The Tea Party conspiracy theorist liars have the right-wing media in their pockets and are spewing out new falsehoods and hate-filled rhetoric in print and on “news” TV every day, all as part of their campaign to oust President Obama and the Democrats in the next election cycle. They extend their hate to public employees, unions, and so on, in order to distract attention from their puppet-master robber barons in the banks, oil companies and on Wall Street who are fleecing America and bringing it to its knees. People who want to keep their pensions, want better access to health care, or want basic freedom of religion and safety are being brutalized left and right. The separation between rich and poor in America is growing drastically, is greater than during the Great Depression or any other time in American history, and is also greater than the economic inequality that helped spur the revolution in Egypt earlier this year.
Republican congressman Peter King, New York, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is preparing to convene hearings on the internal “Muslim threat” in the United States. When asked what the threat was, he said: “Well, something from within. And I’ve said time and time again, the overwhelming majority of Muslims are outstanding Americans, but at this stage in our history there’s an effort to radicalize elements within the Muslim community. And I’ve said, when we were going after the Mafia, we looked at the Italian community; the Westies, the Irish community. In New York, they go after the Russian mob, they go into the Russian community in Brighton Beach and Coney Island. And right now, there is an effort – and this isn’t just me saying this, Eric Holder’s said he stays awake at night worrying about the numbers of young Muslim men who are being radicalized.” It is clear he has no idea what he is talking about – but as we all know, that doesn’t matter.
Meanwhile, in Tennessee a bill was recently proposed to make it a felony to follow Shari’ah law, which, some claim would essentially make practicing Islam illegal in the state. Numerous similar bills have been considered or are in the works in other states, despite no movement from the American Muslim community to pursue some kind of official Shari’ah law. This is yet another example of extreme ignorance and growing hate.
Topping the list in the past weeks: in Orange County, California, a charity event – raising money for shelters and food banks sponsored by a Muslim group – was protested by Tea Partiers with the most hateful and threatening messages. For running a charity event, the Muslims were called pure evil terrorists for whom the protestors wanted an “early meeting in paradise”, while the Muslims, children in arms, walked quietly past. Any sane person cannot watch even a few minutes of footage from the protests without being sickened and stunned.
And this – the false demonization an entire minority – is becoming the accepted norm in America, like a return to Nazi Germany. The threat of “radicalization” of Muslims in America has been tiny and inconsequential, but treating people as less than human, ignoring all facts and reason, with such hatred and ignorance is certainly no way to make friends.
These hate-spewing extremists want an enemy to fuel their election vitriol, to feed the US war machine and to expand their already-inflated coffers at the expense of everyone else. The Tea Party conspiracy theorist liars have the right-wing media in their pockets and are spewing out new falsehoods and hate-filled rhetoric in print and on “news” TV every day, all as part of their campaign to oust President Obama and the Democrats in the next election cycle.
They extend their hate to public employees, unions, and so on, in order to distract attention from their puppet-master robber barons in the banks, oil companies and on Wall Street who are fleecing America and bringing it to its knees. People who want to keep their pensions, want better access to health care, or want basic freedom of religion and safety are being brutalized left and right. The separation between rich and poor in America is growing drastically, is greater than during the Great Depression or any other time in American history, and is also greater than the economic inequality that helped spur the revolution in Egypt earlier this year. Capitalism and the so-called democratic process are now largely the tools of the power mongers and the greedy to climb over the backs of everyone else, taking whatever is in their hands, while duping the public into believing it is fortunate and free. If the public starts to wake up and sees that it is not fortunate or free, but that it is being robbed and being beaten, then the strategy is to create an enemy and/or turn them against each other.
Some have apparently made efforts against the downward hate-and-ignorance spiral in America, but not all of these truly have their heart in it. For example, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg countered King’s call for the congressional hearings, saying they were unnecessary. He also supported the Islamic center planned near the World Trade Center. However, Mayor Bloomberg also gave a $2,400 donation to King’s election campaign, and they have sat and dined together at parades and in restaurants. To both men, all this is apparently just business as usual.
Thus, the hate and ignorance grows, the roster of victims lengthens, and there is no end in sight.
