On Racism, Death Threats & The Blindness of Those Who Will Not See

[babylonsister]

http://www.openleft.com/diary/15084/on-racism-death-threats-the-blindness-of-those-who-will-not-see

On Racism, Death Threats & The Blindness of Those Who Will Not See
by: David Sirota
Mon Sep 14, 2009 at 09:03



I appeared on CNN this weekend with Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer to discuss the racial undertones of the tea party protests. You can watch the clip here.

As the images of the tea party march prove, there are, obviously, such racial undertones. However, there are many who refuse to acknowledge that simple truism, instead opting to pursue what I call "dog whistle politics." I know this not from just reading the swill on right wing websites, but from the loads of angry hate mail I received after appearing on CNN - including one that was an explicit death threat.

Yes, last night I received a full-on death threat from a person promising to kill me if I dare discuss the racial undertones of the froth that Glenn Beck and other political terrorists are clearly encouraging. I went through the process of contacting the authorities, and the police responded very quickly, which was reassuring. The whole episode speaks to a post I did last week about the Nation of Assholes - and it is demoralizing.

We're living in a world where the behavior of right-wing lynch mobs clearly is far less about ideology, and far more about partisanship and racial hate. As I said on CNN, we know this because for all the talk of concern about the Constitution and the growth of government, the tea party protestors were nowhere to be found when George W. Bush trampled the constitution and grew the government. That double standard exposes the truly dark forces driving this right-wing anger - and those on the right who refuse to acknowledge it prove the old adage that there are none so blind as those who will not see.

snip//

Frankly, it's been a scary and depressing few days for me personally, and I'm frankly exhausted from trying to use verifiable facts to reason with far-right activists and Democratic sycophants who are willfully ignorant. But I guess my own negative emotions and fatigue is a predictable ramification of the work I'm engaged in - and obviously, it's far worse for those with bigger platforms and/or those who are bearing the brunt of racism and the economic class war.

for my part, I won't back down. The fights we're fighting are too important to let a small minority of fringe assholes on both sides deter us from seeking the truth - and achieving progress.

* Note to conservatives: Issuing death threats against political opponents doesn't really debunk the idea that you are building a political lynch mob. Some might say it actually confirms the assertion.

[Windy]

1. Can you only imagine the threats that Van Jones is getting?

It is no wonder he resigned.

The Secret Service has reported an inordinate number of threats against the president as well. Joe Madison on Power Radio called it this morning: "People like Limbaugh, Beck, Bachman, et al are trying to get Obama killed." He called on progressive talk radio hosts to call them out. I think that they should be called out. I hope we get more people speaking out about the threats that they are receiving from these racist nuts. I'm sure that Maureen Dowd will be getting her share also.

[indepat]

2. That none of these vehement virulent RW protesters gave a diddle-de-fuck when junior trampled the

Constitution, took us to aggressive wars of choice based on lies, and grew the government by doubling the national debt should conclusively demonstrate just how irrational, hate-filled, off-the-wall, and dangerous these people are. :P

[goclark]

3. They are dangerous and if we want to do something

we need to petition for more security for our President.

What are we doing about that- the baggers carrying signs don't bother me.

The birth certificate doesn't bother me. They are crazy and we know it.

What really bothers me is the physical HARM that could be done with this escalation.

[Doctor_J]

4. Think a little more assertively than

"petitioning for more security"

:thumbsup:

[Syntheto]

5. They're not calling out Obama for Afghanistan, either, the bastards!