The Democrats of the civil rights era didn’t have too much in common with the Democrats of today, either.  They were not the diverse party they are now, nor did they place a strong emphasis on civil rights.  In fact, during the civil rights struggles…they tended to stick with their platform of states’ rights, and to assert that each individual state could decide on how to handle matters of discrimination, workplace inequality, and segregation.  They did have one, big advantage in the South:  As the party representing workers and unions over management and “big business,” they held dominant sway over the southern states, which were more heavily populated by working class and impoverished citizens than the other regions of the country.

Looking back at the two parties surely has a sort of “looking glass” feel to it.  Each party was “halfway” towards the policies it holds today…with only one major ideological flip needed to set things as they are now.  This change would come courtesy of the Republican Party and its new president in the early 1970′s: Richard Milhous Nixon.  Nixon, who had come from a very poor background himself, knew of one sure way to lure southern voters away from the Democratic Party’s grasp.  One subject that would outweigh the voters’ interest in jobs, income, and all other areas of economic self-interest.  Race.  Nixon’s use of race to influence voting, often accompanied with “social conservatism” issues, would form the heart of what has come to be known in politics as the “Southern Strategy” of the GOP.  This was not a completely new strategy.  In fact, during the civil rights struggles, Democrats had widely employed race-baiting, a cornerstone of the “Southern Strategy,” as a defense against the coming wave of changes, and with some success…they had won some battles, while losing the overall war.  Republicans, like Nixon, would perfect its usage as a political tactic.

You see, “race-baiting” is the politically-safer, passive-aggressive version of “overt racism.“  The time had come in America when overtly racist statements would cause the speaker to lose support among liberals, moderates, and even many conservatives.  While many people at the time still held racist beliefs, there was a growing common understanding that it was not acceptable to utter them aloud.  Race-baiting allowed politicians and other public figures to address racist voters, to play upon their prejudice-based fears…while still being able to deny that they had said anything “racist.”  Examples include:

- Showing photos, statistics, or simply retelling events in such a way as to make people of a particular race look menacing or dangerous.

- Making claims of people of a particular race “taking over” in terms of a locale, an industry, government power.

- Making claims that measures intended to help a disadvantaged group overcome institutionalized prejudice are giving them an “unfair advantage.“

- Offering racists “substitution terms.” For example, instead of calling a person a racist term, substituting terms like “foreign,” or “socialist/communist/fascist,” or simply inferring that they are “arrogant,” or that they otherwise “don’t know their place.“

- Intimating that the previously dominant race or culture is “under attack” by the other race.  This attack may come in terms of social norms, dress, music, religion…or even accusations inferring that interracial reproduction some sort of “danger.”

Suffice it to say, the strategy worked for the Republicans, and southern voters have strongly supported them to this day.  The transformation was now complete.  Democrats had become the party for minorities, civil rights, centralized government power, labor and unions, higher taxes, and public works.  Republicans had become the party of big business, lower taxes, smaller government, states’ rights…and prejudice.

Then for nearly forty years…the Republicans didn’t need the “Southern Strategy” as much.  The public trusted their assurances that they were the party of “fiscal responsibility” and “foreign policy experience” and so from the Reagan years to the end of the presidency of George W. Bush…the tactics were rarely employed.  That is, until Barack Obama was elected.  That is, until the people of this country found out that they were anything but “responsible” with the country’s finances and anything but “skilled” in terms of dealing with either friends OR enemies abroad.

With no accomplishments to brag about, and their economic and diplomatic skills under fire, Republicans, the Tea Party, and the rest of the nation’s conservatives would resort to using the “Southern Strategy” once again.  Only this time, they had new tools to aid with its implementation: the internet and Fox News. This time, the would not only target black Americans…but also foreigners (particularly Hispanics), gays, and Muslims.

Here’s Rachel Maddow, giving clear examples of Fox News’ ongoing attempts to play on the fears of white Americans:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qAQ3XXxKAY

Fox News and the conservative blogosphere went after Obama’s advisor on Environmental Equality, Van Jones, with nearly incessant coverage portraying him as someone with “dangerously radical” views on race, and as a “Marxist” or “Leninist.”

They also went after Kevin Jennings, Obama’s pick for “Safe and Drug-Free Schools” czar…by attacking him for being gay, insinuating that he was somehow pro-pedophilia, and stirring fears that he would allow gay teachers to “turn students gay.”

They attacked Chai Feldblum, Obama’s appointment to serve on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission…by stoking fears that she would “promote gay sex,” and would give gays a hiring advantage over heterosexuals.

They have repeatedly covered items related to an ongoing theme: the supposed “war” on Christianity.  Any other religious group enjoying the freedom to practice their religioun…is portrayed as a “threat” to Christians being able to practice theirs.  Sound ridiculous?  That’s because it IS, and this was not lost on Jon Stewart of The Daily Show:

They gave a lot of time, and tacit support, to the new Arizona law, which unconstitutionally requires Arizona’s police to ask anyone “suspected” of being an illegal alien to prove his or her citizenship.  They allowed the bill’s supporters to tell their viewing audience about the murders, kidnappings, and beheadings occurring in their state due to lax border enforcement.  Of course, what Fox did not do…is to point out that there have been no such beheadings, and that violent crimes in these states have actually DECREASED over recent years.

Recently they went after the Department of Agriculture’s Shirley Sherrod, citing that a film clip of her speaking at an event was just “another example” of blacks in the Obama administration who are racially discriminatory against whites.  The clip was quickly revealed to be deceptively edited…Sherrod was actually telling a morality tale about overcoming racism, and the speech took place many years before she was even a federal employee.

For the last week, they have been allowing a single story to dominate their headlines.  They show a picture of two “menacing” black men from the New Black Panthers standing outside a polling place, stoking fears of black radicals taking over the political process.  Of course, they don’t focus on the fact that the men were removed by police, banned from serving as poll-watchers, and that the Justice Department justifiably decided not to press charges against the men because the case was so weak.  They also don’t point out that while there are an abundance of case examples of voter intimidation being perpetrated against blacks in this country…there is just this one, ridiculous example of the reverse ever occurring.

And countless times…Fox went after Obama himself.  They gave “birthers,” those that claim Obama is not an American citizen, lots of air time.  They’ve attempted to paint him as “arrogant,” or “socialist,” or as “pushing a black agenda,” at every available opportunity.  They’ve even gone so far as to directly call Obama…a “racist.”  In fact, that’s the real hidden “trick” behind race-baiting: Since you’re not making overtly racist statements, if anyone accuses you of racism…just deny it, blast them for “playing the race card,” and if they are a minority member, you accuse THEM of being racist/prejudiced against YOU.  This was recently the case when the NAACP called for the Tea Party to condemn the racist positions of some of their supporters, due to the PROVEN fact that a number of white-supremacy groups openly support the Tea Party.  So how did the Tea Party respond?  They feigned outrage at the suggestion that ALL of them are racists, even though no such allegation had been made, and…wait for it…accused the NAACP of being racist against white people.  It was only when the Tea Party’s spokesperson made obviously racist comments on his blog, that he was forced to resign.

I hear the effects of this strategy every day, living in the South.  I hear men and women I work with whisper things about how “hard it is to be white, and Christian” these days.  They moan about how they are “under attack.“  They fear the “effect” that society’s growing acceptance of homosexuality will have on their children.  They swear, incorrectly, that ours was founded as a “Christian nation,” and that people of other faiths should build their churches elsewhere.  They complain about “Mexicans,” who according to them cause crime to rise (incorrect), and who steal “their” jobs (also incorrect), and who soak up massive amounts of tax dollars by receiving free services (yup…also incorrect).  They complain that their lives would be “so much easier” if they were black, Hispanic, or some other minority, and had everything “given to them.”  These are the fruits of the “Southern Strategy” of race-baiting: Large numbers of semi-literate, white people feeling victimized and threatened by the very idea that someone else….someone DIFFERENT…might now live, work, worship alongside them.  Told that the racism they have held, quietly in their hearts…can now be expressed as long as they do it using certain careful terms, certain substitutions, certain “code.”  Told that even in expressing their racism, THEY are not racists…because they are the victims of the racism of the minorities.

Lo! How the mighty “Party of Lincoln” has fallen.

I only see one cure: We must rediscover our passion for the American ideals that were set forth in the Declaration of Independence.  Read it here.  I know, it’s been some time since you read it…so really let it sink in.  Now study the Founding Fathers and their passions…and let those passions become yours.  For it will only be when we all accept the universality of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…that our nation will experience true growth, true unity, true national greatness.  It will only be when all Americans embrace the idea that this nation was created as a haven of racial, religious, ideological, and political tolerance…that we will be able to focus our true and full attentions on the very real problems that face our country, and that keep us from thriving.  It will only be when we all accept that one group’s religious doctrine was never meant to dominate our government, our schools, our workplaces, or our laws…that we will see that it is not about what you or I believe, but instead, it is about what all of us agree on together.

And most of all: We must abandon our fears…especially our fears of each other. Then…we must condemn those who play upon our fears for little more than petty, partisan purposes.  Shame on you, Republicans….shame on you, Fox News….shame on you Tea Party….shame on you Breitbart, Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter, WorldNetDaily, Rush Limbaugh, and all you other ideologues.  And shame on us…for ever having listened to them.

I’ll leave you with Keith Olbermann’s spirited call to reject race-baiting…if we all had such passion, it would already be a thing of the past:

Part 1:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcI8nWyugQs

Part 2:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=34cynRWkPMs

The answer has arrived: “Yes…and that time is now.”

Recently, there has been considerable news coverage of two stories.  Two stories, that actually represent the very same issue:

1 - Attorney General Holder’s announcement that the masterminds behind the 9/11 attacks would be tried in a federal court in New York.

2 - The announcement that a prison in Thompson, Illinois might be used to house Guantanamo Bay’s detainees.

Let’s start by taking a look at each of these issues independently:

New York Terror Trial:

One can easily predict the response to BOTH these items from the conservative camp.  Conservative pundits and politicians have made the standard “not-in-my-backyard” argument, asking their viewers and supporters, “Do you really want these terrorists brought to the U.S.?”

• Former New York Mayor Giuliani proclaimed that the wounds in New York are still too fresh for the city to withstand the “psychic pain” of a locally held trial.  News flash, Mr. Giuliani…you can’t one minute tell us how strong New Yorkers are, and then tell us the next minute that they are “too fragile” to endure trials of the terrorists who attacked them.  The former is true: New Yorkers have shown themselves to be remarkably resilient, and there are few psychologists who WOULDN’T agree that a trial would be a further step in the healing process.  When people are attacked, it is of fundamental benefit to be able to “face” their assailants, and to see the assailants brought to justice.  Side note: Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) also opposes the trial, calling it “unprecedented” and “indefensible“…strangely, both Sessions and Guiliani had no problem eight years ago with Zacarias Moussaoui (the so-called 20th hijacker) being tried in the U.S.
• Former Attorney General Ashcroft says that a trial in a civilian court, rather than a military commission, would be too “transparent.”  Too transparent?  Is there such a thing when it comes to the American government and our national ideals?  No.  The absence of transparency brought us unjust investigation methods, unjust arrests, unjust detentions, and unjust treatment of prisoners.  There is only one way to get that particular train back on the tracks, and that is to apply the two hundred year-old, Constitutionally mandated, Due Process of Law.  That means courts…it means evidence…and it means a jury gets to weigh that evidence and determine guilt or innocence.  Period.
• Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said that all we need to do…is to remember what happened in the O.J. Simpson trial and ask ourselves, “Do we really want that to happen again.” Really?  Is this perhaps the most inane thing we have ever heard from Chuck Grassley?  If anything hindered the O.J. trial…it was the fact that he is, to some, a beloved football/movie celebrity.  But Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other 9/11 plotters?  Does Grassley really think that a jury is going to wrongly acquit them because they are “esteemed celebrities?“
• Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) told Holder that since Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has asked to confess his guilt to a military commission and be executed…that is what we should do.  AG Holder rightly pointed out to Kyl: we aren’t going to do what the TERRORIST wants to do…we are going to follow the American legal process.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOVN3iWu9vM

• Karl Rove, Liz Cheney, Newt Gingrich, and Bill Kristol tried desperately to mobilize an angry mob to appear the day of the hearings, where Eric Holder would be explaining his decision to a Senate committee.  The effect of their scare tactics, utilizing the full force of the airwaves and the internet?  Crickets…

It’s really quite simple:  These men participated in murdering thousands of people in New York.  We have an established process for handling this.  We are very proud of our process for handling this.  The absolute dedication to the application of the Due Process of Law is one thing that is truly American, and encompasses all aspects in our belief in fairness, justice…and the necessity for fairness and justice being decided BY THE PEOPLE.  In the New York federal court…the defendants will appear, and be represented by counsel.  The prosecutor, will represent the PEOPLE.  The jury, will represent the JUDGMENT OF THE PEOPLE.  What’s more…the process itself validates and establishes WHO WE ARE as a people each time it is successfully conducted, and also serves as a point of closure and healing for victims.  Much more so than some shadowy, closed, military tribunal down in Cuba.

Relocation of Gitmo Prisoners to Thompson, Illinois:

Thompson, Illinois has a prison.  An expensive, new…and EMPTY supermax facility.  Built during the boom times…when bust times came, it was not practical to staff the prison, so only the minimum security section is used, and for only a small number of prisoners.  The governor of Illinois loves the idea of the prison’s super-maximum section being used to house detainees from Guantanamo Bay.  The state’s two senators also strongly support the idea.  The citizens of Thompson, a city experiencing very hard economic times, love the 3000 jobs and over a billion dollars that the opening of the super-maximum prison would create.  So what could possibly be the problem?

• Illinois Republican Representative Mark Kirk has been holding press conferences and circulating calls for support…saying that bringing the detainees to Illinois would make Illinois and its landmarks the new number one target for terrorists, specifically the Sears Tower, as it is America’s tallest building.  Kirk also warns that, if the Board of Corrections has authority over these prisoners, they will receive visitors…and he says that people would then have to be afraid of terrorists flying through O’Hare airport to come see their incarcerated friends.  Ummm…Kirk?  The Defense Department would be buying the prison FROM the Board of Corrections…and has already said it would not allow the detainees any visitors.  Try doing a little bit of research first, before diving headlong into scare tactics…
• Illinois Republican Don Manzullo, who is actually SUPPOSED to be representing the good people of Thompson (who, again, want the prison to open), warns that the terrorists will be brought here and then released into the Illinois community.

Editorial boards across the country immediately criticized this use of fearmongering, and set about stating the easy counter-arguments to the GOP representatives’ claims.  One of the best columns, by Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg, makes some of the clearest points:  Here’s his column.  I’ll summarize, thusly: First of all, there are already Al Qaeda terrorists being held in Illinois…27 of them…it hasn’t caused Al Qaeda to “zero in” on Illinois yet, so what’s 200 more?  Secondly, history proves that trying to avoid doing anything to provoke “agents of evil”…doesn’t really work (it’s called “appeasement” and you Republicans claim to be against it).  Third, being home to the tallest building in the U.S., doesn’t really mean anything…when terrorists have shown interest in military bases, trains and subways, shopping malls, government buildings, and a multitude of other targets.  But it turns out, the columnists were not the only people who thought the senseless fearmongering had gone too far;  Some Republicans and conservatives are fed up with it as well:

• A statement was released by the Constitution Project, David Keene, founder of American Conservative Union, Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, and former representative and presidential candidate Bob Barr…saying that the housing of Gitmo detainees in Thompson, Illinois…”makes good sense.“  They didn’t stop there, and went as far as to say, “The scaremongering about these issues should stop…[there is] absolutely no reason to fear that prisoners will escape or be released into their communities.“  You can read the rest of the statement here.
• Illinois Republican Representative Jim Sacia was even more direct, saying that legislators (including his GOP brethren) who oppose the measure to move the detainees to Thompson…are “idiots.”  Sacia said, “My thinking on this is extremely positive.  If we lose this opportunity. All I can think of is we literally are idiots. I mean that sincerely…I understand I’m on different pages of music with others in my party. First of all this should not be a partisan issue in any way. If President Obama brings the detainees on U.S. soil and we sit here with a brand new state-of-the-art, max security prison, sitting vacant for the last eight years, and pass on an opportunity to sell it to the federal government, which we would fill it with 1,500 regular prisoners and 800 detainees, what is the problem? The building was designed to do that.“

So, perhaps that’s “it.”  Perhaps Americans, even conservative Americans, are not willing to accept arguments the consist of nothing more than “If we do [insert action here] the terrorists will kill you.“  Perhaps Americans are no longer willing to set aside Constitutional rights and the guarantee of Due Process…just in the sake of “perceived safety.”  Perhaps Americans think jobs and revenue are more important right now than slippery slope arguments regarding what the terrorists “might” do.  And perhaps…just maybe…because Americans are no longer willing to be scared into supporting GOP positions…the GOP is realizing that they have to make a better argument.  Just perhaps…

But those people…aren’t really the heart of the problem, are they?  No one expects the portion of Americans (it appears to be about 30%) who are functionally illiterate, or marginally educated, or ignorant (either as a product of upbringing or willfulness) to react any different to what they are hearing.  We can’t really expect them to perform research, much less to read the actual bill.  We know that many…personally despise the President and will condemn any action he performs, simply on the basis of his race.  We know that some, are religious fanatics who are easily convinced that their opponents are “evil,” or “demons,” or even “the antichrist”…others, are simply mentally unbalanced….some are both.  We can’t even realistically expect them to be able to determine which news sources are reliable or which are not…they are likely to gravitate to the sources that either 1) entertain them, or 2) Reinforce their existing beliefs and prejudices.

No -- the heart of the problem, is THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW BETTER.  It is those people, generally educated and generally informed…who either for political, personal, or financial reasons are disseminating claims that THEY KNOW TO BE both false and dangerous.  And who SHOULD know how the 30% of Americans mentioned above will react when hearing the demagoguery and deceptions.

Just a few examples (certainly not an exhaustive list), from each category:

THOSE INCITING VIOLENCE AMONG THE AMERICAN PEOPLE FOR FAME/EGO:

• Glenn Beck: Beck whips his audiences into a furor over imaginary “FEMA Concentration Camps“…he compares health care reform to the work of the nazis, and outrageously claims that the reform plan would kill newborns and children.  He warns of Obama’s “brownshirts” (an ludicrous reference to fascism) and a nonexistent “enemies list.“  He incessantly accuses the current administration of wanting to take away American freedoms so it can rule with an “iron fist.” He even jokes about poisoning the Democratic Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.  When criticized for his positions…he accuses the people leveling charges against him as using “pure hate” speech…and then proceeds to call the president a RACIST who has a “deep-seated” hatred for white people.  Now…Beck is an educated man.  Any man with any sense knows that these claims are ridiculous and unfounded.  Any man with any sense would know that these words might drive scared, easily-influenced people to consider thoughts of violence and rebellion against the government…even Beck knows this, as recently he started making statements BEGGING his listeners not to do anything desperate.  Why did he try to take a step back?  Because he loves the attention…he loves his ability to control the 30% of Americans who lack the critical reasoning to determine that his statements are plainly false…but HE IS SCARED at the same time, that his words will inspire these people to do the kinds of sick, stupid, and deadly things that HE KNOWS these people are capable of doing.  It is the very definition of “wanton disregard for the well-being of others.”  As Keith Olbermann put it, it is the equivalent of shouting “FIRE” in a crowded theater, and then begging the people to exit in a calm manner as they scream and trample each other to death.
• Rush Limbaugh: Rush Limbaugh…also openly compares the President to the worse genocidal dictator in history, Adolf Hitler.  He claims the Obama health care logo…looks like a nazi swastika.  By making such claims, he is KNOWINGLY inciting the most easily manipulated portion of our citizens to “act against” a president and the democrats who he portrays as “evil.”  Rush paints the adminsitration as ruining this country, destroying the Constitution, ruling through autocracy, and desiring to kill American seniors.  Then…he tells “his people” that they are the true “patriots” and that anybody who criticizes their actions (especially if it’s the president) is a “racist” and a “tyrant.”  Rush knows…that these things aren’t true.  He’s been around long enough and has enough education to know about Hitler and the Nazis, and to know that there is NO reasonable comparison to the current administration.  He also knows that the president and the Democrats aren’t going to put seniors in “Statist Farms,” or to euthanize them. These statements are so false as to absurd to anyone with even the slightest education or even common sense.  He also knows…that 30% of the population, upon hearing these things, will be angered…some to the point of threats and violence.  He knows all this…and says these things anyway, because he longs for the cheers of the vast, ignorant throng that look to him and his words, whose passions flare at his ranting, who will accept as GOSPEL, even the most outlandish utterances…as long as they come from him.

THOSE INCITING VIOLENCE AMONG THE AMERICAN PEOPLE FOR POLITICAL REASONS:

• Sarah Palin: Palin tells the people that she just can’t support a reform plan that would send her parents and downs-syndrome baby in front of a “death panel,” a plan that, in her words, is “downright evil.”  Three days later…she says the conversation of health care should be kept “civil.”  She knew there were no “death panels” in the plan, but she said it anyway, to draw attention to herself and in an attempt to increase her political stock through publicly attacking Obama’s plan.  She knew that 30% of Americans would believe her REGARDLESS of how obviously insane the contention was…and when she realized what some of the more unstable members of that 30% might do, out of fear of “death camps,” she quickly backpedalled and called for civility…it’s too late, the damage done, but she still thought worth an attempt to cover her own ass and to distance herself from the actions THAT SHE KNEW some headcase might take because of her words.
• Most Republicans: I could list each Republican by name, along with his or her comments…but why do so, when they are all following the same script.  The RNC provided them with a memo TELLING THEM exactly what to say, and for the most part…they are consistently following with it.  They were told to describe the plan as a “government takeover,” and as the first step towards full “socialism.”  They were told to say that seniors would lose Medicare benefits, and the middle-class will carry the MASSIVE tax burden required to support the plan.  They were told to scare people into thinking that government bureaucrats would now be making their medical decisions and that “rationing” would lead to them dying without treatment.  They were told to tell us that the plan would cause ALL of the insurance companies to go bankrupt.  They were essentially told to paint a frightening picture of a communist America, where all people are poor, and where people…especially seniors…are dying in the streets without proper medical care.  They know better:  they’ve read the bill (or their staff has)…they’ve seen the Congressional Budget Office reports…and STILL they willfully lie to their supporters, stir their supporters’ fear and anger, and risk some of their more-unhinged supporters committing deadly acts.  And they do it so that they can “defeat Obama” and so they can please the health care companies who have paid for their campaigns.   It has nothing to do with the American people…for them, it doesn’t even have anything to do with health care.
• Again…Most Republicans: They have perpetrated similar injustices against the American people on the subject of Obama’s legitimacy.  You need do no more than to watch the two videos made by Firedoglake to know this.  Firedoglake asked several Republicans, on camera, what they thought of the ridiculous “bither” theorists who claim the Obama is not an American citizen.  A DISGUSTING number of them…either supported the theory, or gave non-committal answers.  Now…they have SEEN the Obama birth certificate, and the documents certifying its validity.  They KNOW that Obama is an American citizen…but they also know that 30% of Americans, many out of pure racial hatred for the President, desperately want ANY reason to claim the president is serving office illegitimately.  They know these people are racists…and they know that support of this idea may lead to ANOTHER white supremacist committing a desperate act under the misguided notion that he or she is “saving the country“…but they lie anyway, because these people VOTE FOR THEM, and they know that it distracts people’s attention from the issues the president wants people to focus on.

THOSE INCITING VIOLENCE AMONG THE AMERICAN PEOPLE FOR FINANCIAL REASONS:

• Lobbyists and PR Firms: These groups are easy to understand.  They are paid MILLIONS every year to do three simple things.  One…they must wine, dine, and provide campaign contributions to politicians, in exchange for the politicians support of the health care industry.  Two…they must place tv and radio spots that will convince the American people to accept the positions of the health care industry, EVEN IF those positions are contrary to the person’s own self-interest.  Three…they must organize demonstrations and events filled with people who will disrupt any attempt to discuss health care reform…and to give the false impression that most people in America don’t want health care reform.  They are doing all these things…and they do them very well.  They don’t care about politics…they have no ethical or philosophical position on health care…they don’t even care about the best interests of Americans.  They care about one things…getting paid.  America’s Health Insurance Plans…FreedomWorks…Americans for Prosperity…Conservatives for Patients’ Rights…these groups and others, funded by the corporate, health care, industrial complex, are organizing groups of the most uninformed/misinformed 30% of our population, pumping them full of disinformation (attacks that they KNOW to be false, but effective) to get them scared and angry, and coordinate events where these groups can vent all of their anger and ignorance in the most violent and disrespectful manner possible.  To these groups…this represents “a job well done” and there is no consideration for possible violent outcomes…for deaths…for destruction.

Now, of course…these categories represent over-simplifications.  Rush certainly also gains politically and financially from stirring the emotions of America’s most uninformed demographic.  The politicians I mentioned also benefit financially, in terms of contributions from the insurance industry lobbyists, when they choose to play to their constituents’ baser instincts.

And one thing that they ALL have in common…is that they are thinking of the benefit of themselves, their political party, their company, their bank account…with a wanton and complete disregard for the dangerous, event violent consequences of their actions.

And our “watchdogs,” in the media…are all but asleep.  For example, Palin’s claims of “death panels” that would take the lives of her parents and her baby…were so obviously false, and so obviously intended to do nothing more than scare the more ignorant members of our society, and to spur them to extreme actions.  Any objective news anchor or outlet would be completely justified in condemning the statement in the harshest terms possible…some non-objective, CONSERVATIVE pundits even did so.  But where was the mainstream media to clearly inform the public of its absurdity and recklessness?  As this columnist points out, the reaction from the press was to quote Palin’s comment, and perhaps to describe it as “harsh” or “controversial“….but they would not go so far as to even mention that it is FALSE, which lends the statement unintended credence.  As this columnist writes…the reaction to Rush Limbaugh’s comparisons between Obama and Hitler, were SHAMEFUL in their timidity.  As with the Iraq War, the press is again failing in its straightforward obligation to provide the public with INFORMATION…and when a political or celebrity pundit makes statements that are 1) patently false, and 2) designed to incite hatred and violence, it is the job of the press to inform the public of both the FACTS and to warn against the THREAT to our civil order.

In this…the ABC/CBS/NBC/CNN/FOX news, and a majority of the daily newspapers are as culpable as the fearmongers, as they seem to have ceded their responsibilities to liberal pundits and online bloggers, WHO CAN NOT DO THE JOB ALONE.

On that note, I will leave you with one such liberal pundit…speaking eloquently to this very issue.  Here’s Keith Olbermann’s latest “Special Comment:”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c-UxRfmtiI