Pitchforks and Pistols (NYTimes)

[kentuck]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/04/opinion/04blow.html?ref=opinion

<snip>
Lately I’ve been consuming as much conservative media as possible (interspersed with shots of Pepto-Bismol) to get a better sense of the mind and mood of the right. My read: They’re apocalyptic. They feel isolated, angry, betrayed and besieged. And some of their “leaders” seem to be trying to mold them into militias.

At first, it was entertaining — just harmless, hotheaded expostulation. Of course, there were the garbled facts, twisted logic and veiled hate speech. But what did I expect, fair and balanced? It was like walking through an ideological house of mirrors. The distortions can be mildly amusing at first, but if I stay too long it makes me sick.

<snip>
But, it’s not all just harmless talk. For some, their disaffection has hardened into something more dark and dangerous. They’re talking about a revolution.

Some simply lace their unscrupulous screeds with loaded language about the fall of the Republic. We have to “rise up” and “take back our country.” Others have been much more explicit.

<snip>
As the comedian Bill Maher pointed out, strong language can poison weak minds, as it did in the case of Timothy McVeigh. (We sometimes forget that not all dangerous men are trained by Al Qaeda.)

[Hokie]

1. Just read some of the Birther sutff

They are forming "national grand juries" to indict Obama and say they are entitled to use force to coerce the government to enforce these silly "indictments".

“If the government does not amend the error within 40 days after being shown the error, then the four members shall refer the matter to the remainder of the grand jury,” it says. “The grand jury may distrain and oppress the government in every way in their power, namely, by taking the homes, lands, possessions, and any way else they can until amends shall have been made according to the sole judgment of the grand jury.”

http://www.therightsideoflife.com/?p=5229

[malaise]

2. One of their followers killed

three cops in Pittsburgh today.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2009/04/04/2009-04-04_three_pittsburgh_police_officers_killed_.html

[barbtries]

3. he went and killed 3 cops

because he was worried about his guns being taken away. insane. and according to the story, he's still alive. is this the result of hate talk radio?? i haven't heard that obama was going to take people's guns away. maybe he heard that from an unreliable source.

but - thank gawd he had his guns huh. :sarcasm:

[malaise]

4. Yep he has his guns

and he sure used them. Now he will really know the meaning of 'lack of freedom'. Hope he gets to call Rush from prison.

[ohheckyeah]

5. Poplawski who just

shot and killed 3 police officers was, according to his friends, upset that Obama was going to take his guns. Something which of course Obama has never said. The people who hyped this disinformation won't be held accountable while Poplawski will probably get the death penalty or life in prison.