Armed, Inbred and Dangerous
Phrase One: We Came Unarmed. This time.
Phase Two: He was armed and, well, you know the rest.
John Patrick Bedell didn’t fit the stereotype of the toothless low-IQ white trash imbecile who spends too much time watching Fox News. But he apparently had a long history of mental illness, and ended up falling under the spell of anti-government hysteria.
A few weeks ago Joseph Stack staged his own mini-9/11 by flying his plane into an IRS building. And before that, Scott Roeder murdered a doctor who provided abortions, much to the joy and euphoria of the fetus-worshiping community.
What will Phase Three bring us?
After manufacturing a certain amount of “Whip Up The Inbreds” hysteria, should Rush Limbaugh, Fred Phelps, Glenn Beck, James Dobson and their ilk be held accountable? Are they exercising their First Amendment free speech rights, or are they yelling “Fire!” in a crowded theater?
Labels: John Patrick Bedell, Joseph Stack, Scott Roeder, we came unarmed this time
posted by Tom Harper @ 10:11 AM
8 Comments:
Fire!
S
Phase Three: Will be very noisy, with lots of smoke and many innocent people will be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Probably on some significant anniversary like Waco.
In Rwanda in 1994, when over a million people were butchered by local "militias" armed usually with nothing but machetes and clubs, a radio station in Kigali was instrumental in the continuation of the killing on such a massive scale. So, yes, words kill, and freedom of speech be damned, when a radio/tv personality starts rousing the crazies and 'just plain old mean' to start the killing spree, then yes, they need to be held accountable. The problem is showing direct correlation, and showing it convincingly.
It pains me to say it, but right-wing noisemakers are exercising their First Amendment right to free speech.
Now, if Limbaugh were to slip and say, "Somebody ought to haul Obama out of the White House and string him up," or some such — a sentiment I wouldn't put past him and his kind — that might be considered overstepping their First Amendment right. But pursuing legal action would hinge on the White House revealing details of threats against the president, to establish that Bouncy Boy threw a lit match into a dynamite factory. And even if the White House were to provide those details, Limbaugh's lawyer would argue it doesn't count because since the White House has chosen to keep mum about such things, Limbaugh had no way to know he was really, seriously endangering the president.
The final refuge of wingnut rabble rousers is that they're just comedians, just entertaining, just telling jokes — a disgusting and cowardly dodge when taken to the extremes they currently go to. But that's the way it is.
Suzan: Uh oh, everybody stampede!
Holte: LOL, Waco or Ruby Ridge. Those 2 events are the wingtards' version of Pearl Harbor and 9/11.
Bee: There's no question, a crazed demagogue with a microphone is a dangerous thing.
SW: It pains me too, but you're probably right. It's hard to prove any sort of direct correlation between the demagogues' 24/7 spewings and the crimes committed by dunces who fall under their spell.
Funny, but when the president was white, Republican, and dropping bombs on dark skinned people none of these nutjobs gave a hoot how much the government was spending. Now, with the only real change in the presidency is the party affiliation and the amount of epidermal melanin the president has, and suddenly the very same United-We-Standers are ready to secede from the country, or worse, start an armed insurrection. A few years ago, had some librul suggested any of this, they would be branded a traitor. Now, with all the hate based shock jocks pushing a far right agenda, I wonder how many of them are paid FBI informants like Hal Turner.
Holte, I think these people think that us libruls don't arm ourselves. We have a gun at home and are not afraid to use it if necessary. Saying this, I hope beyond hope it does not come to that but they will mess with some of the wrong people if they decide to do this.
Bee, they have every right to their free speech, it's when they shout fire in a theatre that will get them in trouble. I will fight for them to have the access to all the spew they want but by the same token they better not take mine awy, know what I mean?
Lew: Interesting link. I never heard of him before, or that case. But there's probably a lot more of that shit going on than we'll ever know.
Jess: You're right that a lot of liberals are armed (I'm not one of them). But even without the guns, I think liberals would win a civil war just because they're smarter and more inventive. My favorite example of this was a Sam Peckinpah movie from 1970, Straw Dogs. (It wasn't political.) Dustin Hoffman is this nerdy engineer living in a small town in northern England. It's a long story, but some of the local "hooligans" are trying to break into his house -- a home invasion. I don't remember if he had a gun or not, but Dustin Hoffman used some really grisly methods to keep the intruders out. It wasn't pretty, and it couldn't have happened to nicer people.
And I think that movie is a microcosm of what would happen if millions of inbred rednecks decided to "settle" things the old fashioned way.
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