...because it seems that she thought it was a secret "FEMA Camp":
As reported by Saturday's NY Post, "a Long Island mother of three -- armed to the teeth with an assault rifle and shotgun -- was arrested for scouting out and taking pictures of an Air National Guard base."I really do believe that these people are "mad as hell" and now here's even more proof that some of them are just as dangerous. Now as always I would never blame Beck for anything violent or unlawful this woman might have eventually done. Just as with the Pittsburgh police murders and the murder of Doctor George Tiller, she would have been solely responsible for her own actions regardless of what was said by anyone else to motivate her misguided attempt at vigilantism. And just as in each of those cases of murderous violence we must also be cognizant of what messages and events shaped the perpetrator's thought processes if we want to successfully prevent similar acts by others in the future.
Her arsenal included an XM-15 assault rifle, a shotgun and 500 rounds of ammunition.
The woman, Nancy Genovese, had been seen at the base a few weeks earlier, taking photos and questioning the guards. This time she had returned to take photos of the perimeter of the base. It's not difficult to make the connection that she was paranoid about "FEMA Camps".
Genovese is a Glenn Beck fan, according to her MySpace page (archived here). "He is mad as hell and so are we. He is right and so are we", writes Genovese, who also posted a video of a Glenn Beck rant.
Genovese additionally posted an amateur video indicating her apparent affinity for right-wing militia movements.
So what did Beck say that might have set her off, you ask? Here's a quote from his rant in the video she posted to her MySpace page:
We are coming. We will be heard. We will be represented. You think that we are so busy with our lives that we will never come for you. And we were. But now you’ve gone and done it. We are the formally silent majority, all of us. Quietly work, pay our taxes, obey the laws, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone – now looking up at you. You have awakened us, and a patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful. It had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far.But I'm sure that Ms. Genovese is just a mentally disturbed exception to the conservative fan base and that the rest of Beck's/Hannity's/Limbaugh's/et al.'s listeners realize that their collective shrieking hyperbole and hateful invective about "rising up" and "being pushed too far" and "coming for you" is merely meant to be taken figuratively without a hint of any violent undertones and is all really said more as performance art just to sell books and bring in advertising dollars. Right. Dry that claim out and you can fertilize your lawn with it. Or blow up a federal building. So many uses...
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9 comments:
For every one of these people, there are a thousand more standing on the sidelines, one Glenn Beck rant away from being mobilized. However, I suspect they would not be able to do much without having to pay a visit to the donut shop first.
In my former life, when the KKK was still pretty active in Houston, they put out a pamphlet called "Rats Today, Cat Food Tomorrow." It was a long list with people's names, their addresses, phone numbers, etc., and their alleged offenses. Anything from teaching Black History to, in my case, just existing I guess.
Now the Klan leadership didn't come out and publicly advise its members to burn a cross in peoples' yards or harrass them at 2:00 AM, or make threatening phone calls. But these lists provided a clear message without vocalizing it.
And of course, it is not just Obama himself that frightens any true liberty-loving American that has taken a close look at what he says and believes. The worshiping throngs of anti-American Leftists, Anarchists, Jihadists, Academia, the Mainstream media, the college youth, have set Obama on the Ass and are parading him around the Shining City on a Hill, waving palm fronds in absolute hysterical worship of a Man that preaches God and Morality demand Socialism and that feeding the poor and housing the homeless require retribution against “middleclassness” and Whites.
So, what you're basically saying is that you're a racist hate monger and proud of it.
I think what MSO is saying is that he's one Glenn Beck rant away from being mobilized.
It's either a joke, or this person's a complete idiot.
Link to his blog(s). I think he's one angry man and possibly a menace to society.
MSO is obviously angry but how much of a menace he is probably depends on how much he actually believes the cliched opinions and tired talking points he fills his site with. A look at the list of blogs he follows just reinforces his being a right-wing caricature of a blogger.
This guy's nobody special or even that interesting. There are thousands of angry white guys whining and repeating the exact same pablum on their sites as this guy every day across America. These people don't think; they regurgitate, like infants.
Maybe instead of saying "a menace to society," I should have said "a menace to himself."
I'm not sure what to think about this story, yet. Without a doubt, people this extreme are a minority. But, then again, most extremist movements are created by people who feel they are an oppressed minority.
Islamic extremism is a rather small minority within the larger Muslim population, but it is still the one non-Muslims hear the most about. Squeaky wheel theory at work, I suppose... That and a hefty dose of paranoia of the "other" and "them".
I've said it here before, but Beck et. al. are latecomers to this Big-Guv-is-gonna-enslave-us meme. Conspiracy theorists on late night radio programs like Coast to Coast AM have been pushing this idea for years, no matter their political stripe.
Check Alex Jones' recent take on the subject here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgEe9-XAGAE
Beck is simply aping Jones and his ilk.
But, here is the thing that makes me very wary. Muslim extremism is a clear minority. But what does it take to push that minority from a squeaky wheel into a violent insurgency? I'm no historian, psychologist, or political scientist, but my perception is that a couple of strong, charismatic personalities and little bit of organization can go a long way. Are we seeing that now?
As long as personalities with Beck's exposure are pushing these memes, they're gonna stick around. And so far, this is the most organized response Republicans have mounted against Obama and his policies. And many mainstream Rep politicians are willing to at least tolerate the movement because the response is so organized.
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