I've waited a long time to write this one.
For the past several months, the media has been inundated with examples of politicians and political activists behaving badly, and most recently the revelation that the organization ACORN was undermined and slandered through false reporting on part of the young journalistic duo who conducted the undercover "sting operation". However, the continued practice of disinformation, disparagement, and depravity isn't occurring just at the federal level of government. Instead, it has spread through all levels of society, and I fear that Abraham Lincoln's great observation of the volatile nature of a divided nation will come true once more:
"...a house divided against itself cannot stand...I do not expect the house to fall-but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other."
We are at that point in our history once more, civil war is not out of the question since our nation has separated itself into two camps - Progressive and Conservative. However, the two groups fighting over the farm are rife with overzealous extremists who use fear, ignorance, and intimidation to manipulate the emotions of the masses in order to whip them into a frenzy of hostility and aggression.
A good example of this, is the drama surrounding controversial Republican spokeswoman Sarah Palin, and her decision to pick and choose which inflammatory public statements she will comment on. For example, I and others blogged months ago about her reaction to a character on the cartoon "Family Guy" who had Down's Syndrome, and was dating the son of the main protagonists. Normally, I try to avoid the drama surrounding Palin, but trust me I'm going somewhere with this. Palin unloaded a ton of vitriol towards Seth MacFarlane, creator of "Family Guy", and raised such a stink that even the actress who voiced the character spoke out against Palin's antics accusing the former Governor of having no sense of humor.
Just when you thought it was safe, Rahm Emmanuel's use of the word "retard" in a meeting six months before Palin learned about it came to light, and she unloaded once more calling for his resignation. Yet, Rush Limbaugh used the word an excess of twenty times on his radio show, and Palin granted him a pardon saying his use of the word was "satire". Okay, hypocrisy isn't uncommon these days when politics is involved, but it became even more apparent when Palin was dead silent after the slurs "faggot" and "nigger" were shouted by Tea Baggers at Rep. John Lewis, a hero of the Civil Rights movement, and Rep. Barney Frank who is openly gay.
Palin, the same person who once claimed that she resigned from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission due to ethics violations, was absolutely silent when this hit the news. This isn't surprising since the Tea Party paid her $100,000 to speak at one of their functions several months ago, so now who has a conflict of interest? These extremist behaviors have been on the rise in lieu of Obama's ascension to office, of course someone out there is going to accuse me of trying to play the race card, but isn't that what has been happening from the start?
It's no longer socially acceptable to be a raging racist in today's society, you can't stand up in front of Congress, and say you don't support or agree with your leader because he is a Negro or some other N-word. It is, on the other hand, perfectly reasonable to spread disinformation calling the President an illegal alien, socialist, Muslim sympathizer, and tyrannical fascist. Except now, things have gotten so out-of-hand, that we have people making armed marches on Washington D.C., children chanting "assassinate" and "kill Obama" on school buses, and harassment of progressives all across the nation including here in Alaska.
Back in March, the Alaska Democratic Party Headquarters here in Anchorage was vandalized by someone who had a personal problem with their front window. This action was pooh-poohed by conservative radio host Rick Rydell, along with others who claimed that it wasn't the result of extremist Tea Baggers, or inflammatory remarks made by Sarah Palin or Glenn Beck. Yet to make that claim, is to ignore actual statements made by Palin at a rally! The woman actually told people to do the following:
"That bumper sticker that maybe you'll see on the next Subaru driving by -- an Obama bumper sticker -- you should stop the driver and say, 'So how's that hopey, changey thing workin' out for ya?'"
No sooner than this asinine suggestion hit the masses, then a man in Nashville, Tennessee and his ten-year-old daughter were victims of road rage by an anti-Obama driver. Mark Duren had just picked up his daughter from school when another driver, Harry Weisiger, pointed at the Obama bumper sticker on the back of his car, and then flipped him off. The encounter continued to escalate with Weisiger following Duren, honking his horn at him, until Duren came to a stop at a sign. It was then Weisiger hit Duren's car with his SUV, and continued to push the vehicle up onto the sidewalk. Notice this all happened the same month that the Alaska Democratic Headquarters was vandalized, but supposedly there's no relation between the two incidents and that speech.
Sure.
Apparently, everyone is forgetting the fact that there are people in this world who are open to suggestion, especially from those who are in power, and are willing to engage in acts of violence against those who aren't in agreement with them. Palin and others who have openly called for opposition are culpable if their words leads to a violent insurrection in this country. If anything, while the Constitution uniting our Republic protects our rights to protest and dissent, it only does so if the reason for those actions are just, and not the result of skilled manipulation of our minds and emotions. This is what is taking place in our country right at this moment, people who are being used a pawns to do the dirty work of those who would rather avoid the same level of scrutiny and justice as those they govern. As my father used to say, the old "do as I say not as I do" schtick.
I believe it is time we remove ourselves as pawns in this game of political chess, and instead begin questioning the sources of our information. Thanks to the inception of the world wide web, we no longer have to rely solely on what we are spoon-fed by the newspapers and the media for our information. Thanks to the foresight of our Founding Fathers, we are able to study the history of our nations and leaders through public libraries. Why? Because they believed that an educated people were more capable of ensuring the checks and balances of their government, than one who was not, and therefore I believe it is no coincidence that our elected officials want to further dumb down our schools in order to give ignorance a better hold over our nation's youth. The Texas textbook fiasco easily comes to mind.
Therefore, do the things that those who are in charge do not want you to do: ask questions, research the facts, look into the history of our elected officials, and read the fine print of any laws or bills they try to pass. Most importantly, hold them accountable, and do so in a civilized and controlled manner instead of presenting yourself as part of a rabble filled with fear, ignorance, and hate.
***
The Family Guy Incident
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/15/family-guy-trig-palin-vid_n_462522.html
Palin's Response to The Family Guy Incident
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/16/sarah-palin-bristol-respo_n_463604.html
Andrea Fay Friedman, The Voice of The Family Guy Character's Response
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/18/family-guy-actress-respon_n_468331.html
The N-Word and F-Word Incidents
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/20/tea-party-protests-nier-f_n_507116.html
Vandalism of Alaska Democratic Offices
http://www.adn.com/2010/03/29/1204028/vandals-break-window-at-democratc.html
Children Chanting "Assassinate Obama" On Bus
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/idaho_students_chant_obama_thr.html
Hopey-Changey Quote
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/3/30/852426/-So-hows-that-hopey,-changey-thing-workin-out-for-ya
Man Victim of Road Rage by Anti-Obama Driver
http://www.wkrn.com/global/story.asp?s=12208009
The Power of Suggestion Courtesy of Columbia Law Review
http://www.lexisnexis.com.proxy.consortiumlibrary.org/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T9243380249&format=GNBFI&sort=DATE,A,H&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T9243379116&cisb=22_T9243379115&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=7332&docNo=21
For the past several months, the media has been inundated with examples of politicians and political activists behaving badly, and most recently the revelation that the organization ACORN was undermined and slandered through false reporting on part of the young journalistic duo who conducted the undercover "sting operation". However, the continued practice of disinformation, disparagement, and depravity isn't occurring just at the federal level of government. Instead, it has spread through all levels of society, and I fear that Abraham Lincoln's great observation of the volatile nature of a divided nation will come true once more:
"...a house divided against itself cannot stand...I do not expect the house to fall-but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other."
We are at that point in our history once more, civil war is not out of the question since our nation has separated itself into two camps - Progressive and Conservative. However, the two groups fighting over the farm are rife with overzealous extremists who use fear, ignorance, and intimidation to manipulate the emotions of the masses in order to whip them into a frenzy of hostility and aggression.
A good example of this, is the drama surrounding controversial Republican spokeswoman Sarah Palin, and her decision to pick and choose which inflammatory public statements she will comment on. For example, I and others blogged months ago about her reaction to a character on the cartoon "Family Guy" who had Down's Syndrome, and was dating the son of the main protagonists. Normally, I try to avoid the drama surrounding Palin, but trust me I'm going somewhere with this. Palin unloaded a ton of vitriol towards Seth MacFarlane, creator of "Family Guy", and raised such a stink that even the actress who voiced the character spoke out against Palin's antics accusing the former Governor of having no sense of humor.
Just when you thought it was safe, Rahm Emmanuel's use of the word "retard" in a meeting six months before Palin learned about it came to light, and she unloaded once more calling for his resignation. Yet, Rush Limbaugh used the word an excess of twenty times on his radio show, and Palin granted him a pardon saying his use of the word was "satire". Okay, hypocrisy isn't uncommon these days when politics is involved, but it became even more apparent when Palin was dead silent after the slurs "faggot" and "nigger" were shouted by Tea Baggers at Rep. John Lewis, a hero of the Civil Rights movement, and Rep. Barney Frank who is openly gay.
Palin, the same person who once claimed that she resigned from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission due to ethics violations, was absolutely silent when this hit the news. This isn't surprising since the Tea Party paid her $100,000 to speak at one of their functions several months ago, so now who has a conflict of interest? These extremist behaviors have been on the rise in lieu of Obama's ascension to office, of course someone out there is going to accuse me of trying to play the race card, but isn't that what has been happening from the start?
It's no longer socially acceptable to be a raging racist in today's society, you can't stand up in front of Congress, and say you don't support or agree with your leader because he is a Negro or some other N-word. It is, on the other hand, perfectly reasonable to spread disinformation calling the President an illegal alien, socialist, Muslim sympathizer, and tyrannical fascist. Except now, things have gotten so out-of-hand, that we have people making armed marches on Washington D.C., children chanting "assassinate" and "kill Obama" on school buses, and harassment of progressives all across the nation including here in Alaska.
Back in March, the Alaska Democratic Party Headquarters here in Anchorage was vandalized by someone who had a personal problem with their front window. This action was pooh-poohed by conservative radio host Rick Rydell, along with others who claimed that it wasn't the result of extremist Tea Baggers, or inflammatory remarks made by Sarah Palin or Glenn Beck. Yet to make that claim, is to ignore actual statements made by Palin at a rally! The woman actually told people to do the following:
"That bumper sticker that maybe you'll see on the next Subaru driving by -- an Obama bumper sticker -- you should stop the driver and say, 'So how's that hopey, changey thing workin' out for ya?'"
No sooner than this asinine suggestion hit the masses, then a man in Nashville, Tennessee and his ten-year-old daughter were victims of road rage by an anti-Obama driver. Mark Duren had just picked up his daughter from school when another driver, Harry Weisiger, pointed at the Obama bumper sticker on the back of his car, and then flipped him off. The encounter continued to escalate with Weisiger following Duren, honking his horn at him, until Duren came to a stop at a sign. It was then Weisiger hit Duren's car with his SUV, and continued to push the vehicle up onto the sidewalk. Notice this all happened the same month that the Alaska Democratic Headquarters was vandalized, but supposedly there's no relation between the two incidents and that speech.
Sure.
Apparently, everyone is forgetting the fact that there are people in this world who are open to suggestion, especially from those who are in power, and are willing to engage in acts of violence against those who aren't in agreement with them. Palin and others who have openly called for opposition are culpable if their words leads to a violent insurrection in this country. If anything, while the Constitution uniting our Republic protects our rights to protest and dissent, it only does so if the reason for those actions are just, and not the result of skilled manipulation of our minds and emotions. This is what is taking place in our country right at this moment, people who are being used a pawns to do the dirty work of those who would rather avoid the same level of scrutiny and justice as those they govern. As my father used to say, the old "do as I say not as I do" schtick.
I believe it is time we remove ourselves as pawns in this game of political chess, and instead begin questioning the sources of our information. Thanks to the inception of the world wide web, we no longer have to rely solely on what we are spoon-fed by the newspapers and the media for our information. Thanks to the foresight of our Founding Fathers, we are able to study the history of our nations and leaders through public libraries. Why? Because they believed that an educated people were more capable of ensuring the checks and balances of their government, than one who was not, and therefore I believe it is no coincidence that our elected officials want to further dumb down our schools in order to give ignorance a better hold over our nation's youth. The Texas textbook fiasco easily comes to mind.
Therefore, do the things that those who are in charge do not want you to do: ask questions, research the facts, look into the history of our elected officials, and read the fine print of any laws or bills they try to pass. Most importantly, hold them accountable, and do so in a civilized and controlled manner instead of presenting yourself as part of a rabble filled with fear, ignorance, and hate.
***
The Family Guy Incident
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/15/family-guy-trig-palin-vid_n_462522.html
Palin's Response to The Family Guy Incident
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/16/sarah-palin-bristol-respo_n_463604.html
Andrea Fay Friedman, The Voice of The Family Guy Character's Response
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/18/family-guy-actress-respon_n_468331.html
The N-Word and F-Word Incidents
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/20/tea-party-protests-nier-f_n_507116.html
Vandalism of Alaska Democratic Offices
http://www.adn.com/2010/03/29/1204028/vandals-break-window-at-democratc.html
Children Chanting "Assassinate Obama" On Bus
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/idaho_students_chant_obama_thr.html
Hopey-Changey Quote
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/3/30/852426/-So-hows-that-hopey,-changey-thing-workin-out-for-ya
Man Victim of Road Rage by Anti-Obama Driver
http://www.wkrn.com/global/story.asp?s=12208009
The Power of Suggestion Courtesy of Columbia Law Review
http://www.lexisnexis.com.proxy.consortiumlibrary.org/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T9243380249&format=GNBFI&sort=DATE,A,H&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T9243379116&cisb=22_T9243379115&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=7332&docNo=21