What the right is really afraid of

[Derechos]

Source: Huffington Post

snip

Sheriff Dupnik's crime was decrying

"the vitriolic rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from people in the radio business and some people in the TV business...When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government...

snip


What threatened the right the most was losing control of the national political narrative.

snip

The right's panic about this shift was palpable. Wrote one Free Republic commenter on the day of the shooting, "Right now, I would be interested to see the smart response from Republicans. If I was John Boehner, I would be in Arizona. As a speaker of the house, he needs to be there and meet the family before Obama goes to Arizona and gives a big speech to change the topic of the nations . Next 24 hrs is crucial till Glenn Beck and Rush come to air on Monday."

But there was no need to wait for Glenn and Rush to come to their narrative's rescue. Politico.com, a site widely read by journalists and politicians, soon reported that Sheriff Dupnik had "established himself as one of the leading liberal voices in a state that boasts only a handful... Local conservatives are quickly spinning his comments as those of a partisan." The headline of the Politico piece -- "Liberal Ariz. sheriff Clarence Dupnik sees cause of violence" -- eliminated any daylight between those local Republican spinners and the Beltway media channeling them. With Dupnik branded a liberal, the troubling thought that American public discourse had taken a wrong turn had been reduced to garden-variety lefty partisanship.

A New York Times columnist found another way to denature Sheriff Dupnik's condemnation of vitriol. He wrote that political leaders who cry "tyranny" and "socialism" aren't trying to incite hysteria; rather, they're "so amused with their own verbal flourishes and the ensuing applause, that -- like the bloggers and TV hosts to which they cater -- they seem to lose their hold on the power of words." Vitriol is theater, a reality show with a studio audience. Rush is just an entertainer, Glenn is just a rodeo clown and the pols are just playing to the peanut gallery. Cut these guys some slack. Hyperbole's great for everyone's ratings. Who can blame them for getting carried away?

If this tragedy is going to be a teachable moment, the lesson won't be found by determining whose vitriol is warranted. It will be found instead in what the vitriol is actually about. And that, as Sheriff Dupnik nailed it, is "tearing down the government."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marty-kaplan/the-vitriol-vitriol_b_806514.html

[Drale]

1. They are afraid of losing

everything they sincerely believe as god give. All their money, their cars, their items. They could careless about the human cost, they just care that you know they are "better" then you. It's all about money and things, its that simple.

[Doctor_J]

2. That's why, very soon,

we're going to have to fight back, or just fucking give in. My money is on us just giving the fuck up. We are so weak and cowardly it's disgusting.

[madmax]

4. You sound like my neighbor

who said why the hell are we always trying to reason with assholes. Or worse, turning the other cheek.

He also said something to me that I read posted on a wing-nut site. 'Ballots don't work, bullets will.' I know this is just frustration speaking. He has a 20 y.o. daughter and a 15 y.o. son and he's worried about them. Little leftist-liberals - he wants them to be safe.

[Faryn Balyncd]

3. K&R....You have NAILED it....They have controlled the terms of debate for too long. Thanks.