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From January of this year, here's our number five most viewed C&L video of 2011, with Fox "News" doing their best to protect their employee Sarah Palin from the viewers there seeing any criticism of her after the horrific event in Arizona where Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot among others.

Heaven forbid she might have been exposed to any criticism of her for putting Giffords on her "Target Map."

Rick Perry, the newest front runner in the GOP12 for president took a lot of heat for his over the top rhetoric against Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Texas Governor Rick Perry, who entered the presidential campaign on Saturday, appeared to suggest a violent response would be warranted should Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke “print more money” between now and the election. Speaking just now in Iowa, Perry said, “If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I dunno what y’all would do to him in Iowa but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas. Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treasonous in my opinion.” Treason is a capital offense.

The spin coming out of the beltway media has been that this was just a rookie mistake for Perry, but the reality of that argument is false. It was Rick Perry himself who scolded Kinky Friedman in their only debate for governor in 2006 for what he considered using inflammatory words.

Friedman said the controversy about his remarks, made during his campaign and as a satirical entertainer years ago, have diverted attention "from things that are troubling real Texans." He said he hadn't heard any of the other candidates talk about crime in Houston, which he said has been aggravated by Hurricane Katrina evacuees, whom he has referred to as "crackheads and thugs."

"I was raised by a black lady in Houston," Friedman said. "She taught me that Jesus Christ was color blind, and I'm proud to say that I'm color blind myself. I'm no racist. I'm a realist."

The other candidates chided Friedman for his words, but Perry was the harshest.

"Mister Friedman, words matter," Perry said. "Using that terminology, whether it's on stage or whether it's in the Governor's Mansion is absolutely and totally unacceptable."

Rick Perry is on record as saying words do matter and using terminology that he finds offensive is totally unacceptable. So how can MSM try to give him a mulligan on his outburst against Bernanke as well as his secession talk? I'm sure his advisers will try to reign him in, but he's campaigned a lot in his career and understands the game. By the way, his apologists are already out trying to sweeten the beat on his radical positions.

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Here's a rather disturbing update on Byron Williams, the liberal-hating, parolee right-wing crazy guy who opened fire on the CHP last weekend.

Via KGO:

Court documents released Tuesday say Williams told investigators he intended to start a revolution by traveling to San Francisco to kill people at the ACLU and the Tides Foundation, an organization that says it promotes economic justice.

"His plan was to go there and wait until it opens up in the morning; our investigators brought up to him that those organizations are probably closed on Sundays and he said he was going to wait until they opened up," Oakland Police Department spokesperson Jeff Thomason said.

Armed to the teeth, and as a third-striker, not particularly concerned with his fate, too:

When the officers tried to contact Williams, a 12-minute-long gun battle ensued. Williams, armed with three guns, including a .308-caliber rifle that can penetrate ballistic body armor and vehicles, eventually surrendered and exited the vehicle.

Williams was arraigned in Alameda County Superior Court Tuesday on four counts of attempted murder of a peace officer and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. He received enhancements for wearing body armor. [Read more]

The Tides Foundation is George Soros' philanthropic charity, and the ACLU is, well, the ACLU. I wonder, what would cause an unstable, bitter angry man to target the ACLU and the Tides Foundation? I wonder...

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Yesterday we had another act of violence by a right-wing extremist intent on attacking and harming the government, inflamed by far-right conspiracy theories about 9/11 and other supposed instances of government "tyranny":

Internet postings linked to the suspected gunman in a Pentagon subway shooting suggest long-held frustration with the government's reach into the private life of Americans.

The suspect, John Patrick Bedell, 36, died after exchanging gunfire with two police officers. He spent weeks driving to the Capital area from the West Coast, authorities said Friday.

A blog connected to him via the social networking site LinkedIn outlines a growing distrust of the federal government. The blog suggests a criminal enterprise run out of the government could have staged the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

It was the latest batch of conspiracy-laden Internet postings to surface since Thursday night's shooting.

Bedell died Thursday night from head wounds received in a volley of fire with police. Richard Keevill, chief of Pentagon police, said the two injured officers and another officer who came to their assistance fired upon Bedell at the subway entrance into the Pentagon building in Arlington, Va.

"He came here from California," Keevill said. "We were able to identify certain locations that he spent that last several weeks making his way from the West coast to the East coast."

Keevill described Bedell as "very well educated" and well-dressed, saying Bedell was wearing a suit, armed with two 9 millimeter semiautomatic weapons and carried "many magazines" of ammunition. There was more ammunition in Bedell's car, which authorities found in a local parking garage, Keevill said.

[UPDATE: Think Progress has more on Bedell's background as a right-wing extremist.]

NBC's Jim Miklaszewski assured us this morning that there was no indication this was "terrorism." Likewise, the Associated Press report had a similar assurance:

Investigators have found no immediate connection to terrorism. The attack that superficially wounded two officers guarding the massive Defense Department headquarters appears to be a case of "a single individual who had issues," Richard Keevill, chief of Pentagon police, said Friday.

Excuse me, but WTF?

It seems to be the new standard among journalists that terrorism is now defined only as conspiracy-based international terrorism. Lone-wolf domestic terrorism? That's now just "a single individual who had issues."

You remember when an anti-tax radical flew his plane into IRS offices in Austin a couple of weeks ago in an attempt to blow those offices up, the Foxite media were eager to proclaim that it was not an act of terrorism, too.

As we explained then:

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The case of this weekend's busts of seven militiamen in the Midwest, all affiliated with the Hutaree "Christian militia" -- apparently on bomb-making charges, though more factual details are expected today -- is deja vu all over again.

It very much reminds me of the Washington State Militia, the group whose bust and subsequent federal trial I covered in 1996-7. The WSM was a lot like the Michigan Militia in that it liked to sell itself as a civic-minded group whose main purpose was to defend citizens from government oppression and to perform various civic function. I'll never forget John Pitner, the WSM's "commander," telling reporters outside a meeting hall in Mount Vernon in January 1996 that he and his members had been heavily involved in sandbagging efforts to combat the floods that had hit local rivers the week before.

That was how they behaved when out in public, trying to recruit mainstream conservatives to their cause. Then we discovered that what they were saying in private was quite a different thing altogether.

Pitner and six of his comrades were arrested in July 1996 and hit with a variety of charges, most notably for making pipe bombs. At the trial, it emerged that the FBI had videotaped many of the militiamen's meetings, and so both the trial audience and the jury got to hear Pitner and his cohorts planning various acts of violence, including bombing a local reporter's home and a nearby train tunnel.

The Hutaree group -- which made the above video sometime last year, demonstrating their tactics for attacking an outpost of the oppressive blue-helmeted United Nations, at the culmination of which they burn the U.N. flag and raise the flag of the "CCR" -- the Colonial Christian Republic, which the Hutaree folks promote.

Interestingly enough, the authorities in Bridgewater Township actually asked local militias to help them search for a couple of missing persons. Among them were members of the Hutaree militia:

While the SMVM training is public, Hutaree, a Christian-oriented group, shies away from public attention.

Wendy Lineweaver, 43, of Manchester Township, a Hutaree member, participated in both searches in the township.

She joined the tightly-knit unit after meeting several members at a Ron Paul rally several years ago in Ann Arbor. Lineweaver opposes surveillance cameras on streets, the use of body scanners at airports and fears the government may microchip people.

“If you really want to try and install a police state in this society, you’re going to hit a brick wall, meaning us,” she said. “That’s what we’re preparing for.”

Militia members are politically active, but have the same concerns as everyone else, said Rivka Pratt of Hamburg Township, who is Schiel’s fiancée. The mother of two is a member of Schiel’s unit.

“We all live normal lives,” she said. “We all worry about paying the bills. How the kids are doing in school…You don’t live your life worrying about the government.”

You even had the local Republican councilwoman whose brilliant scheme this was praising them afterward:

“Based on what I have observed of our local militia’s efforts, I highly recommend that other municipalities coordinate with and get to know their local militia members."

Meanwhile, their fellow militiamen are now busy throwing the Hutaree folks under the bus:

Mike Lackomar, of Michiganmilitia.com, said both The Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia and the Michiganmilitia.com were not a part of the raid.

Lackomar said he heard from other militia members that the FBI targeted the Hutaree after its members made threats of violence against Islamic organizations.

"Last night and into today the FBI conducted a raid against homes belonging to the Hutaree. They are a religious cult. They are not part of our militia community," he said.

Lackomar said he was told there were five arrests Saturday and another five early Sunday. The FBI declined to comment.

One of the Hutaree members called a Michigan militia leader for assistance Saturday after federal agents had already began their raid, Lackomar said, but the militia member -- who is of Islamic decent and had heard about the threats -- declined to offer help. That Michigan militia leader is now working with federal officials to provide information on the Hutaree member for the investigation, Lackomar said Sunday.

"They are more of survivalist group and in an emergency they withdraw and stand their ground. They are actively training to be alongside Jesus," he said.

Of course, they'll all be clamoring to assure us that they're really just a bunch of civic-minded folks, honest. They just happen to be a little paranoid is all.

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Frightening:

AUSTIN, Texas - A small plane crashed Thursday into a multistory office building in Austin, causing a fire and sending black smoke billowing from the seven-story structure, officials said. At least two people were injured and a third was unaccounted for.

Federal officials said the incident did not appear to be terrorism-related but authorities were investigating whether the pilot intentionally crashed the plane, according to media reports.

Authorities were investigating whether the plane crash was related to an Austin-area house fire earlier in the day.

The plane hit the Echelon Building, which is next to a major highway in north Austin.

Fires were burning from the second through fourth floors, KXAN reported. Crews used ladder trucks and hoses to battle the blazes. Dozens of windows were blown out of the hulking black building and vehicles traveling on a nearby highway paused to look.

All the initial reports are downplaying this as an act of domestic terrorism, including ABC, which reports the following statement from DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano's office:

"The Secretary is aware of the situation in Austin. We do not yet know the cause of the plane crash. At this time, we have no reason to believe there is a nexus to criminal or terrorist activity. We are in the process of coordinating with state officials and other federal partners to gather more information. At this time, we will defer additional questions to local officials and the FAA," Chandler said.

However, an NTSB official just told Fox News that this was being investigated as an intentional act.

Considering that this building reportedly mostly houses IRS buildings, it seems unlikely that it was not domestic terrorism. We'll have to wait and see.

Details as they emerge.

UPDATE: The pilot has been identified as a Joseph Andrew Stack, who appears to have left the following suicide note on the Web, titled "Well Mr. Big Brother IRS Man ... take my pound of flesh and sleep well".

It's a classic right-wing extremist rant.

UPDATE2: I'm amending this. Upon giving this a more careful reading, it's clear this is actually much more complex than your typical right-wing rant; it has a lot of standard right-wing features, particularly the fetish about the IRS and the notion that taxes are inimical to freedom; but there's obviously a lot more going on there as well. I'll post more on this later.

I'm reproducing it in full below in case it disappears from the Web:

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[Note: I was interviewed last night for CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 program to discuss lone wolves. My interview didn't air yesterday, but Cooper indicated they'd be reporting more on the "lone wolf" phenomenon tonight, so here's hoping my interview airs this evening. In the meantime, here's a warmup report, featuring the first of Cooper's pieces.]

When the Department of Homeland Security issued that law-enforcement bulletin on right-wing extremists two months ago, the mainstream right's chief shrieking point was that somehow the bulletin had conflated them with the extremist right-wingers.

Some typical headlines: "DHS Report Labels Conservatives as Radical Extremists". "The DHS Declares Everyone In America Is A Domestic Terrorist". "DHS To Target Conservatives." "New DHS Domestic Terrorism Report Targets Millions of Americans". And on and on. The upshot: Homeland Security was labeling conservatives America's chief terrorist threat.

But if you read the actual report, here's what it says is the chief domestic-terror threat America faces:

DHS/I&A assesses that lone wolves and small terrorist cells embracing violent rightwing extremist ideology are the most dangerous domestic terrorism threat in the United States. Information from law enforcement and nongovernmental organizations indicates lone wolves and small terrorist cells have shown intent—and, in some cases, the capability—to commit violent acts.

[..] DHS/I&A has concluded that white supremacist lone wolves pose the most significant domestic terrorist threat because of their low profile and autonomy—separate from any formalized group—which hampers warning efforts.

[..] Similarly, recent state and municipal law enforcement reporting has warned of the dangers of rightwing extremists embracing the tactics of “leaderless resistance” and of lone wolves carrying out acts of violence.

Now, here's the odd thing about "lone wolves": Right-wingers like to use the solitary nature of this kind of terrorist act to dismiss them as "isolated incidents." But in reality, the continuing existence of acts of this nature demonstrates primarily that the radical right in America is alive, well, and functioning better than it should. And the continuing -- and as we've seen this week, ultimately futile -- attempts by the right to whitewash their existence from the public consciousness have played no small part in helping that trend continue.

Watch the above video for an instructive comparison in how this is handled by a right-winger like Fox's Bill O'Reilly, and a more rational, rather centrist approach taken by Anderson Cooper and his guests on AC360 last night.

O'Reilly declares the matter over -- move along, move along -- because this was just a "lone nutcase." Meanwhile, Cooper and the SPLC's Mark Potok and anti-racist activist David Gletty have a thorough an rational discussion of what lone wolves are about.

As Potok explains, the "lone wolf" concept was popularized in the late 1980s by an Aryan Nations leader named Louis Beam as an extension of his strategy of "leaderless resistance." One white supremacist, a fellow named Alex Curtis, even went so far as to develop a "point system" for lone wolves.

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While the Villagers try to erect their own narrative about the Arizona shootings, and as right-wingers try to deflect the fallout from the Giffords shootings, something important is finally penetrating into the minds of Americans: Right wing vitriolic rhetoric that has permeated our airwaves is dangerous to our society.

CNN: Blame Game in Arizona Shootings

48% of the country believe the use of a harsh rhetoric and violent metaphors by politicians and commentators caused the Arizona shooting
Only 32% believe they have no impact at all.

And:

54% believe the use of a harsh rhetoric and violent metaphors by politicians and commentators would cause a future incident similar to the shooting in Arizona.

That's much bigger than I thought it would be. David and I took no pleasure when we came up with our book Over the Cliff, because this kind of violence is exactly what we had forecast. It's not something we would wish on anyone, but we could not ignore what was happening to our country and we felt it had to be documented and discussed.

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Rep Trent Franks of Arizona made the rounds on the Sunday talk show circuit today and he did his best to make believe he's really a very civil guy. The right is frantically trying to silence the criticism of the over the top rhetoric and violent activities during president Obama's brief time in office that has emanated from the RWNM. I watched him on Meet the Press and then CNN. He certainly wasn't too happy with Sheriff Dupnik's comments about the hate that has filled our country and he cited Arizona as being the 'Mecca for prejudice and bigotry.'

Dupnik: "When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government," he said. "The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on this country is getting to be outrageous and unfortunately Arizona has become sort of the capital. We have become the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry."

Crowley: Wow, the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry.

Franks: Even in these circumstance, first of all I think our focus should be upon the tragedy that occurred here and I think it's unfortunate to inject the comments that the Sheriff did in this case because he has been heavily involved in the whole immigration issue and he found himself in this case at ends even different than Miss Giffords. And I think that he's carrying on that debate even in this tragic moment and I think it's unfortunate.

Crowley: Probably should say that you all have been personally affected by this and that sometimes you say things you might not want to. The point being that there is now going to be this conversation about "why?" And right now we are seeing "the political conversation is terrible, it is heated rhetoric, we are seeing unhinged people to do things." Do you see a link between increased sharp rhetoric, sometimes aggressive rhetoric, violent rhetoric, whatever you want to call it, in the political forum and this type of heinous activity.

Frank: Sometimes in any human dynamic there are so many factors that it becomes difficult to really analyze it. But sometimes you can see a central element, and that central element is this unhinged lunatic that had no respect for human life was willing to make some grand statement, I don't know if he even knows what grand statement he was willing to make to take the lives of his fellow human lives to do it. And there is the problem, a lack of respect for innocent human life. It's a lack of respect for the constitution, for freedom.

Many of the Tea Party candidates that won and lost during the midterm elections crossed the line of civility during the HCR debates a long time ago and they were backed up by the shock jocks and their FOX News friends. It would be naive to think that no matter how unhinged Loughner is, you have to ask the question. Where did he hear about the US and the gold standard? It's not a common thread among many in this country. I think you know. However, what kind of behavior did Trent Franks put on display during 2009?

Does calling President Obama an enemy of humanity fit his definition of respect for human life?

It's interesting that he would say that. And even more interesting that Crowley didn't think to ask him about this comment of his at last year's How To Take Back America conference:

Obama's first act as president of any consequence, in the middle of a financial meltdown, was to send taxpayers' money overseas to pay for the killing of unborn children in other countries...there's almost nothing that you should be surprised at after that. We shouldn't be shocked that he does all these other insane things. A president that has lost his way that badly, that has no ability to see the image of God in these little fellow human beings, if he can't do that right, then he has no place in any station of government and we need to realize that he is an enemy of humanity

There is no comparison of how the left and right conduct themselves. What's sad but expected is how the MSM is trying to equivocate both sides when the right has been just throwing gasoline on the fire that they started during the general election of 2008.

At C&L we obviously have focused on the extreme right wing vitriol. You can search some of our many tags to see how much hate and crime is being perpetrated because of this vitriol. Here are two...

http://crooksandliars.com/taxonomy/term/3952

http://crooksandliars.com/taxonomy/term/11838

You can also check out this excellent piece that documents many vitriolic rhetoric as well as violent criminal acts that have occurred in the last few years. Insurrectionism Timeline

I ask again. How many acts of violence does it take for the media to stop calling this a lone nutjob and reveal there is a well established pattern of behavior that has taken over the country and it is led by the Conservative/Tea Party/John Birch followers and transmitters?

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[Ed. note: Better-quality video below.]

Fox News started covering a vigil that was happening at the steps of the capitol in Arizona in honor of Gabrielle Giffords after she was shot earlier today. As soon as a young man mentioned Sarah Palin's name, FOX News abruptly cut to commercial. It's sickening. FOX News will do anything to protect the investment they have made in Sarah Palin, even at the expense of Rep. Giffords.

Smith: in addition we are noticing outside the capitol in Phoenix with pictures courtesy of KSAZ, which I'm told you can put up there; a vigil is taking place...

Man: Gabby, we have to look into our hearts and say to ourselves why, why do I want power. Not that I want power. And I say to you Sarah Palin. {Smash Cut to commercial.}
.

Sarah Palin has today been under criticism because of her insane "Target Map" in which Giffords was a member of those that were put in the cross-hairs.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck was one of Sarah Palin's biggest fans during the 2008 election so it surprising to see her bash Sarah Palin over her over the top "Re-Load" Face Book chart and called it despicable.

In never-thought-you'd-see-the-day news, staunch conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck went off on The View yesterday, railing against none other than Sarah Palin.

Why? Because Palin, for whom she campaigned during the '08 election, released an ad that put 20 Democratic members of Congress literally in the crosshairs.

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The former Alaska Governor's Facebook page features her political action committee's ad targeting the 20 Democratic incumbents, with a SarahPac map marking districts where Democrats voted "yes" for health care reform with guns.

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Hasselbeck also opposes health reform, but she's actually far more upset about how people on her own side of the political spectrum are handling themselves.

"I think the way some Republicans are handling this is nothing more than despicable," she said in response to Palin's tasteless ad. "It's disappointing to see this coming from the Party, and I would hope that leaders like Sarah Palin would end this."

The violence that we predicted is taking place and it's even scaring the likes of Hasselbeck.

FWIW, here's the SarahPAC graphic in question:

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No wonder Fox and Palin want everyone to forget. Especially Fox. There's nothing they won't do to protect Sarah Palin.

UPDATE: Here's a better-quality version of the video:

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