Dan Savage lays it out raw: 'Getting the president killed is a win-win scenario' for Limbaugh et al.

[Newsjock]

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/09/17/wh...

Posted by Dan Savage on Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 10:14 AM

We all know, or should know, what's going on here. The right wing media blowhards—the men who actually run the racist rump is today's GOP—are going to crank up the paranoid, race-baiting rhetoric until they succeed in pushing a deranged "patriot" over the edge and an attempt is made on the life of President Barack Hussein Socialist Hitler Racist Obama. If the assassination attempt is a success—and God fucking forbid—the right wing will have succeeded in removing Obama from office by... what's that phrase again... oh, right: any means necessary. And the country will be consumed by riots, which will have racial overtones, which the right-wing hopes redound to the benefit of their GOP, ye olde law and order party, the "daddy party."

Getting the president killed is a win-win scenario for the Limbaughs, Drudges, Becks, Bachmanns, etc.

[Juche]

1. Triple win

If they get Obama killed then they have cemented how much power they have over the US because nothing will be done to them because of it. And future politicians will tread lightly to avoid pissing off the rabid right wing.

If someone as passive and conciliatory as Obama gets assassinated, its going to make the more aggressive progressives fear for their safety.

[MUAD_DIB]

3. I disagree. The GOP might not survive an Obama assassination.

Unless they plan to move out of the country and broadcast their shit into it then they very well might suffer the same fate as the one whom they wished murdered.

[cliffordu]

8. My thought exactly.

[kestrel91316]

15. If they touch one hair on his head, they will never sleep soundly at night again.

They will never be able to walk down the street without fearing a knife between the ribs. This country will come unhinged, and the targets will be the Right.

[boobooday]

18. This will end their hopes of ever regaining power

I agree.

[butterfly77]

25. Exactly what I was thinking..

[TxRider]

33. Exactly.. It would be win for nobody

[troubledamerican]

40. GOP would thrive, and Liberals would do nothing per usual. We've proven it time & again.

[Nostradammit]

43. We have?

Liberals have done nothing throughout history?


You sure about that?

[troubledamerican]

48. Liberalism post-1968.

Kent State massacre? Not much.

Gerald Ford's pardon of a President's crimes? Worse than zero: Nowadays, it's conventional wisdom (even included Ted Kennedy) that this was "healing" to ignore Presidential crime. Get used to this, it's going to become conventional wisdom about torture & Cheney too.

Reagan's crime spree? Anemic liberal response.

BCCI? Investigation stopped in its tracks.

S & L Crisis? Repeated itself less than 20 years later because liberals practiced weak-ass remediation.

Iran-Contra? Buried.

Telecommunications Act of 1996? Signed into law by a liberal.

New Deal safeguard Glass-Stegall Act? You know the answer.

Overthrowing the election of 2000? I forgot, you're right: Liberals POURED into the streets.

Cheney/Bush crime spree? A tiny handful of progressives may have prevented atrocities we cannot imagine, but many liberals were responsible for aiding the crime spree.

Surely you cannot argue that liberalism has not been complicit with the eradication of U.S. democracy for 40+ years.

[IdaBriggs]

44. Agreed. nt

[olegramps]

36. I have said from the outset that this is the intention of Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Hannity, etc.

I don't know what would ensue if this did happen. Would the progressives just mourn their loss or would they retaliate leading to massive riots? If the latter happened, I believe that many Republicans could kiss their racist ass goodbye. I remember the 60's and it could spark a revolution that the Republicans would have wished that they never instigated. I will add that if this horrible event should happen then I would hope that every Democrat would take to the streets and stomp out this nonsense once and for all times. It appears that these bastards would like to fight the Civil War once agin. Then bring it on and this time take no captives.

[MUAD_DIB]

2. The GOP scenario is implausible.

How would they be expected to pick up the pieces and govern when they'd all be dancing in the breeze?

[DJ13]

4. I just KNEW Obama should have named Jesse Jackson as his VP

They wouldnt talk like that if they knew another Black guy was waiting in the wings.

[TheCoxwain]

29. I would prefer Al Sharpton ... That will absolutely ensure Obama's Safety.

Plus it will drive all the nuts even more crazy and they cant do shit about ,,

Maybe all their heads will even explode.

[anonymous171]

38. Or Rev. Wright. Now that would terrify all of them

The racists and the economic royalists.

[indepat]

5. The subtlety of these subliminal and not-so-subliminal messages is starkly transparent

[Winterblues]

6. If Obama were to be assassinated I would suggest Beck, Limbaugh, etc not go out in public

I think there would be an incentive to "do onto others" so to speak from a large portion of America.

[Rude Dog]

7. I've been saying this for months.

The GOPpers want another Timothy McVeigh. They want someone who will do their violent bidding again.

And then when it happens, and people die, and we ask, "Why did they kill?", the GOP will claim it's not their fault, they'll claim it was "a lone nut", that we're just evil and hateful and trying to censor them.

Make no mistake: If some far-righter nut even attempts to assassinate my President, there will be no quarter and no mercy for Republicans from that day onward. I will devote my life to seeing rightism stamped out. It will be considered as treasonous and wrong as being a Nazi before my dying day. You can count on it.

[Doctor_J]

14. Hopefully if it happens again

we won't just gasp and be outraged, like we did when we found out McVeigh was a Limbecile. At some point I would hope we fight back.

[Blue Meany]

22. If there is another Timothy McVeigh incident,

they will argue that this proves Democrats can't keep people safe. It's definitely a win for them.

[butterfly77]

26. Keep on believing that..

don't believe the rightwing hype. They really haven't heard from the sleeping giant but,they are inching every so close to their awakening. Many are awake now but the rightwing doesn't know it they believe in the polls..

[Raschel]

9. I'm so glad people are talking about all of the hatred that's bubbling over - from Pres Carter

to Mr. Savage. Let's bring it all out in the open. I don't care who's sick of "cries of racism".

That's what it took in the sixties and that's what it's going to take now.

Shout loud, brothers and sisters, White and Black. Don't lose your voice. Don't let this be swept under the rug, ignored, denied.

[butterfly77]

27. I approve this message...

[Raschel]

32. Thank you.

[Laurab]

47. I second your approval!

[subcomhd]

10. Their lifespans (Limbaugh, Beck, etc) would probably be to short to capitalize.

I do not advocate violence against anyone. But the fact of the matter is that if some RW nut-job harms our president, those who have been egging it on will probably not be long for this world.

[formercia]

11. The stature of a Warrior is not measured by his strength

but by the strength and number of his enemies.

[Deep13]

12. Throwing America under the bus for good ratings. nt

[murray hill farm]

13. No doubt that is their motive.....

But, their real hope was the birther movement because, in their troubled minds this would mean that not only was the president not eligible, neither is the vice president eligible for office....and further, they believe that their would be no eligibility in the chain of command. They do not want Biden or Pelosi in the office of the President either. But as the birther movement is debunked again and again, they loose hope in their preferred solution....and are more and more vulnerable to "any means necessary. Limbaugh et al are the king sociopaths pushing their own metastasizing sociopathy to the angry masses of unaware.

[JonQ]

16. Very unlikely

1) they are making tons of money via hatred for obama and democrats in general, an assasination would make it impossible to attack obama without losing viewers and sponsors and would put public sympathy with the democrats.

2) it would lead to greater calls for censoring rightwing media and holding speakers criminal liable for the actions of people who listen to them (remember the tiller murder response?).

3) it would lead to a far less vocal and confrontational GOP for a little bit, meaning no anger, no controversy, no ratings.

I hate to think along these lines but if anyone would benefit from an obama assassination it would be the left.

[ladywnch]

20. do you really think that Beck, Limpballs , et al really have this much

thought process in play? They are seriously drunk on their own celebrity and ratings they're not thinking as logically and rationaly as you describe. Particularly, BECK. - if he wasn't already married, I'm sure he'd be hooked up with Orly Taitz.

[ldf]

42. yes.

they know EXACTLY what they are doing.

[skip fox]

17. This is as precarious of a time as the late 1960s. I was there.

Level of hysteria. Insanity of "Love it of leave it" types. Etc.

Only this time we have something we have rarely seen on the national state: Beck and Limbaugh, to to mention hundreds who try to even outdo them.

Billy Sunday (early 20th cent.) was pretty bad, but no where near the national audience.

[AndyA]

19. I have some very serious concerns about even discussing this sort of thing.

The right wing hate radio and TV jocks need to be held accountable for their comments. As Nancy Pelosi said, some of the people hearing their anal excement might not be very stable. They could choose to act on the ideas that are suggested.

I am very uneasy that this type of talk has been tolerated at this point. I hope the Secret Service and FBI are doing their jobs thoroughly.

[Doctor_J]

31. How so?

The right wing hate radio and TV jocks need to be held accountable for their comments.

in what way?

[AndyA]

34. If they make a threat, they need to be arrested for threatening someone.

If they incite a riot, they need to be arrested.

Freedom of speech is one thing, intentionally encouraging others to do their dirty deeds for them is another. People must be taken to task for the words they speak.

[Doctor_J]

45. They are too smart to actually make a threat

And too cowardly to do anything themselves. You think Weiner or Limpballs would actually take someone on face-face?

[HamdenRice]

21. Savage is wrong about one thing

There won't be riots. The mood would be very somber. He's playing into a stereotype there a bit.

[Bigmack]

24. I dunno....

I'm white and so old I creak, but if anything happens to Obama, I sure as hell ain't gonna be somber.

[Doctor_J]

30. You're probably right

One reason they feel so secure about calling for violence against us is that they know how docile we are. Just look at all we've let them get away with already. They feel, probably rightly, that any incidents of violence will go unavenged & unpunished.

[Jennicut]

23. I still don't get what assassinating the President would help them achieve

People would be sad, not rioting. Biden would be President...they don't like him either.

[KatyaR]

28. I think if that happened, god forbid, the bat-shit crazy right-wingers

would be insane. There would be rioting, but it would be from the right. They're just itching to start a modern Civil War.

[felinetta]

35. Well, Rush feels emboldended enough to say we need segregated buses again. They sure

do race bait.  Nothing better happen to Obama.

[anonymous171]

37. Beacuse we all know that JFK's death was such a big win for the American right.

[democracy1st]

39. K & R

[jgraz]

41. Dan's one of my heroes, but he's wrong in this case.

The Repugs don't realize it, but Obama is the only one standing between them and the guillotines. If anything happens to him, not even their magic sky god will save the right wing.

[Doctor_J]

46. I hope you are right

But I fear that we are so timid as to do absolutely nothing, even if they do the unthinkable.