Gingrich Wants To Lead U.S. Down A Dark Path Of Divisiveness

The far right and disgraceful Newt Gingrich is using Fox News (he was interviewed by Greta Van Susteren, masquerading as a "Democrat") as a platform to continue to divide Americans ... essentially yelling fire in a crowded room.

This is dangerous talk as Crooks and Liars points out:

VAN SUSTEREN: Continuing with former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. He has a brand-new book, "To Save America: Stopping Obama's Secular Socialist Machine." Speaker Gingrich writes, in part, "The America in which we grew up is vastly different from the America the secular socialist left want to create, and that's why saving America is the fundamental challenge of our time. The secular socialist machine represents as great a threat to America as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union once did."

Speaker Gingrich is here with us. All right, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Go a little far on that one?

GINGRICH: No. Because I'm not talking about moral equivalence of the people, I'm talking about the end result. If the Nazis had defeated us, then America as we know it would have disappeared. If the Soviet Union had defeated us, the America as we know it would have disappeared. I argue in this book -- and I think it's a pretty reasoned and compelling argument -- that the fact is, the values of a secular socialist movement are antithetical -- and you hear from President Obama all the time.

You know, we're a country that says we're endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights. The secular socialist left doesn't want God anywhere in public life and doesn't want to acknowledge God anywhere in public life, to such a degree that the Democratic candidate for the Senate of Massachusetts said maybe if you're Catholic, you shouldn't work in an emergency room, OK? That's a fairly radical statement.

Similarly, we believed historically you get to go out and work as hard as you want. You get to dream as big as you want. And then you get to keep it. Now you have a president who says openly, you know, some people make too much money, and maybe he should decide. Now, I mean, his idea of redistribution is that politicians decide how much you ought to get to keep of what you earn.

Gingrich is irresponsible and speaks to a growing number of angry Americans who are attempting to take this country down a sinister and radical path.

The Politics Of Fear Are Spiraling Out Of Control For Conservatives

The politics of fear, divisiveness, ugliness, anger and hatred sadly were hallmarks of the failed presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

The fear, divisiveness, anger and hatred McCain and Palin attempted to harness, to build a successful campaign toward the White House, failed and merely set the stage for a level of anger we’re seeing today that should put a chill down the spine of this country. Hateful extremist conservatives have ratcheted up the hatred to seemingly the highest political DEFCON-type levels and have directed their disproportionate and misguided anger at President Barack Obama. Many of these same far-right conservatives, who were in full attack mode against President Clinton, then fell back into a soft zone defense during the President Bush years are now running a fastbreak of hate, anger and division against President Obama.

Today, far-right conservatives are attacking with reckless abandon.

As a nation, we witnessed this dangerous emotion throughout last year’s presidential campaign during several rallies put together to support McCain and Palin.

To his credit, near the end of the presidential campaign, it seemed McCain recognized the hatred had begun to spiral beyond control into a dangerous territory.

But, on Tuesday in his home state of Arizona, McCain recently got another whiff of the hatred that was sparked during his campaign. McCain attempted to tell his people that the president respects the constitution, but that he and other Republicans simply had differences of opinion as to how to guide the country. Whether or not that is the simple basis for the anger is debatable, but what is hardly debatable is the angry response that popped McCain upside the head.

“Wait a minute. Wait a minute,” he told the crowd in Sun City, Airzona. “He is sincere in his beliefs, we just happen to disagree. And he is the president. And let’s be respectful.”

A questioner had asked whether Obama realized that the spending priorities his administration is pursuing are “against the Constitution.”

“Doesn’t he know that we still live under a Constitution?” the attendee asked.

“I’m sure that he does,” McCain responded. The crowd, thinking the response was a joke, laughed along.

“No, no. I am serious. I am sure that he does and I’m sure he respects the Constitution,” said McCain.

Shouts of “No” came from the crowd.

“I really do,” McCain pleaded. “I am absolutely convinced of it. I just believe, my friends, that there is a fundamental difference in philosophy and about the role of government. That is why we have competition for public office and competition amongst parties, and competition about different ideas and vision for the future of America. I’m convinced the president is absolutely sincere in his beliefs.”

Moderate conservatives have allowed (by not standing against it strongly enough) this hateful rhetoric (using code words like socialist, socialism, Nazi, Hitler and more) to sow the seeds of hate and hostility and portray the president (as we’ve seen with this ridiculous birther campaign pushed by far-right nuts) as “not one of us.”

This kind of talk is dangerous and is taking this country where it should not want to go.

Another Great Example Of Bias At Fox News

The hatred we see on the right-wing Fox News channel, directed at anything that isn’t favorable to Republicans, long ago spiraled out of control. It was even more evident when some of the Fox and Friends hosts launched an attack on Rep. Barney Frank (obviously, he’s a democrat) who was trying to respond to some aggressive nuts targeting him during one of these increasingly hostile town hall meeting fiascoes we see more and more in the media.

Here is one part:

STEVE DOOCY: Well, give him credit for showing up. But let’s face it, he was downright rude. Somebody asked him a question –

BRIAN KILMEADE (co-host): Smug.

DOOCY: OK, somebody asked him a question, then he said, “On what planet do you spend most of your time?” And then to somebody else he said, “Trying to have a conversation with you would be like arguing with a dining room table.” Barney, they showed up at the senior center in Dartmouth last night for some answers. Give them some answers, don’t give them attitude.

First, the irresponsible and borderline sinister Doocy flat-out fails to put into context the hateful and ridiculous rhetoric (invoking the word Nazis) that prompted that response from Rep. Frank.

They did not show up looking for answers. Their minds are already made up. They showed up eager to spew right-wing hateful venom.

It’s especially sad because how Doocy and company are whining about Rep. Frank standing up for himself there is an image of Barack Obama as Hitler (apparently that did not spark anger in Doocy, Kilmeade or anyone else on the set).

Note to Doocy and Kilmeade, give us some context.

DOOCY: Meanwhile, a health care confrontation like you’ve never seen before. Congressman Barney Frank starts attacking the same people who put him in office.

FRANK [video clip]: Ma’am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it.

DOOCY: Oh, yeah, he’s a sweet talker. Is this really the way Democrats are defending their plans for health care — referring to them as dining room tables?

No, this is the way Democrats are defending themselves from hateful labels like “socialist” and “Nazi” from far-right extremists.

DOOCY: Well there were some extraordinary other sound bites that he had. At one point, after a person asked him a question, he said, “On what planet do you spend most of your time?” And then he said, to somebody else, “Trying to have a conversation with you would be like arguing with a dining room table.”

Maybe Barney Frank has spent a little too much time in Washington, D.C., away from real people, because real people have real questions. And rather than answers, a lot of those folks up in Dartmouth last night got attitude.

Do real people insult those (and the family of those) who suffered at the hands of Nazis by referring to people who want health care for all people as Nazis?

When you give venomous hate (as we’re increasingly seeing at these town hall meetings) you should be lucky that someone is classy enough to just give back attitude.

Again, Doocy conveniently ignores the context for Rep. Frank’s comments and lets the far-right crazies off the hook for their ridiculous and irresponsible rhetoric.

Maybe Doocy has spent too much time sucking up Republican talking points and has become so far out of touch with the mainstream. Rep. Frank showed a lot of courage doing these town hall meetings and going on Fox News from time to time (in both cases knowing he is going to encounter far-right bias). This garbage from Fox News proves the bias that has become all too prominent at the biased Fox News.

Honestly, I applaud Rep. Frank for taking a stand against this hateful garbage being spewed by these nuts at these town hall meetings.

Right Wing Idiots Are Fast Approaching The Point Of Dangerous

The right-wing nuts are becoming angrier and more hostile as time passes on and President Obama is still less than a year into his presidency. Anger and hostility can lead to violence. Code words like socialist (and worse) are words that show just how frightening a path many from the lowest element of our country are headed. The enablers who shrug off the hatred and venom in these town hall protests and tea party protests (much of which masks a form of racism) was evident down a heated town hall gathering in Massachusetts where Rep. Barney Frank, a democrat, was a speaker (on the topic of health care reform).

Here is how Think Progress describes the wickedness and anger from some of these protesters (anger of us many saw coming as it became evident Barack Obama was going to become president):

At one point, Frank asked the crowd: “Which one of you wants to yell next?” Frank then excoriated a woman who asked a question while holding up a picture of President Obama defaced to look like Hitler:

QUESTION: Why do you continue to support a Nazi policy as Obama has expressly supported this policy? Why are you supporting it? [...]

FRANK: On what planet do you spend most of your time? … You want me to answer the question? Yes. You stand there with a picture of the President defaced to look like Hitler and compare the effort to increase health care to the Nazis. My answer to you is, as I said before, it is a tribute to the First Amendment that this kind of vile, contemptible nonsense is so freely propagated.

Well said by Rep. Frank. It’s moronic bigots like this person who confronted Rep. Frank, seething with hatred, who sadly benefit from the amazing freedoms we enjoy in this great country.

They’re more interested in hate (for this new president) than in doing something positive for those in our country who need it so badly.

Sadly, we have to put up with idiots like that so that many more can continue to enjoy freedoms.

AS A SIDE NOTE (you will understand this if you watch the video): I think Rep. Frank would have a better conversation with a dining room table than with that bigoted, hateful moron.

As A Fountain Of Misinformation … Sean Hannity Is The Gift That Keeps Giving

On Fox News, and pretty much any other media outlet he has been affiliated with, Sean Hannity has made a career of spreading misinformation and advancing falsehoods. This is a well defended title and that is saying something with the competition Hannity had to fend off to win the title and continues to fend off to maintain it (or at least remain a top contender).

Media Matters is again on the case as Hannity twists the facts to find some way of turning Democrats into the bad people as these far-right nuts (cleverly disguised as good Americans merely exercising their constitutional rights) disrupt town hall meetings motivated by hate, fear and anger. Sure, some of them are good people, but even good people can look hateful with the kind of venom we’ve seen from some of these extremists.

Here is Media Matters laying out its case to refute Hannity.

This is how Media Matters introduces the article:

Asserting that “the Democrats” are the ones “yelling here and calling names,” Sean Hannity claimed that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called health care town hall protesters “Nazis”; that Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer wrote “that they are un-American”; and that President Obama is “telling the American people to shut up.” In fact, none of these claims is true.

Truth has never stopped (or slowed) Sean Hannity.

Is Unleashing Such Hate A Path To Violence

I spotted this from a blog posted by Crooks and Liars regarding idiotic comments made by nuts on the far right comparing President Obama to Hitler and likening the Democrats to the Nazis. This is from a segment of Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC evening show (as she interviewed author Franklin Schaeffer.

MADDOW: Do you think that calling the president a Nazi, calling the president Hitler, is an implicit call for politically-motivated violence?

SCHAEFFER: Yes I do. In fact, this rings a big bell with me, because my dad, who was a right-wing evangelical leader, wrote a book called A Christian Manifesto — it sold over a million copies. And in that book he compared anyone who was pro-abortion to the Nazi Germans, and he said that using violence or force to overthrow Nazi Germany would have been appropriate for Christians, including the assassination of Hitler. He compared the Supreme Court’s actions on abortion to that. And that has been a note that has been following the right wing movement that my father and I helped start in an evangelical context all the way.

So what’s really being said here is two messages. There is the message to the predominantly white, middle-aged crowds of people screaming at these meetings, trying to shut them down, but there’s also a coded message to what I would call the loony tunes — the fruit loops on the side. It’s really like playing Russian Roulette — you put a cartridge in the chamber, you spin, and once in awhile it goes off.

And we saw that happen with Dr. Tiller, we’ve seen it happen numerous times with the violence against political leaders, whether it’s Martin Luther King or whoever it might be. We have a history of being a well-armed, violent country. And so really, I think that these calls are incredibly irresponsible.

The good news is that it shows a desperation. The far right knows they have lost, they’ve lost the hearts and minds of most American people, for instance, who want health care. But they also know that they have a large group of people who are not well-informed, who listen to only their own sources, who buy the lies — for instance, all this nonsense about euthanasia being mandatory, and all the rest of it. And these people can be energized to go out and do really dreadful things.

And we’ve seen it in front of abortion clinics, I’m afraid we’re going to see it with some of our political leaders. And the Glenn Becks of this world literally are responsible for unleashing what I regard as an anti-democratic, anti-American movement in this country. It is trying to shut down legitimate debate, and replace it with straight-out intimidation.

The talk has become very dangerous, and the good people on the right need to step forward, listen to conscience and tone it down.

Persuasiveness comes not necessarily from who talks the loudest, but who talks smartest.

White House Addresses Hate Coming From The Far Right Using Term ‘Nazi’

This kind of rhetoric was bound to happen as the extremists on the far right gain more and more power and influence. The hateful Rush Limbaugh, the de facto leader of the Republican Party, has gone off the deep end with his ridiculous talk comparing President Obama to Hitler and comparing (presumably) the Obama Administration to the Nazis. This is a dangerous time in our nation and the anger is reaching high DEFCON status thanks to men like Limbaugh, who have made a career out of hate. With our nation’s first black president, the anger we’ve seen at illegal immigration (almost exclusively for the nation’s southern border … and I’ll give you one guess as to why) and more, it’s dangerous to hear this kind of rhetoric coming from people of influence … people who could spark the next Timothy McVeigh to commit heinous and deadly acts of terror.

Rush Limbaugh has been right at the forefront of this hate as he tries to harness and direct anger coming from extremists on the far right (many of which have been in full view at these tea parties and now organizing to aggressively disrupt town hall meetings around the country). Take a look at the pattern of hate coming from Limbaugh as he repeatedly goes to Nazi references. Sadly, this is a disgrace of a man that many people listen to and believe in.

But, this Nazi talk is very dangerous and a slap into the face to those who suffered at the hands of Nazis (not that Limbaugh would necessarily care since his objective seems to be to scare whites into being afraid of this new black president).

Here is a response from White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs as posted on Huffington Post:

“I know the president feels strongly that we can discuss these issues without personally maligning… that we are doing so in a way that respects the dignity of each individual,” he said. “I think anytime you make references to what happened in Germany in the 30’s and 40’s, I think you are talking about an event that has no equivalent. And I think anytime anyone ventures to compare anything to that, they are on thin ice, and it is best not employed.”

“But I think what the most important thing is, is that we can have a discussion in our democracy about where we want to go,” he added. “The president strongly believes we can do so without yelling at each other, pushing at each other or degrading each other. We have seen some stuff, I mentioned it a week ago, we have all seen imagery that just shocks and surprises us and I think the best thing to do is just take that temperature down a bit.”

It’s hard to appeal to the conscience of a proven bigot like Rush Limbaugh.

Here’s another comment about Limbaugh’s crazy words:

DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee)spokeswoman Jennifer Crider issued the following statement in response to Rush Limbaugh’s outrageous comments comparing Democrats to members of the Nazi Party and use of the Nazi swastika:

“Rush Limbaugh’s comparison of the Democratic Party to the Nazi Party in World War II is as disgusting as it is shocking. Limbaugh’s use of the Nazi swastika in attempting to make a tasteless political comparison has no place in the public discourse.

“Just this past weekend, Minority Whip Eric Cantor said that the GOP ‘needs’ Mr. Limbaugh. He should immediately condemn Limbaugh’s hateful rhetoric in the strongest possible terms and encourage Republican Members to do the same.

“At a time when families need real solutions to rebuild the economy and make health care more affordable, Rush Limbaugh is attempting to sidetrack the important debate through his use of symbols that are synonymous with murder and intolerance. Americans deserve better.”

Fear of Limbaugh has pretty much paralyzed far too many of the true good people in the Republican Party.

The de facto leader of the Republican Party needs to have his title taken away, but it won’t happen until the good people in the GOP get some guts.

White House Addresses Hate Coming From The Far Right Using Term ‘Nazi’

This kind of rhetoric was bound to happen as the extremists on the far right gain more and more power and influence. The hateful Rush Limbaugh, the de facto leader of the Republican Party, has gone off the deep end with his ridiculous talk comparing President Obama to Hitler and comparing (presumably) the Obama Administration to the Nazis. This is a dangerous time in our nation and the anger is reaching high DEFCON status thanks to men like Limbaugh, who have made a career out of hate. With our nation’s first black president, the anger we’ve seen at illegal immigration (almost exclusively for the nation’s southern border … and I’ll give you one guess as to why) and more, it’s dangerous to hear this kind of rhetoric coming from people of influence … people who could spark the next Timothy McVeigh to commit heinous and deadly acts of terror.

Rush Limbaugh has been right at the forefront of this hate as he tries to harness and direct anger coming from extremists on the far right (many of which have been in full view at these tea parties and now organizing to aggressively disrupt town hall meetings around the country). Take a look at the pattern of hate coming from Limbaugh as he repeatedly goes to Nazi references. Sadly, this is a disgrace of a man that many people listen to and believe in.

But, this Nazi talk is very dangerous and a slap into the face to those who suffered at the hands of Nazis (not that Limbaugh would necessarily care since his objective seems to be to scare whites into being afraid of this new black president).

Here is a response from White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs as posted on Huffington Post:

“I know the president feels strongly that we can discuss these issues without personally maligning… that we are doing so in a way that respects the dignity of each individual,” he said. “I think anytime you make references to what happened in Germany in the 30’s and 40’s, I think you are talking about an event that has no equivalent. And I think anytime anyone ventures to compare anything to that, they are on thin ice, and it is best not employed.”

“But I think what the most important thing is, is that we can have a discussion in our democracy about where we want to go,” he added. “The president strongly believes we can do so without yelling at each other, pushing at each other or degrading each other. We have seen some stuff, I mentioned it a week ago, we have all seen imagery that just shocks and surprises us and I think the best thing to do is just take that temperature down a bit.”

It’s hard to appeal to the conscience of a proven bigot like Rush Limbaugh.

Here’s another comment about Limbaugh’s crazy words:

DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee)spokeswoman Jennifer Crider issued the following statement in response to Rush Limbaugh’s outrageous comments comparing Democrats to members of the Nazi Party and use of the Nazi swastika:

“Rush Limbaugh’s comparison of the Democratic Party to the Nazi Party in World War II is as disgusting as it is shocking. Limbaugh’s use of the Nazi swastika in attempting to make a tasteless political comparison has no place in the public discourse.

“Just this past weekend, Minority Whip Eric Cantor said that the GOP ‘needs’ Mr. Limbaugh. He should immediately condemn Limbaugh’s hateful rhetoric in the strongest possible terms and encourage Republican Members to do the same.

“At a time when families need real solutions to rebuild the economy and make health care more affordable, Rush Limbaugh is attempting to sidetrack the important debate through his use of symbols that are synonymous with murder and intolerance. Americans deserve better.”

Fear of Limbaugh has pretty much paralyzed far too many of the true good people in the Republican Party.

The de facto leader of the Republican Party needs to have his title taken away, but it won’t happen until the good people in the GOP get some guts.

Does True Hate Speech Lead To Violence?

Certainly, there are reasonable disagreements about regarding what constitutes hate speech in America. Media Matters has compiled the following:

Anonymous: Over the past few years, Bill O’Reilly has made the following comments about Dr. Tiller:

- He “destroys fetuses for just about any reason right up until the birth date for $5,000.”

- He’s guilty of “Nazi stuff,”

- a moral equivalent to NAMBLA and al-Qaida

- “This is the kind of stuff that happened in Mao’s China, Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s Soviet Union”

- “operating a death mill”

- “has blood on his hands”

- “executing babies about to be born

Tucker, I’m not saying Billo wanted some kook to kill him, but isn’t this playing with fire? Is there some quote by (Keith) Olbermann or any other liberal commentator that even comes close? Who has the craziest of the liberal left murdered lately?

TUCKER CARLSON: Every one of those descriptions of Tiller is objectively true. I sincerely think it’s appalling that he was murdered. But Tiller was a monster, no doubt.

Referring to Dr. Tiller as “a monster” may ease the conscience of people like Tucker Carlson, but there is no justification for murder. Surely, real pro-life people would agree. This is the kind of hate speech that leads some people to commit horrifying crimes.

Media Matters:
http://mediamatters.org/blog/200906010013