What is Being Obfuscated

[Truth2Tell]

A lot of people are upset over the predictably distorted media coverage of the AZ political murders. I've read several DU posts bemoaning the obfuscation of the role of Sarah Palin, for example, in promoting this hate and violence.

But lets be clear: This isn't about Sarah Palin.

What is actually being obfuscated by our media is bigger than Palin. The obfucation is actually of an ongoing, deliberate, coordinated, well-financed and highly organized strategy - involving scores of politicians, financiers and the MSM itself - designed to inflame hatred and to incite violence by the right-wing fringe in America. The murders in AZ were a direct result of this deliberate and ongoing strategy.

THAT is the real story not being told on our TeeVees. It's much bigger than Sarah Palin.

[patrice]

1. And need we point out that a great deal of said subversion is coming from a FOREIGN medium:

F*x Ewes.

[napi21]

2. I agree. So many of the Pub//Teabag candidates were pushing 2nd amend. solutions,

and use of guns to solve problems. I don't recall any interviewer pushing back on those words. They ALL need to take some of the responsibility for what happened in Az.

[WillyT]

3. HUGE K & R !!!

Exactly.

:kick:

[uppityperson]

4. Hate speech, hate rhetoric goes far beyond The Quitter and she is not the problem

she contributes but indeed is not the problem. k&r for indeed.

[enough]

5. Here is a detailed, documented, and very long list of relevant incidents:

http://www.csgv.org/issues-and-campaigns/guns-democracy-and-freedom/insurrection-timeline

This was linked on Digby.

[Deuce]

13. Good link...thanks! n/t

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

6. Yes it's BIGGER than Palin... but there must be a PosterChild..

.. and remember, SHE's HOT!!!!!!!! <argh>

[Truth2Tell]

7. She's just a tool

Those running this dog and pony show will toss her overboard without a second thought if they need a scapegoat to keep the spotlight off of the bigger project.

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

8. Do you fight many battles at once, or one battle at a time to ensure victory?

By all means, there are different fronts on this 'take down of hate rhetoric'.

Some can take on the Beast with common sense and calls for decency.

Others can work at the Head and others at the Feet.

We're all in this together.

Don't minimize the tactics of some while in the throws of your own civil discussions.

[Truth2Tell]

9. By all means bring down Palin.

No objection from me. But be aware that we're only talking about a fingernail of the Beast. And one intended to be a distraction at that. Exclusive or even disproportionate attention on her suits the Beast just fine.

[EFerrari]

10. That's true and SP is a point of entry into the whole corrupt mechanism. n/t

[Truth2Tell]

15. point of entry

One would hope.

But was Lindie England a point of entry into lawless torture and secret prisons? Or a scapegoat and distraction? Was Scooter Libby a point of entry into BushInc? Etc. I just worry that we tend to be easily placated by token offerings. knowhatimean?

[EFerrari]

16. Sure. But England was only a scapegoat where Palin is an opinion leader.

Ditto for Libby. There aren't 17K people at his FB page urging him on. That, to my mind, is a big difference.

[Truth2Tell]

18. The way they are similar

is that removing or punishing Palin isn't going to solve the problem. Like removing Libby etc didn't solve the problem.

[EFerrari]

21. That's true. But in Palin's case, unlike Libby, she drew to herself

a following of violent extremists who need her personality to cohere as a group. Disrupting that relationship would help although, as you say, it won't solve the underlying culture problem.

[Little Star]

11. You are sooooooo right!!! k&r

[ewagner]

12. What has troubled me

is the ability of the right wing to villanize not only Obama but also all liberals with accusations of treason, socialism, dictatorships, conspiracies to enslave conservative, international monetary subversion...you name it...we've been accused of it.

Worse yet....

the IMMEDIACY of the (fabricated threat..add any one or combination of the above) is pounded into radio and television 24/7 by people who we would ordinarily laugh off the air but now are taken as serious pundits by a large, mostly under-educated, uninformed populace.

Yesterday's shooting was the result of that call of immediacy.

"the revolution has started"
"buy survival food for your basement before it's too late!"
"buy gold to protect your family"


on and on the drum beat goes.....

where is the return to sanity?

[AdHocSolver]

23. The techniques were described by Pavlov many years ago.

In modern times, the techniques were honed and refined by Madison avenue and taught far and wide in marketing classes.

Frame a concise message that appeals to emotions ("sell the sizzle, not the steak"), repeat loudly and often ("stay on message"), promote your own weakness as a strength, and attack your competitor's strength as a weakness, and so on.

The sad fact is that it works so well on so many people.

[moondust]

14. It's what people do

when they're ideologically bankrupt and unfit to run a country but they still desperately want the power to enrich themselves.

[PufPuf23]

17. You are "on target" correct. kr

[RainDog]

19. you're right. it's not about Palin

it's about power and the class war the right has been waging in the U.S. since FDR created a better deal for the American people.

the tea baggers are the equivalent of the SS for the fascists who have been working to undo the new deal since its inception. this is the reality of American politics.

[Truth2Tell]

20. bingo

[TheKentuckian]

22. Right on

[TBF]

24. Agree, this involves most of the msm - when you have to read the Guardian

to find out the perp was a right-winger you know something is wrong with our press.

[deacon]

25. I posted something very similer earlier. It's much bigger than Palin, It's those who gave her the

air time and didn't press for accountability.

[DirkGently]

26. S.P. just speaks the Rightwing Code. She didn't write it. "Reload," wink-wink etc.

But the entire conservative establishment has been trading on anti-government paranoia and Revolutionary War / militia fetishism for a long time. Grassley adopted the "Death Panel" meme. Steve King snarks on the "birth certificate" we "haven't seen." "You lie!" "Babykiller!"

This is the language coming from the halls of Congress. Language that, simply taken as true, would invite anyone to take up arms. The Tea Party, fed in infancy by corporate lobbyists, is the natural extension of the same talk about guns and revolution, and the great threat to liberty posed by ... healthcare reform. Progressive taxation. Environmental regulation.

It's done in some circles (Palin) with a smirk and a wink. But they can't have it both ways. John McCain's moment during the 2008 campaign, during which his campaign sent out flyers with pictures of terrorist bombings, asking, "Who is the REAL Barack Obama?" when the frizzy-haired woman stood up and said that Obama was a Muslim, and McCain, to his credit, corrected her, illustrates the situation well.

You can't have it both ways, rightwingers. You can't strap on guns and equate liberal and Democratic policy with the Holocaust and a conspiracy to destroy America, Christianity, and little puppies, painting literal targets on your political enemies and then gasp in horror and disclaim all responsibility when someone TAKES YOU AT YOUR WORD and pulls the trigger.

You can't spend millions of dollars IMPLYING Barack "Hussein" Obama is a secret Muslim terrorist, and then recoil in horror when someone expresses that exact opinion.

You can't paint gunsights on a map and talk about "Second Amendment Remedies" and discuss every political issue as a do-or-die battle between Good and Evil and then later pretend you weren't in any way suggesting that someone pick up a weapon and fight violently for the very things you told them they MUST fight violently for.

[Truth2Tell]

29. can't have it both ways. exactly. Thanks for the post. nt

[Hell Hath No Fury]

27. K&R

[Pathwalker]

28. Thank you. Bookmarked for truth. n/t