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Summer of Hate
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This week saw a rising threat of violence from America's right-wing militias and underground hate groups. John Avlon tallies 25 signs of trouble brewing. Avlon is the author of Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe Is Hijacking America.
Hate is a cheap and easy recruiting tool, but it can be murder on a democracy.
As Tea Partiers hijack town halls and Democrats deploy counteroffensives, we are seeing hyperpartisanship proliferate in what was supposed to be the post-partisan age of Obama.
For those who see politics as an ideological blood sport, this is a victory—the triumph of cynical experience over hope. For the Obama administration, it’s a setback from its aim to change the tone in Washington by building a broad governing coalition on the momentum of its election win. This rupture is in part a reaction to a liberal triumphalism that has resisted attempts at substantive policy outreach, but more forcefully a resistance on the part of the far right by folks who want to deny the legitimacy of President Obama’s election by any means necessary.
The increasing heat of the chatter this summer should be a cold wakeup call. We are courting a season of violence in America.
And so wingnuts are on the march across the country; armed with the loss of perspective that comes with hyperpartisanship, they demonize and dehumanize their political opponents. With their unhinged armies focused solely on faction, it’s the country we should be most concerned about. There is nothing more American than civil disobedience, but uncivil disobedience and hate-fueled politics becomes a cancer that can consume our body politic.
Summer is when violence erupts, murders spike and cities burn down. There always seems to be an August surprise that changes the political calculus overnight in unwelcome ways. Just Wednesday, the Southern Poverty Law Center released a report saying Timothy McVeigh-style militia groups are on the rise, fueled by the stress of a bad economy and a liberal administration led by a black president.
In the nine weeks since Kansas Dr. George Tiller was murdered in a church, allegedly by antiabortion activist Scott Roeder, we’ve seen a serious serial degradation in our civic discourse, pumped up by professional polarizers in the media and politics. In the world of counterterrorism, this could be considered the equivalent of increased “chatter”—indicators of an increased likelihood of attack. In this case, the chatter is proliferating across the Internet, trickling down to a motley crew of unhinged activists. We don’t know where this will end, or what hot August surprise may be in store. Below is a partial tally of the hate-fueled chatter in our summer to date.
June:
• Abdulhakim Muhammad, a Muslim convert from Arkansas, was arrested for shootings outside an Army recruiting station in Little Rock that killed Private William Long and wounded another solider. He told police that “he was mad at the U.S. military because of what they had done to Muslims in the past.”
• Orange Country (Calif.) Pastor Wiley Drake—the 2008 vice-presidential nominee of Alan Keyes and the first plaintiff in Orly Taitz’s “birther” lawsuits—announced that he was praying for the death of “the usurper that is in the White House…B. Hussein Obama.”
Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America. By John Avlon. 304 pages. Beast Books. $15.95.
• Former Rep. Tom Tancredo weighed in on the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor by characterizing the Hispanic civil-rights organization La Raza as “nothing more than a … Latino KKK without the hoods or the nooses.”
• Liberal cartoonist and columnist Ted Rall called on President Obama to resign because he has not been liberal enough, writing: “With Democrats Like Him, Who Needs Dictators?...Obama has revealed himself. He is a monster, and he should remove himself from power.”
• Playboy.com posted a list of the top 10 conservative women “we hate to love”—complete with a “hate-fuck” rating.
• Former South Carolina State Election Commissioner Rusty DePass posted a comment on Facebook saying that a missing gorilla from a local zoo was related to first lady Michelle Obama.
• Eighty-eight-year-old white supremacist James Von Brunn attacked Washington’s Holocaust Museum, killing a security guard.
• Ann Coulter weighed in on George Tiller’s murder on The O’Reilly Factor, saying, “I don’t really like to think of it as murder…It was terminating Tiller in the 203rd trimester.”
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The 'Birthers' Began on the Left
John Avlon’s new book Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America is available now by Beast Books both on the web and in paperback. Advance orders can be placed here. He is also the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics. Previously, he served as chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
Queen of the Tea Party
John Avlon’s new book Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America is available now by Beast Books both on the web and in paperback. Advance orders can be placed here. He is also the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics. Previously, he served as chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
The Tea Party, Day 2
John Avlon’s new book Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America is available now by Beast Books both on the web and in paperback. Advance orders can be placed here. He is also the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics. Previously, he served as chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
rahrah
When people start seeing the 'professional polarizers' as what they are, we might get somewhere. FOXNews and MSNBC need to be clear that these folks are not newsmen and that viewers should check all 'facts' for at least context, if not accuracy.
Hotfrostins
Yeah well, somebody is listening,,,I spoke with more than one person today that noticed a sudden change in the tone over at FOX,,,its almost as if Sean Hannitys has been muzzled down... I wonder if a phone call was made? Could be they are getting scared their incitement might not be taken much longer by FCC,ATF,FBI,HS and of course someone could have asked SCOTUS for their off the record opinion. But something has definately gone down behind the scenes,,,now we will have to wait and see if they can reign in that brain damaged loose cannon Beck. I think he could go rogue.
tehixe
You can't ask SCOTUS for an off the record opinion. Article III forbids them to make a decision without a case before them, and judicial ethics forbid them to say how they would rule on a case that might come before them. The case law is very clear. People can advocate violence all they want as long as their words don't create a clear and present danger thereof. To be punished for speech alone, they pretty much have to name a time and a place for violence, with some likelihood that someone will do it. The way to deal with these people is for law enforcement to keep an eye on them and move in once it goes beyond talk. As long as it's just talk, the First Amendment is on their side.
Hotfrostins
Thank you Tehix . I appreciate that info. But the level of incitement surely does seem on the brink and I thought sure that it was getting close to illegal, especially with regard, perhaps, to FCC regulations.
Cymatic
Hotfrostins - it could be that the smart money is on something big happening. All this talk about "revolt" and saving America from Fascists or Socialists, Stalinists or Brownshirts or minority to the KKK might have seemed like an exciting way to stir the pot. But the support will dissipate very quickly with a real assassination attempt on Obama, a McVeigh style bombing, or even an Columbine style shooting by an unhinged nutjob who actually believes he's fighting an evil black man who wants to kill his grandma or his baby, take away his guns and send opponents to a concentration camp. Advertisers will pull out of Fox news really fast if this raises to the next level. These guys have no consciences, they will take absolutely no responsibility should anything happen, but their bosses know they could lose a lot of money and face the wrath of angry mobs themselves.
tehixe
Though I'm no expert, what I hear is that law enforcement is worried most about "lone wolf" terrorists. Groups are a lot easier to monitor because they have to communicate, and communication can be intercepted. They also have a bigger footprint, and it's more likely that someone will notice something suspicious and call the FBI. A person acting alone, however, cannot necessarily be stopped before the act, since if he's smart (as mercifully few of them seem to be) he won't post any warnings on his Facebook or anything.
I don't think we have to be scared for Obama however. The President has security designed to defeat attacks by foreign military operatives -- swastika-waving rednecks don't have a prayer. The most likely scenario is that we'll continue to see small incidents like the ones that have already happened, people attacking the police, abortion providers, Jewish sites, and government buildings. And all the while, the GOP will fan the flames while disavowing violence, Glen Beck sitting their on TV with blood on his hands pretending he had nothing to do with it. I don't think it will be a sudden, dramatic event that drops the bottom out from under the Republicans, it will be a gradual chipping-away as the persistent connections between the Republicans and the radical right become ever clearer, ever more crystalized in everyone's minds, until they go from regional party to ex-party.
isabella
I have never heard anyone on Fox say anything that could be construed as an incitement to violence against anyone, or say anything about President Obama that was less than respectful.
Your discussion raises a red herring and asks readers to pursue it. And if you really thought Glen Beck was brain damaged, you wouldn't bother trying to generate hatred and distrust against him. I challenge you to quote a single sentence of Beck's that advocates violence or disrespect for the law.
Further, you make it clear that you think it would be entirely proper for someone who didn't like Fox, to get an "off the record opinion" from the Supreme Court. You are exactly why people are beginning to fear this administration and its supporters. Most people would not know that the Supreme Court does not give opinions "off the record" but you raise the spectre of illegal government surveillance of citizens. Ignoramus.
EdmondDantes
Come on folks! Let's recognize this as it is. People's upbringing, culture, social beliefs don't change over a campaign cycle -- or even a generation. For some, the election of an African-American to the Presidency was a threat to their identities and the pecking order of our society. And what happens when animals are threatened and feel cornered? They fight for their basic survival. And it can get rabid and nasty. This nut has not cracked yet. Mark my words: we ain't seen nothin' yet...
joymars
I think you're right.
Francesca1214
I'm afraid that you are right.
AmiBlue
That's all true, ED, but they have been encouraged both tacitly and explicitly to act out their insecurity and aggression by the media (primarily, but not only, Fox news) and republican leaders. What might have been smoldering resentment is nearing the boiling point. There will be a lot of people in authority who have blood on their hands if the aggression erupts into further violence.
DeeAmbro
Yes, AmiBlue, I've been very disappointed that the republican party seems to be stoking this. Is there no-one who will stand up and say "enough is enough"? And even though some have already been killed, no-one on the republican side seems alarmed. How low would they go? It's frightening. I have an adopted Korean son, who is now 25 years old. Although, through the years, insensitive and sometimes racist things have been said, this is the first time in his life, that I as his mother, feel anxious about the possibility of violence against him because of his skin color. Where are the people of integrity on the republican side? Sigh, there aren't any.
DeeAmbro
One more thing...I've been very disappointed in my republican friends since the election. Sore losers! Since November, I've been called "communist, socialist, and radical" by several people I know. They are not joking. My neighbor turns her back to me when she sees me outside. My friend was called an "a**hole democrat" at her country club! What's going on republicans? We can be friends as long as you win? This isn't the America I grew up believing in...a melting pot of nationalities and ideas. I'm beginning to believe that saying about republicans...that they love America, they just hate half the people living in it. The way they are acting is un-American, un-christian, and un-patriotic.
incognito-ergo-sum
I need a chance to vent. There was nothing like this when George was pres. Some individuals may have been disappointed that the pretzel failed, but they were a tiny silent minority.
I have a friend who made a loose remark about men named Hussein and ropes and hoods. I decided to not be friends with him or his wife, since they both share this idiotic way of talking. Their two children have also pretty much cut them out of their lives.
Maybe only public and family shame will work, but when you are an older white couple with life long prejudices nothing will work.
John Avlon would have had nothing like this to report on during the last 8 years.
There is about 18% of the country that is prone to violence on their neighbors or what they decide are their enemies. Since they can't get at the government, they will be our problem.
External
You've hit the nail on the head. Some still lives in the 19th or even 20th century and can't accept the fact that,:
primo, once you cut the flesh, we all alike inside whether we are w,blk,r, brw , yellow, olive or tawny
secundo, we all come from the same place -Africa but some will say that humans were created only 6,000 years ago or like the lady from the view said,only when JC was born thus no Roman, Greek, Assyrians, Chinese empires :-)
AlanD2
Luckily there aren't enough of these unhappy conservatives to actually start Civil War II, but it looks like some of them would love to try.
boomslang
During the campaign last year these angry, ill-informed (to be polite here) people began to show up at rallies, so now they are even angrier, since they lost. Throw in the lies coming from their leaders ("death panel" nonsense, spouted by Palin, Grassley, etc), then fan the flames further with $1.4 million spent daily by the health "care" industry to derail any kind of reform, and we have the perfect storm of ignorance, hysteria, and violence....
EdmondDantes
DeeAmbro: Grow a couple and FIGHT BACK! Our country -- and your son -- deserve it. Republicans thrive on gloating when they win, and malicious smears when they lose. Democrats need to learn how to push back their ideological onslaughts before they bewilder us into submission. We must take back our country. Take it back!
North49
MSNBC parrots the Obama party line. FOX NEWS at least to some extent tries to expose the nature of the beast that seeks to expand the state, while the Obots blindly sing the praises of enslaving statism. There are an abundance of "Harvard scholars" following BO like he's the Pied Piper, methinks. Does the over "edjumicated" elite know how idiotic they appear pretending to oppose slavery as one of America's worst sins, while embracing enslaving socialism of the Bolshevik Obama?
mathomas
"the nature of the beast that seeks to expand the state"?
Uh, you seem to be mixing up President Obama with George W. Bush, the guy who got us into this mess by spending all our money on an immoral war. Get your facts straight, ok?
AlanD2
North49: I love your joke. Fox News is full of liars who demonize anything that looks liberal (or even remotely moderate - look at all the RINOs they have driven out of the party). Even their motto - "fair and balanced" - is a lie, as is O'Reilly's "the spin stops here".
MSNBC tends to be liberal, but don't forget conservative Joe Scarborough. MSNBC also tries to avoid out-and-out lies. I have seen Olbermann and Maddow make on-air apologies when they report something that later turns out to not be true. Has anyone ever seen O'Reilly, Hannity, or Beck do this?
Many of the MSNBC commentators are critical of Obama at times. How often did you ever see Fox News critical of Bush 43 during his disasters in office?
southernyankee
Do you mean like Bush did with Fox? You forget Ailes was a party hack How about when Bush/Cheney took this country to war in Iraq? You were happy about that? I hope there is a special place in hell for Cheney come judgement day. Bush wasn't smart enough to do what happened by himself. Cheney hopefully will get justice when that liar stands before god. Oh by the way am a social democrat. I believe government should help its citizens. After all Bush/Cheney gave corporate welfare their dues.
billyboy949
I'll admit that I do not watch Fox, but in my defense, I am highly allergic to b*llsh*t and begin hyperventillating and break out in hives if I even channel surf by Faux News. I watch both CNN and MSNBC and what strikes me most about North's comment is that it's obvious that he's as mis-informed about MSNBC as I would be if I posted anything about Fox. My experiences with Fox were so negative that I choose not too watch them anymore. Outside of the seemingly constant string of idiotic and false statements made by Fox Fantasy News personalities that are pointed out on Countdown, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, I have no first hand knowledge of just how sub-rate or irrational Fox Fake news reports are really.
It should also be pointed out that if you are going to use the term "socialism" to describe a public health care option, you must also begin referring to nations who have lead the way and have a public plan, like the UK, France, Japan, Canada, Switzerland, etc., as Socialist states. I don't recall Bush calling on our "Socialist Allies" when asking them to join the Coalition of the Willing. I'm guessing that North is a surname followed by an IQ score?
AlanD2
rahrah: Fox News is notorious for its out-and-out lies.
MSNBC, for the most part, does not do this intentionally. I have seen Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow apologize on-air many times when something they reported turned out to not be true. (Rachel did this just last night.)
I have never seen this on Fox News. Has Rush Limbaugh ever admitted that he reported something that was not true?
roger37
Exactly. And better than that, when Olbermann or Maddow present a fact, they also present a video clip, a published quote, or a previous written statement to back up that fact.
Can you imagine Sean Hannity with his 2-digit IQ or O'Reilly with his giant ego doing the same thing? Not bloody likely. Beck is beneath mention.
North49
I'm sure that if Beck, O'Reilly or Hannity had something to apologize for they'd do it. As for your swallowing the vile pus exuded by Keith Olbermann, most non-Obots would simply throw up if they spent the hours watching him puke up his hatred. But obviously to each his own, c'est la vie!
If you are an Olbermann fanatic you might pay attention to how he changes context to suit his agenda in quoting those he seeks to vilify and demonize.
roger37
You wanna give us an example of what it is that you're talking about?
Ritarita
North-
Your post gives you away
As somebody who has heard
About Olbermann-
Not someone who has watched his show.
He IS a blowhard
But he DOESN'T lie.
He apologizes when he gets something wrong
And airs corrections.
Also- he has the ability to laugh at himself.
Now that's something nobody
Can picture O'Reilly doing.
BullMoose
Not to mention his giant forehead, old Leprachuan boy himself.
Shine that forehead O'Reilly, the FOX ho who would say the opposite if the winds of time changed, and money was there for espousing any topic he thought people would pay for a Pom Pom cheerleader to rah rah for.
This user is no longer registered.
n--Y--nightdragon83JohnnyA
You are correct when you say that people have never behaved themselves; all Presidents have been mocked and ridiculed by some segment of the population.
That being said, you do not argue that any part of the article is either in error or a lie. The bullet points are easily understood, an you would be hard pressed to find a similar list of violence for the groups you equate as threats. I have been here during the past 8 years, and I remember that people's rights were only honored in 'Free Speech Zones': areas surrounded by chain link fencing, hundreds of yards away from the event. If you wanted actually attend the event, you had to be vetted by the organizers for doctrinal purity. I would be interested in the reaction of people such as yourself if these same measures were used on teabaggers, birthers, and whatever these hysterical health care people call themselves. Equating groups such as Code Pink with neo-Nazis or birthers demonstrates the same logic as Coulter uses.
Dreamer4Ever
Thank you Mr. Avlon, for taking a stand against false equivalency.
And you are right about the cluster-frak that would explode if the Freedom Of Speech Zones were re-instituted. Hell, look what happened to the DHS report on right-wing domestic terrorists. It got spun as an "Enemies List," and then one of the people in it murdered Dr. Tiller.
This will get worse before it gets better.
Dreamer4Ever
Maybe this is just my own prejudice talking, but I think Code Pink, as obnoxious as they are, are pretty far from the geniune, anti-government militias that are forming right now.
This is false equivalency. No one in International Answer ever flashed a gun or quoted McVeigh at a rally.
sonofloud
No you are not being prejudiced, you are being accurate.
There is a very big difference between groups that advocate violence and those that don't.
To quote my old history teacher "the biggest threat to our country comes from the right, not the left".
Cymatic
Like you, I can't believe people would compare Code Pink or the anti-Bush protesters. These are PEACE protesters who believe strongly in NON-Violent civil disobedience. The large majority of them don't own guns, certainly don't own night vision goggles, grenades, rocket launchers, flame throwers and all the rest that right wing militias have. Comparing those who have a history of assassination (Tiller, Martin Luther King, numerous hangings) and bombings (McVeigh, Birmingham) to those whose worst reprisal is having a couple of 50 year old ladies speak in raised voices... ridiculous.
scriabin
Comparing the anti-war protests on the left to the current anti-Obama protests on the right would only make sense if the war in Iraq were merely a figment of the war-protesters imagination. But the thing is, we did invade Iraq. Over 100,000 Iraqi civilians lost their lives, and millions more had their lives destroyed as the fled the country to live as refugees. That actually happened. That was a real moral travesty that the protesters were speaking out against. Their presupposition was simply that each one of those lost lives matters every bit as much as yours or mine. The protestors on the right are protesting what, exactly? Death Panels? Euthenasia? Our - Fascist/Socialist president (kids, you can't call him both, pick one, please) - or do they still think that he's a "secret Muslim" - I'm having trouble keeping track of their fantasies. What is to terrifying to me about the behavior of the right is that it seems to have no basis whatsoever in reality - and when that point is reached, anything is possible.
Cymatic
Great post!
Ritarita
Yes.
Great post.
sophia5
It's the same old story.
Yes Libs, George W. was a dirt bag,
and Dick is evil. Fair enough.
However,
it's apparently okay for
liberal protesters such as
ACORN and SEIU to scream and
shout their anger.
When conservatives such as
the tea protesters, or town hall protesters
voice their opinions,
liberals immediately vilify them as
racists, brown shirts, Nazis,
while focusing only on the few booger eating lunatics.
Guess what Libs.
Most of those people expressing themselves
at the town halls are NON-violent and sincere in voicing their
concerns about Obama because of
his agenda, NOT his race.
So keep on spewing your venom at anyone
who would dare challenge the LEFT "MOB,"
and keep labeling anyone who disagrees
with you as "racists," because
maybe you prefer being intellectually dishonest.
Why let the truth or facts get in your way ?
Extreme left, extreme right, you're one in the same,
incapable of objectivity regardless of the facts.
AlanD2
sophia5: Conservatives are killing people today. That is the difference. And the way Fox New and Rush Limbaugh are egging them on, it could get a lot worse.
You would have to go back a lot of years to find a liberal activist killing somebody.
I agree that extremists on both the left and the right are bad for America. The problem with conservatives is that moderates have been driven out, leaving only the crazies.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
mcmchugh99
I hate the Republicans as much as they hate us. I don't believe a word they say. I don't want to compromise with them. I refuse to listen to them any more. I have been listen to the same things from them for 30 years, and I don't want to hear any more.
If they want to fight, then let's do it. No more talk. No more appeasement of our enemies.
Dreamer4Ever
We stop even trying to talk, that's it. We've entered a new stage in our evolution as the world's oldest federal democracy: Winner Take All.
And that won't end well.
loebster1
It will end, in 15 years' time, with 45% of Americans self-identifying as "Democrats," 45% self-identifying as belonging to an as-yet-unborn moderate party, and a very angry, hate-filled, aging, white, foaming-at-the mouth, conspiracy-theory-loving, victimhood-embracing 10% self-identifying as Republicans.
And along the way, I would expect a few of those dead-enders to try and go all McVeigh on us.
bcaldwell
Screwjob....uhhhhmcmchugh. You uhhhhh wanna fight the good ole boys of the South and now you want to take it to the streets against all Republicans? Got news for you, Democrats are constantly trying to guilt people into forking over their money for crap that DOES NOT WORK. You can protest the wars, that has merit and honor, but you hate Republicans, Southerners, Conservatives and White Males. Wow, you sound like the Republicans you despise. Republicans hate things, Democrats hate things. When Republicans hate Obama's ideas ...they're racists. When Democrats wanted to have assassination fantasies about Bush, why, you all said it was a joke, just an artistic expression
Dude, are you off your meds or something? If not , then you seriously need to start taking some. But if you are at face value, you really do not want to take on the redneck lunatic fringe or Southern boys....you will get your ass kicked.
....WAIT would some liberal please kick this dude's ass, he's in desperate need of one, he's making you guys look really STUPID.
felixsama
mcmc hates everything- but if there are exceptions Repugs, Southerners (of the stereotypical variety), conservatives and white males are the things he likes..............
incognito-ergo-sum
bcaldwell, those good old boys drink too much and think too much of their military skills. Hubris will get them in a fair fight. And sneaky will get them the rest of the time.
That good looking woman who flirts with them is probably armed, but those drooling studs won't know that till it is too late.
BullMoose
The only ass "Southern boys kick" is some lone minority they catch alone and they out number 12 to 1.
I lived in Jajaw for 20 years, and most of the hicks in the sticks have a fetish for getting their ass kicked when they are drunk, and refuse to call it a night untill someone opened a can of whoop ass on them. Must be all that post- Civil war inbreeding that causes this phenomenon. With all the men dead, the guys had to breed with their sisters.
AlanD2
bcaldwell said: "Democrats are constantly trying to guilt people into forking over their money for crap that DOES NOT WORK."
You mean like funding the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? Oh, I get it. Bush didn't guilt us into those wars, he lied us into them. This is what makes the Republican party so noble.
By the way, few Democrats talked about assassinating about Bush, and his being a war-criminal gave them a tiny bit of an excuse at least. What is the excuse for 50% of Republicans refusing to believe that Obama is a native-born American citizen?
roger37
If Southern "boys" (does that include grown men that still call themselves Bobby?) are so goddamn tough, caldwell, why don't the Southern colleges ever win any national wrestling tournaments or get spots on the Olympic teams?
And don't give us any crap about SEC football. USC totally kicks butt.
felixsama
mcmcstupid again.
Ptooey..........
incognito-ergo-sum
mcmchugh99. In an answer to you, someone mentioned that you would be fighting the good old boys of the militias in the South.
It is telling that you did not mention that bunch, just Republicans in general. That is like a word association test, you say fight republicans they say Southern men.
Now what does that tell us? Well, the fight will be in the South because those good old boys will not come, en mass to the North or West where there is no sympathy for them.
elldeen
I am a Moderate and life long Democrat, and I do not hate the Republicans per se. I just hate the wingnuts who have taken over the G.O.P. and their intolerant and reactionary ways. I think that they believe that they are not only better than liberals or moderates, but that they also cannot do anything wrong or tell a lie. So the wingnuts must think that they are perfect; and that the liberals or anyone who doesn't agree with them are either lemmings at best, or evil at worst. That's the impression I have gotten from the way they talk and act, and not from the so-called left leaning media. So the wingnuts should stop thinking that their s**t don't stink.
mcmchugh99
And if it's going to be civil war, then let it come.
tehixe
I-R-O-N-Y. That is how you spell IRONY. Calls for calm are met with an invitation of civil war. Good thing mcmchugh99 isn't one of our elected representatives! Though with the way the Repubs have been conducting themselves recently, I wouldn't be all that shocked if he was. They have this disturbing "I'd rather destroy America than let the Dems control it for several years" attitude. Apparently, the Right only likes democracy when they win. If the majority of Americans reject them, those people need to be taught a lesson.
BullMoose
These nitwit right wingnuts are just sick greedy whores. They probably own defense stocks (why they start useless wars), Monsanto and genetic manufactured foods (poison in my opinion), thus the influx of illegals working farms for 1/4 the wages those jobs used to pay. This all started when Shrub stole the 2000 election and the borders were run over with illegals Bush's business cronies wanted.
Bottom line is the scum disrupting the meetings and showing their butts, are snot nosed idle rich who will never steal enough to satisfy their Mammon God worship.
estcruzer
The wingnuts are not greedy it's their handlers. I know this sounds like conspiracy but you should look to big business, big finance and very rich people if you want to talk greedy. The people we hear and see are just being handled by these folks. Do you really think that the wingnuts would have any voice if they weren't backed by big business, big finance and very rich people?
Wyatt100
You are a lemming ready to follow your precious leader over a cliff. Be careful what you wish for...
Dreamer4Ever
It's not about anyone's "precious leader" don't you get it? We're trying to move forward as a nation. There's one big obstacle, and if we don't get around it, it'll mean the end of America.
AlanD2
Wyatt100: we liberal lemmings already followed your precious leader into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The only lemmings left are those of you following Rush Limbaugh and Fox News...
Geemen
mcmchugh99: Bring it pal. We're the ones who have the guns. :-)
AlanD2
Geemen: Have you checked lately on who is commander-in-chief of our military? Lots of luck with your guns... :-)
BullMoose
mcmchugh99 Do not worry The siisy keyboard warriors use bombs to kill children in daycare, and support child molesters like David Koresh. They were not diapered regularly as an infant, and picked on for their shortcomings in the looks department in adolescent years, thus there feelings of inadequacy.
The only thing they shoot off is their mouths.
felixsama
mcmc may have said he hates repugs- but he's no liberal.
Ozone69
The hate speech and signs are sophmoric and degrading. Just as they were against President George W. Bush. There was actually a movie made about assasinating President Bush titled Death of a President (2006). Plus the countless posters and cartoons of President Bush as Hitler and a chimp went unreported by the MSM. Only now they find it upsetting to have derogatory images of the POTUS? Hypocrites.
dcbooknurse
'Death of a President' was a British film and was roundly denounced by Americans. Please get your facts straight or report all the facts.
Ozone69
Did I post it was an American film? (as if it matters). I don't recall a lot of the media gasping over the content of a Bush assasination movie. I wonder how they woud react if a similar movie came out about President Obama?
LeighBeast
This is one of the problems with hyperpartisanship - "My guy was treated worse than your guy" - "You are the hypocrite, not me" - baby talk.
Without going into all the infinite reasons the cases you are talking about are apples and oranges (like, for example, one guy is Black and where people are seriously showing up at his rallies with guns) the point is to do all you can so stop this cycle of hate and violence. Period.
Ozone69
White people seriously showed up with guns at public appearances for Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, Kennedy, Carter, Reagan, Ford, Clinton, and GW Bush.
To be honest, one person showed up at an Obama rally with a gun.
IJamesB
For the record there was a fair amount of media disapproval over themovie Death of an American President. It didn't get more, because it wasn't a very good movie. It didn't do that well. It also didn't get a lot of publicity because no one wanted to promote it.
Here's a question: Would John McCain have given his acceptance speech behind bulletproof glass?
The idiots who promoted violence against former presidents (Bush included) were just as ignorant and cancerous as the ones promoting violence against Obama.
The difference is that this Birther movement has all of the supremely emotional self righteousness of the "Bush stole the election" with an extra helping of xenophobia.
That's a powder keg of trouble and anyone who can't see that is lying to themselves.
AlanD2
Ozone69: How many people ever showed up at a Bush rally with a gun?
Bush 43 didn't even let non-Republicans into his rallies. And he wouldn't let Republicans in unless they signed loyalty oaths.
AlanD2
Ozone69: How many people ever showed up at a Bush rally with a gun?
Bush 43 didn't even let non-Republicans into his rallies. And he wouldn't let Republicans in unless they signed loyalty oaths.
roger37
Yeah, but the Hitler and Nazi imagery fits with the Republican method of government in the 21st Century.
I think the left objects to the Nazi images related to Obama because they are so stupid and ignorant of the basics of political science. The only reason you guys use that name-calling is because a drug-addled, anally fixated fat guy told you to.
ccrider27
There are laws on the books regarding the arrest and detention of domestic terrorists.
Let's use them.
JCapozz
Absolutely, Acorn people are first on the list!
AlanD2
JCapozz: I'm sure that ccrider27 was thinking more along the lines of Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.
roger37
Tell us, Capozzi, what exactly did ACORN do besides get some phony registration cards handed to them by volunteers? Search your right winger websites and tell us all about it.
Ritarita
The nice thing
About people using
The acronym ACORN in their posts-
Is you can immediately dismiss them
As a moron and move on.
It's a time saver.
Dreamer4Ever
Acorn is the most rediculous political straw-man that has ever been created. Their great sin was turning in voter registration cards with cartoon character names on them. Their own higher-ups discovered this, pulled the cards, and fired the people responsible.
Both Democrats and Republicans have used ACORN-organized canvassers in voter registration and mailing-list compilation. They are non-partisan, they are underpaid, they are only marginally effective at their jobs.
Why the hell are they scary?
roger37
You wanna know why they are scary to the right wing?
Because ACORN is largely b-l-a-c-k, and that scares them and makes ACORN an all-purpose villain.
PamAnn
Our nation is sinking into a state of anarchy. Somehow, the civil amongst us need to shut down the screaming idiots. They is so UN-American it's pathetic. My opinion of what is actually happening here is that the true racist nature of many American citizens is fueling this. They are furious that a half-black man actually managed to get elected President and they are venting their anger. Including Limbaugh and Beck, who is a Latter Day Saint, by the way. The WASPs are in full panic mode because Obama's election clearly indicates they will soon no longer be the majority in this country. Too bad. Learn to live together. And don't blame illegals and immigration for the change in your status. Blame your George Washingtons, Thomas Jeffersons and Benjamin Franklins for inviting all peoples to come to this country and join us. Stop hiding behind your "christian white sheets" when you are so ANTI-Christian, Christ must be ashamed of His name being used so callously. Perhaps the real anti-Christ is alive and well amongst us wearing the mask of Christian. And "I want my country back?" Honey, we stole it from the Indians. We murdered them to take it over without a hint of conscience. You're on the verge of doing it again. By the way, I'm white, 60, own guns, work hard for a living, and truly believe that all men and women in this country should EARN the right to be called American, not by birth, but by living the intentions of our forefathers. Peace.
penscott
Have you made an effort to shut down the "screaming idiots" who write for Kos, and Huffington Post? Were you shocked by the idiots who tried to make life
unbearable for the delegates to the Republican Convention in NY?
Dreamer4Ever
If you equate blogging you disagree with with gun-flashing and statesman-mobbing, you have got more problems then I can hope to help you with.
And what were the Republicans thinking anyway, hosting their convention in a heavily Democratic city? That'd be like the Democrats going to Austin and being all surprised when the locals don't like them much.
LeighBeast
From what I know about Christ, he would do all he can to stop the violence and he would do everything in his power to help the poor. That's what I thought Christianity was all about.
It's such a simple thing. How did it get so turned around?
sonofloud
Too bad organized religion doesn't work to end violence and help the poor instead of holding presidential debates while spreading hate and discrimination.
roger37
How could it get so turned around? Because the people that practice Chrisianity are so un-Christian.
As Mahatma Ghandi said (paraphrased): I love your religion of Christianity. I don't much like your Christians.
Ritarita
Roger-
Not to nitpick
But I think he said
I like your Christ
But I don't much like your Christians-
They are so unlike your Christ.
By the way
I'm winging it too.
roger37
Rita: you're right, of course. I was just too lazy to look it up on The Google Machine.
colinjames
Amen! My thoughts EXACTLY.
Yogini369
Dear PamAnn,
The truth spoken in your post feels like a cold beer on a hot day - wonderful!
Clear-eyed comments from thoughtful folks from either side of the aisle are too few and far between.
Thanks!!!!
BullMoose
Blame it on on the Bible whores who prostitute religion. Beats a real job.
calpoet
Well said PamAnn. Civility is the great casualty of contemporary politics. We can't seem to disagree with one another except by calling those who disagree with us idiots, pea brains, fascists, nazis, lemmings, etc. etc. It's all a part of the Coulter/Limbaugh/Hannity/O Reilly (yes, all right wingers) crowd who have been spewing hatred for years now. Yes there are some liberals who also lack tolerance, but liberalism (unlike conservativism, which means resisting change) is defined by it's openness to many ideas and positions. To be liberal IS to be tolerant.
DoctorB
Hate speech from any source degrades our entire society. No one is immune from the emotions that politics arouse. Still, no objective observer can deny that there has been much more hateful vitriol being churned out by the right-wing slander machine than by anyone on the left.
penscott
As an objective observer, I completely disagree with you. You probably have internalized left-wing hatred to such an extent that you simply think of it as
normal.
DoctorB
Thank you so much for your brilliant insights! You have no basis for trying to make any judgment about the mental status of a person who you've never met & know nothing about. You only demonstrate the depth & rigidity of your own personal prejudices when you do so. The fact is that every day I listen with compassion & empathy to all sorts of people & never use political views as a factor in my assessments or interventions with them. For you, who have absolutely no knowledge of my life, to imply otherwise, is ridiculous.
You are exactly the type of person responsible for the onslaught of hateful vitriol being churned out in bulk by hate-mongers like O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, Coulter, Savage, and the rest of the propagandists who every day make up outrageous, inflammatory lies (e.g., that the health reform plan mandates euthanasia) in order to incite right-wing bigots to violence. Those on the left do not commit the atrocities of that group. Even the most extreme of lefties don't approach the hatred level of the conservative media goon squad. Individual citizens may say anything they like, but there is no comparison between the liars listed above & any left-leaning spokesperson.
Comments like yours demean the level of political discourse in our country. Hence, I will not waste any more time responding to another troll like you who is capable of no more than regurgitating the talking points spoon fed to him by his heroes who I named earlier..
Dreamer4Ever
as an objective observer, I can't help but notice that "internalized left-wing hatred" is hardly an objective observation.
Left-wingers don't hate, we wanna hug all our problems away! Peace and love, man! That's why we put up with Free Speech Zones and Domestic Spying and the gutting of the State and Justice departments without putting up any sort of real fight at the time.
isabella
Penscott: Doctor B wants you to think he is, actually, a doctor. Imagine a doctor calling someone "a troll" because he doesn't like their political views?
He claims to listen to all sorts of people with compassion and empathy. Really? Notice how people he doesn't agree with are "inflammatory and outrageous"propagandists and you, Penscott are "exactly the type of person responsible" for hateful vitriol?
But he has never met you and knows nothing of your life, which is his criticism of you vis-a-vis him: you demonstrate the depth of your personal prejudices, but when he does the same thing, it is not prejudice, but, presumably, objective analysis. Bah humbug.
The Doctor diagnosed himself and it isn't pretty.
svivar9087
Unfortunately hate is embedded in who we are. What scares me is that hate is picking up speed and getting ugly, with healthcare reform, I think all stops will be pulled once immigration reform hits the spotlight, then I think no-one will be safe.
OldCrow
This article just contributes to the hype and hate on both ends of the spectrum. There have always been right and left wingnuts - ignore them. If they commit crimes, arrest them. Don't give them air time or web time. Than includes the author of this piece.
alannadoorn
As someone who was born in Germany soon after WW II, I am closely familiar with a history that started in some ways like what we're seeing in America today. Whipped up hatred because people cannot be bothered or are simply too ignorant to try and think through complex problems and their day-to-day role in them. With a population that is as uneducated and ignorant as we know Americans in larger numbers are, we cannot maintain democracy; sooner or later the ultra-somethings-or-other are in the majority and no matter how impressive the credentials of the president and some in Congress, there is ultimately only so much they can do. What we are experiencing is the true face of the nation whan its convictions about race, gender, and much else are put to the test. So rather than rant, I've made it my project it interact with at least one child or young person frequently. In conversations, by correspondence -e-mail or otherwise- by discussing things that are important in a fundamental way about what is right or wrong. Some things in life are really amazingly simple. Seems polyannah-ish??? It is, but unless we find ways to tackle problems with small steps in our day-to-day lives we will in the end really only have guns. And I would rather not go there...
penscott
I assume the German experience you mention had to do with the rise of Hitler, which obviously began and ended before you were born. There are some similarities between the cult of Hitler and the cult of Obama - a childlike faith that a great leader will cure all ills, intemperate rage at any criticism of him, etc - but there are also great differences. While Obama's followers detest the opposition, they do not have the power to to squelch it, and Obama himself is not an evil person. There is much to worry about, but a
putsch by Obama is not one of them.
Dreamer4Ever
Penscott, I think Alanna was using Germany as an example of exactly what this kind of public unrest can lead to. Not that Obama IS Hitler, but that the hate in the atmosphere is something that can lead to the rise OF someone like Hitler, who feeds and feeds off of the ugliest side of human nature.
AlanD2
penscott: Hitler preached racial purity and hatred of the "other". People like you who compare Obama to Hitler are radical extremists, probably haters, and maybe even racists. You would be much more comfortable under Hitler than under Obama. (I know you will deny that you have made such a comparison in your comment, but you have.)
penscott
"Maryland Rep. Frank Kratovil is hung in effigy outside his office."
The correct word is "hanged". DB badly needs an editor who knows English grammar.
Dreamer4Ever
Actually, "hung" is correct when it's "by the neck." "Hanged" is what you do with pictures on the wall.
Tucson138
you got that exactly backwards. a person is "hanged" a painting is "hung."
Francesca1214
Jesus Christ! When you can't get 'em on points, attack their grammar.
incognito-ergo-sum
Thanks for the chuckle guys. I think you are guys, and Francesca. I hang out here for sanity and a laugh now and then. Every once in awhile a great post comes along that makes me think.
louiexiii
Well said John.
democracyforall
Let's stop publicizing the anger and start publicizing the positive thinking.
joymars
Let's start talking about the real complex issues that health care reform poses. A brilliant article laying out all the issues is in The Atlantic:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200909/health-care
crngndmhm
Positive thinking involves constructive thought and taking resposibility for one's self. Anger is much easier and allows people to take no resposiblity and allows them to blame others for their problems.
Evidence
An awful lot of this boils down to one thing -- simple racism. A tiny but very vocal segment of middle-aged to elderly white people from racially homogeneous rural and suburban areas with relatively little education or information about the world aside from what they get from Beck, Hannity, O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Savage, and worse are scared half to death right now. Why? Because the President of the United States is a black man. All of their so-called issues are simply code for that. The birther thing is the most clear-cut example (black = different = foreign = not American). But all the undesirable-ideology-of-the-week stuff (first he's a socialist, then he's a Nazi, then he's a bolshevik -- maybe next week he'll be an anarchist) is as good an example because of it's inherent inconsistency. The right-wing extremists have figured out that saying the N-word isn't going to produce for them, so they're giving us an ever-changing hodgepodge of scary-sounding labels and buzzwords (e.g. "death panels") in it's place, hoping that eventually one will stick. Of course none have so far because they're inherently ridiculous, and most Americans have at least the tiny amount of sense, political engagement, and political knowledge needed to see through them for what they are. Luckily, most of have a lot more, and that's why the right-wing extremist hate groups and militias will continue to drive the Republican party and the so-called conservative movement out of the mainstream and marginalize it in American life. I don't think the United States is about to go the way of post-WWI Germany and allow a small minority of loud, hate-filled, fanatics lead the country to war and ruin.
joymars
We need a healthy party of opposition. Right now we don't have one and that is more dangerous to a democracy than all this saber rattling being done by the fringe.
AlanD2
Amen. I hope that moderate Republicans can get their act together soon.
bcaldwell
Hey Evidence, racism is such a convenient thing to use. It's the catch all phrase that used to work for all of you libs. It was the great innoculation for any African American politician against any criticism from a white man. Yes, by all means call all of us that do not like Obama and his policies racists. Yes, for you see that is the greatest sin for western man, we can have our white guilt worked on and exposed. Once that is done , we can sit down in comity with our brothers and sisters as they lecture us constantly on how everything we do is racist. But, Republicans are consistent on the health care front, they hated it when Clinton tried it in 1993 and they hate it now. Only in 1993 Ev, we could not be accussed of being racist, because Clinton was a white Southern boy. Yes Obama wants it all ways, he wants to be post racial and post partisan, but he will use partisan politics when convenient and he has no qualms of pulling out the racial bludgeon.
But this is not race, it is politics and people believing in something passionately. Ooops I forgot, only liberal agitators can believe in things passionately.
You know what, we Republicans and Conservatives and Southerners have had to put up with this vacuous charge of racism for the last 40 years. it is used so much that it has become irrelevent.But, I'll make this charge....Liberal Democrats are the real racists and their African American political bosses are nothing more than kin to the Kapo's in the Nazi concentration camps. So much compassion. All you people who voted for Barack were the real racists, you voted for him BECAUSE he was black. "OOOOOOO I can show the world how progressive I am, I can vote for the black guy!!!" Nevermind that he was not saying anything any different than Hillary Clinton or for that matter John Kerry in 2004 he just sounded better doing it. I guess it was all those voice lessons that David Axelrod arranged for him. but, to quote, Joe Biden, " He's certainly articulate." Yeah , white libs I'm calling you out on this one, because someone has to do it. You like Obama, because it assuages your white guilt-- pure and simple.
If that's not racist and condescending, I don't know what is.
felixsama
Yes, you manage to be both racist and condescending and WRONG.
AlanD2
bcaldwell: Of course racism is "such a convenient thing to use." That's why you and other conservatives use it all the time. (Carefully hidden in code words, of course.)
arugula
RE: "Yes Obama wants it all ways, he wants to be post racial and post partisan, but he will use partisan politics when convenient and he has no qualms of pulling out the racial bludgeon."
Looks like you don't know any dems . It is pretty clear that you are speaking without informing yourself factually. I challenge you to provide proof that Obama has EVER used the race card in any speech anywhere at any time.
RE: "All you people who voted for Barack were the real racists, you voted for him BECAUSE he was black."
The truth is we voted for Obama because he wasn't any part of the GOP and we thought he would undo much of what the previous administration had foist upon us! An administration that brought us 8 years of un-american, evil-empire style governance that overturned our constitution, looted our economy and robbed us of our money, our moral core and our civil rights [via patriot acts that had nothing to do with security and everything to do with totalitarian government control]. That BHO was black was definitely a nice extra bit of frosting on the cake, but it was fear of the bush/cheney style of imperial rule that MADE us vote for Obama....the hope that he could undo what Jr's presidency did to America and our standing in the world.... I didn't grow up in a country that would invade another sovereign state which could not possible endanger us and to start torturing and murdering their civilians off. One of the reasons we have been such a beacon of light and hope to the world is that we did not do torture.. we were better than that...
And BTW, he did not say the same things that Hillary said. She co-opted whatever he said that got a good response and tried to make us think they were her own ideas. That backfires when people can remember what happened two minutes ago. Hillary showed a win at all costs side that we associated with the GOP we were trying to escape from.The reason Hillary lost is that she played the race card and lied about things we could easily remember! And for anyone who cares, it Was Edwards who spoke of change and a yes we can do spirit of americanism before anyone else did.... and he was the only one who spoke or cared about the poorest of us.
socialworklady
@Evidence:
I think you're right. A black man as POTUS shatters everything those with unexamined white skin privilege have grown up believing about their entitlements in the world.
A black man who has a far better education than they ever will; is far more accomplished; and who is the shiniest star in the firmament, just blows all of their assumptions out of the water and shakes the very foundations of their world view.
Of course they're freaked out. And, no -- they can no longer get away with publicly using the n word. So they develop codes that describe this terrifying "other" who threatens everything they know: socialist, communist, Hitler, foreign ...
THEY ARE FREAKED OUT WITH A BLACK MAN AS PRESIDENT!
They just can't admit it -- even to themselves. First, because it would take some measure of self reflection; and second, because to admit it would mean having to face their own inner shadow world. Too scary. They just ain't ready.
But they're going to have to get used to it. There is a generational and cultural shift happening in the US. Very soon, whites will be the minority population.
america-first84
When I read comments like this I really worry. Is this the common view of the leftists? If so I recommend that you marginalize people like this to the fringes of your party as they are as large a threat to harmony in this country as "far rightists" may be.
Whatever 'racism' grievance you may have is lost because you seem to have an irrational fear or hatred of whites. I'm white and don't know what I've done to incur such irrational fear and loathing. As for "white skin privilege" that might have existed 50 yrs ago but is mostly a memory now.
Also your "shiniest star" thing smacks of Obama the Dear Leader and doesn't help your image either. The man is a good speaker but his list of practical accomplishments aside from campaigning and winning political office is virtually non-existent.
Seriously drop the anti-white stuff, you lot. It is not doing anything but stoking the fires.
jamesindentontx
America first, I know that race has something to do with this, because I have heard the grumblings myself, expressed to me by people who think that I agree with them. They are freaked out. I don't see how calling racism what it is is stoking any fires. Combine fear of blacks with hatred of "liberals," and you have the rabble officially roused. It makes me laugh to think of all thoese racists sitting around trying to make our president a muslim, or a kenyan citizen. They are wearing themselves out with their anger.
RoughAcres
We need to pass a law that outright lies, and statements made that turn out to be lies, cannot be aired over the public airwaves or on the internet without a civil and criminal penalty based on the repercussions that statement wrought.
Obviously, "Thou Shalt Not Lie" wasn't specific enough... and wasn't accompanied by a hit to the wallet in this world.
penscott
You want poor Dan Rather jailed? Shame on you. He's suffered enough for his dishonesty.
This user is no longer registered.
n--Y--charles116AlanD2
That some of the evidence was faked does not make Dan Rather a liar. His reporting on Bush's National Guard non-service was quite accurate. It was no accident that Bush avoided the fighting in the Vietnam war.
A true American patriot of his generation would have been serving in Vietnam. Curious, isn't it, how none of the neo-cons ever managed to do this.
roger37
That's why they're called chickenhawks.
And there was an offer for any person that served in the Alabama Air National Guard to be paid $10,000 for simply verifying that W was at Guard drills. Nobody ever claimed the fee.
This user is no longer registered.
n--Y--charles116flyoverland
Fortunately for the left, "Thou Shalt Not Lie" isn't one of the ten commandments. Look it up. That could be why you see so many libs with their pants on fire.
AlanD2
For the right, "Thou Shalt Lie" is the first commandment these days.
Ritarita
Fly-
You're so funny.
bcaldwell
Who's the totalitarian now? Who determines lies? You don't want free speech, you only want YOUR speech. would this also include mischaracterizations about Republicans and Conservatives from the Progressives. Last time I checked, the Constitution protected free speech, even onerous obnoxious speech. The fire in a crowded theatre only applies in circumstances that lead directly at the time to panic where life and limb are immediately at stake.
BullMoose
Just more money for the ambulance chasers.
AlanD2
RoughAcres: You want to put Rush Limbaugh and Fox News out of business?
arugula
The GOP killed the Fairness Doctrine so they COULD lie to the public and get away with it. So they could use media to brainwash the public who were used to actual reporting, not the propaganda set-pieces of today's right wing media. If you want to stop the lying you have to bring the Fairness Doctrine back [just like we need serious fiscal regulation again].. Under the doctrine, debates were about issues, not mud. Any moderator who let politicians lie would find themselves in another line of work back then. I suspect that many of today's journalists were recruited by the CIA which recruits in all walks of life. Some have learned that fear and hatred keeps them in the public eye and most of the rest were terrorized into submission.
jamesindentontx
Thanks for the info. I never knew that abot the fairness doctrine.
Thank you.
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