Last Friday, just before the House voted on the health care bill, the Monroe County Democratic Committee office had a brick thrown through their window of which contained a note.
Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice.
The quote comes from Barry Goldwater, who ran for president in the year 1964. Rep Louise Slaughter also had a brick thrown through her office window which is in the same district-her district-as the MCDC. One might think that these are just random acts by the proverbial lone nut. Not so much.
“I’m advocating broken windows. I’m advocating vandalism," says Mike Vanderboegh, owner of the Sipsey Street Irregulars blog. He says his invitation to “break windows…break them now” is behind the incident in Rochester and at least two others in Tucson and Kansas. The Kansas City Star identifies Vanderboegh as a former leader of the Alabama Constitutional Militia. His post from March 19th states:
They will send the Internal Revenue Service and other federal police to do this in thousands of small Wacos, if that is what it takes to force us to submit. This arrogant elite pretends that this oppression is for our own good, while everyone else understands that this is about their selfish, insatiable appetite for control over our liberty, our money, our property and our lives.
Hmm...familiar words...in two ways, actually. First, they sound like the latest postings over at The Smallest Minority. Second, if translated into Arabic, they sound like hirabis.
Since the brick incident and her subsequent vote on the health care bill, Ms. Slaughter has received death threats aimed at her family.
Rep. Steve Driehaus from Ohio was one of the pro life Democrats who voted for the health care bill. Conservatives are planning a Sunday protest outside of his house, after a conservative blog put his address--complete with directions--on the Internet. Mr Driehaus has also been receiving death threats as well as a brick thrown through the window of a Democratic office in his district.
After a tea party organizer published the address of the brother of Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA) in a blog post urging anti-health reform activists to "drop by," someone cut a propane gas line at the house, Politico is reporting.
In the early hours of the morning on Monday just after the House health care vote, someone smashed the glass front door of the Tucson office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ). On Friday night or Saturday morning, a brick bearing unspecified "anti-Obama and anti-health care messages" was thrown through a floor-to-ceiling window at the Sedgwick County Democratic Party headquarters in Wichita, Kansas.
Yet, I have been assured by my colleagues on the right that these are just isolated incidents and not representative of their party. So, when I hear Rush Limbaugh saying "we need to defeat these bastards...we must wipe them out" and then see these threats and acts of violence I guess I shouldn't believe my lyin' eyes.
Right?
21 comments:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/25/rep-cantors-richmond-campaign-office-shot-overnight/
I think you are on to something here Mark. That is why the left must answer for these two incidents:
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/89065-gop-lawmaker-now-reports-threat-over-healthcare-stance
and this:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2010/03/24/wapo-civility-knock-every-racist-and-homophobic-tooth-out-their-cro-magn#ixzz0jD5Oe7D4
I eagerly await your nuanced explanation as to why violence against left leaners is indicative of the entire right's mindset, but that same logic does not apply when violence is done against right leaners.
After all, you are pushing this cult narrative. Cults are dangerous, of course, and so doing violence against them isn't really a bad thing. Right?
As with the guy who ran his plane into the IRS office, there's a difference between one-off nuts and an organized movement.
Mark's contention is that the right is actively encouraging its members to intimidate lawmakers with violence. Sarah Pain's Facebook page showed her with an assault rifle and has certain lawmakers' districts targeted on a map in gunsights (she has since taken the picture down, but has left the districts in the crosshairs).
More than once right-wingers have showed up at rallies with weapons. More than once people at rallies have called for Obama to be murdered, and they were cheered on by the audience while the speaker did nothing to disavow these sentiments.
The right-wing is talking in terms of revolution and death. The Democrats are not.
The right wing is dancing around the issue of inciting people to violence. They use violent imagery and rhetoric, comparing themselves to the American revolutionaries who fought against taxation without representation imposed by the British Crown.
Those times are not at all comparable to these times. We didn't vote for the King of England. We did vote for Barack Obama, and he won by a larger majority than Bush did either time.
When Bush was president the conservatives kept telling us that he won and they had the majority, so they could pass whatever laws they wanted to. They felt no need to compromise on anything with Democrats. They kept calling Democrats sore losers when they questioned the outcome in Florida, and told Democrats to suck it up.
So Democrats sucked it up. And they beat the Republicans in the last election.
Now Obama, who -- again -- won with a larger majority than Bush, has tried for an entire year to get the Republicans to engage in serious discussion. But they just throw more monkeywrenches into the works instead of bargaining in good faith. Of course they're not getting anything they want in the legislation: they're boycotting it in an attempt to give Obama his Waterloo.
Any Republicans who deal with Obama are called RINOs and are threatened with expulsion from the party.
If conservatives like Glenn Beck were just complaining about the merits of legislation that would be one thing. But they go on and on comparing Obama to Hitler and Stalin with totally preposterous claims. When you compare someone to a monster, you are essentially saying that they should meet the same fate as that monster.
These are exactly the same tactics that Hitler used against the Jews: name-calling, the Big Lie and false comparisons. Note that I didn't call Beck a Nazi. He's just using the same disreputable tactics that the Nazis used. He's not a Nazi: he's a delusional libertarian whose policies would result in a corporate (domestic and foreign) takeover of American government that would revoke most of the protections American citizens enjoy.
It would also weaken us militarily as more foreign corporations infiltrate their tendrils into our government by buying their own judges and politicians. And don't say that there'd be laws to stop that: the small government that Beck envisions wouldn't have the wherewithal to defend itself against well-funded corporate invasions (especially the Chinese, who already owns all the means of production in the tech sector -- they make ALL the computers and electronics these days, and will soon own all the design and patents. Next they're working on securing more oil and then a permanent foothold in space).
And how will a small, bathtub-drownable US government be able to defend itself from 1.5 billion highly-trained Chinese with nuclear weapons in space? The corporations certainly won't help: they'll all have been bought out by the Chinese.
Anon, I think blk beat me to it. I couldn't have said it better myself.
An interesting piece of information I found in the Washington Post article about the former militiaman who issued the call to intimidate lawmakers by throwing bricks through their windows:
"Vanderboegh said he once worked as a warehouse manager but now lives on government disability checks. He said he receives $1,300 a month because of his congestive heart failure, diabetes and hypertension. He has private health insurance through his wife, who works for a company that sells forklift products."
This guy has all the time in the world to sit around and write inflammatory Internet postings because he's another one of those fat, lazy SOBs sucking the government teat. If only he'd take better care of himself he wouldn't have all these health problems and be a drain on society. I sure hope his wife doesn't lose her job: it'll be the end of his health insurance for sure.
But, oh wait: he won't have to worry. The Democrats' new health plan will be there for him when he needs it. And since he's already on the dole, and I can't imagine he'd turn that down too.
Beautiful, blk, simply beautiful.
First, they sound like the latest postings over at The Smallest Minority.
Funny you should say that M, considering that Vanderbeogh has been a subject of hot debate there, not murmuring approval. I mean, you wouldn't want people to think you were being disingenuous would you?
More than once right-wingers have showed up at rallies with weapons.
Really, because I know of only one Tea Party event (in AZ as I recall) where a man, a black man at that, showed up carrying a firearm. I recall that led to a good bit of debate as to that being an inappropriate bit of political theater. Contrast that with the ACTUAL damage done by the anti-corporate lunatics in Seattle during the WTO meeting, or the arsons and tree-spikings by eco-zealots.
More than once people at rallies have called for Obama to be murdered
Never mind this, right? I mean, EVERYONE on the left condemned that, loudly and repeatedly, right?
Oh, and blk, you and I have agreed that health insurance shouldn't be tied to your employment - seen any Dems OR Repubs suggesting that? Then don't lie about good faith negotiation - it only makes you look like a sucker for Chicago style corruption.
Hey blk, the democrats are not? Look at this link and tell me your thoughts please.
http://www.zombietime.com/zomblog/?p=621
Complaining about the merits of legislation? When are you, markadelphia and sara ever going to mention the merits of obamas legislation? blk's longest posts occur when he talks about how terrible republicans are and how things "should be".
Extremism in the case of liberty is no vice.
You attribute this to Goldwater, but it is a butchery of the actual quote. Was this deliberate or just stupid?
So, when I hear Rush Limbaugh
Just curious, but do you actually LISTEN to Rush, or are you merely picking up a talking point from Yglesias? I mean seriously, you must listen to Rush more than anyone else I know.
Oh, and I will repeat the comment about health care reform (this bill) being the Democrats' PATRIOT Act.
"The quote comes from Barry Goldwater, who ran for president in the year 1964."
Yes, Goldwater used something like that in his speech. But if you check the link Marxy included, you can see that he butchered the quote. Here's what was actually on the brick:
"Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice"
Now here's what Goldwater said in his speech:
"I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."
I already knew that this didn't originate with Goldwater, but I didn't remember who said it, prompting some research. It turns out that this originally came from Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BC to 43 BC). The Founding Fathers or this country thought very highly of him, with John Adams having written:
"As all the ages of the world have not produced a greater statesman and philosopher united than Cicero, his authority should have great weight."
Tellingly, he is best known as a primary political leader in the unsuccessful opposition to the massive overhaul (dictatorship) instituted by Julius Caeser which eventually lead to the fall of the Roman Empire.
Isn't it fascinating that A) The founders of this country thought highly of him, and B) His failure to live up to be extreme enough against the undermining of the Roman Constitution by Caeser allowed the Roman Empire to fall. And Marxy has a problem with a quote from a guy where history has proven both to be correct?
Oh, BTW Marxy, thanks for another reason to take a fresh jaunt through history. There's nothing like refreshing knowledge and learning more. You should try it sometime.
Markadelphia said...
Anon, I think blk beat me to it. I couldn't have said it better myself.
No you couldn't as blk spouts the same shit (sweeping generalizations, logical fallacies, projection, misrepresentation,etc.), just more smoothly.
It is disturbing to see you leftist morons continue to pick at the opposition instead of actually be outraged at the complete and utter garbage coming out of Washington and the blatant lies and corruption going on in front of the entire world. You are tax paying Americans too right?!
Those of us opposing this type irresponsible behavior are baffled at your continued support and defense of the indefensible. Yet you do nothing more than spout tired lefty memes and attack the opposition rather than address real issues. Grow up already!!
Uh, oh. I wanted to find where Cicero wrote those words that were on the brick, so I kept digging.
It seems that Harry Jaffa, Goldwater's speechwriter, actually came up with those lines himself:
"Perhaps it will comfort Mr. Mulder to know that there are those who still ascribe Barry Goldwater's famous 1964 aphorism concerning "extremism in defense of liberty" to Cicero. I can assure him that these words—which are now immortalized in Bartlett's—originated solely in my draft of the Senator's speech. However, confusing my words with Cicero's is certainly the most flattering thing that has ever happened to me, and I only hope that it will not end.
Harry V, Jaffa
Center for the Study of the Natural Law"
So it appears that I was wrong about the source for the quote. My apologies.
Still, it is interesting that the men who wrote our Constitution held such respect for an ancient politician who gave his life trying to prevent the undermining of the Roman Constitution, and the resulting fall. I'll have to do more reading on him.
Bricks through dem windows = evidence of evil right wing conspiracy. Gunshots through rep windows = lone nutjobs, nothing to see here.
What compete and utter crap. Your double standards are disgusting.
When was the last time a black man was beaten by thugs at a tea party? Seems like crap like that only goes down when YOUR union goons get organized.
The ones with the violent record are the left thus far and you fucking well know it. You're so full of shit I can't find it in myself to be polite anymore.
M I have a question for you. You have an incorrect quotation of Barry Goldwater on this page. You have neither corrected the error, nor claimed that you are paraphrasing him (for effect presumably).
So what gives? Why do you refuse to make the correction, or at least post an update?
Just changed it from "case" to "defense."
I said it "came from" Barry Goldwater which I wrote to mean "originates" from him. The brick thrower left out the word "the" so that's why I did. And the next sentence wasn't included on the brick and, honestly, really doesn't help the brick thrower's cause so I didn't included it.
Ed-no worries. Everyone makes mistakes. I thought it was from Cicero as well and then altered by Goldwater to be his own. Maybe that's still true and you will find something in your readings.
M don't give me such lame ass shit as "came from" or "originates" - you either accurately quote someone or you don't. If you don't then you say something like "as I recall", "to borrow from" or "to paraphrase", or even "x has warped the original to this". Would you tolerate such nonsense from a student?
Hell, if what was on the brick is what you quoted that should've been the point - that the brick-thrower didn't have the quote - let alone the concept - right.
Lastly, when you make changes like that, most bloggers would note the correction/update.
Everyone's a critic and when it come to Mark, the tweezers up the butt hole is always a necessity.
So donald, accuracy doesn't matter as long as the politics point in the right direction? Is there not a single person left of center that can think worth a damn?
There are plenty but I think that once you classify yourself as liberal, the immediate assumption is that you can't think worth a damn and are a liar. Hence the scrutiny.
the immediate assumption is that you can't think worth a damn and are a liar
I tend to be generous and not assume someone is a liar, until they prove otherwise.
There may be plenty of quality liberal thinkers somewhere - but not in the immediate vicinity. Not when the intellectual laziness that M habitually presents goes uncorrected except by us evil cultists.
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