I know one of these events could turn out to be very ugly, but the video I've seen so far looks like Frat Row on a Friday night in any college town. (Except all of the people in these videos are old, out of shape, and so inarticulate as to make one wonder just who is in the most danger.)
Now, people who don’t know that Medicare is a government program probably aren’t reacting to what President Obama is actually proposing. They may believe some of the disinformation opponents of health care reform are spreading, like the claim that the Obama plan will lead to euthanasia for the elderly. (That particular claim is coming straight from House Republican leaders.) But they’re probably reacting less to what Mr. Obama is doing, or even to what they’ve heard about what he’s doing, than to who he is.
That is, the driving force behind the town hall mobs is probably the same cultural and racial anxiety that’s behind the “birther” movement, which denies Mr. Obama’s citizenship. Senator Dick Durbin has suggested that the birthers and the health care protesters are one and the same; we don’t know how many of the protesters are birthers, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it’s a substantial fraction.
Yeah, me too. The "Second Amendment" threat to SEIU and the #iamthemob call to arms are hard to ignore.
I've been following the violent tendencies of the wingnut right since before the election. It's only a matter of time before someone starts killing. Actually, they have already, if you count Tiller and the Holocaust Museum (but that would be hysterical, right?)
Great analysis with the five Ds, BTW.
C. Walker http://postboomer.blogspot.com
August 8, 2009 at 2:10 PM
There's crazy, there's wingnut crazy, and then there's the guys that Sadly, No! dredge up that make Glennsanity and Malkinvania look like Lawful Good 25th level Aasimar Paladins.
Like this guy, who compares the Town Hall Blitzers to Anne Frank, being ruthlessly hunted by the Obama Administration.
Perspective is necessary. It can also put your f'ckin eyes out. Health care reform is so exactly like the Holocaust.
[UPDATE 1:10 PM] Josh Marshall, he absolutely gets it.We should also keep in mind that the birther-mania, as comical as it is on one level, is all part of the same fabric with the Hitler and Holocaust comparisons, an aggressive process of denigration and dehumanization, dressed up around claims about paperwork and places of birth, but all escalating and churning the belief of a minority of Americans that President Obama is not a legitimate president but rather a usurper. It's always important for us to remember what the last eight years have again taught us, which is that America has a very strong civic fabric, one that can withstand, absorb and conquer all manner of ugly behavior. It can take in stride a lot of angry rhetoric, townhall fisticuffs and more. But as this escalates we should continually be stepping back and thinking retrospectively from the vantage point of the future about where this all seems to be heading.Millions of people have been made to believe by the Republicans and other groups that back them that Barack Obama is not the legitimate President of the United States of America, and as such his entire agenda is illegitimate. Stop and ask yourself, "What is the logical endpoint of that belief?" If you honestly believe that he is not legally the President, what is the end game there?I've talked about the 5 D's before:Declare the criteria you don't like about Group X that makes them different.Divide the people into Us Versus Them.Demonize the other group as the Enemy.Dehumanize them by classifying their actions as something horrific.Destroy them with the people cheering you on.We're deep into stage four here with the Birthers. The answer to my above question of course is Stage 5: Destroy.
3 Comments
Close this window Jump to comment formI know one of these events could turn out to be very ugly, but the video I've seen so far looks like Frat Row on a Friday night in any college town. (Except all of the people in these videos are old, out of shape, and so inarticulate as to make one wonder just who is in the most danger.)
Krugman once again sums up nicely what we are dealing with:
Now, people who don’t know that Medicare is a government program probably aren’t reacting to what President Obama is actually proposing. They may believe some of the disinformation opponents of health care reform are spreading, like the claim that the Obama plan will lead to euthanasia for the elderly. (That particular claim is coming straight from House Republican leaders.) But they’re probably reacting less to what Mr. Obama is doing, or even to what they’ve heard about what he’s doing, than to who he is.
That is, the driving force behind the town hall mobs is probably the same cultural and racial anxiety that’s behind the “birther” movement, which denies Mr. Obama’s citizenship. Senator Dick Durbin has suggested that the birthers and the health care protesters are one and the same; we don’t know how many of the protesters are birthers, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it’s a substantial fraction.
August 7, 2009 at 1:25 PM
It's not blood in the streets yet by far. It's really been less than a week.
But I'm still convinced this stuff it going to get worse.
August 7, 2009 at 1:55 PM
Yeah, me too. The "Second Amendment" threat to SEIU and the #iamthemob call to arms are hard to ignore.
I've been following the violent tendencies of the wingnut right since before the election. It's only a matter of time before someone starts killing. Actually, they have already, if you count Tiller and the Holocaust Museum (but that would be hysterical, right?)
Great analysis with the five Ds, BTW.
C. Walker
http://postboomer.blogspot.com
August 8, 2009 at 2:10 PM