"Who Are Brownshirts?" Bullies Attack Long Time Peace Vigil
Thursday night was my husband's birthday. I took him to dinner in Healdsburg, California. Healdsburg is what is known as a destination town in Sonoma County. People come for the Michelin rated restaurants, the wonderful square with shops and for the surrounding wineries. It's a short drive from our house, so off we were to a lovely evening.
Every Thursday, the Healdsburg Peace project holds a vigil for peace on the square. People drive by and honk and many just walk by. This Thursday there were about ten people, with signs supporting single payer insurance, a "never again Hiroshima", Pace flags, American flags and some Green flags. This group has been holding the vigil since before the Iraq war, every Thursday evening.
I had seen this group before, but I am from Berkeley where there has been a peace vigil for over thirty plus years on the western side of the campus at UC Berkeley. It's a peace vigil, you would think it's not anything controversial. If you don't agree, you walk by. But, not tonight.
A group of wine country tourists, in the 35 year old range, was walking by across the street and we hear some screaming, I don't know how it started. I am getting used to boisterous "wine tasters". The shouters were wearing an assortment of t-shirts with Philladelphia teams, bars. Maybe they were from there, maybe not. But clearly, they were not locals.
We heard some bits of the shouting, repetitive shouting at the vigil holders:
"Get a job"
" We pay our way, we pay our taxes"
"Get off the streets"
" Fucking socialists"
Men, women, shaking their fists, turning red and screaming at these folks who are doing something that is legal and in their town. The vigil holders were quite restrained. The mob crossed the street and went into their faces.
The vigil holders stood up to them and one of the mob guys, pulled away a woman who was the most aggressive and they walked away shaking their heads and fists. Their faces were contorted from anger.
The bullies had this look on their face of having done something virtuous -- a gleeful, high five we kicked their butts look. I had my phone, but did not think of taking pictures of the brutish expressions on their faces. I cussed at them as they walked by and glared at them. There were not enough people on the square to shame them.
There was something grotesque about them calling the man holding the "Hiroshima, Never Again" sign all kinds of vulgar names in the name of patriotism and America.
Is this an outcome of the sanctioned RNC mob tactics? Or, is this particular group not related? Am I making a connection where there is none? I don't think I am. There was something evocative of the tone in those televised meetings.
When they left, I was disturbed and agitated. My husband tried to calm me to consider who they were, just a hodge podge, probably drunk, bunch of people that have no political consciousness. But I don't think so, I think they are emboldened by Rush and the others who are pushing them. They are the by product of the fanaticism.
I was shocked at their collective lack of shame. The fact that they had no internal control, that some smaller contingent of their group did not try to pull the main culprits away earlier.
I am convinvced that people have no respect for the social rules of behavior in a democracy. The rules that give the people of the "peace vigil" the right to hold a peace vigil without being bullied and threatened, were of no importance to the mob. It was as if I was watching a live flame war.
I have heard people say that commenters on the internet are rude because they are anonymous, that most people would not act like that in public. Well, today from what I saw, those barriers of behavior are gone. They do act that way.
The same applies to the mobs opposing healthcare reform that are attending the town hall meetings and turning them to town hells. Joan Walsh asks who are the real brownshirts?
A moonlit August night, turned into an ugly shouting match by a group emboldened by the likes of Rush and other propagandists. Who will stop them? The culture wars are not finished, they are here and they are gonna get uglier because people benefit from the artificial divisions.
On the drive home I was thinking of the movie Cabaret, the summer scenewhere the brownshirts start singing and Michael York asks the following question to one of the men in uniform: "Do you still think you can control them?"
Once you start a mob, once you fuel a mob, feed a mob, embolden a mob, how can you control them?
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But there is a more important reason now. Give me a few million dollars and I will still never go back. The reason? It is impossible for anyone here to have an evening as you did, Stella. No one, I mean NO ONE here will ever get in your face for any reason. No one will say you are too fat, too skinny, too old, too ugly, too stupid, too slow, too anything.
I you ask them for anything; directions, a good place to eat, whatever, they will do their best to help you. The first thing you will see upon smiling at them or just talking to them or asking them a question is a warm, friendly, genuine smile followed by them taking all the time needed to take care of you.
There are no brownshirts, bikers, red necks, republicans, evangelists or assholes here, just warm friendly people.
I am sick of it all. The openly racist people in the Congress and Senate, (Jeff Sessions comes to mind.) Rush Lindbutt, Glenn Beck, Hannity..etc.,.) Public whippings and lock them in stocks so we can toss rotten tomatoes at them.
I'm afraid though that we haven't seen the WORST yet from them.
As Ric says, it is going to get worse, because hatred blocks reason.
Where do they learn that? I'd say look at the way the members of the GOP act out in public and on sound bites. That should be a heavy clue. Not much chance of misinterpreting their direction.
Of course this group won't look past a twenty second news segment to actually look at both sides of an issue. All bullies suck. Most will never understand that they spend their lives working against their own best interests.
I do however have to point out that BOTH sides are guilty of using propaganda to their own ends. The ENTIRE "debate" with regards to "health care reform" has been nothing BUT an unremitting propaganda war fueled by evasions, lies, exaggerations, etc... from BOTH sides to the point where NEITHER side SHOULD be believed.
Just the other day over at Dailykos I saw this post:
"Remember the Last Time Republicans Sent Angry Mobs To Disrupt Something"
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/8/4/12834/92985
They listed the names of the protestors of that shut down the recount and the high profile Republicans mentioned is a reminder that they not only condone, but participate in such mob actions.
http://open.salon.com/blog/essene/2009/07/21/the_key_to_change_is_to_let_go_of_fear
We have become a society fueled by fear. Those that can actually still reason are being shouted down by the terrorized masses. How do you educate someone who is completely overcome with unnecessary fear?
Good for you that you at least said something to those assholes. Just have a care, because they are becoming bolder and I can easily see how the public lynchings from the early 1900's will become fashionable again.
Thumbed.
Sleeping on it, I cannot imagine what would make people turn on a group holding a peace vigil. What is the point? Where do you muster the hate to get such anger at people holding a sign?
Bush and Cheney rammed everything thing they wanted through Congress and our side rings their hands and never aggressively counters the lies. We, not the people who oppose us, are the problem and the people and causes we laughing represent are the ones who suffer.
I used to box and there are rules to the fight. But I am different from most liberals in that if someone broke those rules and kicked me in the family jewels, I would not look for help from the crowd or judges, I would rip off the gloves and get into it. I would defend myself. But no, we are cautioned, we are no better than the ones we oppose if we adopt their same tactics. Sounds all nice and bubbily and I wish the world operated that way and the most honorable won. But it doesn't.
Look on this site at how "our" rightwing nuts operate. They throw out shit day after day. One guy wrote this terrible thing I came across and then turned off comments. One guy claimed that this is 1861 and the South will rise again. We and all the poor people and causes we claim to care about are going to lose. Because we won't fight. We have already lost--a poll released last night from Virginia showed that 53% of the people there believe Obama is a citizen. Almost half, don't.
When the neocons take complete control this next time, better watch out, they may just start having the Blackwater types kill us. The genius of the neocons is that they have convinced people they scorn and laugh at in public that they are in danger. The frightened people, who the neocons enslave, and could care anything about are useful tools. These people are like those who thank the hangman as he puts the noose around their necks.
I am sickened by the fact that people protesting war were attacked by these brainwashed crowd. Rupert Murdoch and his media empire get to these people and they get their loyalty. The neocons are always ready, did you see that the first spokesperson up after Bill Clinton picked up the women in North Korea, was none other than John Bolton. He was out and all the news outlets showed him, criticizing Clinton. They never rest.
We had a short period here when the snake was down. We should have kicked off its head. When this story is told it will be not the Becks, Limbaughs, Billos who were the villains it will be Reid, Baccus, Nelson and Emanuel and those who listened to them and followed their losing tactics.
They have effectively poked at the frustrated, unsuccessful and unhappy, with their hate speech, until they will attack anything that isn’t specifically mentioned in the days “righteous” talking points.
There really needs to be a way to hold “talk radio” personalities responsible for repeatedly inciting verbal and physical violence.
I'm not afraid. I'm annoyed and frustrated that they are doing this crazy stuff when we have way bigger issues to deal with.
Healdsburg sure is a strange place for that to happen for sure.
That's original, I'll give them that.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Congress was denied the right to create laws that would abridge the " right of the people peaceably to assemble", because it was recognized as an inalienable right. No single person or group has been given the power to prevent peaceful assembly and each and every attempt to do so is in my estimation a seditious act.
"Once you start a mob, once you fuel a mob, feed a mob, embolden a mob, how can you control them? "
Exactly. What's next, some Teabagger version of Krystallnacht?
The Cabaret example was well-chosen. As overworked as the Nazi analogy is, you've refined it by showing a moment when Nazism went mainstream in Germany. It's that moment, that anointing with respectability, that is most to be feared: the moment when people like these rowdies are not viewed as radicals but as an army of Joe the Plumbers taking what's rightfully theirs.
I'm guessing that if it hadn't been for the alcohol, those folks would have been satisfied with giving distainful looks, but that the alcohol - freeing them up somewhat, just emboldened them to make their feelings known.
Ghandi said that intolerance belies a lack of faith in one's cause. That indicates to me that their anger shows that deep inside they are conflicted about their own positions on the issues. Being confronted by peace vigilers (is that a word) unsettled them by shining a light on their internal conflict.
In the end, no one was hurt and perhaps one or those folks when they sober up will think back on the their behavior and maybe soften their stance a bit. If that happens then the peace vigil was a success!
And to look at the other side of the coin - why did the conflict unsettle you so much? Again, if intolerance belies a lack of faith in one's cause, what does your judgement or intolerance toward those people indicate about you? (And i don't mean this in a judgemental or mean way, I'm just saying that one thing life has taught me - granted I have a very Jungian perspective on things - it's that when I cast a moral judgement on someone else it's likely that the quality I'm reacting to in him is something that I also possess, but that I've repressed and don't want to acknowledge in myself - could be anger, intolerance, hatred, greed, whatever).
At what point does a "mob-centric" mentality of squashing any and all speech with which I do not agree become institutionalized? If this is what is starting to happen, then it is worrisome indeed.
Many times people who honk their horns at people participating in a vigil are doing so not necessarily because they agree with the perspective of those who are protesting but rather in solidarity with the motivation and efficacy of the protestor and in support of their absolute right to be there.
I've spent a lot of time since '00 being pissed off, plotting escape hatches (hmm, Canada or Central America?), watching in bafflement when They get away with yet another doozy.
But now. but now. It's really scary out there now. Who'd a thunk it? I'm going from being appalled to being really frightened.
Now I might have to escape.
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/glenn-beck-defends-his-radio-show-freakout
People are getting killed because of this. Besides the anti-female rhetoric, George Sodini spewed racist and anti Obama hate on his site - which the AP chose to ignore. We've had a killing of a doctor who provided abortions and a shooting at a Holocaust museum. An elderly man who was sick of caring for his disabled wife decided to kill her and his autistic grandson before turning the gun on himself. The only thing we can count on is that there will be more shootings, more violence and more rabid hate against the victims.
I hate stuff like this and at the same time I find myself wanting to confront the neocons head-on as it seems to be the only thing they understand. It does seem to be reaching a boiling point.
We have a regular Wednesday night peace vigil here too in Chapel Hill and every now and then there is an ugly encounter.
It must have been a strange experience. I think the problem is so deep that we can’t even begin to address it properly in this kind of forum. There is one element that I don’t think is often addressed enough. I think there is actually a biological difference between those mob individuals and those whom they assaulted.
Regardless of the Limbaughs, Hannitys, et al, it is clear that some people have a predisposition to thinking this way. The Limbaughs in society merely capitalize on that inherent, fearful, willful ignorance. They enhance and nurture that kind of thinking for their own benefit.
That kind of manipulation is nothing new within our species. But as some others have pointed out, these individuals seem to be more vocal just at this juncture, which I think is a direct result of 8 years of neocons in control. Now we have corporatists running things and I don’t know that they will improve things all that much. My guess is they will continue to manipulate these issues for their own benefit, as well.
The class distinctions and biases are becoming more obvious and it’s difficult to know where that will lead. But I agree with those who say it will get worse before it gets better.
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George Orwell is worth investigating in his own right.
Article #15 How Shock Jocks...
http://opitslinkfest.blogspot.com/2009/07/perception-alteration.html
You make a "never again Hiroshima" sign sound like it comes from Moses. Could it be that some see that sentiment as an injunction against protecting thousands of American lives against the death rattle of a war certainly not of their choosing?
"Get a job" is incendiary? Why? Isn't that what Sheriff Saturn Smith trying to do?
The Mantovani crowd was doing something that is legal in THEIR town? No doubt. Shouting and turning red or any other color of the rainbow is also legal in ANY town. Amazing how often we have to remind leftists of the principles they choose to champion when it serves their purposes.
By the way, did anyone throw a banner over the Mantovani strings? Did anyone throw a pie? The selective focus on reality is really quite amazing.
Two things are beneath you, Stellaa. First, the reference to Nazism. For shame. The second, the use of "gonna." Even greater shame.
I do not in any way deny that discourse from all sides has been angry but, this was not a confrontational demonstration. It was a small group that has a standing vigil for peace. What I found disturbing about this band was their visceral desire to scold and attack those protesters. A desire that was not satisfied by a simple drive by curse word, the belligerent quality of the attack with the fact that no one in the group truly tried to stop the crudest members.
Stellaa, I'll tell you whatever I like. Here, or elsewhere. And besides, there isn't that much.
As unpleasant as it is, the criticism you are getting demonstrates the attitude coming from that mob.
Don't be shy... let others post. My posts are not included in your blog. Fear nothing but fear itself
Thumbed.
And I, too, am surprised it happened in Healdsburg. Something about out of town bullies entering your own house and doing their ugly bullying...not illegal, just low-class.
The likes of those who follow and swallow the crap produced by FOX and other Murdoch-operated properties (including, don't forget, The Wall Street Journal) have yet to be given any public signal that anything that went on during the last 8 years was the least bit wrongheaded or problematic -- let alone criminal.
GordonO is right about the fact that the angry tourists had every right to do what they did, but until something very major changes their perception of what it means to hold a vigil and what it means to get angry, the chance of such altercations turning increasingly violent only grows.