Coop's Corner
November 17, 2009 2:48 PM

Rage Nation 2.0

By
Charles Cooper
Topics
In The News
(AP)
In 1964, the Columbia University historian, Richard Hofstadter, described in a magazine piece the "paranoid style in American politics" (a theme he later expanded in a book on the same topic).

Talk about political prescience.

The American lexicon is suddenly chockablock with a collection of colorful descriptions forged in the cauldron of an increasingly heated political debate - terms like tea parties, three percenters, birthers, town hall disrupters, and oath keepers. As language reflects the times we live in, this is the new nomenclature used to define an eruption of anti-government rage that increasingly has marked the Obama administration's first ten months in office.

Though other administrations have gotten an earful from critics, both from the left as well as the right, the Anti Defamation League has a new report out which makes the case that this is more than the usual political carping between political parties. The study should be required reading for anyone with even a passing interest in contemporary U.S. politics. Not that the ADL's narrative is going to settle anything - how long before Michelle Malkin, Alex Jones and the rest of the rage boys (and girls) work up a purple fury at the organization's chutzpah for daring to single out rightwing overkill? - but the report offers a disturbing examination into why our political debate has turned rancid. What separates this period from other epochs, the ADL suggests, is a widespread belief within anti-government circles that the Obama administration presents a danger to the future of this country.

"Some accuse Obama of plotting to bring socialism to the United States, while others claim he will bring about Nazism or fascism. All believe that Obama and his administration will trample on individual freedoms and civil liberties, due to some sinister agenda, and they see his economic and social policies as manifestations of this agenda. In particular anti-government activists used the issue of health care reform as a rallying point, accusing Obama and his administration of dark designs ranging from "socialized medicine" to "death panels," even when the Obama administration had not come out with a specific health care reform plan. Some even compared the Obama administration's intentions to Nazi eugenics programs."

It's too easy to chalk this up entirely to old fashioned racism - though the race factor can't be ignored - but the ADL report makes clear that paranoia and belief in conspiracies now informs many mainstream and grass-roots anti-government movements, which left unchecked, could spill over into violence. The ADL says the first warning signs flashed during the summer when people with extremist backgrounds showed up at public events ostentatiously packing heat. From the report:

"But some groups have gone much further, implicitly or explicitly suggesting armed resistance to the government of some sort. Open calls to violent action are rare; what is more common is rhetoric that speaks of resisting the government, "restoring" the government, or using weapons to defend one's rights from the "tyrannical" Obama administration."

"Significantly, many of these groups have appropriated an idealized version of Revolutionary War history for their own purposes, stressing the armed resistance of the American colonists to British "tyranny" and suggesting, in varying degrees of openness, that Americans today should act as their revolutionary forebears did and throw off the perceived shackles of the allegedly tyrannical government."

Too much? We'll only know for sure in retrospect. This much is clear: the fringe has found a way to insinuate its way into the national conversation. Let me know what you think in the talkback section below.

  • Charles Cooper is an executive editor at CNET News. He has covered technology and business for more than 25 years, working at CBSNews.com, the Associated Press, Computer & Software News, Computer Shopper, PC Week, and ZDNet. E-mail Charlie.

Add a Comment See all 101 Comments
by Omnivorous November 26, 2009 1:28 PM EST
More diversion tactics from the radical leftists, the same as the kooky ex teacher turned census worker to attempted to scam the insurance company while smearing what the media portrays as "rabid right wingers".

Pathetic. Just like the black professor who hung a noose on her own door to avoid getting fired.

We would do well to remember the swastika is in fact a leftist, socialist symbol, right Coop?
Reply to this comment
by 4buttons November 20, 2009 2:04 PM EST
The problem is that people in Congress keep trying to introduce bills that weaken the Constitution. During W. Bush's second term there were 4 Justices who would have voted for us to be a theocracy. Read some of what Alito has written about religion. All of these people want a theocracy. This would do away with the Constitution and one person would rule America.

Clearly, a dictator has never been good for any country. If you do something they don't agree with some of these "religious leaders" want genocide. Certainly Beck has no problem calling for it. Americans United for Separation of Church and State are fighting hundreds of violations of the law now and they are trying to keep Congress from enacting laws that would allow the Constitution to be destroyed. The real problem is that about 5 of these religious leaders don't tell their congregation what their real plans are. They convince them that the earth will end in 2012. Like all their other predictions these are just to frighten people into doing anything they say. Google "Quiverful" and you will see what they plan for women. No birth control, a life of a 8 to 20 children and complete submission to men.

And if you belong to certain races or religions, the worst of these sects, advocate slavery or genocide. I wonder what the "winning" dictator would do with the others.
And when you Google "Quiverful" be sure to Google "women who have left Quiverful". These are pitiful stories of women who were worked half to death, had no way to leave because they had never worked and were treated like slaves. One woman wrote their magazine and lied about it and said her husband wrote it. He couldn't work so she covered for him, although he abused their whole family.

Don't you think it's weird that not ONE, not ONE Republican says anything different than the rest? It's like they have no interest in Democracy. They certainly don't believe in doing anything for the American people after they created this mess. It's almost like they trashed the economy to make it easier to take over.

Be very careful when you defend a Republican in Washington and many locally. You know how they are blaming President Obama for the H1N1 vaccine not being available? For the last 2 years of Bush we had no Secretary of Health and Human Services. He didn't believe in science and she disagreed.

And check the facts. What was the deficit at the end of Reagan's term, Clinton's term and Bush's term? Bush borrowed so much from the Chinese that many people think the fundamentalists can't take us over... the Chinese won't let them. But if he hadn't borrowed the money the deficit would have been worse.
Reply to this comment
by randysanders November 23, 2009 8:46 PM EST
Looks like the Republicans are planning to overthrow the Government if they do not win the presidency back in 2012. The media swings both ways and sometimes they join the correct side. Investigative journalism has taken a back seat when it comes to saving their jobs. You'd be surprised just how much financial influence the Republican Party still has. They are using the equivalent of a smart bomb when it comes to spending money to inciting social unrest.
by pjhappy November 19, 2009 12:40 PM EST
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuEkz-PYGdg sounds more like the work of huguenots than catholics to me...... but you Americans Are the smart ones after all! Children, all of you, it's pathetic,..... we have a "piece of paper" and that gives us rights lol bang you are dead!
Reply to this comment
by randysanders November 23, 2009 8:51 PM EST
pjhappy needs to read more and comment less. That piece of paper, is the Constitution, and although all 50 States have their own version of it, the basic rights of US Citizens are still pretty much covered. So no, your bang doesn't make Democracy dead.
by lakota2012 November 19, 2009 11:26 AM EST
by nh4ronpaul:
Last word: The fringers are the violent marxists who are in control now... we are in big trouble because they are destroying the economy
===============================================






Blah...blah...blah....the economy has been destroyed by the past 30 years of conservative policies of de-regulation, lack of oversight, lack of accountability and "supply-side" ideology giving the total power to the fascist corporatocracy and their hordes of lobbyists.

The bush/cheney Great Recession began in Dec. 2007, and they couldn't even admit our economic tsunami until Dec. 2008, after a full year of economic downturn. These glenn beck conspiracy theorists calling themselves "teabaggers for God," couldn't even admit to the bush/cheney spending sprees until this year, and didn't even protest the doubling of the national debt by the busheviks until Obama was sworn in as president in 2009, and handed a $1.2 Trillion budget deficit by the bushies on Jan. 20th.

HYPOCRITES!
Reply to this comment
by randysanders November 23, 2009 8:58 PM EST
I wish you'd make up your mind. First ya call the Democrats marxist. Then you identify the problems facing our nation without making an effort for actual solutions. Then ya admit Bush / Cheney Admin had something to do with our current problems and call them busheviks. So whose side are you on anyway?
by louiville35 November 19, 2009 9:39 AM EST
by pjhappy November 19, 2009 5:51 AM EST
yep hun hun, unless of course you happen to belong to the One Church that has been doing that work for 2000 years and has members of EVERY race of the Planet......then if you are AJ you bash IT and call for the acts of The Huguenots of 1776! and you make lots of money out of it! History eludes you all!
==========================================================================
Sure sure.

"If we look back into history for the character of the present sects in Christianity, we shall find few that have not in their turns been persecutors, and complainers of persecution. " (Works, Vol. ii., p. 112).-Benjamin Franklin

I think we can expand on that today to include all religions, all political parties and pretty much everyone including you.
But since we have added religion to hate crimes just criticizing Jews/Christians Muslims... will become criminal no matter how outrageous and vindictive the persecution of others religions. And like the current Hate crime act this will be applied disproportionately to those who do not belong to one of these named groups.

My opinion is best answered by another Benjamin Franklin Quote:

"I think they were invented not so much to secure religion as the emoluments of it. When a religion is good, I conceive that it will support, itself; and when it does not support itself, and God does not take care to support it, so that its professors are obliged to call for help of the civil power, 'tis a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one," (Works, Vol. viii., p. 506).
Reply to this comment
by randysanders November 23, 2009 9:03 PM EST
I didn't know Ben Franklin was that much of a Humanitarian. Sound like he knew enough about religion(s) to know that sometimes they are organized to be a "leech" on society. Tax exempt status was enough for them, they had to have more and give less. Shocking.
by louiville35 November 19, 2009 9:10 AM EST
What's with the photo are Jews claiming "David Scott" is a Nazi???
Reply to this comment
by ers34839 November 18, 2009 10:57 PM EST
Alex Jones is anti-fascist, anti-racist, anti-war, and anti-corruption. And he is a proponent of non-violent political activism. Alex also wants everyone to unite against the military industrail complex and the banking elite. Alex has a populist message and wants the Jews, Christians, Muslims, Atheists, etc to unite against the globalist oligarchs.
Reply to this comment
by pjhappy November 19, 2009 5:51 AM EST
yep hun hun, unless of course you happen to belong to the One Church that has been doing that work for 2000 years and has members of EVERY race of the Planet......then if you are AJ you bash IT and call for the acts of The Huguenots of 1776! and you make lots of money out of it! History eludes you all!
by ers34839 November 19, 2009 12:17 PM EST
pjhappy,

Are you talking about the Catholic Church? Because Alex Jones has never bashed Cathoilics. In fact, the anti-catholics think Jones works for the Vatican because he doesn't want to hate catholics.
by nh4ronpaul November 18, 2009 10:35 PM EST
Last word: The fringers are the violent marxists who are in control now... we are in big trouble because they are destroying the economy ON PURPOSE to cause CHAOS and total take over. (or handover, however you see it)
Reply to this comment
by randysanders November 23, 2009 9:16 PM EST
You are wrong. The Democrats are trying very hard to fix the many problems the Republicans have created. Seems everytime the Repubs say they have identified a problem within our government, they fail to acknowledge they are the ones that passed the faulty legislation to begin with. Everytime I read legislation authored by Repubs, I notice they were closing a loophole they created in order to open another loophole. That is why Dems need to stay in power. Maybe one day the Repubs will admit they have caused Americans more problems than the Repubs are worth.
by nh4ronpaul November 18, 2009 10:21 PM EST
Regarding this bit of fantasy: "It's too easy to chalk this up entirely to old fashioned racism - though the race factor can't be ignored - but the ADL report makes clear that paranoia and belief in conspiracies now informs many mainstream and grass-roots anti-government movements, which left unchecked, could spill over into violence. The ADL says the first warning signs flashed during the summer when people with extremist backgrounds showed up at public events ostentatiously packing heat. "

This "packing heat" comment is also a lot of BULL. I am sure they are talking about the Portsmouth Town Hall, where hundreds of them were 'packing' because in NH, everyone does, every day. They just happened to find ONE to pick on.

The ADL needs a dose of reality of what is real America. No one came packing heat to threaten anyone no matter how hard Chris Tingle tried to make it sound.

In fact, Kostric was attacked by violent leftists and did not even react! Does ADL distance itself from these violent people? What are they doing about it? Nothing.. they must sanction this violence!

And those with the posters of the nazis were LEFTIST followers of LaRouche, nothing to do with tea parties.

Once again, ADL is playing this for the opposite of what is the truth... and since they lack so much credibility, they should be ignored.
Reply to this comment
by pjhappy November 18, 2009 10:15 PM EST
http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=1710662559138481080&hl=en&fs=true
Reply to this comment
See all 101 Comments
.

Follow Coop's Corner

Scroll Left
Scroll Right More »
CBS News on Facebook
  • Building You a Better Morning

  • CBS This Morning

    "CBS This Morning," anchored by Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Erica Hill, airs weekdays from 7 to 9 a.m. ET and at the same time in other time zones.
    Learn more...