The latest news about letters preliminarily detected to be laced with ricin being sent to President Obama and Republican Senator Roger Wicker (a hard right conservative who voted to allow debate on background checks) in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing seems to expose something about underground anarchists crawling around under the crust of society in America. After further testing, these letters may turn out not to be laced with ricin but threats to our President and politicians by “fellow Americans” take place every day and the proliferation of coverage of a terrorist attack seems to whip up more of them.
We all remember the anthrax attacks that followed the 9/11 attacks and the failure of the FBI to definitively solve that case.
What did seem to be clear in that case and in this case is that the initial terrorist attack and the subsequent use of deadly toxins in letters sent to politicians and journalists (though not yet confirmed at this time in this latest case) were not committed by the same groups or people.
So is there a subculture of sociopathic Americans out there who act spontaneously to “jump on the bandwagon” and launch their own attack on their perceived enemies in American society after witnessing the coverage of another terrorist attack? Or are such sick people, whether as loners or in hate groups, readied and waiting to launch an attack once they perceive that the floodgates are opened? It is the case that some of these types desperately want the day to come when anarchy, terror and fear tear apart our society as it is which they believe will allow them and their types to take over and reshape society into their own image.
It now looks so outrageous that the Tea Party garnered the kind of attention and positive media they received when they were first becoming so visible. They have always represented the kind of American government hatred, racism and paranoia that is so endemic to the most dangerous extremists in our country.
Who but someone who hated our government would try and assassinate the elected officials in it? Who but someone who hated huge swaths of America would try to assassinate those in the media who they see as not speaking for them? Who but an American would touch both of those bases?
Some suggest that these terrorists who copycat terrorism after initial attacks are just trying to get attention and know their attacks will fail. Tell that to the postal workers who were murdered due to handling anthrax laced letters and the ones that would have been this time around had the government not instituted screening on all mail to DC politicians. Whether they are primarily seeking publicity or not, these terrorists who are homegrown, want to terrorize Americans and some are willing to murder Americans in that pursuit.
What is unbelievable is that many of these types believe they are patriots for “standing up to tyranny”…by being willing to murder innocent Americans, possibly even children. That is “patriotism”? This dangerous myth has been incubated amongst those who feel most neglected or marginalized by American society…it is really revenge they seek for a life of difficulty and disappointment, they merely use “patriotism” as a facade. Right Wing media though the MSM have also contributed to this along the way too. There has been an intentional sanctioning of radicalization by the creatures at Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, the NRA and even elected politicians in the GOP. They praise and celebrate people who hate fellow Americans, who hate Democrats, the poor, the unemployed, black people (including Pres. Obama), Latinos, women…and on and on. The profitable industry of Hate in America can’t be held harmless as sick Americans act out on their delusions and paranoias…which have been validated by that Hate industry.
Fox and their fellow Fiends don’t care one bit that they aid and inspire hatred of America in dangerous people, for them it would be the same as opposing that they turn a profit off of such sick human beings. It is a symbiotic relationship, between sociopaths and the Media Hate Industrial Complex. Even so, each individual makes their own choices and decisions and the ultimate responsibility lies with the murderers, not their cheerleaders.
It is nauseating that simultaneously, as Americans are murdered and terrorized by attacks on them, we hear that the background checks bill in the Senate has been killed by Republicans. These Republicans are standing up for the right of terrorists to freely obtain semi-automatic and other weapons at gun shows. And they are the party that represents itself as ultra-patriotic? Aiding and abetting the arming of terrorists? One can only hope that Democrats put this anti-Americans campaign of theirs (opposing what 90% of Americans want) front and center in next year’s elections.
So what creepy, crawly vermin scuttle around underneath the surface of our society unbeknownst to most Americans living their daily lives?
There are the Dominionists who are Christian extremists that literally want to take over America and the world and force their religious beliefs onto all others under the rule of law, they have no reservation about committing murder and other acts to get what they believe they are entitled to by God. There are the White Power Militias and gun nuts out there who are convinced that the day of reckoning is coming and must come, when the white race will have an apocalyptic battle against the tyrannical, gun-confiscating, multiracial American government and they are the heroes who must attack and kill government officials…to defend America.
From an MSNBC article…published on 03/06/2013, a month and a half ago, before these terrorist attacks:
Domestic terrorism: ‘Patriot’ hate groups skyrocket
The number of anti-government hate groups hit an all-time last year, according to data from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
These conspiracy-fueled groups have been on the rise over the last few years but hit a high of 1,360 “Patriot” groups in 2012, the Center’s new report found. Patriot groups believe “that the federal government is conspiring to take Americans’ guns and destroy their liberties as it paves the way for a global ‘one-world government.’”
When President Obama won the 2008 election, only 149 such groups existed. By the next year, anti-government groups skyrocketed to 512, then 824 in 2010, and 1,274 in 2011.
And the number of general hate groups slightly decreased from 1,018 in 2011 to 1,007 in 2012, the number of Patriot groups went up about 7% in the same time frame.
The “growth has just been astounding over the last four years: 813% growth. We’ve never really seen anything like this in any of the groups that we count,” Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said on MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell Wednesday. ”As gun control talk began in the wake of the slaughter in Newtown…[the] whole movement, these groups out there, have gone from sort of a red heat to white heat. So we are at a very scary moment. It is very reminiscent at least to me the months leading up to the Oklahoma City bombing.”
http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/03/06/we-are-at-a-very-scary-moment-hate-groups-on-the-rise/
No one knows right now and it would be irresponsible to say one way or the other with any certainty but the Boston Marathon bombing could have been committed by a foreign group or individual but it could also be a result of one or more domestic terrorists. However, the follow up terrorism of potentially sending ricin-laced letters to specific politicians sure seems reflective of one or more Americans with specific political views acting upon their own hatreds. Either way, I hope that the FBI is far more diligent and committed in this case than in the 9/11 anthrax attacks, in finding the perpetrators of these follow up acts of terrorism. If it turns out to be from one of these “Patriots”, they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and all media romanticism over government-hating “Patriots” should be extinguished for good and all.
How the media got it all wrong again.
“Boston Marathon Bombing Media Errors Pile Up, as Does the Outrage”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/18/boston-marathon-bombing-media-errors-pile-up-as-does-the-outrage.html
Kalima, it’s a comment on the state of what passes for corporate journalism that so much poorly sourced, just plain wrong info is propagated just to grab ratings or ad dollars.
Has the press ever been this bad? Maybe in the Bush push for war in Iraq but before the corporations got their greasy hands on the press, I don’t think so, not as broadly messed up as it is now.
If I was one of the two guys that the NY Post wrongly labelled as the bombing suspects on their front page in massive fonts, I would sue their ass off for defamation and endangerment.
Just saw this article on the NY Post garbage, it is a travesty and they should be sued big time:
http://news.yahoo.com/teen-stunned-portrayal-mass-bombing-suspect-015852323.html
Can you believe what scum the Post editor is? He’s the one who should be vilified.
Ad Lib:
Hate groups have risen much in the last four years, and many jobs have been lost in the last eight, that it makes sense that “idle minds are the devil’s playground.” It seems to me that many of the members of these hate groups are young men/people who are angry and impressionable. And isn’t that just how the RW wants it? The less jobs people have the more evil can be stirred up. Its a sick state we are in now. Do you think that if we got another Progressive in office after Obama leaves, that anything will change?
Kalie, as we’ve seen throughout history, when a country is hit hard by bad economic times, many look to blame “the other” for their suffering. It’s been Jews, blacks, Latinos, the poor, immigrants, etc. And when the people are divided against each other, the powerful and wealthy can seize and control a nation’s wealth and power.
This is indeed what the wealthy and powerful want for America. Keep us divided and suspicious and hateful towards each other, then they can rule without the threat of the people turning on them.
We do need more than getting another Progressive in the WH, we need to limit the filibuster, undermine gerrymandering and throw out the politicians who show loyalty to the wealthiest 1% over the 99%.
Whoops, I meant to address my previous comment to you, kalie! I’ve fixed it!
kalie, the same thought has crossed my mind: that some of this anger is rooted in economic hopelessness.
Even though there’s no obvious connection on the surface, one thing that I think would be helpful is to adopt the President’s proposal to raise the minimum wage. People who are working — even full time — at the current minimum wage simply can’t support themselves. They must feel like slave labor, trapped in an endless cycle of futility. Their choices? To angrily keep on working, hating their lives, or to quit and see things get even worse. Who wouldn’t be infuriated by that?
Sadly, they’ve been taught so little history that the alternative of organizing, along with their co-workers, to empower themselves doesn’t even occur to them. And many are so demoralized they don’t even bother to vote.
The President took a lot of flak for saying that people in these circumstances “cling to their guns and (faux*) religion,” but I think we’re seeing that. We could toss in that they “cling to prejudice and anger” as well. And the consequences aren’t pretty.
*parentheses mine
Hi AdLib, great piece.
This might sound odd to American ears, but since the attacks in Boston, I’ve been hoping and also thinking that this was a domestic terrorist act. The reason is that I believe that the attention to the extreme groups operating within your own borders are tempered because of free speech which I believe has its limits. The right to bear arms which in this day and age seems ridiculous to someone who has lived in three countries where owning a firearm is forbidden by law. The holding back because of infringement of rights is normal, but knowing that a group is made up of nutters and letting them practice their delusional belief is a danger to everyone who lives in America. Where is the balance and where does it start and end?
I was born and raised in a country with a history. A history no one will let us forget, not even here. We bow to whatever Israel wants because we are ashamed of our past and don’t want to be accused of anti-Semitism. We fight extremist groups, neo-nazi groups to try to get away from the image and the past but no one seems prepared to give us a chance. To many, we are all Nazis.
Today in MB, I posted two stories about how American Muslims are feeling at this moment after the attacks, and end with an ignorant Fox hothead who had to rant and insult right after the attacks. America, wake up. Free speech is great, but at what cost to your progress and future?
—-
US Muslims ‘holding their breath’ as Boston investigators hunt for bomber
Muslim American organisations say they fear increased racial profiling if an Islamic link to the marathon attack is established
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/17/us-muslims-fear-profiling-boston
—-
As a Bostonian and Muslim, I wept Monday – and worried
It seems that until proven otherwise, terrorists are Muslims, and for some, all Muslims are terrorists
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/17/boston-marathon-explosions-muslim-reaction
—-
The nutty Right.
————
‘Muslims are evil. Let’s kill them all’: Fox News guest Erik Rush provokes furious reaction with Boston bombing Twitter rants
Rush appeared to imply in a tweet that the culprit was from Saudi Arabia
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/muslims-are-evil-lets-kill-them-all-fox-news-guest-erik-rush-provokes-furious-reaction-with-boston-bombing-twitter-rants-8575176.html
Kalima, that is the price of free speech, allowing the most detestable among us to freely express themselves. Once speech can be muzzled because others find it offensive, it opens the door for all speech to be censored because there can always be someone, even the detestable ones, who find it offensive.
Look at the UK law you covered on MB, that allows police to arrest protestors simply because their protesting causes distress to other people. That’s chilling to the concept of freedom of speech.
So we’re stuck with allowing racists, homophobes, etc. publicly expressing their venom if we want our speech just as protected.
As for the salivating by bigots and the RW (as if there’s a difference!) to have the Boston Marathon bombing blamed on Muslims, the FBI is releasing photos of two men in an hour or two that are persons of interest in the bombing. They would have to be the men that have been seen on video placing the bags believed to hold the bombs.
So very shortly, we should see who the main suspects are. They could be American extremists, they could be Muslims from abroad…they could be neither.
In any case, to blame a whole religion or race because one or more sick people who happen to belong to it did a horrible thing is the definition of prejudice.
I would like to know, before these men’s faces are revealed, that if they did turn out to be white and Christian, would these same haters of Muslims apply their same standard and announce that all Christians (including themselves) are evil and should be killed?
If they turn out to be Americans, watch how these hypocrites and bigots furious backpedal and take the completely opposite position that you cant blame a group for the actions of two lunatics.
Ad, I’ve seen the suspect photos, and neither of the two look Arabic of Indian. They look like average working class white Americans. The photos aren’t of the best quality, granted, but these tow look white to me. They may be two that fall for the Turner Diaries bullshit, or and/or extremist libertarians/TPers. I would love to find out the motive for these horrible acts.
KT, you could be right. Timothy McVeigh was 27 when he attacked the OK Fed building.
Even so, I would have been expecting middle-aged to older men if it was a militia-type extremist group, that is the demo for the majority of those types.
For me, the photos and video are not clear enough to distinguish ethnicity so I wouldn’t agree that they don’t look Arabic or Indian, they could be either of those but they could also be European-heritaged Americans just as easily.
Too early to tell but if I was to bet at this point, I would lean more towards foreign than domestic terrorists based mostly on their age and the similarity of this attack to the attempted one in Times Square by the guy of Pakistani heritage.
The FBI can’t catch these monsters soon enough and when they do or at least, once they identify them, we’ll know a great deal more.
Ad, I looked at the photos again, and one man does look olive skinned. The other is clearly caucasian. Since no one has claimed responsibility it makes finding motive all that more difficult. It also makes me think this was domestic. Usually Islamist extremists, of one group or another claim responsibility.
Good point, KT, that is one detail that stands out, if it was foreign terrorism, why would whoever’s behind it not take credit and crow about it? That is very typical for them to do, why not in this case? So maybe that is a tell on it possibly being domestic.
I would think that the publicizing of these photos would help speed up identification of these murderers but like everyone else, I wish they could be identified and caught (unrealistically) today!
Ad, Bourne, KT and Kes, You all make good points. These people are cowards and ill informed. They cling to their beliefs in part of the bible , and the Amendments. They choose only those parts that they like and ignore the rest.
Nirek, the thing is, to pick and choose which parts of principles one will or won’t respect leaves one unprincipled in any case. Principles can’t be conditional and remain principles.
Such people have no real principles, they have already arrived at a selfish conclusion and just blather about principles to validate it.
From our news widget, here’s an update on a RW gun nut terrorist who assassinated two TX prosecutors. What patriots these gun nuts are:
http://news.yahoo.com/records-ex-officials-wife-says-husband-shot-da-210124457.html
Just heard the news out of Texas. Unbelievable.
you’re right. I did misread your comment re traitors and enemies. I have seen and heard it used again and again. It’s almost impossible to process so much vitriol
Bourne
Bourne, yes, some of these people seems to have a literal addiction to the adrenaline feed from their hatred. They seem to need to hate, they don’t seek a way out from it, they just need to score more of it from their dealers, Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, the GOP, etc.
Really, they just devour any new serving of hatred put in front of them without questioning at all its logic or validity. They are damaged people, human beings don’t flourish in such darkness and they will never find a better way of life as long as they remain addicts of hatred.
AdLib,
I don’t recall using “traitors’ or “enemies” when referring to members of congress. I do hold to my opinion that when the entire body fails all are accountable. I know pretty much about how government functions and follow closely the activities of members of the Congress. In my view it is a combination of failed governance by both parties and a poorly informed press that provides more entertainment than than it does news.
I draw on remarks and conversations with friends I’ve know for years. I am especially interested in how those who live in Europe see us now. It is extremely difficult when I read that people who used to admire and respect America – and indeed wanted to live here – now see the shameful disrespect for the President; the self-serving behavior of the congress to one another and the President, and Supreme Court Justices who have forgotten why they’re there. And when they see the murders daily in our country, one said that they know America is no longer how they want to be. This matters to me, AdLib. How we are viewed by the rest of the world matters to me.
We all the product of our experiences and vantage points. Mine may not suit every reader, but they are mine.
In your comment on gun legislation, you say the majority in the Senate voted for background checks. Why is it not in the bill? I’m going to check with Murph on this. He’s done a great deal of research on the gun control bill. I don’t think we disagree that much about the members of Congress. You concluding paragraph is much the way I feel. We just write it differently.
Bourne
Bourne, you misunderstood my comment, I was referring to the RW types who refer to everyone who doesn’t agree with them as traitors. Look at this background check confrontation, everyone who supported it was described by RWs as wanting to take everyone’s guns away, betraying the 2nd Amendment and therefore being traitors.
How can you deal with such people? They despise compromise, demand that their religious and social beliefs (as well as their prejudices) become the law of the land so all of us are forced to follow them…they are beyond reason.
Where I disagree with you is in blaming everyone for the acts of some. There are many in Congress who have fought hard and with great commitment to passing this legislation. Then there are the majority of Republicans who have blocked it from passing. I don’t see how those who fought for it are responsible for the minority of Senators who voted against it just to preserve their presence in The Senate.
The same majority that voted for it in The Senate would have been responsible for it’s passage if such a frequent use of the filibuster was prevented. I do wish Harry Reid hadn’t shrunk once again from limiting the filibuster, imagine how much meaningful legislation would have passed in the Senate otherwise (though Boehner and the House would have killed much of it).
We have members here from around the world, who see America from a distance and actually, because we have elected and re-elected Pres. Obama, there seems to be more respect than disrespect. As bad as things are with gridlock and loonies in our Congress and even the SCOTUS (did you see Scalia’s racist rant today?), things are much worse in the UK, Italy and elsewhere.
In the UK, they have laws to prevent people from even protesting if it causes others distress (they used that law to stop people protesting Thatcher’s funeral). Their economy is worse than ours and their conservative government is hammering the people and poor while handing out more money, rights and power to the wealthy.
I’d make the case that we are so lucky to have things the way they are as opposed to other nations. Yes, we have crazies in government but so do most countries.
The saving grace for us is that it seems clear that the majority seems to be pushing the country away from the RW ideologies and in time, elections could create a far more representative government here.
We have won on gay rights, we’ve won the argument over immigrant rights, we’ve won on the argument against austerity and 90% of Americans want sensible gun laws.
The Repubs are simply drifting farther and farther away from the people on just about every issue. This will continue to be a problem for them in statewide and national elections but unfortunately, until we address gerrymandering, the Repubs could maintain an over-representation there for some time.
Ad, we don’t know who sent those ricin laced letters yet. It could have been the same person/people that were behind the bombings. We just don’t know yet.
Now I’m not saying that you are wrong about a violent, anti-government underground existing. I would be a fool to think otherwise. I do know that using the mail to commit violent acts, including the use of poisons, is something very difficult to find the perp/perps. The uni-bomber was operating for years, out of an old mountain shack. Very few even knew he existed. I don’t envy the FBI or ATF’s task in trying to catch these sick individuals.
I also think the RW talking heads who cheer on and inspire this madness are complicit. They give discontented people ideas. Ideas based on lies and paranoia. They fill these malcontents with a false sense of patriotism (which you already mentioned)
and these morons actually believe they are working to better America and American society. All they see is “the other.” All wars involve a creation of “the other,” to form a common enemy and also these “others,” are made to be subhuman and not people at all. This makes the killing much easier to reconcile among those who do the killing.
There is no better example of this than how the NAZIs dehumanized the Jews and Poles and Russians and gypsies. Those in the SS had so effectively dehumanized these groups, that soldiers and death camp personnel had very little moral qualms about what they were doing. There are people in every society that can be manipulated in such a fashion. In almost all cases, it’s the uneducated, the non-thinkers and the incurious and sycophantic members that are the most vulnerable.
KT, this was just recently announced:
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/17/17794663-feds-arrest-suspect-in-ricin-positive-letters-sent-to-obama-senator
The letters were written with the sentiments of a RW nutjob so I can’t claim psychic powers but it was a good hunch that it was exactly a guy like this who was behind it.
You’re right, the dehumanization of “the enemy” is a long time tactic in getting ones “soldiers” to show no conscience in attacking and sometimes killing them. The way Fox, Rush, et al demonize Pres. Obama, Democrats, blacks, Latinos, women, etc. lays the groundwork for vicious and unconscionable words and deeds by those older white males who feel so betrayed by life.
The GOP is the party of anarchy, what the powerful want is for the 98% to be at war with each other so they can’t be stopped in plundering and usurping everything in America. If that 98% was unified, they wouldn’t stand a chance.
AdLib, thanks for a fine article on the dark side of American politics that includes hate/phony “Patriot” groups, even though it’s far from a pleasant subject to deal with.
For anyone who can spare an hour and 15 minutes, here’s a link to a documentary filmed in 1991 that explores a number of Aryan supremacy/neo-Nazi/religious extremist groups in the midwest. There’s no voice-over, no editorializing. The film-makers pretty much just set up the camera, let it roll, and let these people gabble and rant. It’s stunning:
The film is called “Blood in the Face,” not as a reference to violence, but due to the fact that these people cling to the genuinely bizarre belief that Caucasians were made as superior beings by their Creator. The “proof” of this is the “fact” that that white folks are (allegedly) able to blush when they sin (if that’s the case there should have been nothing but red faces throughout this entire film) –known as having “blood in the face.” And they’re ignorant enough to believe that black folk are “unable to blush,” hence unable to feel shame, hence they lack consciences. Is that not beyond the pale? And that’s just one example of their lunacy. There are many. Their attitudes, fears, prejudices have echoed down to the present day, unfortunately.
I was so discouraged, too, to see that sensible gun control measures were defeated in the Senate today. These gun people are a minority. They’re unbalanced, to put it mildly. And yet they manage to rule the day. Here’s another example of their inability to form a rational thought. This is the “visual” they’re putting out there:
[img]http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/535920_453049298104739_89759780_n.jpg[/img]
Does it ever occur to them that bombs are already illegal, while assault rifles should be? There’s something wrong with their cognitive function, don’t you think?
And while I’m seeking your opinion — do you know, AdLib, (or does anyone else?) why Harry Reid apparently voted no on this Senate bill?
I’m baffled by that one.
Kes, Harry Reid voted against the background check bill after it became clear it will lose because Senate rules allow only someone who voted against a bill to bring it back up. This was just a maneuver by Reid to be able to bring it back to the floor.
I am definitely going to watch “Blood in the Face”, thanks so much for sharing it! The proposition that only people who could be visibly seen blushing are the only people who could feel shame is as intelligent as not believing in air or gravity because you can’t see it. Morons who made up moronic justifications for their emotional insecurities that make them racist.
As for the additional moronic reasoning behind the graphic you posted, if we could control bombs, we would, how idiotic. Bombs, especially IEDs can unfortunately be created from common items that can’t all be banned because they aren’t dangerous otherwise. How about guns, they aren’t solely about committing violence and can be used to fasten pieces of wood together, fertilize gardens, power toys or clean floors? A gun has one purpose, to shoot bullets. That’s it. Controlling them is controlling the ability for individuals (especially for lunatics and terrorists) to shoot bullets.
It’s pointless to argue with the loons who post such graphics, they support torture too, especially torturing logic to make it fit their preconceived idiocy.
The white supremacists can’t blush either, because they have no shame. 😉
Another reason they wear those white, pointy hats with the flaps that cover their faces, KT.
Thanks for the explanation, AdLib. So now Reid will be able to bring this bill up again. That’s a good thing.
And you’re right: it is virtually impossible to debate with these clowns because they make idiotic arguments like: “Guns don’t kill people; people do,” then in the next breath resist checking the backgrounds of those same people. This is usually followed by smug satisfaction in how clever they are. Guess we’re all just supposed to take their word about their own mental health and criminal records…
Kes, you put it so simply and directly:
If that doesn’t clearly illustrate the dishonesty of these zealots, I don’t know what would.
Yep, as you say, the only people who should be worried about background checks are criminals, terrorists and the mentally ill. So most of these gun nuts are expressing what about themselves?
AdLib, September 11, 2001 began in Boston. Is there a message here? I think so. Hate is already here. Those underground vermin have surfaced -they could be next door, across the street, standing in line at the grocery store and even in our own families. It’s easy to teach hate. Let’s take one word: “Immigrant”…Change it to “alien” add an adjective, “illegal” and you have the recipe for hate. Hitler did it with “Jew.” Many of those elected officials you speak of have added the fuel as they pander to the stupidity of their constituents and the greed of the money men.
We have a 2nd rate media. Beautiful women dressed in Prada; handsome men with great voices – all news readers whose collective intelligence might reach 100 on the IQ scale. They don’t know history; they don’t understand the world they live in; the networks glut the channels with nonstop coverage, and we stop listening. Are we perhaps complicit by being drawn into the discussions on whether or not the President is right to use drones? We demand answers from the President of the United States on decisions he makes based on information he knows. When we publicly question the wisdom of our own leaders, we lower the standard of trust and create the image of weakness that precipitates what happened Sunday. We’re still apologizing for Hiroshima and Nagasaki, despite the fact that President Truman’s decision was based on the calculations from the Department of War that more than 250,000 Americans would die in the Pacific Theater if the war did not stop. We don’t learn history; we don’t refer to it; we are dismally uneducated on the facts of when and why we became a super power. My degrees are in history, specifically WWII and US foreign policy following its end. it fills in all the spaces, but what good are facts…
Michener said in his great book, Hawaii, that “Very few countries have beeen fortunate enough to lose a war to the United States.” How right he was. – We don’t put any distance between where we were and where we are now. And God forbid we should take that journey to how we got here. And history is not a journalist’s best friend.
Adlib, i worked for the US Government on 5 continents, in 5 countries. My screen name comes from the agencies I worked for. I believe we have to do what we have to do. In my view, the real danger are the 500+ people who sit in the two chambers of Congress…both parties. The Dems who did nothing in the first two years of the President’s first term,and the Republicans who have paralyzed the Oval Office.
Bourne, as long as there are human beings, there will always be those consumed with emotions. Some are helplessly kind and compassionate, others are slaves to their hatreds.
To have a political party and a segment of the media dedicated to feeding that hatred and exploiting it is a huge problem for our society.
The “other” is always easy to hate and the perfect distraction for the powerful to keep the people divided and powerless. Whether it’s “liberals”, “illegal aliens”, “gun confiscators”, etc., the RW no longer has any tool other than paranoia, lies and hatred to advance their agenda and the blowback from this is proliferating hatred and hate groups around the country.
I am all for questioning our leaders and retaining the power to demand that our government remain responsive to us…though the recent vote against background checks makes clear that even what 90% of Americans want is meaningless when special interests like the NRA control our government. I think it is fair game to question Pres. Obama on the drone program or anything else but I think it is unAmerican to label all politicians of one party or those who we disagree with as “traitors” and “enemies”. This only plays into the self-justification of domestic terrorists.
I do disagree with the proposition that all of those in Congress are to blame. We just had the background check vote and a majority voted for it…but the dysfunctional Senate allows a minority to dictate through filibusters. And as for the House, it is only due to gerrymandering that the Republicans still control it.
Change the filibuster rules to prevent the abuse of it and create bipartisan panels in each state to draw districts instead of allowing gerrymandering (as states like CA have…since there is no justification for this anti-democratic act of gerrymandering) and all of a sudden, you have a far more functional and more representative Congress.
That was the problem with Obama’s first two years, he had a majority in the Senate and House to pass legislation but the minority in the Senate was able to block him again and again through filibusters.
Today was a day that Republicans in Congress should be remembered for, a day when they blatantly voted for themselves, their re-election and to obey a special interest group named the NRA instead of represent the will of 90% of America and the majority in their states. They are failures and embarrassments to the history of our democracy and should be mercilessly attacked for transforming their Senate seat into nothing more than a path for self-enrichment and self-gratification.