Our 21st Century Civil War
Nearly any liberal is perfectly aware of how unreachable some people are. They will support the President and this administration come Hell (Iraq) or high water (Katrina). They question our patriotism because we dare to question their Great Leader's.
Just a few short years ago we watched them tear into a sitting President like a pack of starving hyenas, for nothing more than a human failing. Was what he did wrong? Of course. Was it the worst thing a President could have done? Hardly.
Now we are looking at perhaps some of the worst crimes ever perpetrated against the American People by a sitting President and many--too many--are willing to shrug and overlook them, because they foolishly believe he's keeping us safe. A complacent, complicit media huddles in the corner, only speaking out when it's deemed unavoidable.
I don't feel safer than I did. Quite the opposite. I'm fairly certain that his actions have emboldened those he wishes to subdue, and we are in much danger, if not more danger, from his rabid followers than from foreign terrorists. There are voices on the radio and on TV who are calling us 'traitors' and worse. Again, simply because we dare to point out that, despite the rhetoric, there is no reason to believe we're any safer than we were.
Have not the right wing radio hosts called for our imprisonment? For our deaths? Has not the rabid, emaciated creature known by some as 'Annthrax' called for our extermination? For the alleged crime of having a different viewpoint and having the nerve to speak out about that viewpoint?
We live in dangerous times, my friends. When people who have the ear of a large segment of society are (not so subtly) trying to provoke their listeners into violent actions against another segment of society, we stand on the brink of a whole different kind of conflict.
Am I worried? You bet. Not necessarily for myself, however. I fear for my fellow liberals who live in the hinterlands among those who would hate them, not in the city as I do, surrounded by people who either feel similarly, or who do not believe I'm an enemy because of my political views.
Be vigilant, friends. For I fear that the first shot of the 2nd American Civil War will not even be recognized for what it is. And that scares me more than I can say.
Be vigilant.
Just a few short years ago we watched them tear into a sitting President like a pack of starving hyenas, for nothing more than a human failing. Was what he did wrong? Of course. Was it the worst thing a President could have done? Hardly.
Now we are looking at perhaps some of the worst crimes ever perpetrated against the American People by a sitting President and many--too many--are willing to shrug and overlook them, because they foolishly believe he's keeping us safe. A complacent, complicit media huddles in the corner, only speaking out when it's deemed unavoidable.
I don't feel safer than I did. Quite the opposite. I'm fairly certain that his actions have emboldened those he wishes to subdue, and we are in much danger, if not more danger, from his rabid followers than from foreign terrorists. There are voices on the radio and on TV who are calling us 'traitors' and worse. Again, simply because we dare to point out that, despite the rhetoric, there is no reason to believe we're any safer than we were.
Have not the right wing radio hosts called for our imprisonment? For our deaths? Has not the rabid, emaciated creature known by some as 'Annthrax' called for our extermination? For the alleged crime of having a different viewpoint and having the nerve to speak out about that viewpoint?
We live in dangerous times, my friends. When people who have the ear of a large segment of society are (not so subtly) trying to provoke their listeners into violent actions against another segment of society, we stand on the brink of a whole different kind of conflict.
Am I worried? You bet. Not necessarily for myself, however. I fear for my fellow liberals who live in the hinterlands among those who would hate them, not in the city as I do, surrounded by people who either feel similarly, or who do not believe I'm an enemy because of my political views.
Be vigilant, friends. For I fear that the first shot of the 2nd American Civil War will not even be recognized for what it is. And that scares me more than I can say.
Be vigilant.
posted by Saje Williams at 10:00 AM
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