I've been around right-wing extremists long enough to know when they're making calls to action. And when it comes to these folks, this inevitably tr
February 23, 2009

I've been around right-wing extremists long enough to know when they're making calls to action. And when it comes to these folks, this inevitably translates as violent action.

So Alan Keyes, in an interview with a reporter from KHAS-TV, filmed outside a fundraiser for the AAA Crisis Pregnancy Center in Hastings, Neb., said this:

"Obama is a radical communist, and I think it is becoming clear. That is what I told people in Illinois and now everybody realizes it's true," said Keyes, who ran unsuccessfully against Obama for the state's open Senate seat in 2004. "He is going to destroy this country, and we are either going to stop him or the United States of America is going to cease to exist."

These kinds of remarks are, as Andrew Sullivan suggests, deeply disturbing, and not merely for the gut-level emotional impact.

Already, if you look at the comments from the YouTube where it's posted -- as well as at a number of right-wing sites -- the remarks are being hailed as "the truth" and "telling it like it is."

This is classic right-wing eliminationism: Depicting the opposition as the embodiment of evil, intent on destroying the nation. For militia/Patriot types, this kind of rhetoric also becomes a call to action.

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon