author's note: I wrote this a few days ago. have been trying without any success to get it to go viral. please help.

Once Upon A Time In America

There was an old and faithful dog. He lived with a family who loved him and he loved them back with all his heart. He was accepted as a member of the family and treated as such. All the members of the family respected him and his place in the family.

As a puppy, like all puppies, he was full of energy and sometimes out of control. He pooped and peed in the house and chewed up shoes, but soon grew out of it. When he was a young dog, he became curious about the world outside the family and became an escape artist, digging under the fence or jumping over it to chase cars or knock over the neighbors' trash cans, and causing occasional mayhem, even getting in fights with other dogs. The family worried about him and his safety, but always welcomed him back. Through it all, he never stopped loving them and the family never doubted his love. It was known and accepted that the dog was a valuable part of the family and he had brought them much joy and happiness over the years and would always have a place in their home. He was getting on in years and spent most of his days now sleeping in his special spot on his own cushion in a sunny spot in the family’s house.

One day a distant Uncle came to live with the family. This man had never lived with a dog. He had never experienced the benefits of having a dog as part of the family. He had heard many stories of people being bitten and attacked by dogs. Since he had never known any dogs, he assumed those stories were true, and that was all he needed to know about dogs. This man’s father, the one person in his life who he had looked up to and believed without question, always said that dogs were vicious and evil beasts never to be trusted.

The man told the family that the dog was dangerous and they had to get rid of the dog.

The family was astounded. ‘We can’t get rid of the dog, he is a valuable member of the family and has always given us great joy and happiness,’ they said.

The man became irate and angry, he swore up and down. He called the dog all kinds of names, accused him of all manner of horrible things. Then he began to kick the dog, spitting on it, and cursing it.

The family stood there with their mouths open, not knowing what to do or say. The dog whined and cowered. He looked at the family for help or explanation, but they were frozen with fear that the man might attack them too.

The man worked himself up into greater and greater fits of rage, yelling and screaming about how horrible and vicious the dog was, how dangerous he was, how he would destroy the family if he wasn’t destroyed. Then he grabbed a broomstick and began to swat the dog. The dog continued to cower and whine and he retreated into the far corner of the room with the man chasing and swatting at him.

The family just stood there helpless, not knowing what to do.

Finally, cornered and receiving blow after blow, the old dog, gathered its strength and stood his ground, he began to bark and snarl at the man, showing his teeth and making threatening sounds.

‘See, see!’ yelled the man furiously. ‘I told you he was vicious and vile!!’ And he began to hit the dog harder and harder. And the dog started to growl, and snap and bark louder and louder. Cornered and afraid and confused the dog summoned up all his strength to defend himself. The dog seemed to grow in size and fierceness as he stood up to the blows raining on him and reared back on his haunches, the fur rising on his back as his primal urge to fight back took hold of his being.

‘See, See!!!’ The man screamed. ‘Dogs are vicious and dangerous and must be eliminated!’ and he pulled a gun from his pocket and took aim at the dog.

What do you think happened then?

=========================================
More Study Questions:

Who is the dog?
Who is the family?
Who is the Uncle who hates dogs?
Who is the Uncle's father?

=========================================

Conceived and written in response after reading the following all-to-familiar exchange in a comment thread on a popular news web site:

RW1: (referencing the orignal article)
'Contrast that to the right-wing smear merchants that have gone into high gear to slime .'

As opposed to the left-wing smear merchannts that have been in high gear sliming the tea party and various candidates­? It ain't right but It goes both ways. You know it does ... both sides do it.

LW: It does NOT go both ways. You know it doesn't. Both sides do NOT do it. Look around and see who is spreading the out-and-ou­t lies and the hate. It is NOT the left. There is no "left equivalent­" of Rush or Glenn or Fox News. There is no "left equivalent­" of Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachman. There is no "left equivalent­" of Franklin Graham. You are simply repeating another false premise promoted by the right.

RW2: LOL Lawrence O'Donnell, Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews--­vicious as can be. MSNBC, Media Matters, MoveOn.org­, Huff-Po---­Pelosi, Reid, Weiner, Grayson, Sharpton, Emmanuel, .....Rush, Glenn, Palin, Bachmann would be unknown to the public if not for the endless, constant, frontpage hate coverage of them. Who do you think catapulted them into fame? If the Dems vitriolic flamethrow­ing is not as widely visible to libs, it is because NBC, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, CBS, ABC ete etc etc are unabashedly in the tank for them and have deliberately downplayed and hidden their hate-mongering from view.

link: http://www.alternet.org/news/146184/naomi_...

I know this article has been posted already, but I can't find the thread.

Having looked to Naomi Wolf as the canary in the coal mine who warned us during the Bush years when so much was put in place to assure a coming "fascist shift", I am shocked and amazed, that in her recent interview Ms. Wolf did not call out the major point that while the Tea Party movement may be recognizing some "loss of freedom" and other signs of "government" encroachment they are not seeing the same things that she did and pointed to in her books and lectures or misinterpreting them.

Wolf overlooks the evidence that their sense of "loss of freedom" is a reaction to empowerment of peoples unlike themselves (i.e. the increased access to health care insurance for the poor, obviously meaning blacks), and that the blame for the "coming government takeover" is being redirected and firmly placed on the demonized Liberals (enemy within) who are now targeted for violence and intimidation, effectively making the Tea Partiers the SA type street thugs used by the new Fascist movement to take control, not the alert citizenry she makes them out to be in her recent interview.

This is so clear from her own work, that I seriously wonder if they have gotten to her. I recall her saying in her lecture that she would clam up when it reached the point that journalists were arrested (Amy Goodman at the RNC) and now has been intimidated herself, but that would be crazy talk wouldn't it?

Just days ago I wondered in another post where she was and why she wasn't speaking out on what the recent call to violence and rebellion of the Tea party crowd heralded. Now here she is basically claiming that they are true defenders of the consititution, and other RW talking points such as blaming Obama.

While it is certainly true that all the dangerous laws put in place by Cheney/Bush are still in force and Obama has not repealed them, that does not lead one to believe that he is part of the conspiracy to use them to install a fascist regime. All it shows is how entrenched they are and how really powerless Obama and the Democrats may be. Not whether or not they are powerless or corrupted willingly.

This is classic Fascist propagandizing, following the blueprint which Wolf so clearly laid out. We are in the phase now where confusion reigns, everyone accuses everyone else of being the enemy, everyone suspects everyone else. the media and the punditry on all sides are used to feed the confusion, thus nurturing the "yearning for order (Fascism)" that Chris Hedges also recently wrote about.

Sadly both Wolf and Hedges have now joined the chorus of "its the Liberal Elite" who are to blame. Yet in doing so, they, and the Tea Parties as well, while correctly in some ways pointing out that it is the corporate oligarchy who are the real enemies, still fall prey to the misdirection of the propaganda to blame the Liberals.

To see who is the "real" enemy of a corporate fascist takeover you simply have to look at who they are demonizing and you will see who they view as the main threat to their agenda.

Wolf said in her lecture that at a certain point Democracy can longer be counted on to save Democracy. We are past that point now. The rage on the left that Obama and the Democrats have been largely ineffectual, despite many legislative successes, in stopping the powers of the corporatocracy is a symptom of how entrenched that power is.

There are some key points that do come thru in the linked interview, points that I have tried to make before. The Tea Partiers are rightfully angry, they do sense that they and their concerns have been overlooked and that they are being screwed mightily, by something, someone. We needed to join with them and redirect their anger and energy back at the real source of their frustration. But I fear it is much too late for that because of the hold of Beck and Palin over their minds and the targets of their hate-driven passion and energy. (Frank Rich's recent piece brilliantly describes the darker side of some of the real roots of this feeling of disenfranchisement as well which is why its been so easy to redirect them against us as the culprits.)

But what we on the Left must not do is fall into the trap along with the Tea Partiers that the attempts to crack down on the RW militias are somehow signs of the "government" following thru on stifling dissent and that they are the victims and the true "freedom fighters". These people are dangerous. They do need to be prevented from acting out.

Its really a no win situation once this begins. Either they carry out their plans or are arrested. It doesn't matter, either outcome is meant to stir up even more fury and instigate more violence against the "government", leading to the inevitable martial law, from which it is but a baby step to make the transition to the final loss of freedom and the installation of a truly Fascist authoritarian regime.

I don't know what can be done to stop it. I had hoped Wolf would have some clues from her exhaustive research, but perhaps it has never been turned back at this point.

To our fellow "Conservative" Tea Party citizens:

I don't know how to talk to you.

Your statements and arguments demonstrate time and again you have drunk the Fox Kool-Aid. I have tried and failed so many times with so many folks to help them see that, but to no avail.

I do identify with your and the Tea Party's anger. “I feel your pain.” I know we share the same enemy, the same forces arrayed against us who have put us down and kept us there and who I believe, just as you do, really do want to take away our "Liberty."

You want someone to blame. You want an easy target and easy answers. You know something is wrong with the system and you are so desperate and scared you will eagerly swallow lies meant to manipulate you and prolong your suffering if they include someone or something tangible you can hate, like poor people or blacks, or Liberals who want to "take my money and give it to the blacks" or "take away my guns."

Liberalism does not have all the answers but it is NOT the enemy. Obama is NOT the enemy. Democrats are NOT the enemy.

The enemy is Big Money. Big Money buys power. Power sets policy. Simple as that.

Republican policies have created the situation we are in, NOT the policies Obama and the Democrats have tried to institute in order to mitigate your suffering.

The RW propaganda machine has somehow convinced you that the situation you are in right now began the moment Obama was inaugurated.

How could that possibly be? Is it any wonder so many "progressives" think you must be deranged? Is it any wonder then that you then think they are a bunch of "elitists?"

You are angry because its been a year since the Democrats took control of our political system and you are still suffering. So it is their fault???

The truth is the Republicans and Big Money have done everything in their power to block and prevent any action at all on any and every issue regardless of whether or not it might help resolve the situation. This is boldly and purposefully only in order to regain power. Can you not see through that? Do you not see the folly in that?

Republicans and Democrats have different ideas as to how to solve the problems you, we all, are facing.

Republican policies have been proven over and over and over again to exacerbate those problems if not outright create them.

Democratic policies have shown again and again to be somewhat successful at alleviating that suffering and enabling the rise and stability of the middle class.

The Republicans openly proclaim their support for Big Money and the rich, the corporate power brokers and the banks. The Democrats proudly stand on their history of standing up for the working man.

Now I'm sure you would like to argue the above statements, but that again is to fall into the trap.

You claim people are angry because Obama is too far left? I don't want to argue that with you or try to disabuse you of that notion, (he’s a pragmatist, devoted to trying to get everyone to work together to just solve the damn problems) but to instead try to get you to see that the way Big Money, our common enemy, keeps their control over us is by dividing us along those simplistic ideological lines with those meaningless labels and having us point fingers at the other side.

To see which side it is that they fear, which side it is that they think represents a threat to their power, take a look at which side they choose to demonize and to discredit.

There has been a War on Liberals and Progressivism since the rise of Ronald Reagan. There has been a War on "Government" since the rise of Ronald Reagan. It has been uninterrupted and unrelenting.

Now I grant you the system is corrupt. It is corrupted by Big Money. No matter how staunch any politician, on either side, is in his beliefs, how altruistic he is in his motives, Money has the persuasive power, not simply through bribes but through all manner of intimidation that Money can bring to bear. (for the most convincing summary of how this works, I suggest you Google Bill Hicks What’s My agenda. it might seem extreme but its close to the heart of the truth.)

When did the shrinking of the middle class begin? When did the movement of wealth begin to fly upwards to be concentrated in the control of an ever increasingly small percentage of power brokers? When did deficits rise dramatically? When did they briefly begin to go down? and When did they soar back up? Who was in power when most of this was happening and who were they demonizing all along? When did those wealthy power brokers launch a 24 hour news network dedicated to demonizing liberals and touting conservative pro-big-money ideology?

Yep, you're absolutely right! Conservative policies, cutting taxes for the rich but not the middle class, slashing away the social safety net that at one time protected all of us, not just the "lazy bums", and pumping trillions into a "defense" industry buildup increasing our deficit into the stratosphere are what has made this country great!!! The only way to get our country back is to go conservative!!! Our corporate masters will set us free if only we give them back full power over us!!!

Good luck with that.

There is a lot of justifiable concern about the recent outbreaks of violence, vandalism and intimidation.

It is tempting to believe it is a momentary letting off of steam and reality would eventually elbow its way back into place in the minds of all but the craziest nuts. It is also tempting to write off concerns on the left as over-reacting and imagining doomsday scenarios.

At first I was amused by all the right wing nut jobs swallowing this obvious set of lies. "Totalitarian socialism is here, lock and load boys!" I didn't think they'd really act out and would eventually calm down when they learned the truth. Then I was amused by the gnashing of teeth and wailing of all is lost on the far left, "corporate sell out, corporate sell out!" Chris Hedges' recent piece comes to mind.
http://www.alternet.org/media/146005/we_st... /

I was content to think we had at least achieved a minor but significant victory and it really could be a first step.

Then I thought more about it. I kept my eye on the news. I tried to talk sense to some RWingers furious about the passage of the health reform bill with absolutely no success. "Fox news is the truth. MSNBC is full of lies. Its a government takeover!!!"

I recalled how Republican after Republican congressman rose to repeat the same lies the night of the final debate before the vote. And how Democrat after Democrat rose to proudly count off the real achievements and true goals of this bill.

And I thought about how both were equally deluded at some level. This bill was controlled completely by corporate lobbying and big money from the get go. Sure they threw us some bones, we made some gains, but they still controlled the show.

This served their purposes in many ways. It gave the propaganda machine the slightest of pretexts to continue and ramp up the lies--and much more worrisome--call for action. "They rammed this down our throats! They subverted democracy. blah, blah, blah." And of course it protected their control of health care and their profits. It also gave the Dems a false sense of victory. It gave many who had begun to see Obama, and the Dem leadership, as ineffectual or at worst a sellout, at least some hope that now he and they were willing to fight and give up the pretense of conciliation. And they still might do just that. But they were used too.

Those pundits on the left now predicting the demise of the Republicans for having gone all in and taken the low road of pure obstructionism and massive falsehoods are mistaken. This was part of the plan too. While many will yet come to see them for what they are and also see this bill for what it is, which might lead to electoral defeat for Republicans, those realizations will soon be lost in the chaos.

I thought about how Chris Hedges had spent 25 years watching this exact scenario play out over and over throughout Latin America. I read Paul Craig Roberts piece yesterday (http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts0324201... )about how it was all over now too, and this was a Republican, "godfather of supplyside economics" who saw from the inside how the neo-cons and other players had used him and his theories, not for a "free" market, but to dominate and control and manipulate the market. This was a man who had spoken out against them and then been marginalized. And I knew that he knew what they were up to.

For this was Waterloo and was always meant to be. But not in the way everyone thought. It was surmised that Obama would fail to pass it and that would be the end of his presidency. But he was meant to pass it. He was allowed to pass it. And its passage is and always was meant to be the match that lit the fuse to start the final phase of the long-planned fascist shift, so clearly and eloquently detailed by Naomi Wolfe.

(BTW, has anyone heard anything from Naomi? As far as I've been aware she has completely dropped out of sight since shortly after the election. The last pieces I read from her were filled with fear and paranoia and reports of all manners of harassment. Then nothing.)

Up until now we have only seen the tip of the iceberg of the massive disinformation campaign waged by the right wing corporate propaganda machine. We are now seeing the early signs of violence as a result of large numbers of people believing the lies.

I am deeply concerned about the armed gangs of "tea partiers" being told to "lock and load! They're coming to get us!!!" which will very likely lead to some kind of shoot out ala Waco. This is intentional. This is a self-fulfilling prophecy and is intended to lead to an even a wider outbreak of violence, and eventually to require some kind of government crackdowns, thus confirming the certainty of their beliefs in their persecution at the hands of the government ("See we're weren't paranoid! They are trying to round us up!") which will in turn further fuel their anger and resolve. The situation will escalate until we have martial law and/or a military coup. If I'm right and their plans follow the blueprint, eventually the current administration will be overrun, congress disbanded and most likely an authoritarian dictatorship or junta installed ala Allende's Chile, or even 30s Germany. (ok this really does sound crazy, but I will fill in how this could happen in another post, this one is far to long already)

Only then will they, the teabaggers, (perhaps) see that the government conspiracy they saw and feared was not part of a plan to instill a totalitarian socialist system but an authoritarian fascist one. But they won't care. They will be part of the government shock troops now and employed seeking out and persecuting all those "reds under the bed."

This is what has happened before, over and over again. This is the truth of what is coming.

I seriously believe this is the planned result and we are in the end game now.

Call me crazy, Please!

Call me a conspiracy nut if you like, but I have a friend who worked for the CIA in the 60s and 70s and he confirmed that there is in fact a shadow government, the same guys who did this sort of thing all over Latin America and elsewhere for decades, who have been planning this and setting it up for years. All the signs are there, all the steps clearly visible. (Naomi Wolfe where are you now that we need your voice and expertise on this matter?)

One of the biggest ironies is Glenn Beck and his ilk pointing this out in part, but twisting it around and blaming "progressives" or "liberals" who are of course the enemy of any such corporate fascist takeover and the one thing potentially standing in the way of its success.

This is CLASSIC COINTELPRO: misinform, misdirect, demonize the opposition, demonize the current leader. Pre-emptively reveal parts of what is really going on and blame the opposition, thus completely neutralizing them and any attempts they make to warn the people. "They're lying!--No,YOU'RE LYING." (How many of us have run into this phenomenon when trying to talk sense to friends and family who listen to Fox?)

These violent tea-party militia-type folks leading the charge are the modern SA or Brown shirts and are being duped into bringing on their own destruction and the authoritarian government they claim they fear. They will be discarded when no longer useful or radicalized into "death squads" gleefully rooting out and murdering anyone suspected of being too "liberal."

Sound fantastic? Yesterday was the anniversary of the RW death squads' murder of bishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador.

Read this about those days and how it worked: http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fu ...

THEY ARE GOING ALL IN NOW! Leveraging the fact of a black president, the current depression they brought on to make people scared and desperate and angry, and a mildly center-left bill they can call "socialism" to ramp up the unrest. The dog whistles are blowing non-stop.

Watch for the next major step: the "Reichstag fire." In the meantime there will be more street fights, beatings, gun violence, vandalism...

It will be a long hot summer. Remember the 60s? But in reverse and much more violent.

Wishing I'm wrong,

srfRantz

A relative sent me one of the RW chain mails this morning asking me if it was true.

Here is the body:



Here is my long rambling, somewhat furious, stream of consciousness response...

Utter total and complete garbage.

There is no "universal health care" program.
Unfortunately.

That would have been the best solution. The most efficient and simplest solution would be to open Medicare up so anyone could enroll instead of limiting it to only over 65. Medicare isn't 'universal health care' either but it could have been universal non-profit affordable health insurance so that everyone could have access to health care.

This bill is not even "health care reform".
There are really NO CHANGES TO HEALTH CARE in this bill.

It is HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM. It stops certain key abuses of the insurance companies.
Stops them from canceling policies when they find out you need an expensive operation, like they did to me.
And stops them form refusing to cover "pre-existing conditions" like they did to me.
It doesn't go far enough or go into effect for 4 years for adults on the pre-existing, but immediately for children.
It also eliminates lifetime limits on payouts, and eventually removes annual limits which allows ins. cos. To stop paying after a limited amount, like they did to me. (my bills totaled over $200,000, they only covered up to $100,000 after I met the $2000 deductible and $5000 out of pocket, not to mention the annual premium which they have almost doubled now.)

It requires everyone to have insurance, but it also creates "pools" or "exchanges" where consumers can "shop" for insurance and get the best plan and theoretically lower premiums as they would now have to compete for the business instead of pick and choose just healthy people.

In fact the changes to how we have opportunity to purchase health 'insurance' competitively is based on the system congress now has access to. This, in fact was Obama's idea, and he often said while selling it, basically, if its good enough for congress its good enough for the people--why shouldn't everyone have access to the same coverage as congress?

So the chain email you sent me criticizing congress for forcing this down our throat and suggesting they should have to have the same type of plan is completely bogus.

But its a start. They threw us a bone.

Again to repeat and defuse the lies going around:

NO GOVERNMENT TAKEOVER OF HEALTH CARE
NO GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT IN HEALTH CARE WHATSOEVER!!!
NO REAL LOSS OF LIBERTY*
NO SOCIALISM
NO DEATH PANELS
NO GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRATS BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR HEALTHCARE**
NO RATIONING OF HEALTH CARE

Instead

GOVERNMENT PROTECTING US FROM PREDATORY INSURANCE COMPANIES AND THEIR HEARTLESS INHUMANE PROFIT-DRIVEN MOTIVES

while at the same time

GUARANTEEING THE FOR-PROFIT INSURANCE COMPANIES CONTROL OVER OUR ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE.

*Depends on how you define "liberty" of course. Yes, you can call the requirement to purchase health care, "loss of liberty", but in truth it only affects those healthy people among the 15% currently uninsured who think they can get by without it and therefore don't buy in, causing enormous strain on the rest of us and the system when they do get in a car accident and need massive expensive surgery which is why hospital bills and insurance premiums are so high, to cover the uncovered and those who can't pay. Although this feature was forced in by the insurance company lobbyists in exchange for agreeing to the other major concessions and will guarantee them millions of new healthy customers, it also adds to the pool of money available to all who do need coverage and therefore should reduce premiums (although knowing the ins. cos. They will figure away to avoid any loss of profit because the bill was kept toothless in this regard). Republicans love to tout "personal responsibility" when it comes to poor people who can't afford food or rent, now here is a law requiring "personal responsibility" (which their own lobbyists pushed in btw) that they are railing about now, most loudly only after the act of passage (they didn't want it taken out, they wanted it in, they didn't start to complain about it very much until after passage, they kept pretty mum, so they could campaign against it. The left wanted it out, and/or the "public option" in to counterbalance. The "public option" btw, was simply a non-profit alternative insurance plan that would have been offered through the govt. Sort of like Blue Cross used to be long ago.) You can still opt out of the mandate, and suffer a fine, and I believe individual states can over-ride the requirement, (but now I hear that the fine has been removed, so its basically toothless, I need to look into this more, just heard it last night...)

**Unfortunately you will still have a profit driven bureaucrat employed by the insurance co. Between you and your health care like there is now who receives a bonus when they find a way to deny you an expensive operation your life may depend on, like they did to me. But a lot of their methods are now illegal or will be eventually, which explains why they fought it so hard.

===================================================================
PART TWO - WHY I WENT OFF or CALL ME CRAZY, PLEASE

This is only the tip of the iceberg of the massive disinformation campaign waged by the right wing corporate propaganda machine. We are now seeing the early signs of violence as a result of large numbers of people believing the lies. I am deeply concerned about the armed gangs of "tea partiers" being told to "lock and load! They're coming to get us!!!" which will very likely lead to some kind of shoot out ala Waco. This is intentional. This is a self-fulfilling prophecy and is intended to lead to an even a wider outbreak of violence, and eventually to require some kind of government crackdowns, thus confirming the certainty of their beliefs in their persecution at the hands of the government ("See we're weren't paranoid! They are trying to round us up!") which will in turn further fuel their anger and resolve. The situation will escalate until we have martial law and/or a military coup. Eventually the current administration will be overrun, congress disbanded and most likely an authoritarian dictatorship installed ala Allende's Chile, or even 30s Germany. (ok this really does sound crazy, but I will fill in how this could happen in another post, this one is far to long already)

Only then will they (perhaps) see that the government conspiracy they saw and feared was not part of a plan to instill a totalitarian socialist system but an authoritarian fascist one. But they won't care. They will be part of the government shock troops now and employed seeking out and persecuting all those "reds under the bed."

This is what has happened before, over and over again. This is the truth of what is coming.

I seriously believe this is the planned result and we are in the end game now.

Call me crazy, Please!

Call me a conspiracy nut if you like, but I have a friend who worked for the CIA in the 60s and 70s and he confirmed that there is in fact a shadow government, the same guys who did this sort of thing all over Latin America and elsewhere for decades, who have been planning this and setting it up for years. All the signs are there, all the steps clearly visible. (Naomi Wolfe where are you now that we need your voice?)

One of the biggest ironies is Glenn Beck and his ilk pointing this out in part, but twisting it around and blaming "progressives" or "liberals" who are of course the enemy of any such corporate fascist takeover and the one thing potentially standing in the way of its success.

This is CLASSIC COINTELPRO: misinform, misdirect, demonize the opposition, demonize the current leader. Pre-emptively reveal parts of what is really going on and blame the opposition, thus completely neutralizing them and any attempts they make to warn the people. "They're lying!--No,YOU'RE LYING." (How many of us have run into this phenomenon when trying to talk sense to friends and family who listen to Fox?)

These violent tea-party militia-type folks leading the charge are the modern SA or Brown shirts and are being duped into bringing on their own destruction and the authoritarian government they claim they fear. They will be discarded when no longer useful or radicalized into "death squads" gleefully rooting out and murdering anyone suspected of being too "liberal."

Sound fantastic? Yesterday was the anniversary of the RW death squads' murder of bishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador.

Read this about those days and how it worked: http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fu...

THEY ARE GOING ALL IN NOW! Leveraging the fact of a black president, the current depression they brought on to make people scared and desperate and angry, and a mildly center-left bill they can call "socialism" to ramp up the unrest. The dog whistles are blowing non-stop.

Watch for the next major step: the "Reichstag fire." In the meantime there will be more street fights, beatings, gun violence, vandalism...

It will be a long hot summer. Remember the 60s? But in reverse and much more violent.

Wishing I'm wrong,

srfRantz