Buh Buh Buh But...I Don't Understand...

Why would this peaceful crowd protesting Park 51 just pick out some random black guy to yell and scream at for no reason? I mean sure the crowd is lily white and yes I guess a moron might think the guy's clearly marked Under Armor skull cap is some kind of Mooslem apparel but that crowd would have to be pretty racially motivated to do something like that right?

And I mean there weren't any racist in that crowd were there?

Were there?

Dangerous Laughing Stocks

Here is the central problem of our politics today. You have the Democrats led by President Obama who have an agenda they are trying to implement to get our country back on track. Not everything they are doing however is in the best interests of average Americans and or isn't consistent with our Constitution. That's not just my opinion, that's a fact.

But the other major political party has essential decided to eschew any semblence of real and rational arguments against what the Democrats and President Obama are doing, instead choosing to drink from the well of asshatery. Right now there is truly nothing they won't say or do to try to fearmonger against Democrats on any given subject and if that means trying to smear them or trying to smear a group of people in this country and trying to inspire reprisals, hey they are all for it.

Dahlia Lithwick has an excellent piece in Slate about the many legitimate ways the Republican Senators could have criticized Attorney General Holder's reasoning for putting Khalid Sheik Muhammed on trial in federal court in New York. But instead many Senators of the GOP persuasion decided to hold some kind of inquisition about all those "leftist lawyers" now populating the Justice Department who might be terrorist sympathizers.

Seriously.

And the last graf of her piece really puts this all in perspective.

Reasonable people can differ on whether the acts of Sept 11, 2001, were crimes to be handled in court or acts of war to be tried by military tribunals. Experts will never agree on whether criminal trials make us safer or less safe. The 9/11 families also remain split on whether trials or commissions are appropriate. But when you continue to hear that anyone who objects to Bush's detainee policies is unworthy to serve in government, or is part of some elaborate conspiracy to free terrorists, there is truly nothing left to do but laugh.

And yeah she has a point about laughing at them, until you realize that there are people in this country who don't know any better. People will hear Senator Jon Kyl intimate that Attorney General Eric Holder is a terrorist sympathizer and buy it hook line and sinker. People who, still on edge after 9-11, will decide that they HAVE to do something to protect themselves, their family, their friends. People who eventually will attempt to take the law into their own hands because they are being brainwashed into believing that their own government is conspiring against them.

And last night Rachel Maddow took this a step further also focusing on the many Republicans who now think its fine to demean a religion, and to call for the profiling of those who practice Islam.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Journalists, politicians and regular folks can continue to try to make it seem as if this is just politics as usual but its not. What is happening here is one political party is building up a tension inside this country. A tension that is a lot stronger than disagreements over the free market or tax cuts. A tension that is and has been radicalizing a percentage of our citizenry who increasingly see in the Republican party an almost tacit approval a a violent anti government backlash.

Its time for people to stop holding back on this kind of bullshit and sounding the alarm. What I don't want anybody to say if one or some of these crazy bastards go out and try to target liberals or elected Democratic officials is, "Nobody could have forseen..." The writing is right there on the wall for all to see. And if we don't get these assholes to back off the ending will be predictable. At some point people are going to have to decide if that is acceptable to them, and if not they are going to have to say something.

It is what it is.

The Congressional Asshat Caucus

Several members of the GOP Congressional Anti Terrorism Anti Muslim Caucus decided to hold a big news conference yesterday and accuse the group CAIR with a conspiracy to "infiltrate" the government with Muslims. Their evidence? A book written by wingnut World Net Daily author Dave Gaubatz who made this statement last year.

“a vote for Hussein Obama is a vote for Sharia Law.”

Please for the love God keep giving these people microphones so the rest of the nation can see what the Republican Party has become.

What If He Was Muslim?

Cenk Uygur asks a very good and very relevant question. What if a Muslim had a gun in plain site outside a townhall for President Bush. Can you say GITMO?

A New Beginning In The Middle East

President Obama's transformational speech addressing Muslim nations (and everyone else) from Cairo, Egypt this morning.



The text of the speech is here.

This speech by any measure was amazing. As President Obama himself said no one speech will change everything nor answer every question but I believe it has the potential of sowing the seeds of change in many countries in the Middle East.

I wonder how many of his detractors will note that he said in front of the Muslim world that he himself is a Christian.

Its really no matter because no matter what he said today many right wingers will find something to criticize, but the great thing is his speech wasn't aimed at them. And for those the speech WAS aimed at I believe it will resonate.

The speech President Obama gave today isn't just about Muslim leaders. What he is doing is also reaching out to the citizens of Muslim countries, the people who actually vote people in and vote people out. He is also reaching out to non Muslim countries that have traditionally been our allies but are estranged because of our adventure into Iraq. The reason why the members of our military are in so much danger in both Iraq and Afghanistan is becasue Bush and Cheney phucked up our relationships just to try to get into Iraq that many of the allies who normally would be helping us carry the load in an armed conflict are not willing to put their troops in the line of fire. Now when they see our President talking about giving everyone a fair shake and ending this neoconic bellicosity towards each and every country that makes even the slightest threat against us whether they have the capacity to carry it out or not, the more likely they are to actually put some skin in the game and help us in the armed conflicts we are still engaged in.

This speech as will all other diplomatic moves Pres Obama has made since taking office is about sowing seeds that can grow over time that will eventually improve our national security whether by other nation's citizens rejecting their current leadership or traditional allies coming back to the table to help us around the world.

Bachmann's "Psycho Talk"

Good on Congressman Keith Ellison for calling Michele Bachmann out. I wish more Democrats would denounce that nutcase.