Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly.
He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
is unfortunately going back up.. not a good Easter for the families of these service people.
Also Monday, an American soldier was killed by an armor-piercing bomb south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. It was seventh combat death suffered by U.S. forces in Iraq since Friday.
Iraq’s government media office said in a statement that some news organizations have launched “a coordinated campaign against the Iraqi government” with recent reports of strife between U.S.-allied Sunni paramilitary fighters and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite-led government.
great. well, it’s a safe bet things were not going to remain calm in Iraq.. still no 24/7 water or electricity.. what’s the unemployment rate? 60 percent?
As we approach the big Tea Party day this week, I wonder…..How long until someone is seriously injured or killed at one of these things?
You know its coming. Hell, at the one here in Cincinnati a local news crew packed up and ran out of fear for their safety…..and they were just reporting on the damn thing. Coincidentally, the person doing the on-air reporting was a black female. Who would have thought???
Just thinking about this as I read Dave Neiwert’s new book, “The Eliminationists”. Highly recommend it. It’s release could not have been more timely.
Interesting-sounding book; I just checked the Amazon review:
The result is a pathology Neiwert calls pseudo-fascisma political style that talks and acts like fascism without its core violence and thuggishness.
“without its core violence and thuggishness” is the operative phrase here. other than isolated cases, I seriously doubt the whiners/crybabies who listen to drug limpbaugh, etc., are going to carry out any sort of direct action. why not? first, they don’t have the balls, and second, their biggest problem is taxes and the propaganda-generated notion that lazy people of color are (still) getting rich from welfare. reagan and the hacks were very successful with that one.
bottom line is most of these people have money/means.. they just don’t want to pay taxes. but they are not going to risk their wealth by doing something stupid.
Well, that Amazon review is really nothing more than a general summation of one the points Neiwert makes. There is, of course, much more in the book.
The general concern one should have about the whole Tea Party set is, as you point out, probably not the general populace who attend such things. What should be a concern is the general mainstreaming of much of the rhetoric which only a decade ago was isolated to the far-far right Patriot and militia movements but is now standard fare at most mainstream media outlets and on talk radio. The Overton Window has shifted quite drastically in this regard. And that should be a major concern for everyone.
I have no doubt that if Timothy McVeigh was still among us he would be front and center at his local tea party, rah-rahing and cheering on the fever pitch of anger and emotion that is part and parcel of these events.
You can bet that when the next McVeigh comes along, and he will most certainly come along, he will have been an eager and enthusiastic attender at one or many of these events.
You should read the book. I’m finding it most fascinating and informative.
thanks, Mike.. I appreciate your take, and will read the book.
we’ll have to agree to disagree on the bottom line, i.e. where this is actually going. tim mcv’s are aberrations; even if another comes along, he will likely do as tm did.. a symbolic attack, more than anything long term or which is a significant threat to the status quo.
of course anyone can should know the history of pre-nazi Germany & what led to hitler. things are different now, then, people met face to face in beer halls, etc., and were vulnerable to getting worked up by the leader/cult of personality.
now, we have the impersonal, pacifist activism via the web. it’s totally decentralized; no cult of personality. it could happen, but I see the web working against it. and again, the teabag set are the biggest loser/cowards I’ve ever seen; they don’t have the balls to do much of anything tangible. they’re whiners.
is unfortunately going back up.. not a good Easter for the families of these service people.
great. well, it’s a safe bet things were not going to remain calm in Iraq.. still no 24/7 water or electricity.. what’s the unemployment rate? 60 percent?
yeah, Obama is pulling the troops out.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/13/iraq-sues-to-shut-down-ne_n_186123.html
Ashburn andKalas both gone now.
Harry was looking rough before last game it got me thinking about his health.
Philly is going to be in serious mourning this week.
As we approach the big Tea Party day this week, I wonder…..How long until someone is seriously injured or killed at one of these things?
You know its coming. Hell, at the one here in Cincinnati a local news crew packed up and ran out of fear for their safety…..and they were just reporting on the damn thing. Coincidentally, the person doing the on-air reporting was a black female. Who would have thought???
Just thinking about this as I read Dave Neiwert’s new book, “The Eliminationists”. Highly recommend it. It’s release could not have been more timely.
Interesting-sounding book; I just checked the Amazon review:
“without its core violence and thuggishness” is the operative phrase here. other than isolated cases, I seriously doubt the whiners/crybabies who listen to drug limpbaugh, etc., are going to carry out any sort of direct action. why not? first, they don’t have the balls, and second, their biggest problem is taxes and the propaganda-generated notion that lazy people of color are (still) getting rich from welfare. reagan and the hacks were very successful with that one.
bottom line is most of these people have money/means.. they just don’t want to pay taxes. but they are not going to risk their wealth by doing something stupid.
http://www.amazon.com/Eliminationists-Hate-Radicalized-American-Right/dp/0981576982/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UT
F8&s=books&qid=1239657624&sr=1-1
Well, that Amazon review is really nothing more than a general summation of one the points Neiwert makes. There is, of course, much more in the book.
The general concern one should have about the whole Tea Party set is, as you point out, probably not the general populace who attend such things. What should be a concern is the general mainstreaming of much of the rhetoric which only a decade ago was isolated to the far-far right Patriot and militia movements but is now standard fare at most mainstream media outlets and on talk radio. The Overton Window has shifted quite drastically in this regard. And that should be a major concern for everyone.
I have no doubt that if Timothy McVeigh was still among us he would be front and center at his local tea party, rah-rahing and cheering on the fever pitch of anger and emotion that is part and parcel of these events.
You can bet that when the next McVeigh comes along, and he will most certainly come along, he will have been an eager and enthusiastic attender at one or many of these events.
You should read the book. I’m finding it most fascinating and informative.
thanks, Mike.. I appreciate your take, and will read the book.
we’ll have to agree to disagree on the bottom line, i.e. where this is actually going. tim mcv’s are aberrations; even if another comes along, he will likely do as tm did.. a symbolic attack, more than anything long term or which is a significant threat to the status quo.
of course anyone can should know the history of pre-nazi Germany & what led to hitler. things are different now, then, people met face to face in beer halls, etc., and were vulnerable to getting worked up by the leader/cult of personality.
now, we have the impersonal, pacifist activism via the web. it’s totally decentralized; no cult of personality. it could happen, but I see the web working against it. and again, the teabag set are the biggest loser/cowards I’ve ever seen; they don’t have the balls to do much of anything tangible. they’re whiners.