Orcinus: there may be a violent right-wing backlash if Prop 8 is overturned

[ccharles000]

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/11146/orcinus-there-may-be-a-violent-rightwing-backlash-if-prop-8-is-overturned

Dave Neiwert and Sara Robinson are journalists who track the various white supremacist, political extremist and eliminationist groups around the country over at Orcinus, and Sara has this to say about the rumblings out there if Prop 8 is overturned in full tomorrow.

Yes, the right wing is losing on gay rights issues. That is, very precisely, why they're more dangerous now than they have been in the past. Their impending irrelevance is not a reason to worry less; it's a reason to worry more. And getting Prop 8 overturned in the courts would ignite the situation, because it will hit absolutely every angry-making right-wing button there is:

1. The biggest state in the country, comprising fully 1/8 of the nation's population, will have legal gay marriage. That, right there, will be pretty much the end of the war, and they know it. The five states currently on board are worrisome, but they're small and not considered the kind of cultural juggernaut California is.

2. Overturning Prop 8 would push every button the right wing has about Godless liberals on the coasts imposing their moral values on them. "Pushing their immorality down our throats" has always been one of rural America's major recurring complaints, particularly among evangelicals who seriously believe that God will withdraw his special blessing from America - and possibly destroy the country -- if gays can get married. (I know, I know. But they are what they are.) While the feelings about this have always run strong and deep, they've become much more intense since their political power began slipping away from them in 2006, and particularly since Obama took office and they lost Congress.

[EFerrari]

1. Good. Time to pop that pimple. n/t

[donco6]

2. Here's hoping (crossing fingers).

And if they think we'll just lie down and take their violence, they've got another think coming.

[msongs]

3. i thought the bible crowd was supposed to turn the other cheek? nt

[donco6]

4. Ha! Right.

They're so lost in their lies, they don't know up from down anymore.

[warren pease]

31. When they do, it just gives the relatively sane among us an opportunity to...

...kick the other side of their hideous, super-sized, gelatinous asses -- bodies by Doritos and Bud Lite, most looking about half the size of the Hindenburg.

If only they could all share the blimp's fiery fate. What the hell... if it's the rapture they seek, might as well make it spectacular enough for some uhn-terp-per-nyuhr (damn I miss the commander guy's way with words sometimes) to turn it into a pay-per-view super-duper global TV extravaganza.

Imagine the possibilities. A once-in-a-lifetime experience. Brought to you by KBR. Call us... or we'll be calling on you.


The reel minds, or something like that.


sf

[OmahaBlueDog]

5. It may give the rightys a cause to finally rally around

I say "may" because I see lots of evidence that small government conservatives have grown tired of their social conservative bretheren. Nevertheless, the fact that a court may overturn this will result in resounding cries of "judicial activism" and will embolden them to dig in hard on the next SCOTUS nominee.

OTOH, let's look at the past 30 years. What has the religous right really gotten out of the GOP aside from lip service? Answer, not much. They got a restriction on embryonic stem cell research, and Dept. of Faith Based Initiatives. They've also had an FCC that essentially has allowed them to engage in politicking, but hasn't called them on it. For 6 years, the GOP controlled the SCOTUS, the POTUS, the Senate and the Congress. Abortion has remained legal (though increasingly restricted); they did not get tuition tax credits or vouchers on any great scale; prayer has not returned to public school.

[EFerrari]

7. Frank Schaeffer seems to think that gay mariage doesn't get nearly the traction

that abortion does. I tend to believe him.

[ColbertWatcher]

18. But, don't they only take up those causes to take money from true believers?

I understand that they have never intended to get any of those laws passed, because if they did, they'd have nothing to bitch about.

[Cronus Protagonist]

6. Yup. all 20 of them will be standing outside the governor's mansion in a hearbeat!

Maybe I should rush over there and help them spell on their signs... or not! lol

[Gregorian]

29. Yes. And it's not going to be a spelling bee. We await the next moran.

The errors are frequent, but there is a combination of haste, hate, and just pure stupidity that are required before that rare, dull example of the right wing becomes an icon. If only they couldn't vote.

[anonymous171]

8. To quote our former CiC: Bring it on! nt

[Starry Messenger]

9. I don't agree.

I think most of the people who voted Yes in California were not really rabblerousers. They were content to legislate from the comfort of the voting booth. I don't see this demographic getting actually violent.



From Wiki: Yes No
-----------------------------------------------
Family Income
Less than $15,000 5% 46% 54%
$15,000–$29,999 10% 48% 52%
$30,000-$49,999 15% 54% 46%
$50,000-$74,999 19% 54% 46%
$75,000-$99,999 17% 50% 50%
$100,000-$149,999 17% 54% 46%
$150,000-$199,999 7% 47% 53%
Greater than $200,000 9% 45% 55%

Education
No High School 3% * *
H.S. Graduate 14% 56% 44%
Some College 33% 57% 43%
College Graduate 33% 50% 50%
Postgraduate Study 17% 40% 60%

Age
18–29 years old 20% 39% 61%
30–44 years old 28% 55% 45%
45–64 years old 36% 54% 46%
65 years or older 15% 61% 39%

[SemiCharmedQuark]

10. Well that's just tough shit. There was a backlash against integration too.

It didn't mean that it wasn't the right thing to do.

[RainDog]

13. yes. people were murdered in the south b/c of the fight for civil rights

white people were murdered as well as black people. women, such a mother from Michigan who was shot point blank after the racists ran her car off a road. She had gone to the south to help with voter registration. it didn't matter. the only thing that mattered was the hatred and fear of the racists.

there will NEVER be a time when racists and bigots are ready to acknowledge others' rights.

this is why those whose rights are abridged have to take to the streets to make this nation live up to its stated beliefs.

What LBJ and FDR show in their acts to create civil rights and economic justice, is that change for the good, not just the bad, has to be forced on some people because they will never accept that their hate-based world view is invalid.

[Mythsaje]

11. They're a dying breed and they know it.

They've already lost the culture war--they're just to pig-stubborn to lay down and die.

[distantearlywarning]

12. So basically they're advocating appeasement of radicals?

:evilgrin:

[Sebastian Doyle]

14. Are they gonna start riots in Bakersfield??

"Them queers like shoppin' so let's burn down the mall!11!!

[donco6]

15. It's the Clampetts! Lock up the Ceement Pond! n/t

[Adsos Letter]

16. I don't think the Cal. court will fully overturn Prop. 8 this go-around...

I hope I'm wrong, but I think they will let it stand, and rely on future ballot measures to rescind this execrable law.

[Stellabella]

17. They're always violent when they don't get their way.

They're like two-year-olds that way. Except with ammunition.

They have lost on every single issue because they've been wrong on every single issue. Women voting. Slavery. Equal rights. Choice. And they'll keep on losing.

[Motown_Johnny]

19. Fuck 'em. This will just punctuate how out of touch they are with America

and the way the nation is moving.


Rush, Hannity, Beck and the rest of the RW wackos will have something else to talk about but there won't be anything they can do about it.

[DeSwiss]

20. "Pushing their immorality down our throats"

Oh. Right. Equality and civil liberty is so immoral. {What a bunch of fucking asshats}.

- K&R

[mitchum]

23. I must admit that I snickered at their choice of words

althought there is nothing funny about their bigotry

[backscatter712]

21. I'll go against the grain here, but my advice is arm yourselves.

If those right-wing thugs want to get violent, we should be prepared to make those fuckers bury their own.

As the Pink Pistols slogan goes: (http://www.pinkpistols.org/)

Armed gays don't get bashed.

[flvegan]

22. Fuck those idiot hater bigots.

Fuck them twice.

[derby378]

24. Should gays in California start arming themselves?

I know concealed-carry is illegal in CA, but at least they should have the means to defend themselves in their own homes.

My own hope is that there will be no epidemic of violence. Fred Phelps' head will explode, but really, when does it not?

[backscatter712]

26. I'd encourage it.

Firearms aren't for everyone, but if you're a member of the GLBT community, or support them, and you're comfortable with the idea of using weapons for self-defense, you might want to consider getting some protection.

A lot of the violence doesn't get on CNN - much of it is low-level assaults, random threats, that sort of thing. And the number of those low-level, but potentially fatal assaults are likely to go up.

[Canuckistanian]

28. No. Neiwert say that CA is not the problem

In an update, he says that out-of-staters will be the most dangerous.

He says that a lot of radical fundies are viewing this as the "last stand" and if "radical liberal judges in California" overturn this, there will be trouble.

[Mister Ed]

25. "Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here"

-Captain John Parker, Lexington, Massachusetts, April 19, 1775

[Canuckistanian]

27. Here's the original link (with updates)

http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2009/05/decision-day-on-californias-prop-8.html

Good to see that Neiwert is still tracking this stuff. I used to be a regular reader.

[tavalon]

30. So what

They are loud but they are a minority. They'll shut up eventually.