Hate rhetoric is escalating into violence - updated 1/12/2011

Sheila Musaji

Posted Jan 8, 2011      •Permalink      • Printer-Friendly Version
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Hate rhetoric is escalating into violence

by Sheila Musaji

INCIDENTS OF VITRIOLIC/HATEFUL/EXCESSIVE/INFLAMMATORY SPEECH

Signs from the 9/12 Tea Party march in D.C. ranged from simply unkind - “bury Obama care with Kennedy” - to conspiratiorial - “where’s the birth certificate”, “Obama is a Muslim”,  and “don’t kill Grandma” - to vaguely menacing “violate our liberty at your peril”, “keep pushing us and find out what happens” -  to really over the top - “we came unarmed (this time)”, Obama waving to al-Qaeda saying “whoa boys, I’ll take it from here”, “hang em high, traitors in Congress (and a list of names), “Obama is the anti-Christ”, a picture of Obama slitting the throat of Uncle Sam - and of course, there were Confederate flags and outright racist signs “What you talkin about Willis?”, “Homey don’t play dat” .  Earlier Tea Parties had the same sorts of signs - “Sieg Heil Herr Obama” (with picture of Obama with a Hitler mustache), “Barack Hussein Obama the new face of Hitler”, “Chairman Maobama”, “Guns Tomorrow”, “Obama’s plan, white slavery”, “We need a Christian President”.  Huffington post has a list of the 10 most offensive, but other sites found other signs that they found just as offensive, including “The zoo has an African and the White House has a lyin’ African!”.  A news report called “Is the Tea Party Racism Going Too Far?” showed my personal vote for most objectionable - a sign depicting President Obama as an African witch doctor.

A high end clothing store in New York soldWho killed Barack Obama” tee shirts (designed by an Israeli). 

Individuals at Obama rallies who were carrying loaded weapons,  assault rifles and pistols?  Frederick Clarkson pointed out “Chris Broughton, 28, made national news when he showed up to protest a speech by President Barack Obama in Phoenix, Arizona with an AR-15 automatic rifle slung over his shoulder and a handgun.” ... “The night before Broughton’s fifteen minutes of fame, he attended a fiery Sunday sermon by his pastor, Rev. Steven L. Anderson, at Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona. Rev. Anderson, also 28, explained not only “Why I Hate Barack Obama,” but also why he and God both want the president dead. “When I go to bed tonight,” Broughton’s pastor declared, “Steven L. Anderson is going to pray for Barack Obama to die and go to hell.” 

Some individuals have called the president’s domestic agenda “economic fascism”, called the President an all-controlling Fascist leader, a socialist, a communist, compared to Hitler.  The birthers claim that Obama is not an American, and their are even Pastors praying for the President’s death.

“A protester at the Tea Party on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. made clear that she was afraid, saying “We are losing our country, we think the Muslims are moving in and taking over.”“
 
A tea party activist forwarded an email of Obama as a witch doctor.

There was a racist Obama billboard in Missouri. 

There were the offensive Obama as a “monkey” tee shirts.

An Ohio man hung an effigy of Barack Obama in his back yard.

Tea Party Express organizer gets exposed by Anderson Cooper and CNN panelists.  Cooper again quotes from William’s blog in which he called President Obama a “Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug” and a “racist in chief.”  Rather than backing away from those comments Williams actually stands by the quotes.”

On their website, the Republican Women of Clifton joked that Baskin Robbins had created a new ice-cream flavor named Barocky Road, which was half vanilla and half chocolate. But, this extended metaphor continues, the “vanilla portion of the mix is not openly advertised and usually denied as an ingredient,” which doesn’t even make any sense.

Back in July, Chris Parry of the Vancouver Sun in an article entitled Conservative Free Republic blog in free speech flap after racial slurs directed at Obama children discussed and quoted some remarks made on the Free Republic site: ”“A typical street whore.” “A bunch of ghetto thugs.” “Ghetto street trash.” “Wonder when she will get her first abortion.”  These are a small selection of some of the racially-charged comments posted to the conservative ‘Free Republic’ blog Thursday, aimed at U.S. President Barack Obama’s 11-year-old daughter Malia after she was photographed wearing a t-shirt with a peace sign on the front.  The thread was accompanied by a photo of Michelle Obama speaking to Malia that featured the caption, “To entertain her daughter, Michelle Obama loves to make monkey sounds.” ... “Could you imagine what world leaders must be thinking seeing this kind of street trash and that we paid for this kind of street ghetto trash to go over there?” wrote one commenter.  “They make me sick .... The whole family… mammy, pappy, the free loadin’ mammy-in-law, the misguided chillin’, and especially ‘lil cuz… This is not the America I want representin’ my peeps,” wrote another.”  This FreeRepublic.com website earned a spot in Keith Olbermann’s “Worst Persons in the World” segment after waiting all of three days to step in and take action on a message board thread full of such racist comments.

Shouts of Shouts of “traitor,” ‘‘terrorist,” ‘‘treason,” ‘‘liar” and even “off with his head” have been called out at Republican rallies.

Tea Party sign threatens gun violence if health care passes

Tea Partiers called Rep. Barney Frank a “f****t.” They called Rep. John Lewis and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver the infamous “n-word.”  They bullied a peaceful health care reform advocate with Parkinson’s disease, assuming for reasons known only to them, that he is too lazy to work and only seeks a handout. “Communist… you have to work for everything you get!”

Extremist websites have posted articles with incendiary titles and claims.  Obama spies monitoring Jews house-to-house by Aaron KleinObama backs Iraqi terrorists, by Pamela Geller.  Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs said: I’ll say it again, Obama is to democracy what General Sherman was to the South.  Enemy in the White house.  The Jawa Report suggests handgun as “anti-social networking tool”.  David Duke said Obama serves as a “visual aid” that is helping respark a sense of purpose in current supporters and lure new members.  Duke, a former Klan leader was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives in the 1980s. Duke said he fears “the white European-American” heritage will soon be destroyed. He added that his Web site sees around 40,000 unique visitors a day, up from 15,000 a day before Obama won the election.

 

INCIDENTS OF SERIOUS THREATS OF VIOLENCE AND ACTUAL VIOLENCE

The senate reports bona fide threats against Senators increased in 2010 to 49, up from 29 in the previous year.

THREATS

Charles Turner Haberman has been arrested for threatening the life of Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), apparently because McDermott opposed an extension of Bush tax cuts for wealthy Americans.  1/2011

FBI Probes Threats Directed at House Democrats

California state Sen. Leland Yee receives death threats.  2010

A Philadelphia Man has been arrested for threatening to kill House Minority Whip Eric Cantor.  2010

Guardians of the free Republics sent a letter to more than 30 state governors demanding they “leave office within three days or they will be removed”.  2010

Rep. Steve Driehaus received death threats.

Charles Wilson arrested in Seattle over threats against Sen. Patty Murray.  Messages left on her voice mail included:  “There’s a target on your back now,” said one message on March 22. “It only takes one piece of lead. Kill the (expletive) senator! ... Now that you’ve passed your health-care bill, let the violence begin.”  In other messages over the next several days, the caller said, “I hope somebody puts a (expletive) bullet between your (expletive) eyes,” and “I do believe that every one of you (expletive) socialist democratic progressive (expletives) need to be taken out.”  2010  

The U.S. Capitol Police are investigating an E-mailed threat to Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen’s campaign committee and the FBI in Memphis is aware of the threat and is taking it seriously, spokesmen for both agencies said Tuesday.  Someone with a Yahoo.com address sent the message to the Cohen for Congress Web site saying, “If our tea parties had hoods, we would burn your ass on a cross on the White House front lawn.” 

Rep. Bart Stupak received a series of threatening phone calls for health care vote.  He also received a fax with a drawing of a noose and an anonymous voice mail saying: “You’re dead. We know where you live. We’ll get you.” 

Bomb Threat made at Sen. Bunning’s Hazard, KY Office

A U.S. Marine, Kody Brittingham, a 20-year-old lance corporal, was arraigned after he wrote that he had taken an oath to “protect against all enemies, both foreign and domestic.” In a signed “letter of intent,” tucked away in his barracks at Camp Lejeune, he identified a “domestic enemy” he planned to eliminate last winter: President Obama.  He called his mission “operation patriot”.  Another Marine, Nicholas Hanke was also charged.

John Turnpaugh of New Orleans was arrested for threatening to kill the President and First Lady. 

Kristy Lee Roshia, was arrested for calling the Boston office of the Secret Service, saying “I will kill Michelle Obama” and “I will kill Marines”. She is also alleged to have said she planned to “blow away” the first lady

Eric Allen Hirchert was arrested in North Dakota on charges of threatening to kill President Obama. 

John Breck, a private security guard at Newark Liberty International Airport was arrested on charges of threatening President Barack Obama.
 
Steven Joseph Christopher, 42, was taken into custody by the Secret Service in Brookhaven, Miss., and charged with threatening to assassinate Obama for what he claimed was “the country’s own good,” federal prosecutors said. 

Johnny Logan of Louisville was arrested for posting threats against President Obama in a poem about shooting a tyrant.

Daniel James Murray was arrested in Nevada for threatening to kill President Obama. 

Nathan Wine was indicted in Tampa on charges that he threatened to kill and inflict bodily harm on the president-elect.

Miles Fisher, a community activist from New York City has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Buffalo, accused of threatening to bomb the campaign headquarters of Carl P. Paladino


ACTUAL VIOLENCE

Jim D. Adkison[/url] opened fire at a Unitarian church in Tennessee, killing two people, and leaving behind a note suggesting that he targeted the congregation out of hatred for its liberal policies, including its acceptance of gays. 2008

James Cummings’ preparation of a dirty bomb. Only after the police investigated his shooting by his abused wife did the FBI discover that Cummings’ house had a cache of radioactive materials suitable for building a “dirty bomb.” In addition to literature on how to build dirty bombs and various radioactive materials 2008

Byron Williams, was arrested after a highway shootout after he had loaded up his car with guns and ammunition and drove to San Francisco to, as he said, “kill people of importance at the ACLU and Tides Foundation.”  2010

Andrew Joseph Stack carried out a suicide attack by flying a plane into an IRS office building in Texas, leaving behind a long rant against the government, big business, and the tax system. 2010

A militia group and the tea party movement intersected.  Mike Vanderboegh, former leader of the Alabama Constitutional Militia, recently called for hundreds of thousands of gun owners to “point their muzzles at the hearts of tyrants” when discussing ways to oppose recent congressional legislation.  He also encouraged breaking of Democratic Party leaders windows to get their attention.  He said “To all modern Sons of Liberty: THIS is your time. Break their windows. Break them NOW.” After this, there was a rash of such incidents.  2010

7 militia members were arrested in FBI raids in the midwest for plotting violence against Muslim organizations.  This particular group calls themselves the Hutaree whose members describe themselves as Christian soldiers preparing for the arrival and battle with the anti-Christ.  (Update 3/29)  Arrests are now up to nine that have been indicted on sedition and weapons charges in connection with an alleged plot to murder law enforcement officers in hopes of setting off an anti-government uprising.)  The Hutarree are not an isolated phenomena.  2010

Rep. Anthony Weiner receives white powder in a threat letter.

At the Pentagon, an anti-government conspiracy theorist, John Patrick Bedell, wounded two police officers before being shot to death. 2010

In Wichita in 2009, Dr. George Tiller was gunned down by anti-abortion extremist Scott Roeder.

Jim David Adkisson said he hated Democrats and deemed the Tennessee Valley Unitarian church part of the “liberal movement.” Adkisson opened fire with a shotgun on an audience of about 200.

“Snipers” threat left On Rep. Louise Slaughter’s Voicemail after Health Care Vote.  There was also a brick thrown through her office window.

The propane gas line at the home of Rep. Thomas Perriello’s brother was cut after the address was posted by an organizer for the Lynchburg Tea Party, apparently upset at the congressman’s vote for the health care bill. 

A brick was thrown through the window of the Monroe County Democratic Committee headquarters after a blog encouraged its readers to throw bricks at the windows of Democratic headquarters across the country.

In Brockton, Massachusetts, in January 2009, neo-Nazi Keith Luke sought to storm a synagogue, but never made it, authorities claim. According to a prosecutor, Luke wanted to “kill as many Jews, blacks, and Hispanics as humanly possible.” In his rampage, he reportedly murdered two Hispanics and raped and wounded a third before, near the synagogue, he was wrestled to the ground by ordinary citizens.

In Wichita, someone threw a brick through the window of a county Democratic Party headquarters.  The brick had “No to Obama” and “No ObamyCare” written on it.  Over the next 24 hours, thrown bricks shattered the glass doors and windows of party headquarters from Rochester, N.Y., to Cincinnati. 2010

Robert Pickett, standing outside the White House perimeter fence, discharged a number of shots from a weapon in the direction of the White House.  2001

A pair of improvised explosive devices were thrown at the Mexican Consulate in New York City. The fake grenades were filled with black powder, and detonated by fuses, causing very minor damage.  2007

In the first reported incident of animal-rights extremists physically assaulting the family members of animal researchers, six masked activists attempted to force their way into the home of a University of California, Santa Cruz, researcher and injured the researcher’s husband.  2008

Multiple nail-laden pipe bombs exploded at a Federal Courthouse in San Diego causing “considerable damage” to the entrance and lobby and sending shrapnel two blocks away. The F.B.I. is investigating links between this attack and an April 25 explosion at the FedEx building also in San Diego. 2008

Lucas John Helder rigged pipe bombs in private mailboxes to explode when the boxes were opened. He injured 6 people in Nebraska, Colorado, Texas, Illinois, and Iowa. His motivation was to garner media attention so that he could spread a message denouncing government control over daily lives and the illegality of marijuana.  2001

The front door to the Tucson district office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) was shattered with a pellet gun.  2010

Enraged at the sight of Mark Duren’s Obama bumper sticker, Harry Weisiger gave Duren “the bird” and then hit his car from behind, leading to a violent series of events. 2010

Several letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to two Democratic U.S. Senators, Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT). The Senators were not injured but 31 staff members were infected and two postal workers at a Washington,DC postal sorting facility died from anthrax exposure. Bruce Ivins considered the perpetrator.  2001

Raymond Geisel who was keeping weapons and military-style gear in his hotel room and car appeared in court on charges he threatened to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

After raiding Walter Edward Bagdasarian’s home in November, U.S. Secret Service agents found three handguns and three rifles, including a 30.06 with a telescopic sight and a Remington .50 caliber muzzle-loading rifle.  He was arrested for threatening the President Elect and posting “shoot the nig” online.

Daniel Cowart and Paul Schlesselman were arrested in Tennessee for plotting to don white tuxes and top hats as they slaughtered Barack Obama - an attack they hoped would cap their killing of 88 black people around the country, including the beheading of 14. 

Johnnie Galarza was charged in an indictment with threatening to shoot and kill President Obama. 

Timothy Michael Gutierrez was indicted on charges of threatening to kill President Barack Obama and blow up the Mall of America in suburban Minneapolis.

Nathan Johnson and 3 others arrested in Denver for a plot to kill President elect Obama.

Alex Curtis, a young San Diego white supremacist was charged with targeting Congressman Robert Filner and others in a campaign of intimidation and harassment. He later pled guilty to related charges.

Two members of the Jewish Defense League (JDL), Earl Krugel and leader Irv Rubin, were arrested for, among other things, planning to bomb the office of Arab-American California Republican Congressman Darryl Issa. Issa, Both Rubin, who was awaiting trail and Krugel, who plead to lesser offenses, died while incarcerated. Issa, still serves in Congress and is a vigorous critic of President Obama.

Daniel Robinson arrested in bomb plot.  His house had bottles of chemicals and a bag of fuses, along with what appeared to be a list of 12 “targets,” including the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, the Monitor Merrimac Memorial Bridge Tunnel, and federal buildings and federal courthouses in Norfolk and Newport News.  Investigators testified Wednesday that they also found in Robinson’s house a list of senators in Virginia and North Carolina with some of them singled out. 2010

Justin Carl Moose was arrested for using a social networking website to call for the destruction of a women’s clinic in the state, and for allegedly meeting with an unknown individual to advise him or her about how to make and use explosives to target and destroy a women’s clinic that also provides abortion services.  He said he was part of the Army of God and called himself the Christian counterpart of Osama bin Laden.  2010

George Djura Jakubec, a Serbian national is arrested after being found with the largest cache of the homemade explosives PETN and HMTD ever found in the United States was discovered on Thanksgiving Day by San Diego police. 2010

Clay Duke threatened Florida school board members with a gun and shot at them before shooting himself.  2010

Michael Enright was arrested for slashing the throat of a Muslim NYC cab driver in August of 2010

Roman Conaway, a veteran in the US army with explosives training is an ardent Christian, he lists the Bible as the “only book” he has ever read. He has made anti-Islam and anti-government threats and in the lead up to his most recent standoff with the police in which he took his wife hostage he made crazy, threatening calls to St.Louis area Muslims prompting a visit from the FBI.  2010

Discovery Communications headquarters hostage crisis, James Lee enters the Discovery Channel headquarters building in downtown Silver Spring, MD carrying a gun and explosives. Taking hostages, he holds off police for several hours before he is shot and killed. Mr. Lee had issues with the Discovery Channel about their broadcasts dealing with the environment.  2010

The Center for Urban Horticulture at the University of Washington burned in arson attack.  2001

Dave Everson, California State University, Northridge, student arrested for a a shotgun and bomb-making ingredients in his dorm room, and after he made threats against seven individuals.  2011

University of California-Santa Cruz molecular biologist David Feldheim’s home was firebombed. A car belonging to another researcher from that university was destroyed by a firebomb in what is presumed to be related. FBI is investigating incidents as domestic terrorism related to animal rights groups. 2008

Crude bomb explodes in a Starbucks in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. On July 14, Kyle Shaw age 17 was arrested and plead not guilty. Police said his motive was to emulate “Project Mayhem” a series of assaults on corporate America portrayed in the movie Fight Club.  2009

James von Brunn gunned down a security guard at the Holocaust Museum in D.C.  2009

Richard Poplawski, a white supremacist fearful that President Obama planned to curtail his gun rights. opened fire on two Pittsburgh Police officers 2009

A man used a pipe bomb to attack a mosque in Jacksonville, Florida 2010.  List of mosques vandalized and attacked by year here.


IS OUR PUBLIC DISCOURSE STILL WITHIN THE BOUNDS OF REASONABLENESS

What is happening to the political discourse in our country?  Why the hateful rhetoric, the threats of violence, and the actual violence?  We need to consider that our public speech may have consequences. 

Mark Potok, director of publications and information for the Southern Poverty Law Center is quoted as saying ”“I think it’s very clear that you see ideas coming out of all kinds of sectors of the radical right, from the immigrant radical right, from the so-called Patriot groups, the militias and so on — and you see it spreading right across the landscape at some of these Tea Party events,” he says. “I think it’s worth saying that much of this is aided and abetted by ostensibly mainstream politicians and media members.  ...  I think a lot of these ideas start on the radical right, but they are also being flogged endlessly by Republican officials,” he says. “Even those who are sort of considered [to be] responsible Republicans have completely abstained from any kind of criticism of this talk. So even way back when, when Sarah Palin was talking about Obama setting up death panels and so on — what we heard was a deafening silence from the mainstream of the Republican Party.”

Whose Country Is It? by Charles M. Blow hits the nail on the head as to the root cause of the rage we are seeing displayed by some over the passage of the health care bill.  “President Obama and what he represents has jolted extremists into the present and forced them to confront the future. And it scares them.    Even the optics must be irritating. A woman (Nancy Pelosi) pushed the health care bill through the House. The bill’s most visible and vocal proponents included a gay man (Barney Frank) and a Jew (Anthony Weiner). And the black man in the White House signed the bill into law. It’s enough to make a good old boy go crazy.”

The Rage Is Not About Health Care, Frank Rich ”... To find a prototype for the overheated reaction to the health care bill, you have to look a year before Medicare, to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Both laws passed by similar majorities in Congress; the Civil Rights Act received even more votes in the Senate (73) than Medicare (70). But it was only the civil rights bill that made some Americans run off the rails. That’s because it was the one that signaled an inexorable and immutable change in the very identity of America, not just its governance.  ...  If Obama’s first legislative priority had been immigration or financial reform or climate change, we would have seen the same trajectory. The conjunction of a black president and a female speaker of the House — topped off by a wise Latina on the Supreme Court and a powerful gay Congressional committee chairman — would sow fears of disenfranchisement among a dwindling and threatened minority in the country no matter what policies were in play. It’s not happenstance that Frank, Lewis and Cleaver — none of them major Democratic players in the health care push — received a major share of last weekend’s abuse. When you hear demonstrators chant the slogan “Take our country back!,” these are the people they want to take the country back from.”

Both of these journalists say much more eloquently what I have been thinking, It’s the demographics stupid!

In an article I wrote last year on racism as a component of disrespect towards President Obama, I said:  “However, the current climate has gone far beyond simple disagreement or even righteous indignation about a particular issue, and it is difficult not to see that for a very vocal and visible fringe group of Americans racism is certainly one component of their anger.  There are certainly many components of the rage expressed by this group, but at least one of those components is showing itself to be race.”  I also wrote about the connection between Obamaphobia and Islamophobia with the Obama is a Muslim crowd, and the fact that anti-Muslim rhetoric is reaching a dangerous level.

We have seen in the last few years a shocking escalation in EXTREME RHETORIC against whoever is seen as “the other”.

A recent Harris Poll shows that ”... 57 percent of Republicans (32 percent overall) believe that Obama is a Muslim 45 percent of Republicans (25 percent overall) agree with the Birthers in their belief that Obama was “not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president” 38 percent of Republicans (20 percent overall) say that Obama is “doing many of the things that Hitler did” Scariest of all, 24 percent of Republicans (14 percent overall) say that Obama “may be the Antichrist.”  John Avlon also notes that “The full results of the poll, which will be released in greater detail tomorrow, are even more frightening: including news that high percentages of Republicans—and Americans overall—believe that President Obama is “racist,” “anti-American” “wants the terrorists to win” and “wants to turn over the sovereignty of the United States to a one-world government.” The “Hatriot” belief that Obama is a “domestic enemy” as set forth in the Constitution is also widely held—a sign of trouble yet to come.”

Where could they have gotten such ideas?

Well known public figures, and even the clergy and religious organizations have also participated in this extremist rhetoric.  In the case of Muslims and Islam, the list of hateful statements by those claiming to represent Christianity is long.

The Christian Coalition published a statement claiming that Rep. Bart Stupak was a traitor just like Benedict Arnold and Julius & Ethel Rosenberg.

Lou Engle (founder of the Christian group The Call) recently sent out emails which labelled Obama as Satan  “The ideological beast of Obama’s worldview has been drawn out of its lair and now stands naked and exposed by Palin’s compassion and conviction. The beast,” he continued, “is hunting our children, our nation’s destiny, and us. The rage of the media against Palin simply further exposes the moral bankruptcy, bigotry, and lack of compassion of liberalism.” 

Wiley Drake, a Southern Baptist Minister Prays for Obama’s Death “If he does not turn to God and does not turn his life around, I am asking God to enforce imprecatory prayers that are throughout the Scripture that would cause him death.”  He also called for imprecatory prayer for the death of all 219 Democrats who voted for health care.
 
Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association who said “It is time, I suggest, to stop the practice of allowing Muslims to serve in the U.S. military. The reason is simple: the more devout a Muslim is, the more of a threat he is to national security.” 

Ann Coulter said “Even Islamic terrorists don’t hate America like liberals do. They don’t have the energy. If they had that much energy, they’d have indoor plumbing by now.”  From SLANDER: Liberal Lies About The American Right. She also said “In 1960, whites were 90 percent of the country. The Census Bureau recently estimated that whites already account for less than two-thirds of the population and will be a minority by 2050. Other estimates put that day much sooner. One may assume the new majority will not be such compassionate overlords as the white majority has been. If this sort of drastic change were legally imposed on any group other than white Americans, it would be called genocide. Yet whites are called racists merely for mentioning the fact that current immigration law is intentionally designed to reduce their percentage in the population.”

 


The media has played a large part in the politics of demonization. 

Rush Limbaugh talked on air about “wiping out” political opponents.  Rush Limbaugh played a parody song “Barack The Magic Negro” on his show.  He also said about health care reform When you turn 65, “hello death panels.” Addressing ADL, Limbaugh says there are many “Jew-haters” “in the Obama administration or in his circle of friends”

Fox’s Varney accuses Obama of creating an “un-American, almost anti-American mentality” 

The Values Voter Summit sold boxes of waffle mix depicting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama as a racial stereotype on its front and wearing Arab-like headdress on its top flap. 

Instapundit’s Glenn Reynolds says Maybe Obama just “hates Jews” 

Glenn Beck labeled progressivism a tumor and he told listeners to “eradicate it” from the nation.  He also said that Obama is building concentration camps for Republicans.  He suggested that the Obama administration was “coming after him” and may kill him.  He claimed that “they are going to silence voices like mine” 

Sean Hannity said that Gov’t rationing body will “tell women with breast cancer, ‘you’re dead’ “

Bill O’Reilly wants to waterboard Nancy Pelosi.  And, he said “Yeah, tax revolt. I think people, when they figure out how badly they’re going to get hurt in the next few years, there’s going to be a tea party on taxes and its gonna get nasty.  Nancy Pelosi’s going to be bobbing up and down in the Boston Harbor.” 

Randall Terry at a press conference warned of “Random Acts of Violence” over Healthcare Legislation

Cal Thomas said regarding health care reform “It is an outrage. It is a sham. Euthanasia is coming. You can call them death panels. That’s exactly what they’re going to be. We are going to really be sorry for this, but, unfortunately, when the guy in the white robe comes to give us our little pill, as President Obama told ABC, the 100-year-old woman who wants to live must get in order to make it equal for everybody and not to spend so much, it will be too late.”

Radio host Jim Quinn said that “Bolshevik Barbie (referring to the first lady) and our marginally documented president” want “the power to control your body and your life.


And sadly, civic and government organizations and even our elected representatives are not free from this inability to see just how dangerous this rhetoric is.

Rep. Tod Aiken said after passage of Health Care bill,  “Today Americans are reacquainted with the danger of an arrogant all powerful government, a deadly enemy within, a clear and present danger in Washington.  In spite of nationwide opposition socialized medicine is being forced down our throats. That medicine is toxic to freedom. But freedom dies hard in America.  I do

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