<\/p>\n
UPDATE I & II<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/b>As I have been reading discussions
\nabout what happened in Arizona, over and over again those on the right or those
\nnot wanting to admit we have a genuine problem in this country claim Jared Loughner was a
\n“lone crazed individual” as if that somehow absolves Ann Coulter, Michael
\nSavage, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, and so many others like them on the right of
\nresponsibility. Loughner does appear to have been a lone crazed individual, and here
\nis why that in no way<\/i> at all lets right wing leaders off the hook.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
The less For over a These patterns When violent A commentor on It’s not as if The former Political After the Nazi take over the Germans were not ready for the Nazis’ true bestiality, and so German culture was I have linked to That leaders of These people are We will not win Pagans in particular should be aware the stakes are very high. We were blamed as a small part of why 9-11 happened by the “religious” right leaders Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. Only fools think this kind of thing will not happen again, especially as we grow in numbers.<\/span><\/p>\n
\ncompetent a person is in living his life responsibly, they more important his
\nenvironment becomes in shaping and influencing his or her actions. <\/span>All children are powerfully influenced
\nby the environment in which they are raised. <\/span>Hopefully in this day and age that remark is not controversial. <\/span>Growing up is becoming competent to
\nlive on your own. When all around you is a culture of toleration and
\npoliteness, that rubs off on individual behavior. <\/span>That is what a culture <\/i>is
\n– a pattern of individual behavior and attitudes that reinforces similar
\npatterns in others. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\ndecade the radical right, beginning with Ann Coulter, Newt Gingrich and Rush
\nLimbaugh have initiated a complete reframing of political debate into only
\ndehumanizing attacks on their opponents as evil traitors who hate America and
\nare any combination of Communists, Nazis, Fascists, Muslims, Gays, and
\nHaters. <\/span>Against them reference is
\nmade to times of violent resistance against oppression. Always. <\/span>In public debate actual policies are
\nrarely if ever discussed, and when they are, they are discussed in misleading
\nterms such as “death panels.” <\/span>This
\nis a pattern, a syndrome, a deliberate attempt to change a culture by
\ndehumanizing opponents and destroying the tolerance that makes democracy
\npossible.<\/p>\n
\nhave at time been found in the American left, and it is significantl in the
\nanti-liberal American left, the Maoists and Stalinists of the most fringe
\nelements of the 60s. <\/span>The
\ndifference is that then almost all on the liberal left condemned them. <\/span>Today most on the right defend <\/i>those who use the rhetoric of violence. <\/span>That and the vast differences in
\nnumbers and wealth between the two makes this difference very significant.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nrhetoric is continually employed dehumanizing the other, and it is shouted from
\nthe roof-tops, and blared out hourly on a major media station, and on radios
\ncountry wide, that shifts the moral center of gravity around which most people
\ngravitate, and weakens cultural barriers on violent behavior. <\/span>Those weakest in self-control and mentally
\nleast capable of acting responsibly, in other words the people most dependent
\non external signals for deciding what to do, those people will be the first to
\nbe affected. <\/span>Jared Loughner fits
\nthat observation perfectly.<\/p>\n
\nPZ Myers Pharynugla<\/a> <\/span> <\/span>put it quite succinctl<\/a>y: <\/span>“Reichwingnuts like Palin, Beck and Limbaugh have been
\nshouting ‘FIRE!’ in a crowded theater and hoping a few John Wilkes Booths are
\nin the crowd.” ( By the way, PZ’s discussion and the commentary<\/a> that follows
\nis well worth reading if you want to get more insight. <\/span>It is a good thread with just enough
\nright-wing apologists to keep it centered. But it is long.<\/p>\n
\nthis has not happened before.
\n<\/span>Rwanda once had Tutsis and Hutus living together amicably and
\nintermarrying. <\/span>Tensions existed,
\nbut Hutus did not suddenly puck up machetes and start hacking away at their
\nfellow Rwandans, including moderate Hutus. <\/span>But in time they did. Politicians and media figures figured
\nprominently in undermining traditional toleration and gradually pushing culture
\ntowards civil violence, just as the radical right is today. <\/span>Here is a brief account of Rwandan hate
\nmedia that might be a description of Fox today, except that it has followed the
\nlogic of Fox’s lies more literally. Two short discussions are on Wikipedia<\/a> and in this paper<\/a> <\/span>by Kristen Landreville<\/a>. There is also a BBC report<\/a>. <\/p>\n
\nYugoslavia did not suddenly see Serbs and Croats and Bosnians wake up one day
\nand begin slaughtering one another.
\n<\/span>That was the outcome of a longer period of <\/span>cultural destruction pursued by politicians and media
\nallies, principally Serbian ones, but not entirely. Chris Hedges War Is a
\nForce that Gives Us Meaning<\/a><\/i> is a eye
\nopening and beautifully written account where while it is not the main issue
\ndiscussed, the alert reader easily sees the role media played in what happened. Did I say it was beautifully written? Indeed it is.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nassassination was a feature of the dying Weimar Republic. Assassinations were
\nrarely the work of Nazis. <\/span>They
\nwere often the work of the 1930s German equivalent of Loughlin, weakly
\nautonomous people who reacted easily to the cultural atmosphere of growing
\nviolent rhetoric. <\/span>The ideologues,
\nright or left, were rarely the assassins<\/a>. Often they were lone operators. <\/span>Ultimately over 350 politicians were
\nmurdered in the Republic, so we have a way to go. But one depressing aspect of the linked discussion is how the good guys lose in these killings, even when everyone denounces the killers.<\/span><\/p>\n
\ncontinually softened up before and after through right wing use of the media in a way disturbingly similar to
\nFox News. <\/span>If you think I am
\nexaggerating, read Claudia Koonz, The Nazi Conscience<\/a><\/i>. <\/span>Then
\ncome back and discuss it. In this very important book for us today s<\/span>he documents a number of methods
\nchillingly similar to those employed by the American right wing. The book is a
\nreal eye opener.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nanother article<\/a> depicting the striking similarities between the hate media in
\nGermany, Rwanda, and Serbia. <\/span>More and more I am coming to the
\nconclusion that the future of the United States may well rest on a restoration
\nof the “fairness doctrine” in the media. <\/p>\n
\nthe American right are consciously lying when they piously claim their rhetoric
\nhad no impact is proven by their reaction to the impact speeches by intolerant
\nMullahs have on their own followers.
\n<\/span>They condemn Islam, not just Islamic bigots, but everyone, using the
\nbigots’ words as examples. <\/span>Culture
\nand words are explicitly linked to actions. <\/span>This is hypocrisy big enough to float a continent through. <\/span>But then, hypocrisy has become a
\ndefining term of modern “conservatism.” <\/p>\n
\nour enemies. <\/span>They have chosen to
\nbe, no one forced them. <\/span>They do
\nnot have to remain as such. Virtually all their complaints are imaginary or so one sided as to essentially be the yowls of spoiled narcissists. <\/span>It is
\ntheir choice, and we have to decide what to do it response.<\/p>\n
\nif we use similarly violent rhetoric and tactics, for in doing so we will
\nbecome more and more like them.
\n<\/span>But neither will we succeed if we deny who these people are. <\/span>There are too many historical examples
\nof those who stayed in denial of the rise of violent nihilism around them. <\/span>We have to be clear what we are dealing
\nwith, calling them on it continually, and never ever letting them get away with
\nthe claim “everyone does it” when that claim is a lie. <\/span>And when other Americans, trying to be
\n“fair” pick up this lie and repeat it, it is vital that they be challenged with
\nfacts. <\/span>Most Americans care about
\nfacts and values, and that is where the struggle must be waged. But it must be
\nwaged explicitly. <\/span><\/p>\n