God Forbid
In the past twenty four hours I have read three separate articles talking about the rise of militancy in the United States since the election of the nation’s first black president. His darker complexion and his comparatively liberal agenda have woken up every crazy in the land and created a rallying cry of hate as well as one of hope. The current climate is just a supercharged version of the rise of the extreme right wing that we witnessed in the early 1990’s. When one considers that the previous upswing in these feelings led to the standoff at Waco, and the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing, it is clear that this is cause for concern.
Just a couple of days ago in New Hampshire (Damn Hillary states) a man was shown with a gun strapped to his leg standing within a block of where Obama was scheduled to hold a healthcare forum. Apparently in New Hampshire it is legal to do this if you are on private property and since the man was standing on the grounds of a church which had given him permission to do so, he was not in fact breaking any laws. The mainstream media of course, couldn’t wait to give this nutcase a platform to share his views and in an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews he talked about being a member of the right wing group We The People. This group is best known as one of the groups behind the lawsuit challenging Obama’s right to be President based on the ludicrously false claim that he is not a U.S. citizen. This despite the fact that his birth certificate has been produced multiple times and eye witnesses have confirmed his birth. These people are clearly not your typical right wing, “I really thought Bush had some good ideas” type voters. They are more, “Obama wants to take my children away and murder them in cold blood” type of thinkers.
In the midst of all this Ronald Kessler has published a new book entitled, “In the President’s Secret Service” which alleges that Obama faces 5 times as many death threats per day as George Bush received. Kessler also claims that recently the Secret Service has been cutting its budget and cutting corners in general in its protection of the President. This last claim seems a little far fetched to me considering what a President Obama means to the World, but the book is generating alot of buzz in Washington circles.
Personally I still get nervous everytime I turn on CNN, and these latest events will not make me feel any better. President Obama is loved by many but the intense hatred he inspires in a few is enough to make anybody who considers themselves a defender of democracy concerned. I’m reminded of the chilling warning that the IRA issued to the Thatcher government after its failed assassination attempt on her in Brighton in 1984:
“Today we were unlucky, but remember we only have to be lucky once. You have to be lucky always.”
I sincerely hope I never have to write about this subject again.
2 years ago • Notes