History does have a way of repeating itself. However, the right-wing extremists in today's world aren't exactly cut from the same cloth as those who fought so valiantly for our independence.The rhetoric has been ramped up more than just a notch and the frustration of the radicals on the right has begun to spill over into the mainstream. About three weeks ago I had an exchange with one of those extremists and reported on his dangerous posturing and speculations.
Mark Epstein, runs a blog over on Wordpress and he was asking for others to declare if they could be counted in or out should an armed revolution begin. Yesterday, John Perry wrote an article which appeared on Newsmax in which he stated:
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]
The flurry of outrage that ensued caused Newsmax to remove the article and enter in to a damage control mode trying to distance itself from Perry. Claiming that Perry had no official capacity with Newsmax, however, proved even more disastrous as TPM immediately discredited such a statement with this little bit of research:
That's not quite the wording on his Newsmax biography. There, Perry is described as an "award-winning newspaper editor and writer" who "contributes a regular column to Newsmax.com."
He's also a former senior editor for the site, working in that role from late 1999 until October 2001.
Perry has written for the site regularly -- nearly every single week -- since November 1999. Newsmax was founded in 1998. (Check out the archives here and here.)
On the site's "Blogs" page, he's listed alongside other contributors including Ben Stein, Grover Norquist and Christopher Ruddy, the founder and editor-in-chief of Newsmax.
As Perry's article was being disseminated throughout cyberspace, talk radio show host Jim Quinn was making his bid to further the calls for insurrection as he warned our soldiers:
"The only reason you put military anywhere is to win and win as quickly as you can, as ruthlessly as you can, because mercifully it will be over quick, instead of turning it into a meat grinder. I'm looking at -- guys, look, I love you all who go over there and serve, but I gotta tell you right now, run for your life, get out, this guy is gonna get you killed. Man, these people are scary." [Clear Channel's The War Room with Quinn & Rose, 9/29/09]
The Huffington Post reports, "Media Matters points out that the appeals to the military follow a wave of rhetoric from the right suggesting that civilian violence against the government might be justified. Chuck Norris has asked if people are ready for "a second American Revolution." RedState's Erick Erickson has asked, "At what point do the people ... march down to their state legislator's house, pull him outside, and beat him to a bloody pulp?" Radio host Michael Savage declared recently that "we're going to have a revolution in this country."
And Media Matters has a whole list of others who are fueling this fire with their incessant and dangerous rhetoric.
And it's not only the media gurus who are unscrupulously and wantonly promulgating the seeds of civil unrest in this country. Congressional leaders, evangelical fundamentalists, and militia-minded individuals appear to be anxiously awaiting the first volley of violence - in fact, wishing it would happen. Did you ever wake up and feel like you were in another country?
The really chilling thing in all of this is that, it would seem, that pretty much all semblance of denial or even concern over what all this might result in has been stripped away from these right-wing fanatics. Quite simply, by all appearances, they just don't care. The fact that they lost the election, they lost their power-base, and they lost appeal has resulted in them losing their minds.
Something tells me that these nutjobs had better rethink their priorities and they had better drop this whole armed revolution idea. I say that because there are just as many sane people looking on who are now realizing that this kind of extremism is mot only non-productive, but absolutely detrimental to the fabric of our society.
As these cretins crawl out of every rock and cranny, they may be fomenting dissent - but there is another undercurrent going on here - one of utmost importance and largely overlooked in this melee of media frenzy - the damn is breaking, and the silent, sane majority is getting mad as hell and sick of it all. You know what they say about the quiet ones. I'd suggest the right-wing fanatics slither back in their hidey holes with their war-games and such because they really don't know what they are inviting.
