Extremist GOP Rhetoric Must Be Held Accountable

Considering the violent rhetoric from the GOP and its media establishment, some obvious notations must arise.

First, from Jan. 2001-Jan. 2009, when government and spending grew larger than at any time in its history and when the current budget deficit we face today was created, there was never an utterance from any elected official about states seceding from the Union. I think that sentence says a lot in and of itself. Now that spending is stagnant with a real legislative focus on reducing the deficit, Republicans can't quit fanning the flames about the dissolution of the Union.  Remarkable to say the least.

Okay, so what that Republicans didn't care when it was their Big Government.  Hypocrisy is blind if nothing else.  Let's at least recall what happened the last time states tried to do exactly what Republicans are cheering for now.  The result was at least 620,000 dead Americans.  Republican rhetoric about dissolving the Union isn't just Big Tough Guy talk about sticking it to the feds.  It's incendiary violent speech that has a record of mass genocide right here at home.

Okay, big deal, it's not going to happen this time right?  Take a look at the effect extremist Republican speech with its Fox News mouthpiece is already having on the populace.

• As noted by The Fold Blog last week, a right wing extremist, Byron Williams, opened fire on police in Oakland, CA during a traffic stop.  The gunman was later found to have been a fan of Fox News and Glenn Beck.  He told police his intention was to start a revolution by targeting organizations and people he had heard about on Fox News.  His mother stated Williams "watched the news on television and was upset by 'the way Congress was railroading through all these left-wing agenda items.'"
• Last month,  father and son Russell Hesch, 73, and David Hesch, 50, were arrested for threatening to kill a member of congress.  The duo sent a letter to Bart Stupak filled with lies obtained directly from watching Fox News.
• 2008, the shooting deaths at a Tennessee church by a right wing Warrior, who while being arrested quoted lines from a Michael Savage book and who had in possession at his home numerous right wing extremist books from Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity to name a few.
• 2009,  right wing extremist murdered Dr. Tiller who had been a frequent topic of hate on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor

Only a small sampling of what is going on currently.  Also, it's worth noting, too, that the Civil War just didn't breakout in a matter of days in 1861.  It was a culmination of years of conservative violent rhetoric about the evil federal government and personal liberty that eventually succumbed to an uprising by conservative right wingers who labeled themselves as freedom fighting patriots and the true defenders of the Constitution and our Founders' intent.  Sound familiar?  There's no reason to ignore today's GOP rhetoric and its pattern on American history.  All it takes is good people doing nothing for it to happen again.