"You need to riot": Right-wing uses violent rhetoric
In the wake of reported threats on Democratic officials due to their health care votes, Media Matters for America takes a look back at the right-wing media's history of violent rhetoric.
Right-wing media figures call for "riots" and "revolution" and use other violent rhetoric
Right-wing blogger: People should "have a swing at" lawmakers "if you're willing to do the time." In a March 24 post on his blog, Confederate Yankee, Bob Owens wrote:
No matter what you think of Obamacare and the craven ideologues that passed it, is totally unacceptable to threaten their relatives or friends and put them in danger.
Go to your Congressman's office and scream at him in the most colorful language possible. Hang him in effigy at protests. If you're willing to do the time for the crime, have a swing at him.
Better yet, throw a shoe... after all, the left values such behavior as a form of "vigorous dissent," and will no doubt ask for any charges against you to be dropped.
Perhaps one day stronger action will be required if Progressives continue to trample on our liberties in their blind quest for power. But that time is not now.
At this time, I suspect Shikha Dalmia's call for massive civil disobedience is the correct path. Show your anger. Make sure those who have trampled your liberties are stuck down by ballots. With your help, the Democratic Party's assault on the Republic can be undone.
The right way.
Owens: "Jackasses" who call health care a right "deserve to be drawn and quartered." From Owens' Twitter account:
Palin: "Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!" Fox News contributor Sarah Palin posted a list of House Democrats who voted for health care reform with crosshairs aimed at their locations. In a March 23 tweet about her map, Palin wrote: " 'Don't Retreat, Instead -- RELOAD!' " Palin's list was criticized by conservative Elizabeth Hasselbeck, who introduced and endorsed Palin during the 2008 campaign, as helping foster a climate of violent rhetoric. Hasselbeck added that the list is "purely despicable" and "insane."
Huckabee: Members of Congress "should be tarred and feathered as the original tea partiers would have done." As RightWingWatch.org noted, Fox News host Mike Huckabee said of members of Congress in January:
HUCKABEE: Every member of Congress knows in his gut what's in the people's interest and what's in K Street's interest. If you think your real boss is some smug guy in a corner office with his Gucci loafers up on a mahogany deck and not the folks back home, those folks who voted for you, who gave you 25 or 50 hard-earned bucks, who put up yard signs and made calls for you, you deserve to lose. Shame on you, you shouldn't just be fired, you should be tarred and feathered as the original tea partiers would have done. That's my view and I welcome yours.
Morris: "Those crazies in Montana who say, 'We're going to kill ATF agents because the U.N.'s going to take over' -- well, they're beginning to have a case." During a long conspiracy theory about a "super-national authority" that will oversee U.S. financial institutions, Fox News contributor Dick Morris asserted that because President Obama's policies are "internationalist ... [t]hose crazies in Montana who say, 'We're going to kill ATF agents because the U.N.'s going to take over' -- well, they're beginning to have a case." [Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto, 3/31/09]
Erickson: "At what point do the people ... march down to their state legislator's house, pull him outside, and beat him to a bloody pulp?" In a March 31, 2009, post on RedState.com discussing a Washington county's ban on certain kinds of dishwasher detergent, Erick Erickson wrote: "At what point do the people tell the politicians to go to hell? At what point do they get off the couch, march down to their state legislator's house, pull him outside, and beat him to a bloody pulp for being an idiot?" Later in the post, Erickson added: "Were I in Washington State, I'd be cleaning my gun right about now waiting to protect my property from the coming riots or the government apparatchiks coming to enforce nonsensical legislation."
Savage: "We're going to have a revolution in this country"; "These people are pushing the wrong people around." Michael Savage discussed multiculturalism and predicted: "This is not going to go on in this country much longer. We're going to have a revolution in this country if this keeps up. These people are pushing the wrong people around." Savage further said that "the rage has reached a boil. If they keep pushing us around, and if we keep having these schmucks running for office catering to the multicultural people who are destroying the culture of this country ... guaranteed the people -- the white male in particular." [Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation, 8/21/09]
Stossel said he has "Barney Frank in effigy" hanging above his sofa. In a February 3 interview with New York magazine, when Fox Business host John Stossel was asked, "What's hanging above your sofa?" he responded: "Barney Frank in effigy." [New York, 2/3/10]
Beck portrays Obama, Democrats as vampires, suggests "driv[ing] a stake through the heart of the bloodsuckers." Beck aired a graphic portraying Obama and Democrats as vampires and said, "The government is full of vampires, and they are trying to suck the lifeblood out of the economy." Beck then suggested "driv[ing] a stake through the heart of the bloodsuckers." [Glenn Beck, 3/30/09]
Beck talks about "put[ting] poison" in Pelosi's wine. Beck stated:
BECK: So, Speaker Pelosi, I just wanted to -- you gonna drink your wine? Are you blind? Do those eyes not work? There you -- I want you to drink it now. Drink it. Drink it. Drink it.
I really just wanted to thank you for having me over here to wine country. You know, to be invited, I thought I had to be a major Democratic donor or a longtime friend of yours, which I'm not.
By the way, I put poison in your -- no, I -- I look forward to all the policy discussions that we're supposed to have -- you know, on health care, energy reform, and the economy. [Glenn Beck 8/6/09]
Beck: "To the day I die, I am going to be a progressive hunter." Telling his listeners that they "are going to learn so much on Friday," Beck compared himself to "Israeli Nazi hunters" and commented, "I'm going to find these big progressives and, to the day I die, I'm going to be a progressive hunter." He added:
BECK: I'm going to find these people that have done this to our -- you know, to our country, and expose them. I don't care where -- I don't care if they're in nursing homes. I'm going to expose what they have done and make sure that the people understand, because our Constitution, our republic -- if it survives -- it will only survive because the people are waking up and through the grace of God, because we are that close to losing our republic. [Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program, 1/20/10]
Beck: "Grab a torch." Asserting that politicians are addicted to spending, Beck stated: "When do we ever run those who are bankrupting our country and literally stealing our children's future out of town? Grab a torch." [Glenn Beck, 1/6/10]
Beck speaks for one third of the nation: "[Y]ou will have to shoot me in the forehead before you take away my gun" and "before I acquiesce and be silent." During the July 30, 2009, edition of his radio show, Beck warned "ACORN, GE, Obama, SEIU" that "you are awakening a sleeping giant, and I have nothing to do with it" and that "America is waking up. You know the American Revolution took place with 12 percent of the population? Twelve. Are you telling me there is not 30 percent of this population that you will have to shoot me in the forehead before I let somebody into my house to tell me how to raise my children; you will have to shoot me in the forehead before you take away my gun; you will have to shoot me in the forehead before I acquiesce and be silent."
Beck: "There is a coup going on. There is a stealing of America." On his radio show, Beck stated that "there is a revolution, and they think they can get away with it quietly." Beck further claimed: "At this point, gang, I'm not sure, they may be able to because they are so far ahead of us. They know what they're dealing against; most of America does not yet. Most of America doesn't have a clue as to what's going on. There is a coup going on. There is a stealing of America, and the way it is done, it has been done through the -- the guise of an election, but they lied to us the entire time." He also said, "And they're gonna say, 'we did it democratically,' and they are going to grab power every way they can. And God help us in an emergency." [The Glenn Beck Program, 8/31/09]
Beck pours gasoline on "average American," asks, "President Obama, why don't you just set us on fire?" On his Fox News program, Beck claimed to be imitating Obama while pouring liquid from a gasoline can -- which he later stated was water -- on an "average American." Beck said during his demonstration: "President Obama, why don't you just set us on fire? ... We didn't vote to lose the republic." [Glenn Beck, 4/9/09]
Newsmax columnist Perry asserts Obama "is inviting" a "[m]ilitary intervention." John Perry wrote: "There is a remote, although gaining, possibility America's military will intervene as a last resort to resolve the 'Obama problem.' Don't dismiss it as unrealistic." He added:
Will the day come when patriotic general and flag officers sit down with the president, or with those who control him, and work out the national equivalent of a "family intervention," with some form of limited, shared responsibility?
Imagine a bloodless coup to restore and defend the Constitution through an interim administration that would do the serious business of governing and defending the nation. Skilled, military-trained, nation-builders would replace accountability-challenged, radical-left commissars. Having bonded with his twin teleprompters, the president would be detailed for ceremonial speech-making.
Military intervention is what Obama's exponentially accelerating agenda for "fundamental change" toward a Marxist state is inviting upon America. A coup is not an ideal option, but Obama's radical ideal is not acceptable or reversible. [Newsmax.com, 9/29/09]
Quinn calls for "riots": "Our country was built on revolution, and it's about time we took it back." Discussing health care reform, Jim Quinn stated, "You have got to say no to this, and if they push this through, you need to riot in the streets. You need to riot in the streets." He further said, "Our country was built on revolution and it's about time we took it back. These people are dangerous," and, "It's about time to put an end to this leftist control of this country, and if a revolution is what it takes, damn it, then that's what it's going to take, because liberty will not be denied." [The War Room with Quinn and Rose, 9/10/09]
Chuck Norris: "[W]ill history need to record a second American Revolution?" In his March 9, 2009, column for WorldNetDaily, actor and political activist Chuck Norris wrote: "How much more will Americans take? When will enough be enough? And, when that time comes, will our leaders finally listen or will history need to record a second American Revolution? We the people have the authority according to America's Declaration of Independence." Norris also wrote, "On Glenn Beck's radio show last week, I quipped in response to our wayward federal government, 'I may run for president of Texas.' That need may be a reality sooner than we think."
The woman nearly was our vice president. No matter what Obama does in his term as president, or how much I disagree with some of his policies, I am reminded of who would have been a heartbeat away from leading this country had he not been elected. For that, I sincerely thank everyone who voted for Obama/Biden.
There are no words to describe how contemptuous this woman is.
But, in 2008, once he chose Palin, NEVER.
For the record, I didn't like any of the candidates who ran in 2008. LOL!
We all win when the debate is more substance and less politics. They must turn away from these entertainers disguised as political leaders. Any political points they think they might gain in the short run are not worth the long term price they cost the party and its principles. And, yes, the Republican party did once have principles.
Goldwater was a conservative we could be proud of, for sure. e was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.I may be a staunch liberal (though open-minded), but even I see the need for the brakes to be GENTLY applied every once and again to slow us down, not totally derail us! What are we, AmTrak?
First of all....you'll lower your blood pressure. You'll feel so much better about the situation, and just maybe they will listen to their viewers and stop this madness before it becomes the fiasco it is doomed to be. Discovery has to realize what they stand to lose by standing close to the likes of her!!
again this is the result of allowing the right wing noise machine to let itself run wild.
IMHO, this is a clear indication that they are using those who listen to them to promote their own personal and political gain.
There IS something inherently WRONG with that!
But not me, I've been saying it for years. Those on top know that the surest way to stay on top is to keep everyone below fighting each other. It's worked since the industrial revolution. And it seems to be working now.
Those pundits know exactly what they're going to say before they even say it. Even their slightest of hand gesture's, be it against a democratic opponent on TV, is used to mindfully control what the viewer makes of the segment.
Many people don't even watch, much less pay attention to these idiots, look at how many viewers watch Fox, like what 1% of the population. And how many people work for big "corporate masters" and nobody is a "corporate slave", unless they are forced to work in a certain job, and nobody is. We all have choices.
Your hysteria is about as overblown as anything I have ever read.
What I took issue with was your conspiratorial rant about the "top" wanting to keep people "beneath" them fighting and in a constant state of flux to protect their "wealth" or "power" or something.
I don't see idiots like Limbaugh or any of his like-minded wannabee clones having much more of an agenda than to line their pockets and get some attention. It's sickening, poisoning, coarsening and disgusting. But they have a freedom to speak. But along with that freedom comes responsibility. And they don't want to accept that, which is the pitiful and sad part. They have to live with themselves.
Propaganda is information, often inaccurate information, which a political organization publishes or broadcasts in order to influence people.
Propaganda is a form of communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position.
When Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, and the rest of the right wing media have built a foundation on propagandizing and mixing in notions of death threats and violence to their shows, it's gone far and beyond freedom of speech, it becomes blatant hate speech.
And yes, I do believe there is a totem pole of wealthy bank and oil execs who have influence over public perception. Hey, you don't have to go far, just take a look into the shareholdings of a certain Saudi Prince and Newscorp...thus in turn, you have Fox News being anti-climate change and pro oil. Pushing an agenda to brainwash the viewers? Like I said, they know what they're going to say before they even say it.
I don't disagree with your perception of much of what Limbaugh and those like him say, or promote. But I am not a lawyer, or a DA, so I cannot intelligently speak to whether or not their words cross the line and become worthy of a criminal investigation. If it is, I hope the public officials in their jurisdiction do their sworn duty.
I speak of their moral obligation and responsibility, because I definitely believe they should be called on that, anyone who has a public media platform should morally be held accountable for their words - and denounced by civil and decent people from every political philosophy.
That is why I think it's important that when your "side" does it, it's vital we call it out. When liberals call out Limbaugh it only emboldens him, however if decent conservatives and Republicans would start doing it, it might have an impact. The same with Democrats and liberals when one of their own crosses the line. It would be nice if it started with Congresspeople and elected officials, but they are spineless for the most part and feel that by just saying nothing is safer. This is what needs to change.
And by denouncing all of it, and not keeping score about who is worse, is a good start.
C'mon, you can't be this dense. Ever heard of robber barons? Hmmmmm, like the Rockefellers, Andrew Carnegie was also considered one even though he spent a lot of his money on building libraries throughout the US, and many of the railroad magnates were also destined to be considered robber barons.
And am I dense?
It's an oversimplification but that doesn't make it false. If the robber barons aren't relevant today that not much else is relevant.
The enormous transfer of wealth from the middle class to the wealthy has been taking place since the Reagan administration. And the job is almost complete.
Some day Americans will understand class warfare and who has been victorious.
But rather than sit around and worry that my pie slice of the American dream is controlled and out of reach because the deck is so stacked against me and those above me need to be punished or knocked down a peg or two; I worry about myself and what I can do, to move up if I so desire, or contribute, or whatever it takes on my part to my life successful and complete and fulfilled.
I don't waste my time trying to bring anyone else down or worrying about what they have that I don't, it distracts from my own goals of getting on with it.
Again, ridiculous. Do you actually think rich people who own companies sit around and try to think up ways to keep people "down" as you put it? It's absurd and makes no sense. It's just a way to attack rich people again with some idiotic conspiracy theory that has no basis in reality. We are not in the 19th century, we are a global economy.
In my experience poverty is learned. Take a public school for instance. It is a fairly controlled enviroment, children have the same teachers, councilors, administrators, clubs, sports, extra-curricular activities, food, and similar funding. Despite all those thing being equal, some students fail, and some students succeed.
Some students know how to be successful, and some students don't. We can argue about why some students are successful and other aren't, but those variables are numerous and often impossible to reasonably control. (Parenting for example)
Outside of the controlled enviroment of a public school is different, obviously. Many of the same rules apply, some people know how to be successful and some don't, in differing degrees. Sometimes luck plays a part, sometime circumstances. But more often than not, it is whether or not a person has learned to be succsessful.
Rather than using the government to make everyone successful, (impossible) it seems far better to reward those who are successful, and keep the playing field as equal as possible, so those who want to learn success can.
I don't believe there has ever been a social structure on a large scale that has eliminated class. I don't think any economic or political structures exist that offer a classless society, where one person dominating another person is non-existent. I don't think that a functioning ideal has even been conceived yet(Notice the yet). I hope that it will be.
Until then, I think the best we can do is offer a place where the dominated have protections, and where mobility between class is dependent on an individuals abilities and character.
I also think that capatilism is the best means to support class mobility and limited class domination. Obviously you have to have a referee, but the second the referee becomes a player, neither team will win. The referee makes all the rules.
I'm not complaining about myself. I worked and fought my entire life for what I have. No one gave me anything. And more importantly, no one was dragged down because of anything I've ever done. I've spent my life in the trenches fighting for working people against corporate America.
And I'm the last person who would waste time worrying that other people have more than me. I've accomplished my goals and want for nothing.
But everyday, I see the wreckage left behind when things stop "trickling down". I see million dollar homes foreclosed with no one interested or able to "move up". Many of those who just last year were arguing from your position see exactly where they stand in the scheme of things. And they understand how wrong they were.
My point is that it is pointless to complain how unfair and disproportionate everything is. All that energy is better spent figuring out how to start working your way back up from despair. People do it all the time in this country, always have, always will. Sure, some people have advantages, but life is not fair. Some people get stepped on more than others but as I said much of our lot is of our making. If I live in a million dollar home and have debt up the wazoo then I created that mess, it isn't my neighbor's fault I lived beyond my means. Does that mean they deserve to be out on the street? No, but there are avenues and ways; churches, family, community, charities, all sorts of organizations to help people get through tough times. And yes, the government in a restrained and temporary safety net. I am not against that.
I just don't see the value in worrying about what somebody else has. Those that do invariably do so at their own peril. And they just want to be "righted". And it isn't government's role to right someones economic wrong. It just isn't.
The wages of the middle class have been stagnant for years and years while their expenses have continued to go up.
The wealth of the wealthiest in the USA has grown to such an extent that they now pay a significantly larger share of the overall taxes paid, despite the fact that tax rates didn't increase, because they have so much more money!
Growth in today's economy is fueled by consumer spending, and the only way the largest group, the middle class, can spend more in a financially viable way is to have real wage growth. Borrowing and drawing down savings are two other ways that often happen, but they are pits that don't help in the long run.
I don't think anyone is arguing that there is a growing disparity. I think the arguement is about how to deal with it. That is the real difference between opposing views, how do we decide who deals the cards.
This thread really digressed didn't it. Started out with people calling Palin "hot or not" and turned into a far more fundamental discussion about economics.
You are far more daring than me. Feverish.....HAHA
What the hell? Who gave me a thumbs down on my post? I didn't even state an opinion. Probably just saw my name and slapped a thumbs down on there.
I"VE BEEN THE VICTIM OF A HATE CRIME!
Now THAT'S a threat. Context be damned, youi can't say something like that without first qualifying it with "I'd have to be a freaking idiot to say..."
http://mediamatters.org/research/200505180008
"Don’t Get Demoralized! Get Organized!"
Whatta ya know -- she actually DOES have some shame?!
(I'm sure there's a cached version or screen capture of it out there though...)
http://twitter.com/SarahPalinUSA/status/10935548053
(So, no. Still no shame.)
No intelligence, though.
Not even speaking from a policy perspective, how could anyone worship this airhead? She's pathetic on every level and totally out for number one.
Your twisty attempt at spinning this story is also silly. It was a completely biased and one-sided story. A story with a clear agenda. How do they even know if the man was pointing at his Obama sticker, he could have been point to a low tire.
Silly story. You would be silly to give it any credence.
Nice try at progpogating your progressive sob story. Better luck next time.
So you're saying it's possible that the perpetrator could have been alerting the father to a low tire by flipping him the bird? "Hey, you're tire is low, so 'F' you." LMAO, For real.
Yeah, silly story, so silly that the alleged perpetrator faces felony charges. For real.
Man accused in bumper sticker road rage tells his side
Turns out there's a witness, and...
Weisiger is charged with two counts of reckless endangerment, driving under the influence, refusing to take a breath test, and leaving the scene of an accident.
So the charges mount. DUI and hit and run. Ouch.
As sob story, indeed. For real.
I didn't say it was sparked by right-wing violent rhetoric. If I had to guess, it was motivated by burning hatred of any and all things Obama, including those who supported and voted for him.
no violent rhetoric here, move along
We have George Bush to thank for being the sixth worst president ever and making it impossible for a lot of Republicans to get elected. We have the insane rhetoric of these people taking such an extreme position that republicans will have a hard time in the next elections.
There were 47 million people without health insurance. If half of them are going to have health insurance and influence voting in the next election, are they going to vote for obstructionists or for candidates who helped them? The polls show that the more that the public finds out about what is in the healthcare bill, the more they like it.
Funny how none of the hate speech from all the liberals that spew this stuff on a daily basis now or during the Bush administration are cited.
http://beckstudies.blogspot.com/
But they themselves are armchair revolutionaries, sitting back and taking their big paydays without lifting anything but their lips... why would anyone ever listen to them. The lazy Republican Senators haven't done a lick of work since Obama was elected; it's easy to just say no.
Get them off the Federal dole and see what they start talking about then. They would begin kissing up to whoever is in power, hoping to get their old jobs and big salaries back.
And by the way; the time for a second revolution has passed.
It was ten years ago when a group of activist judges handed the presidency to a fascist, elitist, moron WITHOUT ALLOWING THE VOTES TO BE COUNTED!!!
And if something really, really serious does actually happen - will any of these poeple admit their contribution to the madness? Hmmm - short answer, I'm sure, is NO, they will not. They will find a way to blame it on Democrats, progressives, liberals... it will be the fault of the targets of all this hate.
It's frustrating, terrifying, and embarassing to see all this garbage going out on airwaves, and into cyberspace... globally, for the entire world to watch. I fear domestic terrorists a heck of a lot more than I fear terrorists from other countries. I mean, seriously - why fear terrorists from other countries, when this country is steadily growing a rampant crop all of our own?
http://www.thefoxnation.com/media/2010/03/26/palin-incitement-lamestream-media-fiction
And then there's Ted Nugent, a pal of Sean Hannity's:
http://www.mediaite.com/online/ted-nugent-tells-cavuto-politicians-are-pigs-and-we-gotta-kill-the-pig/
To be "fair and balanced": Nugent's comments are probably just satire or metaphor.
is frightening and frankly, evil. Jim Jones is another example of someone who preyed on the weak and ill to get them to do what he wanted for a cause that was twisted and sick. We must stop giving her media attention and stop this vicious cycle. The media plays an important role in all this and journalists must be more responsible. Stop covering this low life, inexperienced, loud mouth non substantive, media hungry, ego driven person. Why is the media so focused on the Anna Nicole Smiths and Sara Palins of the world??? Please STOP....ENOUGH of trash tv.!