Y es, I'm pleased some sort of health care reform has passed, no matter that it's flawed, incomplete, and somewhat cumbersome. And thank goodness some of its benefits are kicking in before November rolls around. Fingers crossed, we might find ourselves free of some of the more inane and insane innuendos, rumors and outright falsehoods associated with this bill and its supporters. But I'm not ready to party hearty just yet. This process - okay, this fight - has revealed an ever-more virulent strain of anger and hatred 
brewing and stewing in the hearts and souls of the opponents of this and many other initiatives planned by the current President. Listen to the words, look at the signs, read the blogs. It's ugly out there, folks.
Is this a new form of toxic trash talking -- my hate-filled rant is nastier than your hate-filled rant -- or something far worse? Let's review:
"Sticks and stones..."
As House Democrats marched from the Capitol to the White House following passage of the health care bill, angry protesters screamed "ni**er" at,, among others, Representative John Lewis, the estimable Democrat from Georgia who, having survived the civil rights battles of the sixties, might have hoped all that overt racism was behind him. Barney Franks managed to field the word "fa**ot" with equanimity. Sure, I could spell out those words here, but why? Oh, did I mention protesters spit at the representatives?
"may break my bones..."
Anti-abortion Democrat Bart Stupak, who was persuaded to vote for 
the health care bill only after Obama guaranteed no federal money would be used to help women make their own decisions as to their private reproductive health, was actually labeled a "baby-killer" by Texas Congressman own Randy Neugebauer, who then tried an "oops" apology for labeling Stupak as a baby-killer, rather than the entire Democratic party. Since Blue in Texas explains it so much more persuasively, head over there to get the specifics and show her some love (she DOES live in Texas).
"but words..."
Pastor Wiley Drake, who had previously prayed for Obama's death, has suggested to his Orange County, California congregation that all the Democrats who voted in favor of the health
care legislation be killed, invoking an imprecatory prayer, which invites God to do away with enemies in any and every manner possible. The Daily Beast's John Avlon calls it like it is - a fatwa. I remain impressed by the similaries between the major religions as practiced by the most radical elements. To be fair, Baptist Planet, a blog for mainstream Baptists, notes drily "this isn’t a standard Southern Baptist practice."
"will never hurt me."
I was called by a reporter the other day to react to the comments of one Carl Paladino, a Buffalo-area Republican millionaire businessman hoping to run for governor of New York, who claimed to be convinced that the health care legislation will prove to be as devastating as 9/11 for New Yorkers. I believe I actually laughed, which certainly baffled the reporter, who was just looking for a 9/11 family member comment. Maybe I was stunned but then again, this seemed so over the top.
Then again, it's all so over the top as to be downright scary. Of course, that's just silly. Ask any politician or protester, for that matter. They'll tell you straight out that none of these people means it, all of them were and are just caught up in the moment, sorry about the "n" word, of course I'm not going to kill you or your family and no, I don't want you to take me literally and murder the Democrats. Just kidding, no harm, no foul, free speech, we're all patriotic, God-loving Americans, right?
Sure we are. Until the Administration takes up immigration.
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500words
Chauncey DeVega
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Molly Tennyson
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Salon.com
Comments
Rated.
r
Rated.
Up here, we had all kinds of demos and ranting (from the pulpit and elsewhere) about gay marriage. Almost as soon as the bill was enacted, the bully-ragging went away, although there are still pockets of intransigence out there.
I hope the same holds true for you folks.
2) One side wins.
3) The other side accepts the outcome gracefully.
Oh wait, I thought I was living in the 1950's for a minute.
Great post
*rated
"this isn’t a standard Southern Baptist practice." Bullshit!
Thank you for being such a true conscience, Nikki.
When people realize the sun will rise tomorrow, and nothing got 'taken away' in this bill, then what will fuel the hate?
In my opinion, hate is largely fueled by fear. Fear of what? That the government is going to take away the stuff they have already given out? Like medicare?
This has happened before (like in the 1930's) and the movements were much more coherent and broad based.
Nice piece.
Just remember that if it had failed, a lot of OS'ers would be calling for revolution.
I suppose it's related, psychically, to the current little uproar about Coulter making speeches in Canada and American outrage at the curtailment on free speech in Canada (tho, actually, you have to be pretty far out to get charged, e.g. Ernst Zindal). I think fury and nastiness feeds on itself and makes for dangerous escalation.
And what gets me is the self-righteousness of such as Palin (in her case I think it's genuine naivete and not cynicism) who doesn't seem to realize (or perhaps thinks it's okay) that she's essentially urging assassination (now very blatant with the gunsights on the campaign map).
The movement grew as the civil rights movement progressed along with the growth of the Vietnam War. After the Chicago Democratic Convention the SDS broke up into three parts, Revolutionary Youth Movements I & II, and the Weather Underground. At that time, rather than becoming more centrist and attempting to broaden its appeal, the left went on a quest for ideological purity.
The right is currently in its own quest for ideological purity rather than trying to rethink its position. And I am afraid that the right is going to go down the same path as the fracturing of the old SDS. Already we see the existence of the Oath Keepers, veterans and active members of the military espousing a violent confrontation with the Obama administration. And we've seen a series of mentally unhinged right wing murders, be it in churches, abortion clinics, or at the Holocaust Museum.
For now the Republican Party seems to be in the thrall of these people, and if it faces future defeats because of the passage of the health care bill and other progressive legislation it will be faced with the choice of either repudiating or embracing the crazy.
The next year or so will be "very interesting" to say the least.
To clear up why anyone would be against such a bill... it isnt really the bill itself that has so many of my friends scared, it is the fact that they feel they have no choice in the matter. Right or wrong, they see this as an infringement on their freedom of choice, just as passionately as you feel about the Pro-Choice/Pro-Life issue. Many of them simply are afraid of it because they doen't understand it.
Again thanks for your post.
well written and an important read. (r)
Uh, where else would we be? Right behind the man we voted for. Not everyone is so short sighted, thankfully.
And greed?
Fearmongering?
Blind obedience?
Selfish and just plain mean too?
Sure seems like it.
I cannot believe that someone who says something like that is given a platform to spew its hate.
Anyway, did someone seriously say that health care reform is another September 11? Can we cool the rhetoric a little, please? That idiot just insulted every single person who lost someone on that day.
And may God-loving Americans again win the battle regarding illegal immigration.
So much of the vitriole arises from ignorance (at minimum, about the reform bill itself). I hate to see politicians and demagogues capitalizing on it. At some point, protected free speech becomes inciting... I would like to see them taking responsibility and encouraging restraint and civility.
And when they use the term "socialist" about President Obama, it is really a substitute for the "N-word." They just won't admit it.
What those gullible fools (who likely still believe that Saddam had Weapons of Mass Destruction in 2003) don't understand is the most of their spokespeople are known addicts: Limbaugh (Oxycontin), Beck (alcohol), Morris (sex), Buchanan (gambling) and Bush #43 (alcohol and cocaine). And what the gullible fools also don't understand is that even when an addict is sober, they don't know when they are lying.
If the sober Democrats really had the nerve, they would take Kartman Rove' admission that the 2003 Weapons of Mass Destruction was based upon misinformation and misinterpretation and throw him Boob, Chummy, and Rumsnuts in jail for violating the US Constitution.
Those Idiocrats are a threat to our government even worse than the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
I've always been a conciliatory guy with Republican friends who's quite willing to agree to disagree with them. But what we've heard the last couple of years just boggles my mind. There's just no explanation that can serve as mitigating circumstances. It's just hatred and it's evil.
Thanks, Mr. Coffee, for being a Republican I could talk with! Surely there are more like you out there. I wish we were hearing from them.
I wonder if the toxic talk is worse than it was in past years? Certainly the talk about Bush was not pleasant though it was all apparently deserving.
There is no shame, no penalty and, in fact, often, more publicity more in the public eye. The purveyors of poison benefit by a short public with almost no memory retention for what was said and a long term memory of the person in the news. Further, the repetition of toxicity is being believed by the increasing numbers of very low mentality.
When some of this toxic garbage talk turns into violence, will the public already be numbed and lethargic? This gives rise to a dangerous lack of outrage.
Read Harv: http://TheHarvView.blogspot.com
And while I understand that fear is motivating this ugliness -- I know some people feel they've been shouting "no, not this bill!" and they weren't heard -- nothing justifies this reaction. I certainly shouted at the TV, the radio, the newspaper and my computer when the previous Administration decided that an appropriate response to 9/11 was to invade Iraq. I think many of us were shouting "No, this doesn't make sense. Stop!" No one I know...and no one I remember in a position of influence...suggested or hinted at any kind of violence against those Congressmen and women (the majority) who went along with it. And if you want to compare something with the devastation of 9/11, you can count the number of troops who have died in Iraq.
It is not enough that all of these righteous rightwingers and Republicans in Congress who are poisoning our country with toxic spill bypassed still another chance to redeem themselves and act on behalf of the country instead of themselves, now, in their search for their Constitution and government for, by the people, they advocate, incite, and act themselves for revolution and violence. Attempting to justify it because "Americans are angry" is lame and irresponsible. We are all angry. Some are working to correct those things that made us angry and we wrought by them during the past Administration and, in spite of the fallout that impacts every individual life, we are dealing with it as we work to make things better for all of us. They, on the other hand, are consummed with their political advancement and use the most vile antics that feeds the misplaced anger and calls for the unrest and violence.
There is no denial or distortion or misrepresentation of these antics. It is all proudly documented by their appearances at Town Halls, their press conferences, their performances in the Halls of Congress, their temper tantrums, their standing on balconies waving the yellow flag calling for the blood of patriots, their posting on websites calling, metaphorically and graphically, for the "end" to their political opponents, publishing names, addresses, etc.
This is not how a politician wins hearts, minds, or......votes.....because, no matter how noisy and ugly visible their "supporters" are, they will turn on them the minute these "leaders" do not cater to them, if they ever reach that point, and the new silent majority will never forget this behavior. Nor will we ever forgive it when the inevitable big tragedy hits as a direct result of this.
BBE: honored to be monkey-fingered.
Teabaggers have threatened the lives of 10 Democratic congressmen by sniper attack and thrown bricks through a congresswoman's district HQs.
and
Democratic Congressman Gets A Coffin Left On His Front Lawn
and
As Republican leaders criticize the violence and threats directed towards Democrats, Sarah Palin encouraged supporters: "Don't retreat, instead - reload!"
It is such a sore subject that I joined Salon just to post this comment, spent an hour editing pictures and actually posted them online so you can, if you wish, see the slide show.
(you will have to cut and paste and it takes about 2 minutes to run.
http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l61/llorton/Teabaggers%202009/?albumview=slideshow
BBE: I've been tracking this stuff and I'm really sick of it. But it's pretty clear that the appropriate outrage from the right will not be forthcoming unless or until someone is injured or killed, sorry to say.
I think I feel my head about to explode.
BTW, I'm going to get hold of the books you mentioned. I'm intrigued.
Not quite that simple but an interesting thesis nonetheless. It's true that while there remain serious differences amongst the various communities and ethnic groups about so-called social issues like gay marriage or abortion rights, it's also true you don't see too many people of color amongst the Tea party attendees.
That's and easy C&P too, eh?
I'm sure your readers would like to know who all the principles where what and when for that one, eh?
Also, when the Congress breaks 200 yrs of tradition rules to make a 51% majority the law that used to take 2/3, when 70% of the country says they don't want Obamacare, when this Pres. triples the Bush's deficits, I'm so sorry that you don't see your own irony but at least most of the country says they see it and don't want it.
Except for the 32 Dems who stood up for THE PEOPLE and all the Reps. the Dems had better get used to the Bush yrs. part deux 'with a vengence' staring their own sell-out the country selves.
Dems really have no one to blame but themselves for bringing this on. Now they made their bed, and knowing the feeling of the country, went ahead anyway in no uncertain nefarious terms, well now they don't want to sleep in it ? Pulllezzzzzz pull my finger, again LOL!
Hey Dems, if you can't stand the heat, try turning honest or pack your District of Corruption bags or we The People will do it for ya's in Nov., promise!
to :
Hawley Roddick
It's not so much that they are anti choice, they offer life with mother or life with another mother, but always the choice is life. On the other hand, your alternative is death! Missing the progressive Eugenic movement that inspired Hitler, are we?
btw, good article even if its designed to be one sided, love the comments even more ... amazing to see how hypocrisy of the left abounds.
hint;
N ow that you've 'learned to communicate' one-sided in your new career here, why don't you R E A L L Y goforit and cover both sides, you know have the integrity to be balanced?
"violence is being driven by Democrats talking about being victims of violence."
Like you don't know the guy that says " HEY, who farted' is the one that farted? Ohahaha!
You must mean "Death of a President" written and directed by British filmmaker Gabriel Range and released in 2006. It got very little distribution in the US for good reason.
As for 51% by reconsiliation, that is how we got the Bush Tax cuts and many other bills passed into law. What's wrong with that? As far as that goes, reconciliation is subject to enough rules that Senator Gregg got the HCR bill sent back down the the House for one more vote making a total of three times it passed in the House and twice in the Senate. How often does something have to get a majority vote?
I agree that much of this will be decided at the ballot box. I look forward to November with interest.