Monday, June 15, 2009

Minuteman -- what's in a name?

The right wing trolls have been parading their mock outrage recently about suggestions that the last 8 years have marked a new high ( or low, if you prefer) in Republican hate mongery -- unless, of course they're allowed to blame it either equally or entirely on "far-left Liberals," which group is comprised of anyone who criticized George W. Bush's presidency before the economy hit the fan.

Were the Doctor murderer and the museum shooter secret FLL's? is the question they're pretending to ask themselves in order to avoid the appearance of complicity, says Majikthise. Of course yesterday's arrests for home invasion and murder by leaders of one of the "minuteman" groups who pose as well-regulated militias doing what "the government refuses to do" will have to be integrated into the program of denial and blame passing. It's going to get more and more difficult, I predict, to discuss any question of responsibility.

Shawna Forde, leader of Minutemen America Defense, aptly called MAD, is a graduate of San Diego terrorist Camp Vigilante. She's been arrested along with two other terrorist border patrol volunteer group members for having shot up a Hispanic family in their own home, leaving a father and his nine year old daughter dead. One of the other vigilantes is also a product of a Minuteman training camp, but of course the argument is being steered away from culpability and toward which of several groups get to use the Minuteman name, as the dance of denial and evasion begins.

Of course by suggesting that the rabid barking about Mexicans from Lou Dobbs on down to the self-appointed defenders of America's borders and undiluted bodily fluids has had any effect on the overall climate of murderous rage amongst the "conservatives," exposes me to accusations of playing the "Blame Game" and being ranked as another Far Left Liberal hate shouter in the false equivalence World Series and probably an America Blaming, crypto-terrorist, Fascist-Marxist follower of the false and foreign-born Messiah Obama as well.

Really, I should just go back to writing about Boats before my sense of guilt becomes overwhelming.

3 comments:

  1. I have commented on the subject of responsibility concerning the latest spate of mindless violence at another blog and would like to do so here also.
    While some of these nuts may act alone or in small groups and most probably will be the only ones charged, the fact is some of these loonies may never have acted had they not belonged to groups who spout off hate-filled rhetoric.
    While I am not advocating a speech police, we, as Americans, must understand that our right to free speech also carries the responsiblity of free speech.
    But trying to spin white supremists off as liberals would be laughable if the situation was not so incredibly sad.

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  2. we, as Americans, must understand that our right to free speech also carries the responsiblity of free speech.

    rocky, I couldn't agree more.

    Unfortunately, "responsibility" is not a word these murderers and hate spewers understand.

    Guys like O'Reilly and Beck are responsible for making sure they stay on top. Limbaugh is responsible for securing his $400 million radio deal. Newt the newt takes responsibility for propping himself up as a prez contender.

    The well-being of Americans and of America does not cross the minds of such self-interested radicals.

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  3. Vincente,

    Thanks for your comments. I don't think the US is nearly at the level that Germany was in the 1930's but these groups grow in size and power in proportion to how much we fail to pay attention. It scares me that we're being abused for watching them and commenting about them and it scares me that they want, like the Nazis did, to do "what the government will not do." Anger against liberals is part of the strategy, just as anger against minorities in Germany was a strategy -- they have to demonize the opposition and their ironic way of doing that is to say we're demonizing them.

    There's lots of interesting information about these people on your site.

    Rocky & Brian,

    Free speech obviously has its limits and there is much in the law against it. I'm in favor of as much leeway being allowed as possible, but our right is being abused. Long before we talk about censorship, we ought to be talking about giving people other than the abusers the power to rebut, challenge and be heard. They can talk about competition from the internet, but what we do here will never have the reach and power of Fox, for instance. Perhaps we do need stronger laws against hate speech, inciting to riot and similar, but it will be very, very difficult to sell seeing the might of the Right in America.

    LEst it be thought that I'm in favor of disarming America though, I'll point out that the mother of this family did have a gun and apparently managed to shoot back and drive off her assailants.

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