Conservative columnist, David Brooks once pointed out that the Internet has had the net effect of not bringing us closer together, but rather, driving us further apart. By allowing individuals to coalesce into narrower, self-reinforcing groups - based on political, ideological, religious or regional sentiments - the Internet has created a society that is characterized by many separate groups where communication is largely within and between group members. Brooks went on to say that one could get up and watch Fox News from dawn to dusk, read conservative newspapers or magazines and listen to Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck or Sean Hannity on talk radio and thus, never come across a competing idea all day. Likewise, the same sort of thing happens amongst the denizens of the left. It reminds me of a comment made by Norman Mailer after the Bush victory in 2004: “How could Bush have won, I don’t know anyone who voted for him.” Mailer was reflecting the fact that as a resident of New York City, one of the Bluest in America, you would never find a Bush supporter, unless you deliberately left the insularity of your own social group.
That brings me to the point of this piece. Many of us who utilize the blogs to traffic in political thought tend to stay on those blogs that are user friendly. We tend to blog on those sites that are supportive of the ideas we ourselves promote and favor. At the same time there are those on the far right who are doing the same thing, peddling their ideas or attacks against the current administration and Progressive ideas in general. These attacks on the very essence of Progressive thought go largely unchallenged with no more than a handful of stalwart progressives waging a counterattack and enduring a tremendous amount of vitriol and abuse in the process. Thus it is time for us to sally forth and bring the battle to the opponent’s home turf. Anyone who has had a peek at the latest trio of reports from the Southern Poverty Law Center knows full well just how violent the rhetoric on the right has become. All one need do is to look at the attacks against those who voted for health care or consider the case of the Hutaree Militia as proof positive that things are getting more confrontational and vicious.
I regularly dust it up with the wing nuts on TownHall.com but there are also several others like AmericanThinker.com; Human Events, and RedState.com to name just a few.
It would be great if we could get some help battling lies and misinformation on these sites and others like them. Townhall.com in particular is easy to deal with, as they don’t restrict your participation unless you engage in bona-fide hate speech. AmericanThinker.com screens your input and RedState.com will redact your comments if they don’t agree with you. I had an article dispelling the lies on health care redacted and I have since been barred from this site so you may only be able to get one shot at them and then you are done. If you’re up for the fight, and you ought to be, considering the stakes, the links are below.
We just fought and won some semblance of a health care reform program and there are plenty of other important battles ahead. As Progressives we need to learn how to throw a punch, figuratively, and stop being seen as a bunch of kumbaya signing pushovers who let the right push us around. My advice to you is the same that Stonewall Jackson gave a group of cadets at the outset of the Civil War. When asked just how bad he expected things to get he replied: “If I were you I would draw my sword and throw away the scabbard.”
Steven J. Gulitti
April 11th, 2010
Rage on the Right
The Year in Hate and Extremism
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/spring/rage-on-the-right
Fear of FEMA
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/spring/fear-of-fema
Midwifing the Militias – Resurgence of the Patriot Movement.
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/spring/midwifing-the-militias
Townhall.com
http://townhall.com/columnists/
Human Events
http://www.humanevents.com/
American Thinker
http://www.americanthinker.com/
RedState.com
http://www.redstate.com/
Showing posts with label Hutaree Militia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hutaree Militia. Show all posts
Monday, April 12, 2010
The Hutaree Militia and the Foiled Fantasy of a "Citizen's Uprising"
Anyone who thinks I am off course on the topic of right wing extremism should consider the latest incident that was reported on the evening news. Over the weekend the FBI arrested nine members of the Hutaree Militia, located in southern Michigan, when the agency uncovered their plot to kill a policeman and then bomb his funeral so as to create the mass killing of his fellow officers. The leader of this group, David Brian Stone, believed that this act would trigger a nationwide revolt against the Federal Government by thousands of "aggrieved citizens". Stone's ex-wife said that his life had "spiraled out of control" and that he believed that this despicable act was part of some preordained plan to "defend the world against the anti-Christ."
Anyone who really thinks that there is no threat from the fanatics on the far right or who persists in trying to equate the legacy of the left with the CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER from the furthest fringes of ultra-conservative politics should wake up and smell the coffee before it's too late. Those who irresponsibly fantasize about some "citizen's revolt" aimed at toppling the current government in Washington are fooling themselves and have embarked on a reckless course of action. This ill begotten fantasy will only lead to senseless killings, including possibly their own, leaving behind in its wake a pathetic legacy of unnecessary tragedy.
Maybe its time for my fellow Americans to turn away from the extremist nonsense that passes for political commentary on the television and radio shows of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh or that which flows from the poison pens of Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter and their fellow travelers. Maybe its time to marginalize the content free cackle of people like Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Sarah Palin when they babble on about enemies within the ranks of Senators and Congressmen or when they draw pictures of congressional districts held by Democrats overlaid by the crosshairs of a rifle scope. How often have you seen a Tea Party placard representing President Obama as the anti-Christ? Ask yourself; can you truly abide the most radical rhetoric of the Tea Party extremists who have come to drown out even the sensible people within their own ranks?
The vast majority of Americans have no desire to partake of this lunacy and the government has far more firepower than that possessed by the fanatics. Do the math on the probability of success for any kind of "citizens uprising" and you will see by intuitive deduction that this is a losing proposition, especially in a society that abhors extremist political actions and ideologies and one which would never support such a thing.
Steven J. Gulitti
March 29, 2010
See the attached Christian Science Monitor article for more: Who is David Brian Stone, leader of the Hutaree militia? / The Christian Science Monitor
Anyone who really thinks that there is no threat from the fanatics on the far right or who persists in trying to equate the legacy of the left with the CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER from the furthest fringes of ultra-conservative politics should wake up and smell the coffee before it's too late. Those who irresponsibly fantasize about some "citizen's revolt" aimed at toppling the current government in Washington are fooling themselves and have embarked on a reckless course of action. This ill begotten fantasy will only lead to senseless killings, including possibly their own, leaving behind in its wake a pathetic legacy of unnecessary tragedy.
Maybe its time for my fellow Americans to turn away from the extremist nonsense that passes for political commentary on the television and radio shows of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh or that which flows from the poison pens of Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter and their fellow travelers. Maybe its time to marginalize the content free cackle of people like Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Sarah Palin when they babble on about enemies within the ranks of Senators and Congressmen or when they draw pictures of congressional districts held by Democrats overlaid by the crosshairs of a rifle scope. How often have you seen a Tea Party placard representing President Obama as the anti-Christ? Ask yourself; can you truly abide the most radical rhetoric of the Tea Party extremists who have come to drown out even the sensible people within their own ranks?
The vast majority of Americans have no desire to partake of this lunacy and the government has far more firepower than that possessed by the fanatics. Do the math on the probability of success for any kind of "citizens uprising" and you will see by intuitive deduction that this is a losing proposition, especially in a society that abhors extremist political actions and ideologies and one which would never support such a thing.
Steven J. Gulitti
March 29, 2010
See the attached Christian Science Monitor article for more: Who is David Brian Stone, leader of the Hutaree militia? / The Christian Science Monitor
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