I have been chastised for stating my belief that even bloggers on this site through their posts are in a way contributors to the recent violence in our country and the climate of hate pervasive in right wing politics, as many say it's me just picking on my fellow bloggers. Well, I'm not alone.
Wade Michael Page Had Plenty of Accomplices
Submitted by Carol Morgan on August 8, 2012 - 7:45pm
It’s hard to believe America has experienced two mass shootings in less than two weeks. Yes, of course, everyone blames guns, but the motive for violence runs much deeper than the issue of easy access to firearms. Guns are merely the symptom of an acute infirmity; a gradual plague that’s sickened the national conversation.
Americans are gradually learning that Wade Michael Page was a White Supremist and Neo-Nazi musician who, according to his former employer, had “a problem with authority figures and women”. It was theorized that he mistook the defenseless Sikhs for Muslims because of their turbans and beards (as if his Islamophobia somehow understandably justified the heinous act).
The media reported that Wade Michael Page was the lone gunman in the Sikh temple massacre, but the media is incorrect.
Wade Michael Page had plenty of accomplices in his hateful acts on Sunday. His accomplices may not be legally responsible, but they are morally implicated. They proudly label themselves as Patriots. That word has evolved from a noble tag into one that is cringe-worthy. Almost overnight, it’s become code-speak for every tin-hatted, gunned-up, birther buddy, conspiracy-theory-paranoia about golf courses and the United Nations, with a few vulture capitalists thrown in for good measure. In reality, the Tea Party Patriots are evolving into a ranting fundamentalist faction with the irrational belief that losing a policy debate over health care, economic recovery or immigration is an apocalyptic end to freedom as we know it. They speak in hyperbole and histrionics and their eager audience is a crowd of weak-minded individuals with tenuous control over their impulses. These faithful followers act on their hate and fears because of imaginary enemies, straight out of Orwell’s 1984.
The North American Interpress Service offered an article on Monday, claiming the Tea Party has close ties with hate groups. You may read the article in its entirety here: http://ipsnorthamerica.net/news.php?idnews=3340 . It encouraged the Tea Party to examine its ranks to ensure that racists and bigots do not corrupt the movement's credibility.
It’s a legitimate request, but it’s a little too late.
The Intelligence Report has compiled an accounting of 22 men and one woman with extreme right-wing views who sought public office during the 2010 election season; five of those were elected to office. All of the 23 Tea Party candidates readily and openly identify themselves as Neo-Nazi, White Supremists, or "Patriots" and they are all supported by the Tea Party. While the Tea Party may have started out as a group who was protesting spending and government waste, they have been swept up by hate, racism and the Neo Nazism, through their own arrogance and inattention.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, hate crimes have exponentially increased in recent years. You can view the hate map here: http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/hate-map The majority of states with the greatest number of hate groups have a common thread, their state education system is virtually broken, strangled to death by cuts to public education, initiated by Conservative Tea Party state legislatures.
It’s not only anonymous minor players fanning the conflagration of hatred, but nationally profiled members as well. The list of tactless and insensitive remarks is long: Michele Bachmann’s claim that the U.S. State Department is being infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood, Louie Gohmert’s claim that the Colorado theatre shooting was the result of "ongoing attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs" and his moronic question of why nobody else in the theater had a gun to take down the shooter, Allen West’s claims that religious tolerance would “give away our country” and who could forget Sarah Palin’s infamous statement: “Don’t retreat, reload.”?
“We want our country back!” is a constant refrain of the Extreme Right. Well, you know what?
I want my country back too, but I want it back from the people who actually stole it from us--the Corporateurs of America, the Wall Street criminals, and the hate-filled Right Wing who consistently out screams the rest of us.
Ever since Man’s original fall from grace, we all have a choice to do good or evil. And that includes our words.
In America, speech may be free, but it isn’t cheap. In the age of social media and 24/7 news cycles, words are powerful weapons. Words have consequences. Words have costs. Sometimes the consequences and costs are more than we could have ever envisioned.
Certain political personalities, bloggers and media individuals need to account for their contribution to the high price innocent victims had to pay
