Right Wingnut Incitements to Violence Are Being Acted Upon
As you all know, Skyewriter recently wrote about the dangerous incitement to violence and direct threats at Free Republic. I also posted and directed you to Skywriter’s blog. Skyewriter and I were deluged with gun bloggers and other right wingnuts (and just nuts) who denied that this was a direct threat.
The following is that post:
To: PetroniusMaximus
We need to be perfectly clear that by “stopping” him [Barack Obama] we mean using political means to stop his political agenda.Political means are covered by The Three Boxes:
The soap box
The ballot box
The cartridge box
When all else fails, vote from the rooftops. (Somebody else will have to post the appropriate picture.) [emphasis in the original]
41 posted on 02/22/2009 2:28:31 PM PST by cayuga (Just sitting here waiting for 0bama’s Reichstag Fire.)
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Then here’s the picture someone posted:
75 posted on 02/22/2009 2:57:18 PM PST by Eaker (The Two Loudest Sounds in the World…..Bang When it should have been Click and the Reverse.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies ]THEY HAVE BEEN REPORTED TO THE AUTHORITIES. THIS MUST STOP.
One week after Skywriter posted and I directed those on my blog to the post, the Daily Kos posted on the same topic. They detailed a thread in which the wingnuts were ranting, no doubt with white froth at the mouth, about our duly elected President who enjoys exceptionally high approval ratings in this country and who most of America thinks is doing a great job. You can see the post here.
Daily Kos Noted that while wingnut talk like this is nothing terribly new, it is more of the same started by Sarah Palin at her divisive qand hateful rallies and similar to Alan Keyes call for action to “stop” President Obama. Then Daily Kos notes:
The problem is, the audience these wicked self-indulgent opportunists is addressing takes them seriously. And that the members of this audience feel free to think and post stuff like this:
please, someone get this trojan virus in the crosshairs, and soon.
Republican leaders: You have a duty to stop this. Sen. McConnell, Rep. Boehner, RNC Chairman Steele: Denounce this. Seriously.
And what have we heard from these Republican leaders since that post. <crickets> This is a terribly irresponsible display of “leadership.”
But it is not just a question of a Republican leadership and moral vacuum. Where is the media? CNN is more interested in showing homes paid for by the USPS than exposing this clear and growing danger to a man who was elected by a clear majority of this country and who the majority approves of to this day. The rest of the media is equally irresponsible in failing to cover this story and Fox is the grandaddy of them all as they are constantly whipping up the angry white men out there with their no fact based news. The garbage that they spew is delusional. Talk about hijacking democracy!
Today the Daily KOS posted a follow up because like Skye and me, they reported that thread at the Free republic to the FBI. Contrary to all of the nastiness that Skye was subjected to that what she quoted on her blog was really nothing, the FBI and Secret service do think it is something indeed. You can see that post here. Here are some excerpts from the FBI about the wingnuts:
The number of threats to Obama as an individual, not the office, since election day is unprecedented. The Secret Service typically handles this stuff exclusively, but has had to look elsewhere for help.
The FBI monitors and investigates all the white supremacist groups and websites and the guy I know in NY told me that Obama’s election has turned into the best recruiting tool they have ever used. Membership is up for the first time in I don’t know how long, and new hate websites are emerging every week. Some of the websites actually call for Obama’s assassination in their title!
The only solace I can offer is that, typically, these assholes are usually just that: a bunch of bored blowhards, terrified by the pace of a world that is passing them by, who have nothing better to do than complain, blame others for their shitty lives and spew their hatred and pitifully ignorant views online.
This is not to say that Obama isn’t in constant peril…
***
I’m preaching and this has all been said before. I guess I’m just venting because the level of ignorance in this country actually still astounds me. We act horrified and shocked at the uneducated peasant masses blindly following crazy Muslim clerics when we have essentially the same thing going on here.
I could not agree more. It doesn’t matter whether the wingnuts are right wingnuts or left wingnuts. This is not acceptable and puts the people making the threats against President Obama in the same position as Osama bin laden – flat out murderers.
According to the post, the FBI (and I know the secret service as well) has requested our help in exposing the militia groups and the wingnuts threatening our democracy.
He also invites us to help “expose these morons whenever we can”. Distasteful as it is to have to venture into the belly of the beast, let’s keep an eye on the wingnuts and report any and every instance of hate speech, particularly threats of violence, whether against our President or anyone at all. The Secret Service and the FBI actually do investigate these people, as The Red Pen’s rec’d diary from yesterday attests. Reporting them works. So let’s keep the heat turned up. While we’ll probably never change their minds, we can at least stigmatize the hell out of them, make it less attractive to fence-sitters to be associated with them, and make their lives a little more miserable than they already so clearly are.
Here is the contact page for the US Secret Service.
Here is the contact page for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Secret Service has requested that they be contacted immediately whenever you see this type of conduct or threats. Here is a list of telephone numbers for their field offices. you will need to save the information from the internet for their use though, but do call them. They respond quickly. They are watching.
These people are blind, ignorant racists for the most part who cannot stand the fact that an African American family is in the White House. As for the rest of them, from what I have read, they seem to be buying into the socialism/marxism/communism rants of people like Limbaugh, Beck, Coulter and all of the other “Republicans” who are spreading the same garbage in a desperate attempt to hang onto their dittohead base. As far as I am concerned, if they do not step up and denounce this behavior, should anything happen, they should be investigated and/or prosecuted for their part in whipping up a crown of wingnuts who don’t read and apparently can’t think too clearly either.
Report it whenever you see it. How ironic that they are concerned about President Obama, when memos released last week clearly demonstrate that George Bush, a conservative Republican, took us closer to a police state than any other president of which I know. Delusional indeed.
UPDATE:
The following was posted in a thread at the Free Republic site in response to this post about the above thread.
To: RegulatorCountryActually the claim is true, here are the two posts in question:Post #41While I absolutely detest Obama and everything he stands for, I personally believe this was over the line on the part of the posters and the offending posts should be removed. It only allows the liberals to paint us with a broad brush. But then, it’s not my “house”.
50 posted on Mon Mar 09 2009 13:44:19 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) by ravingnutter
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To: ravingnutterAs an aside (I agree the posts were over the line), it’s pretty funny the DUers are saying said posters are racists when they are posting in support of Alan Keyes (who is black).
***
To: cayuga
There was no threat to Our Leader, direct or implied in my post.I didn’t say there was. And I have no problem with comprehension, thank you, so cut the snide remarks. Posts that say we should vote from the rooftop, especially accompanied by a sniper picture, are clearly over the line and incite violence, period. When the picture was produced is a moot point. I don’t even have a problem with Clausewitz’s dictum, should the time arrive when we need to actually resort to physical war to save our country and I truly feel that time is getting closer. But to take that frame of reference (combined with the implications of the sniper picture), apply to our current situation and suggest that should be the solution at this juncture is just wrong. I believe it is you who needs a reality check.[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 123 | View Replies]
To: Dead Corpse
Oh good grief…cut the drama, things are not that bad. To propose that snipers on rooftops is the answer to our current situation is just insane.
153 posted on Mon Mar 09 2009 17:08:18 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) by ravingnutter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 143 | View Replies]107 posted on Mon Mar 09 2009 15:06:15 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) by MeanWestTexan (Beware Obama’s Reichstag Fire.)
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To: ravingnutter
And I have no problem with comprehension…Here’s the original post I was replying to:We need to be perfectly clear that by “stopping” him we mean using political means to stop his political agenda.
All I was pointing out was that “political means” includes the cartridge box. That’s a fact that may be new to many people. I fail to see how that incites violence. I guess you have to “read between the lines” and fill in the blanks.
And next you say:
But to take that frame of reference (combined with the implications of the sniper picture), apply to our current situation and suggest that should be the solution at this juncture is just wrong.
Sorry, but nowhere do I suggest that sniping is a solution at this juncture. Quit making stuff up.What part of “When all else fails…” don’t you understand?
We are not there yet, and I agree with you that time is getting closer. When 0bama has his Internal Security Force in place he will have his Reichstag Fire event. It will then be too late to post sniper pictures. Or anything else.
158 posted on Mon Mar 09 2009 17:33:02 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) by cayuga (Not all morons voted for 0bama, but all 0bama voters are morons.)
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When the members of Free Republic think the conduct is “over the top,” then what else is there to conclude? Seems pretty obvious to me.
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If you reported any and every instance of hate speech you see on the Internet, they’d need to hire a million more agents just to process them all. It’s good to be vigilant, but when it gets right down to it there’s always been hatred and racism, and with so many tens of millions of guns in circulation, the best we can hope for is poor aim.
Reply: I don’t report any and all nor was I advocating that. There is a huge difference between what was posted and “each and every.”
ian in hamburg
March 9, 2009 at 12:42 am
What we are witnessing goes far beyond Hate Speech. This isn’t some conspiracy site posting the Protocols of Zion, these are people and groups advocating for the Assassination of a Sitting President.
So lets not go all “Hopeless” and then spread the seed of hopelessness. This is a significant minority in our population, but the simple fact of the matter, there are more of the good people out there than bad. If we all do our part, we can nip this in the bud.
Reply: Agreed, but nonetheless alarming. Also, I don’t think this means anything is hopeless. I think it is good that this issue popped up on the radar of more than a few people. People need to know what is happening out there because the media sure is not covering it. Concerned citizens who want to be vigilant is a good thing. Why should that be hopeless or sew the seed of hopelessness?
seeing eye chick
March 9, 2009 at 11:57 am
You know, It seems to me that Liberals are the racists and the Haters. MalcolmX, Martin Luther king had a message, rely on yourself not the government for a hand out, hold to God and Religion to help keep the family together, don’t go looking for a hand out, go create your own future. Funny, but that’s the same message Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, and CONSERVATIVES talk about and LIVE every day.
Now tell me who is whacked! Its Liberals who want to give hand outs from the Government and control your health care, just like the Nazis. They support Abortion, just like the Nazis, they want to obliterate religion, just like the Nazis. Liberals are socialists and that makes them the twins of Nazis. Want the truth?
Open your eyes and look at what liberals DO. Not what they say, because all that comes out of their mouths are lies. Starting with the BS that Conservatives are Racists. Sorry, but if they were alive today, MalcolmX and Dr. King would be REPUBLICANS, the party that FREED the slaves. Democrats are the ones that fought to keep slavery, and they are doing it today with GOVERNMENT HANDOUTS and Welfare!
Open your eyes people, Socialism is NOT the answer now any more than when the Nazis were imposing it on Europe!
Want to end Racism? Slavery? Inequity? Get off your butt and create your own future and keep government in its place, as OUR servants, the way the founding fathers intended it to be!
Reply: Wow, this rant pretty much speaks for itself. Nothing like having someone make my case for me. If I tried to explain to people how wacky you are, I could never have done as good a job as you did. Thanks Dianna.
Dianna
March 9, 2009 at 12:34 pm
When someone makes a movie about assassinating Obama, then people might take you silly dorks seriously.
Reply: Well, “Skippy” the FBI and the Secret Service are taking it seriously.
Skippy
March 9, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Where were the Secret Service and the FBI during the 8 years when George Bush was hated, threatened and scorned on a million liberal websites every day?
Reply: I do not approve of threats to any duly elected public official. I defended Bush when I was abroad, even though I did not agree with anything that he did in 8 years except invading Afghanistan and now knowing the mess he made out of that, I would reconsider that as well.
Philip
March 9, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Okay, we now know if Obama is assassinated, who they will blame. Looks like “they” are already setting it up. And you probably know who “they” are. And it’s not the right wing nuts.
Reply: Who else is posting sniper pictures that your own members deem improper?
L. Graham
March 9, 2009 at 1:18 pm
OMG are you people delusional? Let’s see the left during the Bush years spoke often of execution, even made a movie about it but somehow anyone who dosn’t bow before the messiah is wrong? Me thinks some of you really need to get out and find something better to do with your time than obsess that others KNOW you are the crazy ones!BTW Obama’s ratings are dropping like a stone!
Reply: Nope, not at all. As I have said I do not approve of anyone speaking about assassinating a duly elected official, but that makes it justified that people on Free Republic are doing it about President Obama now? It’s like a schoolyard, they did it to us so we’re going to do it to him. Wha, wha, wha!
cccc
March 9, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Wow, thanks for the reference to freerepublic.com, you commie skank. Looks like I have a lot of reading to do!
Reply: You read?
Rush
March 9, 2009 at 1:21 pm
BTW, I can tell you that when people like you call the secret service it is called a “Gladys” call meanng there is some busybody on the line and some low level employee needs to do their time taking the call.They call you “Gladys” after Gladys Cravitis the busybody on Bewitched. LOL
Reply: I know people at the Secret Service. Some calls that is certainly true, but as for others, not so much. Threats made, which these are, result in a file at minimum, if not outright surveillance. I am not talking about any call, I am talking about the ones posted.
cccc
March 9, 2009 at 1:23 pm
We Right Wingnuts reply.
Enjoy:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2202617/posts
Reply: Thanks Jim, I have already seen this.
Jim Robinson
March 9, 2009 at 1:40 pm
AMEN DIANA!!!
L9
March 9, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Well, since you’re such the enforcer of the law, then I guess you stand behind the 2nd Amendment.
Would you call the police if you saw someone’s right to bear arms being infringed upon?
Just trying to see which street you walk – your’s or the peoples.
Reply: Bluefin, that is way off topic.
Bluefin
March 9, 2009 at 3:08 pm
“The NAACP Should Hold Riot ReHearsal.”
Rush Limbaugh.
“Take the Bone out of your nose.”
Rush to an African American Caller.
What the fuck is that all about? And what the fuck is a liberal? All I get is that the new tightie whities refer to liberals, but its just another code word for Mud People. A term that has been expanded from its previous definitions {sons of Hamm} via White Supremacists and New Jerusalemites. Now it means people not sufficiently Culturally White–meaning those who are not in step with the Whitest Party on the block, those who embrace the idea that Blacks, Hispanics, Women, and Gays are second or no-class non-citizens.
Sure you guys hide it in religious terms, taken willy nilly from the canon, but at the end of the day, its the same Sheet Wearing Chest beating bullshit we have been seeing since–Selma Ala. Before actually, but educated folk will get the picture.
Go burn your crosses somewhere else. If the Republican party stood for something other than Wealth Extraction of Minorities, as well as power extraction, then perhaps they might have a shot in hell. Right now, they are the Tin Foil Hat party.
I am ashamed I ever belonged to the Republicon party. It’s become something infinitely ugly.
As far as Busy Bodies go, for people who voted a guy in two terms in a row, who used massive high tech equipment to gather electronic communications that might rival the number of stars in this arm of the Milky Way, you guys sure are sure, as what that phrase means.
Busy Body.
Oh well, I suppose its not your fault that your parents were closely related.
seeing eye chick
March 9, 2009 at 3:34 pm
“Reply: I do not approve of threats to any duly elected public official.”
But I’d bet anything you sat silent for 8 years while your cohorts spewed their hate against Bush.
Coward.
Reply: First of all, I am aware of no “hate” toward Bush rising to the level that it ha toward President Obama. Second, for a man who secretly declared martial law and lied about spying on Americans, illegally fired numerous US attorneys for a political agenda, among numerous other things, criticism was valid. Lastly, I defended Bush when I was abroad because he was my President even though I did not vote for him, would never have voted for him.
So, I suppose the only real coward is an anonymous blogger hiding behind the name “Skippy” and who refuses to defend a duly elected President of the United States.
Skippy
March 9, 2009 at 11:06 pm
I report these wingnuts any time I see a threat made.
I’ve had to work overtime since President Obama was elected, but we cannot take any chances.
Reply: Good Samir.
samir
March 10, 2009 at 12:18 am
seeing eye chick,
As far as I can tell, you hold a deep resentment towards white people, conservatives, and anybody else who doesn’t agree with your views. The word hypocrisy comes to mind.
The term “liberal” can mean a lot of things, but in the realm of politics the definition is pretty clear. There can be no ambiguity with the definition of the term, but the differences lay with each “liberal” individual’s personal political beliefs. Basically how liberal they are. I’m sure you can find a idealistic definition on Wikipedia.
Matt
P.S.
I’m sure you didn’t mean to insinuate that all conservatives (republicans) are uneducated white trash who practice incest, but it sure sounded like it. That borders on hate speech, and if you want your opinion to be somewhat reputable you should probably curtail such outburst. Which brings me to your use of profanity. I haven’t met an academic yet who used profanity with such gusto. I assume you think of yourself as an educated person and I can not dispute that, but nobody will take a person’s opinion seriously if it was delivered amidst a sleuth of profanity. Even the off-hand comment containing one the four letter words loses meaning; and so politicians, academics, CEO’s, ect tend to avoid them. Perhaps you should as well.
Reply: Seeing Eye holds no resentment toward whites, conservatives or others that do not hold her views. That is a reflex argument whenever anyone makes a valid point in your crowd, i.e., Seeing Eye points out the obvious that the Republicons have no care or concern for the poor, middle class, African Americans, etc. and then you accuse Seeing Eye of not liking White people etc. Based on what logic? I really think that you intensely dislike yourselves and you are projecting that on seeing Eye.
As for your comment on “hate speech,” after seeing the racist garbage at Free republic, I think you all have a corner on that market. There was nothing rising to the level of “hate speech” in Seeing Eye’s comment.
Matt
March 10, 2009 at 12:36 am
Deep Resentment against people who dont hold my views? I have driven people to the voting sites knowing they weren’t voting for the candidates I am voting for.
If you jump any further to conclusions, you are going to go right over a cliff. I deal with authentic conservatives everyday. I might not always like what they have to say, but they don’t act like the bunch of nutters I see here. Of course they are adults and have long since finished puberty.
What I see here:
Tightie Whities who are completely saturated with ignorance. And not even the kind that is innate, but self willed ignorance.
As for people spewing hatred for Bush–I despised Bush–that being said, I never discussed assassinating him. In fact, It used to piss me off, thinking that if someone took pot shots at that rat bastard, that I would take a bullet for his sorry ass. Why? Because he was our Commander and Chief.
You people miss a fundamental concept: Respect for Rank.
You can see a person that you don’t like, that you hate even. You can disagree with them, think they are a dumbass–whatever. But you show respect for the office and for their rank. That means that you perform certain functions for that person while they occupy that office. Its part of something called Unit Cohesion.
Its too bad that a lot of Americans never learn this concept or forget it if they do learn it.
Reply: Respect is pretty basic. I learned under the age of 5.
seeing eye chick
March 10, 2009 at 8:44 am
“All I get is that the new tightie whities refer to liberals, but its just another code word for Mud People. A term that has been expanded from its previous definitions {sons of Hamm} via White Supremacists and New Jerusalemites. Now it means people not sufficiently Culturally White–meaning those who are not in step with the Whitest Party on the block, those who embrace the idea that Blacks, Hispanics, Women, and Gays are second or no-class non-citizens.”-seeing eye chick
“Sure you guys hide it in religious terms, taken willy nilly from the canon, but at the end of the day, its the same Sheet Wearing Chest beating bullshit we have been seeing since–Selma Ala. Before actually, but educated folk will get the picture.”-seeing eye chick
“Oh well, I suppose its not your fault that your parents were closely related.”-seeing eye chick
So I’m sure that if these types of comments were made about you or your liberal buddies, you wouldn’t think they were a personal attack upon you or your ideas.
Wikipedia’s definition:
“Hate speech is a term for speech intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against a person or group of people based on their race, gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, language ability, ideology, social class, occupation, appearance (height, weight, hair color, etc.), mental capacity, and any other distinction that might be considered by some as a liability.”
I’m pretty sure that “seeing eye chick” referenced at least five of the characteristics listed in this definition. If that wasn’t some form of “hate speech” then I don’t know what is.
Reply: Matt, the entire thread against me would be hate speech then under this definition. Moreover, Free republic would be hate speech as well. There is a difference between a personal attack and hate speech, i.e., not every personal attack is hate speech.
Do you consider calling someone a “libtard” hate speech? people at Free Republic referred to my weight, is that hate speech? They also referred to me as stupid and illiterate, is that hate speech too?
What’s the point here Matt? Some of my best friends are conservative and I voted Republican for years. I have nothing against Republicans per se, it is some of the things that they have done and Republicans have become too extreme for me and most of America, including the views expressed in this post.
Matt
March 10, 2009 at 2:55 pm
I would argue the opposite. Republicans in congress have been drifting more and more to the center for years.
And I have many liberal friends, but I don’t know what that has anything to do with any of this.
As for the personal attacks against you, they are over the line. I have not, nor will I engage in such acts and I do not condone the actions of others in this area.
As for the respect issue raised by seeing eye chick, I know who I respect. To earn my personal respect isn’t easy. I do, however, respect the office of the president, and any public office for that matter. That doesn’t mean that I respect the politician holding said office. There is a difference, as any armed service member can tell you.
Reply: My comment that some of my friends are conservatives related to your comments: “So I’m sure that if these types of comments were made about you or your liberal buddies, you wouldn’t think they were a personal attack upon you or your ideas.” The point is that I actually have conservative buddies and I don’t attack them. I actually love discussing politics with them because you can have differences and still get along. I don’t think they are wingnuts and I would never call them that. I do think that some, and I emphasize some, of the people on the Free Republic are really out there. Look at the Dianna post!
I agree with you, you have to respect the office of the President. If you don’t respect President Obama, would you at least agree that advocating his assassination is over the top and inappropriate? I did not respect George Bush,, but when I was abroad, I defended him because and the war I did not believe in because I will not tolerate foreigners saying awful things about any President of this country and if I had ever known anyone advocating his assassination, I would not have approved of that either.
Thanks for the comments Matt. You are welcome here anytime because it is good to understand things from a different perspective.
Matt
March 10, 2009 at 6:52 pm