"Contra Rush Limbaugh, history’s actual fascists were not primarily known for their anti-smoking policies or generous social welfare programs. Fascism celebrated violence, anti-rationalism and hysterical devotion to an authoritarian leader. To date, the Obama administration has fallen rather short in these departments.
Perhaps uncomfortably aware of the shortcoming, the hardliners have developed — okay, invented really — their own mythology about Obama “brownshirts.” (The popular conservative website RedState.org literally uses the term.) The complaint rests on a single case — that of conservative activist Kenneth Gladney, who got into a scuffle at a townhall in St. Louis, Missouri. The altercation was captured on video and you can watch it on YouTube. What you’ll see is a man, already on the ground, and another man stepping back in order to avoid tripping over him. The man on the ground is Gladney. Gladney walked away from the confrontation and later went to hospital, where he was treated for light injuries and released the same day. Whatever happened and whoever started it, this happily bloodless encounter bears not even the most glancing resemblance to the brutality that made Hitler’s brownshirts notorious. And yet, look up Gladney’s name online and he’s suddenly a poignant martyr." -David Frum, New Majority.
But "fascist", "nihilist", "socialist", "marxist", "atheist", "communist", "brownshirt", these terms are all equally inherently bad, right? Their actual definitions or the context of their usage don't really matter, just that one yells them loudly and often enough about one's enemies in order for something to stick. That's how you win political debate in this country and it's why wanting to make sure that every American has affordable health care obviously makes Obama a dirty Nazi.
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Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Something Someone Else Said
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2 comments:
I'll be blunt and to the point: I consider these people, the ones who actively seek to deny decent health care (not just access to emergency treatment) to millions of Americans a traitor to the country, to morality, to decency. They are practicing a form of eugenics, which is what Hitler sought. So I find it profoundly sad that these people, and I use the term lightly, consider themselves moral, patriotic, and American.
I consider them beyond reproach, stupid, and/or gullible.
And these people wielding their "American power" by a show of firearms at health care town halls are scary indeed. I'm angry, I'm outraged, and right now I consider the Democrats wimps at best, and the Republicans somewhere lower on the scale than Hitler and Dr. Mengele.
If I sound pissed off, it's because I am. I would be happier knowing that these people will be lining up in Hell, if only it existed!
Don't feel alone. These wingnuts are enough to scare the pants off of most half-way intelligent people. And I share your rage at the impotent Democrats. I'm furious with my party for having no balls.
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