So whilst Conservative America still hasn’t come to terms with the fact that it is no longer in control (of anything, including a grip on reality), the rest of us sit back and watch with joy as poll ratings show President Obama higher than any President in recorded history two months into their Presidency.
It would appear that Republicans across America have suddenly decided that they, and only they know how to deal with the economy. “More spending is wrong!!” they shout. As if they have had a change of heart, given that they twice empowered a President in George W Bush who spent billions of Dollars killing over 1,000,000 people in Iraq, whilst doubling the deficit in the process. They were okay with that. But suddenly, they’ve had a change of heart, bless them.
They’ve complained daily since January, about everything. From Obama not wearing a jacket in the Oval Office to Obama being some sort of warrior addicted to letting Cuban Communists take over the World (rather than rightfully hoping to lift failed sanctions that have contributed to Cuban misery for fifty years). Oh and not forgetting those Republicans who seem to have drank a bottle of “over dramatic juice” when they explode in a fit of blogging rage with statements such as “Barack Obama has declared WAR on the youngest members of our human family!” over at Rationshed (I can’t seem to find the blog where they defend the hundreds of thousands of dead children as a result of the Iraq War, perhaps i’m missing something).
I think I outlined Republican bitter misery beautifully in a previous blog, situated here. He’s pro-choice, Republicans refer to him as a murderer. He’s a democrat and not a Conservative, so Republicans label him a Socialist. He’s liberal, and so Republicans suggest he’s destroying the rights of men and women by being pro gay marriage. To sum up, they’re ridiculous people. And now, they’ve gone further into the realms of pathetic, with their attack on the recently published “Rightwing Extremism:Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment” from the Department of Homeland Security. Now bare in mind the same Republicans didn’t seem to have a problem when Bush was spending billions of dollars on an unjust war leading to the unnecessary deaths of over 1,000,000 innocent people; that, they were fine with. But this latest publication, they seem to feel is an attack on their rights. They didn’t seem all that concerned when Bush was tapping phones of whomever he wished. The Conservatives have had no problem in labelling anyone who disagreed with Bush for the past eight years; a “commie” or “anti-American” or even worse an “extremist”, all the time referring to themselves and only themselves quite ridiculously as “patriots” and now suddenly the tables have turned, they cannot control their bitter rage. So, let’s examine what they appear to be angry at……
“This product is one of a series of intelligence assessments published by the Extremism and Radicalization Branch to facilitate a greater understanding of the phenomenon of violent radicalization in the United States. The information is provided to federal, state, local, and tribal counterterrorism and law enforcement officials so they may effectively deter, prevent, preempt, or respond to terrorist attacks against the United States. Federal efforts to influence domestic public opinion must be conducted in an overt and transparent manner, clearly identifying United States Government sponsorship.”
- Sounds reasonable to me. The transparency that “must” be present when domestic policy is to be influenced would never have existed in a Bush document.
“(U//LES) The DHS/Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) has no specific information that domestic rightwing* terrorists are currently planning acts of violence, but rightwing extremists may be gaining new recruits by playing on their fears about several emergent issues. The economic downturn and the election of the first African American president present unique drivers for rightwing radicalization and recruitment.”
- This is true over here in the UK too. With recession, comes anti-immigration sentiment. Suddenly people start calling for protectionism, for immigrants to be sent home, and the British National Party is gaining such growing support that Labour’s Deputy Leader Harriet Harman even mentioned the BNP threat to the Independent. I can only imagine it would be a hell of a lot worse if our Prime Minister were black. And given that race relations in the UK are not even half as tense as the U.S, it’s no surprise that this has been included. Ridiculous White Supremacists, like a guy I have argued with on a Facebook group recently, he I can quote as saying…..
“It is an historical fact that every nation in the history of the world in which the White population mixed its gene pool with that of the lower races lost its civilization. While we do remain together, there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I, as much as any other man, am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the White race.”
….. it’s this kind of attitude that is monstrously dangerous within modern, civilised society and which leads to rational Centrists and Lefties having to fight.
“(U//FOUO) During the 1990s, these issues contributed to the growth in the number of domestic rightwing terrorist and extremist groups and an increase in violent acts targeting government facilities, law enforcement officers, banks, and infrastructure sectors.”
- Again, perfectly logical. They are fighting groups that may potentially contribute to acts of extreme violence.
Every item on the document I read, I found myself agreeing with, not understanding why any Conservative (unless they’re white supremacists recruiting easily influenced kids and planning some violent attack on government buildings) would have a problem with it? I’m certain they wouldn’t have complained if Bush had issued a similar document against Left Wing extremists. So I decided to search the Blogosphere for reasons that Conservatives have resulted to bitter online crying once again. Kelly Conaty MD.MBA.NFL.WWE.YOUCANDOITIFYOUBnQIT didn’t seem to want to highlight the part she disagreed with, choosing instead to appear to disagree with the entire document, and so seems to support white supremacists. She refers to the people villified in the document as “Patriots”. How very manipulative. I was hoping Right Winged America would stop using that word now that their eight year reign of terror is over. But apparently not.
Samsoldier goes one step further, and as he claims to (quite over dramatically seeped in ridiculous typical Right Winged hysteria) have become “imbued with a creeping feeling of dread” whilst reading the document, he marks out his issue with the document, which is on page two……
“The possible passage of new restrictions on firearms and the return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks.”
- Samsoldier interprets this passage in quite an odd and obscure way (but then, later he admits he’s a Christian, so obscure interpretation is his way of life)….
“Excuse me, but I am a returning military veteran. You have just told me that I am damaged goods”
- No they didn’t. That’s not what it said at all. They did not say “Military veterans are not to be trusted.” They were merely outlining potential threats, of which pissed off military veterans could on occasion, even the odd occasion (as they have in the past) certainly be part of that. It is worth preparing for every possibility.
“You are telling communities that I am dangerous and some sort of raging lunatic. “
- No they didn’t. Given that the document was leaked, it was supposed to be secret, and so communities were not supposed to be told anything. They merely stated that returning military personnel could be a threat, now that’s not all of you. I know Republicans like to make sweeping judgements about gays, atheists and anyone with a slightly darker skin complexion, but this document did not make any sweeping judgement.
” Now you are inciting the nation to treat me with suspicion and fear. “
- No they’re not. That’s almost ingenious a suggestion as when Christians say “Are you saying somewhere along the line my granny fucked a chimp?”. It isn’t what was said, it was your obscure reading of a perfectly legitimate document. What if a returning Veteran shoots someone tomorrow because he’s finding it difficult to reintergrate? What if there is another Timothy McVeigh lurking in the darkness? What if he explodes a bomb killing thousands, wouldn’t you want to know that there were precautions in place just in case the worst were to happen? The document is not saying that all military personnel returning from duty are fearless killing lunatics, it’s saying that the odd one or two may pose a threat. And so surely it’s only right that the Department of Homeland Security, the very machine which exists to secure the Homeland from ANY potential threat, do just that? I’m pretty sure most Republicans wouldn’t have a problem with a similar document that stated Muslims may pose a threat.
Other bloggers, such as Michelle Malkin appear to have ignored the content of the document itself, and just decided to invent their own document to comment on. Michelle says…. “The piece of crap report issued on April 7 is a sweeping indictment of conservatives.”
-Yes, yes it is…….. that is if Conservative America consists of white supremacists hell bent on destroying government buildings.
Another major bone of contention is…
“Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely.”
- And yet, it makes perfect sense. Firstly, it’s a side note, it’s explaining right winged in terms of the asterix present in the phrase “domestic rightwing* terrorists“….and so, logic tells me that it isn’t stating that you shouldn’t believe in local authority over federal authority, as the ridiculously named “Nobama” blog claims it to mean. It is merely suggesting that if you have Right Winged beliefs, and you intend to cause terror in the name of those Right Winged beliefs, then you’re an extremist. I would have thought that is pretty self explanatory. It isn’t stating that Jefferson is an extremist because although Jefferson may have been pro-state, he did not condone acts of terror to achieve that goal. The document is not anti-Jefferson (like the rather naive CSBurks suggests in a fit of melodramatic idiocy). The document is anti-Bomb-strapped-Jefferson.
The word “rejecting” makes this particularly clear to me. If you suddenly decide to stop paying taxes, reject all federal laws, start plotting a revolution based on splitting up the Union, then you’re an extremist. The dictionary defines “reject” as “refuse to accept or acknowledge” and so yes, if you refuse to acknowledge or accept federal authority, i’d say you’re an extremist. Rejection is different from disagreeing with. But why should I have to explain that, when the report itself explains it here…
“(U) A recent example of the potential violence associated with a rise in rightwing extremism may be found in the shooting deaths of three police officers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 4 April 2009. The alleged gunman’s reaction reportedly was influenced by his racist ideology and belief in antigovernment conspiracy theories related to gun confiscations, citizen detention camps, and a Jewish-controlled “one world government.”
So having said all of this, bloggers like Generic rant, Cdat 88, Nukegingrich (whose point, I can’t decipher especially when he appears to claim that the document is suggesting that all heterosexuals are considered extremists) and every other Republican blogger who now identify themselves as “extremist” by their interpretation of the Homeland Security Document…… which by my interpretation, is merely all of the right winged angry bloggers merely agreeing that they’re white supremacists who intend of rejecting all federal authority and instigating attacks on government buildings.
It appears to be just another Republican bitter attack on a President far more popular than any one the Republicans could have put forward to run the country. A few days ago, they were all complaining that Obama bowed to the Saudi King Abdullah, that he “embarrassed” America rather than a show of respect and decency not heard of over the past eight years of bombs and secrecy. Obama bowed to the King out of respect. George Bush metaphorically masturbated the Saudis for eight long years, but that doesn’t seem to bother Republicans. Instead, they waited for the black guy to do it, and then insisted that he must be a Muslim. You couldn’t make this shit up.
Does anyone take Republicans seriously any more? Do Conservatives really matter nowadays? Or are they all just hypocritical, bitter, ignorant little people left over from the past eight years of bully tactics, hysteria and fear? Where were these outcries from Republicans when Rush Limbaugh said “I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back; I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark.” Limbaugh suggests an entire race of people are inherently violent and that slavery wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, and Republicans cannot wait to defend this overweight, uneducated, bigoted, repugnant turd. But when the tables have turned, they cry out in mass hysteria. It’s so hypocritical, it’s almost amusing.
One thing is for sure, every time a Republican whinges like a bitter child throwing a tantrum in a store, it goes to show that Obama must be doing something right. It makes me proud to be Liberal.
April 14, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Whilst I was trying to read your blog, I got lost in trying to count how many times you used the word “whilst.” And what the hell does it mean to “whinge like a bitter child?” If Bush masturbated the Saudi King, what was Barak doing “whilst” he bowed plumb down to the King’s nether regions? Did he have to spit something out before he stood up?
April 14, 2009 at 11:28 pm
Out of 2069 words within that blog entry, I used the word “whilst” five times, and that annoys you? Could you not have attempted to focus on the other 2064 words?
And allow me to help you with basic English Language:
WHINGE:
a cry; a complaint; to complain or protest, especially in an annoying or persistent manner
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/whinge
April 15, 2009 at 12:38 am
thanks for the mention.
April 15, 2009 at 2:01 am
“billions of Dollars killing over 1,000,000 people in Iraq”
The worthless ORB poll done by people knocking on doors and visiting shops and merely asking a question. Great scientific survey there. Be sure to ask this question in higher volume in areas where suicide attacks are more frequent (check), don’t bother to make sure that two people from the same household do not answer (check), and be funded and put together by anti-war critics for the sake of bias (check).
Not that civilian deaths are not a happening, but the ratio for deaths to injuries in attacks is usually two to three to one in favor of injuries.
There have been NO REPORTS of hospitals taking in 2 – 3 million injured people.
And yes, the question asked was for DEATHS, not including injuries.
It’s nice to be able to perpetuate (or start) a claim that a family member is dead if they had fled, left the country, or were wanted by… by anyone really.
Also, according to wordcount.org, whinge is the 44853 most ‘common’ word out of 86800 tracked in the English language, so your attempt to belittle someone for being unfamiliar with a word so uncommon in the language tells me as much about you as your post.
I don’t see any instances of waiving, diagonals, nor aneurin — all words as ‘basic’ to the English language as the word whinge. It does appear in the dictionary close to whilst, which seems to be a favorite of yours.
April 15, 2009 at 3:56 am
Thank you for commenting on my blog. I’m pleased that it bothered you enough to elicit a response. You’re not an American Soldier or an American citizen for that matter, so you do not have the ability to empathize with us concerning our decline into socialism. You are also quite young and someone once said, “if you’re not a liberal when you’re young then you have no heart; if you’re not conservative when you’re mature then you have no brain.” It isn’t your fault and I certainly have no animosity for you or any of our English cousins, but the spirit of freedom and civil liberty that exists in the United States may seem “hysterical” to you because you have not grown up here and do not have the perspective necessary to interpret the subtleties of the language used by the extreme left. But I do laud your willingness to express your point of view. It is a very American attribute which I greatly admire.
April 15, 2009 at 9:00 am
Zeno, the ORB Survey put the question to ordinary iraq families:
“”How many members of your household, if any, have died as a result of the conflict in Iraq since 2003 (ie as a result of violence rather than a natural death such as old age)? Please note that I mean those who were actually living under your roof.”
- Are you saying the majority of those who answered that they had lost someone, had lied?
Lancet surveys of Iraq War casualties estimated over 600,000+ dead in 2006. That doesn’t include those injured or displaced (as you rightly said).
The death toll is high. So whether it’s 600,000 still, or over 1,000,000 or even …. 2 …… It still isn’t right, and for Republicans to claim to be “pro life” and then at the same time defend the war, is a contradiction of the highest magnitude.
The word “Whinge” is a word we are damn familiar with over here in the UK. And given that your language, is our language, I merely assumed the same were true. He didn’t just ask politely what it meant, he asked ” And what the hell does it mean to “whinge like a bitter child?” ” which was used in a paragraph dedicated to undermining my use of English. I’d have thought that was pretty obvious.
Again, I used “whilst” five times, in a blog with over 2000 words
April 15, 2009 at 11:32 am
First off, I’d like to thank you for the mention!
While I think you missed the point, I believe you have every right to express your opinion on this issue… which IS the point. We have a constitution. It gives us certain rights, like free speech. The Government issuing statements that include:
“Many rightwing extremists are antagonistic toward the new presidential administration and its perceived stance on a range of issues, including immigration and citizenship, the expansion of social programs to minorities, and restrictions on firearms ownership and use.”
…seeks to label anyone exercising those guaranteed rights, as ‘extremist’….. It is not extremist to exercise your Constitutional rights!
While I will not ‘critique’ your entire rambling… this:
“And given that race relations in the UK are not even half as tense as the U.S, ”
statement is so comical it’s almost inane. The UK today faces terrible issues with Muslim Immigration, to the point that it is starting to embed itself into your governing system…and the UK IS starting to revolt…. our ‘race relations’ issues are diminutive in comparison….
…but you go on living in your dream world… it’s your right!
April 15, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Well given that I like in the UK, and haven’t yet seen signs of revolt, and given that I live in the city with the largest muslim population in England, and many of my close friends are muslim, I haven’t seen this “terrible issue” you mention. And given that our system of government and the house of commons is predominantly white middle class, i’m not sure where you get the idea that it is imbedded in our system? I’ll assume you get your information from Fox News or The Daily Mail.
Your race relations have been appalling for decades. Our Conservatives certainly wouldn’t pledge allegiance to a radio host famed for calling Obama a “magic negro” and suggesting that slavery wasn’t all that bad. It seems to suggest that the general feeling toward black Americans is still quite negative.
And your example of government issued statements is ridiculous. Many rightwing extremists are antagonistic toward the new administration. That makes sense to me. Many left wing extremists would have been antagonistic toward the Bush administration, and if Bush had said that, I wouldn’t have taken that to mean me. Even though i’m a leftie. And that’s because i’m not an extremist. He’s specifically talking about extremists. He’s not saying that all anti-Obama’s are extremists, merely that all right wing extremists are anti-Obama.
But i’ll keep on living in my dream World….. along with the rest of the Planet.
April 15, 2009 at 3:55 pm
[...] I’ve officially been attacked by the left. Here [...]
April 15, 2009 at 9:12 pm
First, may I point out that President Bush did indeed bow in front of the Saudi king himself… this annoyed Bill O’Reilly no end, he brought it up on his show recently (which I watch for kicks every so often).
It seems you’ve drawn the fruitcakes out from the woodwork with this post… comments about Muslims embedding their faith or whatever into our government set up here in the UK is obviously so erroneous and pathetic it should not be dealt with a serious debate.
I will say though that the 1 million + number for dead in Iraq is debateable. While the official number is way too low, the British Lancet survey seems to be the best idea we have for a ball park figure. Although as you quite rightly point out, 100,000+ is a shameful disgrace, so whether its that or 1 million is beside the point. We’ll never know the true extent of our destruction in that country as we have no interest in keeping tabs on collaterol damage. As the US leave the country with their tales between their legs (a la Vietnam) ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ America will be happy to push that whole messy affair away into their collective subconscious.
You make it clear you’re proud to be a liberal. I myself am neither a liberal nor a conservative. Both the terms are pretty much misnomers as used in current US political lingo. I am a Socialist, which of course may terrify some of the regressive nutters visiting your post to attack your argument.
I don’t like conservatives (although there are many I respect), but the same can be said for liberals who are collectively lining up behind President Obama to hang on his every teleprompter aided speech, while disregarding his administrations decision to continue killing civilians in the Pakistan border region (they’re killing more than Bush was per month now) and withdrawing MOST (not all) of US troops from Iraq on the same timetable as set out by GW Bush.
Conservatives really shouldn’t worry themselves, Obama’s presidency wont bring the end of the US empire (their banks and citizens appalling economic position is more likely to do that) and we will continue to see US militarism go unabated. As we saw recently, Obama has already increased the Pentagon’s budget for the next year.
Now that’s a lack of change I believed in.
P.S – For a far more acute and cogent description of how American liberals and conservatives differ on very little in real terms, check out the brilliant Dennis Perrin’s blog;
http://dennisperrin(dot)blogspot(dot)com
April 16, 2009 at 12:28 am
Hi, Thank you! I would now go on this blog every day!
Elcoj
April 17, 2009 at 7:30 pm
Thanks for replying to my comment, and I’d like to follow-up on that and (re)address some issues — not to find ‘common ground’ we do not see eye to eye on this, but at the same time, just to give perspective.
No, I am not saying the majority did anything of the sort, I was not there, I only suspect things based on agendas, and I assure you that I cringe at Republican agendas as much as Democratic agendas (capital R and D of course). What I know, and I do mean KNOW, is that a sizable minority of people in Iraq have made enemies of some local (or not so local) people over the course of the last several years, not to mention those who have been assisting US and UK forces. Owing money is the second biggest problem. And with the day-to-day policing (or lack thereof) in certain areas having family lie about your status isn’t unheard of, nor would it be shocking. Also with the inherent distrust for authority many feel (Saddam’s version of justice and now a slow to move US / UK security force), coming up ‘dead on the radar’ might be viewed as the best option.
It would not take a majority to skew the statistics since only slightly over 1000 people were surveyed in nation of over 28 million. And they DID sample far more frequently in areas where suicide attacks were more common, thus the cross-section of people would be more likely to have suffered.
People also included would be Iraqi police and military forces, those people who are engaging in violence against the US / UK and Iraqi forces, as well as general and organized crime.
So, with skewed sampling, the possibility of lying being ‘higher than here’ due to social situations here can equal US or UK), and the inclusion of combat and security related deaths being counted, my ability to digest these numbers is lacking.
I’m guessing that since even the difference between 600,000 and 1 million doesn’t phase you (at least that’s how I read your reply), even if though the low number is only 60% of the high.
The death toll is high, but it is a war zone, though to be honest, although I was not posting in 2003, I wasn’t very fond having to take a trip over there, and I’m still less fond of us continuing in the given circumstances.
Equating the idea that one must despise war to the point of pacifism (I’m reading this as the only conclusion since 2 deaths – as you state – is not right and too high) in order to avoid a moral conflict vis a vis abortion is absurd. Eliminating those who wish to eliminate you is self preservation, int he vast majority of cases abortion is choice (i.e. the decision to be called the Pro-Choice Movement). Now if you were simply focusing your statement to Iraq, then your point of discussion is one with some merit indeed.
Whinge / whilst / ‘whatever’.
I was just having some fun with it is all, though yes I agree that “whinge like a bitter child” can paint a picture in relative clarity in meaning without the need for added commentary.
Thank you for your time; I didn’t mean to go so long winded and sorry for any typos.
April 18, 2009 at 4:38 pm
I was re-reading your post and found that, though you like to link to other / original sources (and that is good), you failed to do so here:
Where were these outcries from Republicans when Rush Limbaugh said “I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back; I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark.”
Find the source. Not a secondary source, but an audio link. Maybe someone has it from Rush’s 24/7 site or something. After all the recent Rush Limbaugh bashing by the left — including the White House taking to the attack of an individual citizen, why didn’t this audio cut ever make it into their talking points?
There you have your answer as why there is no outrage — it is because the quote can not be pinning on Limbaugh and is manufactured.
A Dan Rather moment for you, it’d appear.
April 20, 2009 at 11:44 pm
Hi nice blog
I can see a lot of effort has been put in.
April 24, 2009 at 2:32 am
[...] Right Winged Extremism « Futile Democracy [...]
June 1, 2009 at 1:57 pm
[...] Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment“, of which I wrote an article about. The American Right interpreted the document in an incredibly odd way, much like they do with [...]