I recall back in the late '70s, I was back in San Antonio and the deposed Shah of Iran had just been brought here to undergo cancer treatment.
There were quite a few Iranians attending college here at the time, and I lived in a fourplex filled with them.
At first I'd tried to befriend them, but I found them so sexist and dogmatic (not to mention smelly) I did my best to avoid them, especially the day I saw the guy downstairs butchering goats on his living room floor.
Anyway, they were getting very agitated that the Shah (whom they loathed) was in town, and one Saturday morning I looked out my upstairs window to find tens of dozens of them starting to congregate downstairs. Their voices were loud and angry and I was freaked out.
So I called the FBI.
Four government helicopters appeared within 20 minutes flat, and cars filled with Feds started arriving to disperse the crowd. And they did.
Here's my plan.
Next time I hear hate speech, I'm going to take a license number or get a name or whatever information I can and call the damn Feds.
If enough of these nuts get hassled enough by Homeland Security or the FBI, maybe they'll start thinking they'd better not be so casually rampant.
I am all for Freedom of Speech, but if I was able to refrain from publicly speaking my mind about what I'd like to see happen to the Bush administration, then those radical rightwing assholes should also keep a lid on it about Obama, abortion, Jews, gays, and whatever other hateful shit that's making them snap left and right.
Things are getting way out of hand. We all have to put our feet down.
Our taxes pay for a hell of a lot of national security personnel, and I say we start putting them to work to better keep the peace.
Are you with me?
6 comments:
I'm with you.
As a nation we just have to stop thinking of terrorists as foreigners from the Middle East. Domestic terrorists are just as deranged and just as dangerous, because our lax gun laws allow any crazy person to own an arsenal.
This nutjob at the Holocaust museum was an ex con- why the fuck did he own a rifle?
The Feds failed to do their jobs with this guy and the abortion doctor killer- they need to do better or move over and let someone lead who can do better.
Now now there little missy. You're letting your female hormones get in the way of your thinking. Why don't you just sit back and let a god-fearing white heterosexual male do your thinking for you?
I'll tell you what's wrong with your thinking. It's my god-given right to buy as many guns as I can afford and I'll tell you why. Because one day, all the commie-pinko-homo-liberal-longhair-jesus freak-terrorist-loving liberals will band together and elect a [substitute the word you know goes here] as president. And when that happens, I reserve my god-given right to go on a bitter, frustrated, hate-filled killing spree.
Signed,
Just about any right wing christian conservative
IT'S NOT AS FUNNY WHEN YOU REALIZE THAT'S HOW A LOT OF THESE GUYS THINK!
I'm with you. Reporting the hate speech could become a full time job where I live, though. They don't get anything but Fox News and rightwing talk radio. There is absolutely no balance. Even all the doctor's offices in the medical center where I go have their tvs tuned in to Fox News. And those media outlets and mouthpieces simply reinforce the crazy notions of the right wingers.
the problem is that hate speech has become mainstream. there is all kinds of hate speech on the radio and faux news to rile up the masses. sarah palin's speeches are filled with rhetoric designed to agitate the right wingnuts. that's the stuff we can keep track of fairly easily. just as insidious is what's going on more quietly in places like churches, mosques, and temples. reverend jeremiah wright's remark about 'them jews' gives us a peek into where his mind is. though his sermons no longer attract the national spotlight, i think it's reasonable to believe that the same sentiment is included in them. there was a letter published from a rabbi on one of the wingnut hate sites on the internets saying that obama is encouraging anti-semitism. i'm sure even worse things are being said privately in places of worship and even at pta meetings.
i don't know if this is a result or trickle down or trickle up. are the bigots more emboldened because limpdick and glenn beck and sarah palin get away with it? or do the public haters feed off the prejudice that they know is out there for their own enrichment and self-glorification?
I agree with nonnie. The attempt to make this super-crazy, insane, homicidal hate-speech mainstream has worked. People are no longer shocked at what would have been completely unacceptable 20 years ago. Both sides of the aisle, politically, are not doing enough to address it, but of course the onus is on the republicans as these nutjobs are coming out of their party and have been stirred up by their rhetoric, and the rightwing radio/tv hosts.
I think Karen's right - we need to report as much of this as possible. Hell, the FBI wasn't even enforcing the federal laws protecting abortion clinics!! They were, instead, ENABLING the anti-abortion terrorists.
Oh and we should also do what we can to make sure those fucked up terrorists stop using the term "pro-life." I am calling them "anti-abortion" or worse.
Our collective foot has to be put donw, or we are in trouble. What JimBob said is 100% spot on. That is the way they think and it's not going to change, especially with Rush whipping them into a frenzy on a daily basis. These nutjobs used to know enough to stay out of the mainstream, or they were shut down when they spouted their paranoia or hate. These days, they are supported by the rightwingers and republicans. No wonder they feel emboldened and empowered.
Post a Comment