My fear is that the mob incitement by the RNC and the right wing hacks on radio and TV will spill over into violence against the President and his family. Not only is racism an issue, but religion comes in a close second. The fundamentalist element in this mob mentality is probably the scariest. Many of these folks have been convinced or have convinced themselves that the President is not a Christian, but a hated Muslim. To them Muslim are little more than animals, who need to be made extinct. In addition, the wedge issue of abortion consumes them with hatred for the President and Democrats. They have no qualms about killing doctors who perform abortions, ergo they would have no regrets if the President were killed. Just yesterday the Darling of the RNC, Sarah Palin called the President's health care plan, "evil."

There is another angle to this mob mentality. The fact is that the easier targets are members of Congress. The Democratic majority could be easily reduced with a few assassinations. It would throw the Democratic agenda and the country into chaos. The Republicans could easily reap the benefits and there are few if any Republican statesmen in Congress who would repudiate such action. They have failed to reject the violent, unpatriotic and false railings of Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck and others, so it goes to stand that they approve of them. The RNC has created the town hall meeting mobs as well. Why would anyone think that murderous violence toward their fellow Congressmen and women would result in anything different?

It is a sad state that we have reached. The long political traditions of this country have been tossed aside by the Grand Old Party, making it unworthy of such a name. The previous eight years of GOP rule with Bush and Cheney making a mockery of the Constitution and the country's tradition of refraining from pre-emptive wars. The lies and innuendo, which brought the deaths of so many fine American soldiers and the unnecessary deaths of thousands of innocent Iraqis, is a tragedy which lies in the hands of the GOP. Now the violent incitement of the GOP base by its leaders has moved that party further into its abyss.

Let us hope that this is a wild conspiracy theory. Unfortunately, the endorsement of such outlandish behavior by presumably civilized pols such as McCain and Grassley and the RNC has helped to fuel the fires. Where it will lead us I do not know. I hope that soon these "leaders" will speak out against this mob mentality. If they do not begin soon to put out this fire, it will assume a mind of its own and stopping it will be like fighting a wildfire. The damage will be great and the recovery difficult.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Republican Mobs - Cont.

The mob mentality that I wrote about previously spilled over into violence in Tampa yesterday at a town hall meeting. Republican operatives are organizing and financing these mobs, which are incited by the right wing media hacks, Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Beck and Hannity, and many others on the local levels. The mobsters know little about why they are protesting violently. They have not researched the facts. They have only listened to the constant lies that they hear on radio and FOX TV.

Today, figures were released showing the jobless rate had dropped, a good sign that the depression may be easing. As these good signs increase and the economy begins to improve, will the Republicans become more desperate? They know that they cannot win elections in many parts of the country. They are in a minority in Congress. They can only achieve success, now, through intimidation and fear mongering. If they can convince enough people with their "socialist" cries and their "birthers" backed up by violence and shouting down of good people, then they will have won some points.

On the other hand, if the true citizens and patriots in this country stand up to these small minded thugs, then they will lose steam. If sponsors see the damage that people like Beck and Limbaugh are doing to the country and to their business, they may begin to back away. A report yesterday indicated that Beck has already lost some sponsors.

We can fight back at the ballot box by rejecting the GOP's course in the 2010 elections. If they continue to lose, the party will eventually fall apart and remake itself, hopefully, into something resembling a true American political party. I think the GOP has reached a critical turning point. It has resorted to lies, mob violence, threats, and fear mongering to try to gain ground. It will fail in this as it has failed for the past 8 years.

Republicans have a choice to make. Do they want to be remembered for a failed foreign policy that included an unnecessary war, a failed economic policy that resulted in a terrible depression, and a mob mentality of intimidation and fear? If not they must make a decision now to distance themselves from this course. Otherwise, they will have achieved total failure as a political party and their end will be very near.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Republican Mob Mentality - Update


The months since the November election have seen the GOP descend into a mob-like mentality that had its roots in the McCain campaign. It began with McCain and Palin attempting to associate Obama with Bill Ayers as they toured the country spouting their hatred-filled venom. Palin, especially, seemed to revel in stirring crowds into a name calling frenzy, smiling as they yelled "terrorist," "Muslim" and "kill him."

That style of campaigning fell on deaf ears with the voters. As the months went by a new mob style sponsored by the GOP emerged with the "tea baggers" talking about "tea parties" and socialism, and marching on Washington. Then there were the "birthers," endorsed by members of Congress and GOP supporters in the media, continuing to inflame the GOP racist base, while Sotomyor's nomination brought out cries of racism from those same pols and their media hacks.

Now the GOP is organizing mob style disruption of Democrats' town hall meetings. Mobs of GOP supporters invade the meetings, threatening and shouting down congressmen as they attempt to talk to their constituents. This is, of course, organized by the RNC, as they attempt to destroy any discussion of health care reform. At the same time they have organized to scare senior citizens into thinking that health care reform will result in euthanasia.

All of this points to an increasing mob mentality by a struggling party that has come to be identified with racism, hypocrisy, and fear. The GOP has found that its bad and often unconstitutional policies over the course of the last eight years have been thrown out with the dishwater by the voting public, and it has not been able to move away from its backward thinking ways. Instead of looking at the issues and offering positive solutions, all Republicans can do is spout negativity and use scare tactics that are meant to incite the base against the opposing party.

It is fear that incites the mob mentality. The GOP is becoming an expert, using fear at every opportunity to energize the base and to gain support among the ignorant. Government run health care, gun control, abortion, socialism, terrorists, Muslims, even the occasional reference to Communism are all intertwined in the Republican fear mongering tactics. At every chance they manage to work the fear words into their conversations. Their leaders among the right wing media constantly harp on these themes day after day to drive their fear deeper into the psyche of the base.

Unfortunately, the themes of fear will also reverberate with some outside the base. Yet, I still have faith in the mainstream American voter. I said this last fall and I will continue to say it. We are smarter than these Neanderthal politicians think we are. Most of us can think for ourselves and not be pulled down into the whirlpool of fear that the GOP is attempting to create. This tactic will ultimately backfire on the Republican Party. If it does not and the Democrats fail, this country will be drawn back into the dark ages of the Bush Administration with its spying on citizens, unilateral preemptive wars, isolation from our allies, anti-scientific research, and the domination of right wing fundamentalist Christians.


Update: For a late breaking example of the Republican mob mentality and now, violence, read this article about the Tampa town hall meeting today. It reflects the very subjects that I discussed above.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Birther "Queen" is True Nutcase

Watch this "interview" of Orly Taitz, the Dentist/Lawyer and Queen of the Birthers. She has trouble focusing and listening, it appears.

Obama's Kenyan Birth Certificate


This has got to be the best joke of the century so far. The "birthers" led by a dentist-lawyer from California, have latched on to a forged certificate that is so very obviously a fake. The shyster lawyer says that she has introduced this to force the President to respond. Exactly how she intends to force a response is not clear.

The "certificate" is purported to be Kenyan, but was dated before Kenya became a republic. It was "issued" in the Mombasa district, which was a part of Zanzibar when Obama was born, not Kenya. Obama's father lived near Nairobi, not Mombasa. The certificate number is a combination of Obama's age and the number of his presidency. Finally, the "document" is signed by E.F. Lavender, a popular laundry detergent.

Either this is a great prank, pulled on a bunch of crackpots, or they simply forged it to try to make a point. If it is the latter, it shows their ignorance and lack of creativity. A child could have come up with something that was not so obviously a fake.

The biggest joke of all is, of course, the fact that all of this does not matter. The President's mother was American and that is all that is necessary for him to be a citizen no matter where he was born. The fact is that he was born in Hawaii. Only a bunch of crackpot racists would come up with an issue this blatantly false to try to discredit the President of the United States.

photo of document from worldnetdaily.com