There are two Americas: the violent right and the non-violent left
So some crazy young man (they're always men) shoots a Congresswoman pointblank through the head and sprays thirty more bullets from a gun clip he bought at Walmart, killing a 9-year-old girl and five others in Arizona, "the mecca for prejudice and bigotry" according to the sheriff of Tucson ... and for four long days, the biggest mouth in American politics was as MIA as an atheist in a foxhole.…
Article comments
26 - Mark
(...and here I thought you were going to correct the comma)
27 - Christopher Rose
Never mind that - "anti-american"?
28 - Clavos
Deliberate, Chris.
29 - Boeke
Good article AA.
To summarize, the lust for political assassination is on the right, and the left is so 'fair' that it puts up with being flagrantly manipulated by loudmouth rightists who customarily use threats of violence to punctuate their spiels.
All the 'Tu quoque' attempts by rightists to drag the left down to their level fail. Opposed to outright demands for violence from rightist politicians and officials the right tries to counterpose leftist comedians and actors.
Meanwhile, the rightist MSM in the USA supports this effort by endlessly repeating the Moral Equivalence mantra, as if hoping it is so would make it so.
Even the rightist editors of BlogCritics promotes that false equivalency, by, for example, twice censoring me when I attempted to post the verified list of rightwing shootings of the last 2 years. Oh well, that leaves more space on BC for 'Irvs' nonsensical maunderings.
This is a great failing of the right: they boldly call for violence, then cowardly run away and seek a contrived refuge when it happens.
If they had any guts they'd stand up and say "see, that's what we do to commie-pinko democrats!"
30 - Dr Dreadful
Boeke, I also twice explained to you why that list was deleted, and you know perfectly well that it had nothing to do with ideology.
31 - Jordan Richardson
The lefties hate all the Republican pols, and the righties hate all the Democrats
Yep. With religious fervour. I never suggested that ALL politicians are deified equally, but I think you have to have some rather significant blinders on to not see that the Right thinks their politicians can save the day and the Left thinks their politicians can save the day. If the politicians were hated equally or held in such contempt, why such partisanship? Why does Sarah Palin's Facebook page have nearly three million fans? Why does Obama's have nearly 18 million fans? PM Stephen Harper, by contrast, doesn't even reach 40,000.
The point is that there is a vastly different political energy in the United States. Many look to their "sides" to save them.
It's been a loooong time since we've deified our pols in this country
Interesting. I must have been watching a different feed at the Inauguration or on Election Day or during those rather large and weird political rallies or town hall meetings or...
32 - El Bicho
"PM Stephen Harper, by contrast, doesn't even reach 40,000. "
That's because he posts too many Farmville updates.
33 - Jordan Richardson
I always took him for more of a Mafia Wars guy.
34 - Alan Kurtz
Ruvy (#20), I don't care how you rationalize it, your statement (#18) that "there are 534 more of them to kill" is despicable. I would never write such a thing about the 120 members of the Knesset, no matter how much I detested Israeli politics. I suspect your cruelty springs not from the rational mind anyhow, but from a deeply embittered soul, to which compassion is as alien as lilies on the moon.
35 - Christopher Rose
Alan, I completely agree with you.
If somebody had written that about Jews, Ruvy would be on here having a massive tantrum about Jew-hatred and racism.
Like all adherents of magical thinking, Ruvy doesn't actually have a rational mind though, so it is no surprise that compassion, one of several hugely under-rated qualities, is entirely lacking in Ruvy's world view unless it is limited to the right kind of Jew.
36 - Clavos
Still, it would be nice to get rid of all those 534.
Perhaps we could strip them of their citizenship and send them to live with the Castro brothers or monkey-face Chávez...
37 - Boeke
#34 Alan is right. Ruvy is demented.
IMO we MUST get rid of the senate (but by constitutional means), which was given mildly skewed powers in the expectation that wise heads would be careful with that power. But instead, the mild skew has been exaggerated into a severe skew and we have elected power seekers rather than wise men.
38 - Clavos
...and we have elected power seekers rather than wise men.
And for decades now.
39 - Christopher Rose
I think we should follow the excellent recent example shown by the people of Tunisia.
Not only have they managed to get rid of a once great leader without violence, they are refusing to accept the usual political fix of bringing in a couple of new faces.
These peaceful rebels won't accept anything short of a complete replacement of all politicians tainted by being part of the old system.
40 - Cannonshop
#37 Boeke, there is no system (so far) that can survive and function correctly when the owner/operator is negligent on their maintenance-that includes our Political system. I bring that up, because initially the Senate was chosen by their State Legislatures, the idea at the writing being that the House of Representatives would represent the current will of the people, while the Senate would represent the needs and agendas of the several states-whose legislatures were elected by those same people. This ended some time ago by Constitutional Amendment, hence we now have direct election of Senators-an attempt at Populist Reform that has not resulted in the intended reform-and why not? after all, the real problem is a broad voter base that really just doesn't give a shit, as long as they can get Texting and forty channels of Reality Shows and Sports.
41 - Boeke
"Originalists" and "Strict Constructionists" must yield. We must amend the constitution to reflect modern knowledge and sensibilities. The process itself is sufficiently difficult to (one hopes) prevent frivolous and narrowly partisan changes.
But maybe not; maybe our republic will go down in flames because of this one inadequacy.
42 - Cannonshop
#41 Counter-point, It could be argued that attempts to redefine to cater to today's fads may be largely responsible for the bulk of the problems, Boeke-it's not like we haven't as a species seen this before. Rome, for instance, "redefined" itself right into extinction, complete with early model socialism (Bread and Circuses anyone?), dictatorship to "make the government more efficient", deification of leaders, religious fads, etc. etc.
The purpose of a Constitution is not to limit the "People"-for that, we can have ordinary laws. It is to limit what the GOVERNMENT may do-because power not merely corrupts, but also attracts the corrupt, and there is nothing more permanent in practice, than the 'temporary' solutions governments concoct for short-term, transitory, crises.
43 - STM
Ah yes, elected power seekers.
Seeking to govern for the sake of governing, or hanging on to power for the sake of hanging on to power and little else except an outdated idea that some people are just born to govern while the rest of us can stick it fair up our you know whats.
King Charles I lost his head for the latter. But it's good that we can still make heads roll, even if only figuratively. More people should exercise the right.
44 - Ruvy
I'm happy that you all agree about my state of mind. Bless you! I assert once more that you are all blind. This bullshit about what Sarah Palin said or didn't say as to influencing a nut-job in Arizona is a waste of ink. While you rant on and on about MY state of mind like so many lunatics in a ward - or monkeys in a cage - you deliberately IGNORE the issues I raised.
Nu. So you'll starve and I won't because I will have taken precautions to deal with the coming food shortages and you will just ignore them and those who warn you of them.
I should feel compassion for idiots who blind themselves to the facts and rant and rave about nonsense? The Book of Proverbs has quite a lot to say about such people - calling them fools.
45 - Christopher Rose
Oh look, there's Ruvy ignoring what we say to him whilst accusing us of ignoring what he thinks are the important matters of the day.
Ruvy, please let us know exactly what precautions you have actually taken to deal with the "coming food shortages"?
46 - Ruvy
Chris,
For an Englishman who ought to know better, you have lots of trouble with conditional verb tenses. So you'll starve and I won't because I will have taken precautions to deal...
"Will have", the conditional verb in the sentence, indicates a future action intended that has not occurred yet but WILL HAVE OCCURRED by the time the condition stated in the sentence (or linked sentence) has occurred....
You're welcome for the English lesson - the bill for services rendered is on its way.
47 - Christopher Rose
OK, I stand corrected but am sure you feel all lovely and warm for your pointless grammar issues whilst ignoring the substance of what I wrote.
What are you actually going to do or is all this simply more empty posturing, which is what is expected of you?
48 - Christopher Rose
Oh, and as to your bill, well done on playing up to your stereotype, but actually any bill you made would be completely negated by my invoice for all the many lessons in thinking clearly you've been schooled in through this site. The fact that you are a wilfully poor student doesn't negate the charges!
49 - Clavos
But it's good that we can still make heads roll, even if only figuratively.
Except it's no longer very effective; we just swap one set of clowns for a newer set.
Perhaps we should go back to literally -- complete with masked ax wielder and chopping block set up in a public square.
From an entertainment standpoint alone, it would be an improvement...
50 - Christopher Rose
Clavos: Are you watching events in Tunisia?
I'm surprised this particular peaceful but really quite radical revolution isn't getting a lot more attention...
51 - Ruvy
...whilst ignoring the substance of what I wrote.
I answered your question with my English lesson. As to what I will so, it is not complicated - stock up on non-perishables and water as my wallet allows me to. Any problems? Do you approve, O great and esteamed comments editor?
52 - Christopher Rose
Ruvy: Thanks for demonstrating the perils of being a language nazi with your two embarrassing spelling mistakes above.
As to your plan, have you thought this through?
How will you amass all this non-perishable food and water?
Where will you keep it?
How will you defend it against marauding madmen?
Have you identified a defensible location to protect you in such a quasi-Apocalyptic scenario?
Do you have an escape route planned that will allow you to take all this heavy food and water with you and where is it?
Enquiring minds want to know!
53 - Cannonshop
#43 It requires more than making people go-no elective system has ever worked without active, informed participation.
Unfortunately for the "Moderate Middle" in America (at least) once people go beyond "damn campaign ads interrupting my Dancing with the Stars" and inform themselves, they tend to stop being "Moderate"-that is, they begin holding strong opinions, and being American, that comes with a certain loss of civility.
The extent is the only real limiting factor-how radicalized, as opposed to how "Moderate" someone is.
I suspect the graph for political radicalism in AMERICA is a clock-face, not a linear tape-get far enough to the left, and you're indistinguishable from the radical right, at least in terms of how you tolerate opposing views, and similar going the opposite direction.
54 - Cannonshop
#49 Who Decides, Clav? who decides "We'll cut x's head off, but not y's head"?
While a somewhat entertaining prospect, I'm rather leery of letting a falwellite or Alinskyite make those choices, and forget letting a disciple of Fred Phelps do it!
The problem is a people-problem: The vast majority of people just don't give a shit as long as the burdens are not so heavy that they can't endure them, the remainder tend to become polarized and shades of fanatical. Tar and Feathers or beheadings sound good in theory, but in practice? We would ALL be on the chopping block.
(admittedly, this likely would tend to focus some people's thinking a bit more sharply...)
55 - Clavos
Cannon,
A fair question, but my comment was made with more than a little of my tongue in my cheek, firm believer though I am in the death penalty.
56 - Cannonshop
alas, my sense-to-humour still doesn't work quite right...I recognized the tongue-in-cheek, Clav, I was just trying to milk it out into the absurd...and failed miserably.
57 - Clavos
...or mayhap it was a failure on my part to recognize your escalation of the irony -- my apologies.
58 - Cannonshop
#57 If I fail to communicate, it is not YOUR defect, but mine own.