Mad, bad and dangerous to know-Conservatives in America playing with fire, inciting violence

Guardian ^ | 8-26-09 | Mehdi Hasan

[SJackson]

Conservatives in America are playing with fire by inciting violence against the country's first black president

"Does the sun ever shine during a Democratic administration?" asked Jon Stewart on a recent edition of The Daily Show, in a nod to the rightwing hysteria over the current White House incumbent. "With Obama in office now, when babies laugh do you hear only the sound of kittens drowning?"

Stewart is a comedian, but this is no laughing matter. The lies perpetrated against Obama – that he is a foreigner, a Marxist, a Nazi, a racist, intent on interning the elderly and euthanising the disabled – and the ensuing hatred and virulence, have reached fever pitch.

I could only rub my eyes in disbelief when I saw footage of one protester standing outside an Obama town hall meeting in New Hampshire with a loaded handgun strapped to his leg, holding a placard proclaiming: "It is time to water the tree of liberty," in reference to the Thomas Jefferson quote "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of tyrants and patriots." In Maryland, one man went even further, holding up a sign saying: "Death to Obama" and "Death to Michelle and her two stupid kids".

This militant, rightwing craziness comes on the back of the now-infamous ad published in a Pennsylvania newspaper in May, calling for Obama to be assassinated – and, of course, in the wake of a presidential election campaign in which crowds at Republican rallies shouted "Kill him!", as well as "Treason!" "Terrorist!" and "Off with his head!"

[firebrand]

How would the Mehdi explain the black protester who showed up with two firearms to counter 0's anti-Second Amendment views? Was he racist too? Whoops, anecdotal evidence. Inferior to the Mehdi's totally unfounded generalizations.

They don't get it. Most of those who weren't born here and raised here have a more difficult time grasping it, I've found.