First it was Rev. Wright…then Bill Ayers….with all the accompanying non-biased, and Pulitzer-Prize-caliber reporting. Then came the "Hillary Clinton was cheated," narrative suggesting (wrongly) that she had more primary votes than Barak Obama. All this was followed by "Obama's only a celebrity like Paris." Then came the "how can Obama overcome his problem with white voters?" question.

Sarah Palin's entry brought with it the "palling around with terrorists", "Obama is a Marxist", "real Americans in real America", and "Obama is not sufficiently patriotic." All accusations that had to be deeply plumbed for there wingnut wisdom.

Immediately following Obama's election, it became full metal jacket Blago. Obama is from Illinois, (via Kenya) Emmanuel is from Illinois, Blagojevich was governor of Illinois….ipso facto, weeks and weeks were spent "informing" us about an Illinois governor who did what every American elected official does….traded on his influence.

In January came Rush's "hope he fails" comedy routine….and a Serious search to unpack the deep profundity in that statement. The stimulus "discussion" gave opportunity for corporate-whore media to entertain (on a 2-1 basis over Democrats) the thoughts and demagoguing of Republicans and conservatives on the Sunday morning "news" programs. Despite having his electoral ass kicked, and despite the fact that McCain now plays an insignificant role in a 40 GOP'er Senate, John McCain recorded his 14th appearance on the Sunday morning "news" shows recently.

Ordering that Guantanomo would be closed brought with it such an unhinged response from dishonest neo-conservatives and their obedient knee-jerk children that the thought of dangerous criminals being held on "American soil" became the most imminent national threat. Terrorists in American prisons?….How can we ever be safe?

And then it really started to get crazy. March brought with it the TeaParty Blitz….and the long awaited return of Dick Cheney to national corporate-whore media…..this time with mini-me-Dick, daughter Liz, out spreading the "torture love" doctrine of Father Dick. Neither holds public office, Father Dick is hated by most Americans….but there they were, "news" program after "news" program, telling us to be very, very afraid if America stops torturing. You see, the Dicks are Serious.

Don't forget the marvelously patriotic and sensible "birther" movement still championed by over half of Republicans and the recently released CNN xenophobe, Lou Dobbs….and naturally, all of the AM radio talkers and FOX.

The summer of 2009 may just be referred to in the history books as the "Summer of Incoherence"….as BeckerHeads, TeaBaggers, and Townhall Buster-Uppers, some carrying loaded weapons, saturated the "news" with their sour grapes of discontent with a black Democratic president intent on destroying America and replacing it with (take your pick)….socialism, communism Maoism, Stalinism, or Nazism……all conveniently interchangeable at a moment's notice. Desperate cries of, "I want my country back", echoed repeatedly through the TeaBags.

ACORN became, overnight, one of America's most dangerous domestic enemies. Amateur wingnut videographers, working with FOX, stung those primarily-black-employee-run Acorn offices in a daring and patriotic commando raid to save us all…..I guess from signing up more black voters. "Breaking News" ensued.

"Killing grandma", "death panels", (another 1/2 term Governor Palin gem), "death books for veterans", "Obama will take away your Medicare",…filled the late summer and early fall, with yet more incoherent TeaParties and 9-12'er events, led by America's brilliant new Paul Revere, Glenn Beck…and of course, FOX. No one is sure how many Baggers turned out on Beckerhead day. Somewhere between 60,000…..and 2 million. No way to know.

Now we're being flooded with "Obama and the Democrats are sneaking in tax-payer abortions", "Obama is 'dithering' on Afghanistan", and the recent election (which added a new Democrat to the House) is a "sign that Americans are rejecting Obama's leadership," "Obama and the Democrats (after 10 months) are in deep trouble."

This past week has brought with it the "Ft. Hood massacre is the first terrorist attack in the U.S. since 9-11," proving, I'm sure, that without the Dick's torture, we are all doomed. Calls for renewing "investigations" into American Muslims and Muslim groups are rampant.

Obama left today on an Asian-countries tour….and dollars to donuts….I bet we'll get to hear all about how Obama had to get out of D.C. to avoid all the "controversies" he's created. Just more "dithering."

Now….it could just be me….but it sure as hell seems like corporate-whore media has joined with conservative and GOP wingnuts in "creating reality" for the last year and a half. An anti-Obama-and-the-Democrats narrative template has been placed overtop of ALL events since the beginning of last year.

Or maybe not. Like I said….it could just be me.

This is an interesting map put up over at Think Progress on Matt Yglesias' blog.

In commentary, Yglesias takes the position that "in general the majority of white men are not progressive."

Is that true, do you think? And if the majority of America's white men are not progressive, why would that be?

Why would only 41% of white male Americans have voted for President Obama? Obama won 53% of the total popular vote.

Why did less than 10% of white males in Alabama and Mississippi vote for America's first black president? 9 out of 10 white male Alabamans and Mississippians voted for McCain.

Open Left sets forward the idea that our history of national voting rights plays a role.

I'm not suggesting any answers here….because I don't know the answers…..I don't.

That's why I'm asking the questions.

Any answers?

The Fabulous Thunderbirds, one of my favorite contemporary blues groups, made the song my blog title rips off famous back in the 90's. I entitle my post with it today because of the schizophrenic messages coming from conservative and Villager voices over the 10-months-in-office President Obama.

Here's what I mean.

If you click here, and review the first few pages of Google responses to the question, "is Obama tough enough?", you'll find that conservatives and Villagers (and a few Democrats), have been fixated of late with the question of whether President Obama is tough enough as President.

One example from those Google search results……

"…a narrative is emerging among some columnists, pundits, and academics across the political spectrum that Obama's low-key, cool, cerebral style, while reassuring on many levels, lacks the punch that is sometimes needed to advance an agenda in Washington, and in a perilous world."

Keeping those Google examples in mind, now look at what Politico Villagers Jim Vandehei and Mike Allen are saying today about President Obama….

President Obama is working systematically to marginalize the most powerful forces behind the Republican Party, setting loose top White House officials to undermine conservatives in the media, business and lobbying worlds.

With a series of private meetings and public taunts, the White House has targeted the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the biggest-spending pro-business lobbying group in the country; Rush Limbaugh, the country’s most-listened-to conservative commentator; and now, with a new volley of combative rhetoric in recent days, the insurance industry, Wall Street executives and Fox News.

Feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken, but it sure sounds like Vandehei and Allen are saying that President Obama is acting TOO TOUGH.

According to Politico, Obama's White House is working hard to "marginalize" the very folks most responsible for the American disasters of the last decade, Republicans, huge powerful monied interests and the media propagandists who support both. According to the Villager Politico co-founder Vandehei, Obama's toughness in dealing with his political opponents is just so over the top….

"The White House approach could backfire if Obama looks too political or petty,……. Key commentators have argued that it is foolish of the White House to spend so much time slamming one network simply because it dislikes much of its programming."

So which is it schizoids? Is Obama too tough or not tough enough? Please, make up your minds, because the dissonance is starting to irritate me.

Tough talk is, you know, one thing, as we learned with the "bring 'em on" and "dead or alive" stupidities of the former "tough guy", George W. Bush. But let's see if the complaint that…Obama-is-too-tough-because-he's-working-hard-to-marginalize-Villagers-and-Republicans….is working….

So is the strategy working? White House officials point to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll to argue the answer is emphatically yes. Only 20 percent of those surveyed identified themselves as Republicans, the lowest in 26 years of asking the question.

Amazingly though, the Politico Villager writers then say this….

It’s impossible to credit the Obama White House for these numbers, however. Republicans can claim the bulk of the responsibility after a decade of scandals, unpopular wars, unprecedented spending and a broad loss of public trust.

See? Obama is behaving in a too tough manner regarding his political opponents, but Obama is not responsible for the historic lows in Republican approval and identification numbers. What Politico doesn't mention is the fact that those numbers have continued to go down SINCE Obama was elected. Americans are responding not so much to what Bush and his Boyz did from 2001-2009, that response came last November. Americans are responding now to how Republicans and conservatives are acting with a Democrat in the White House.

A staggering 83 percent of all independents surveyed said they don’t trust Republicans to make the right decisions.

Both political parties say that election outcomes are determined not by the right or left side voters, but by those allegedly in the "middle', independents. 83% of those "middle" folks do not trust Republicans to make the right decisions. That is headline material.

Is Obama just being too tough on his lying and smear-minded opponents? Is that it?

Or is toughness, genuine toughness…especially now….more than just childish neo-con slogan-threats by incompetent and ignorant conservative posers?

For 8 months, Obama gave Republicans, conservatives and right wing media screechers every opportunity to join him in moving the nation forward. Americans elected Obama with a mandate, and the new president offered nothing but an extended hand to his political opponents after he was elected. Obama took criticism for trying to appeal to Republicans in the stimulus debate. The same has been true of Obama's approach to health care reform.

President Obama could not have bent over any further backwards to accomodate his opposition. What did he get in return? Kicked in the teeth. But Obama knew that his unhinged opposition would reveal itself in all it's ugliness…..he has an uncanny knack of seeing the bigger picture…..and he strategized accordingly.

Former Bush clone, Dana Perino, perfectly captures the schitzoid problem within conservative and Republican circles….

“They won — why don’t they act like it?” said Dana Perino, former White House press secretary to Bush. “The more they fight, the more defensive they look. It’s only been 10 months, and they’re burning bridges in a lot of different places.”

Huh? I thought when you were fighting, you were on the offensive, not the defensive.

Obama is fighting and winning, and he's doing it in a very intelligent manner. His opponents are self-marginalizing with their schitzoid and unhinged opposition proving that…

Obama is tough enough.

The comedy show continues….

I realize that Newt Gingrich is considered to be a bonafide, certified, conservative intellectual…..a master GOP sharpie….the Republican go-to guy for "ideas."

So, I'm thinking Newt thinks, because he is just so smart and full of, like, ideas, that Republicans are going to take back the House and the Senate next year. What I would like smart Newt to tell all of us non-smart liberals….is how the f*ck, Newt, is that going to happen?

20% of Americans identify themselves with the GOP. Twenty percent.

Republicans are acknowledging Democrats could GAIN Senate seats next November, up to four….and the very best Republicans are projected to do in the House is a gain of between 20-24 seats.

Given that scenario…..Newt, nothing has a chance of being repealed, you know, this side of hell freezing over,….and Newt, I gotta' tell ya'…..if you're planning on things getting better in 2012 with some kind of Palin-Pawlenty-Romney-Huckabee combo-platter, you are going to be one sad conservative intellectual.

Republicans are still in denial, most all GOP politicans now are only appealing to the extremist base. America is moving away from the extreme right's conservative philosophy, not towards it.

Whether the far right likes it or not, the American population has become more tolerant of sexual and racial diversities. The neo-conservative doctrine is not favored by the American people. Laissez-faire economics has blown up in the face of everyone. The past GOP administration doubled the national debt in 8 years,….so much for small government and fiscal conservancy.

Republicans are still in denial. I think what has happened is that George W. Bush and The Dick have left a bigger neo-con, chickenhawk-cowboy, never-back-down, never-admit-error, impression on the individual psyches of the far right, than anyone expected. Or at least reality-based anyones.

An so there's ole' Newtie, 9 months into a new Democratic administration with big Democratic margins in Congress, and instead of coming up with some new, you know, ideas…..and admitting that, yeah, Republicans, like Michael Steele said, can't be trusted right now…..Newt runs his big, bait-the-base, mouth, about how Republicans are so big and bad and we're coming back and we're going to repeal Obama and the Democrats' health care reform legislation.

Perhaps someday, thoughtful conservatives will distance themselves from the likes of Fox and it's many Fiends. Maybe down the road Republicans and conservatives will genuinely analyze their humiliating failures to govern, their predilection to make everything they touch while governing corrupt. I suppose it's possible for conservatives to come up with other ideas other than, "let's cut taxes" or "be afraid" or "let's bomb another country"……I suppose it's possible….someday…but it sure isn't going to happen anytime soon.

Until it starts to happen Newt…..go back to Georgia and pound salt.

I must say that I really haven't been surprised by the response of conservatives and Village-whore media to President Obama's winning of the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday. From the start of his presidency it has been made clear that the main objective of Obama's instant-opposition has been to see Obama "fail." Winning a prestigious award is not "failing"…..or is it?

For today's conservatives, Democrats have no legitimate right to govern, even when elected by a wide margin.

For today's Village-whore media, Democrats, even when elected by a wide margin by the American people, are still never to be taken seriously. Even though Americans elected Democrats by a wide margin to govern the nation, whore-media has spent the majority of their time this year consulting Republicans and conservatives, giving their criticisms, even when those criticisms are obviously batsh*t crazy, serious, thorough and repetitive consideration.

Just as today's conservatives and Republicans still refuse to recognize the disastrous policies and decisions of the previous Republican administration, whore-media still refuses to acknowledge their role in obediently assisting that administration in carrying out those disastrous policies and decisions.

Because, apparently, todays' conservatives and whore-media are no longer capable of self-reflection and objectivity, any and all "news" is interpreted as bad for Obama and the Democrats. Even when it's news all Americans should be proud of.

The "liberal" NY Times writer, Adam Nagourney, as scrawled across today's AB Journal front page headline, depicts the Nobel award to Obama as, "A Mixed Blessing."

Instead of recognizing the authentic relief and renewed hope the rest of the world is experiencing because of America's election of a thoughtful, intelligent, inclusive, diplomatic, war-is-not-the-first-option, leader, the "liberal" Times writer gives us this….

"It was a reminder of the gap between the ambitious promise of his words and his accomplishments."

..[..]..

"…it set off another round of mocking criticism from opponents who have chafed at what they see as the charmed and entitled rise of Obama."

…[...]..

"It was all but impossible to escape the fact that in the politically polarized world where Obama operates….. this was another complication."

…[...]..

" Fairly or not….. Obama has not gotten much done."

…[...]..

"… the White House clearly hopes that this is one celebration where the congratulations do not go on for too long."

..[...]..

"The image of Europe celebrating him as a global peacemaker recalled the period during the presidential race when Sen. John McCain's campaign portrayed Obama as a vapid celebrity playing to huge European crowds, a line of attack that left the normally sure-footed Obama team flummoxed."

You see? Obama being awarded with the Nobel is not only a bad thing for Obama, something America should be embarrassed or ashamed about, but it also only confirms conservative, Republican and Village criticisms of Obama.

And that's from the "liberal" NY Times.

In an AB Journal-front-page-headlined piece by a "liberal" NY Times writer….we are given the hapless RNC Chairman Michael Steele's response, the racist and sexist Rush Limbaugh's response and this response by the repellently assholian, Bob Kerry, former Democratic senator from Nebraska…..

"The Nobel Committee couldn't award the peace prize to the voters of the United States, but that's what they are doing,"

Excuse me Bob, what?

Speaking of assholian behavior…..watch only the first 45 seconds of a smiling, sophomoric, David Gregory, orgasmically mocking an American president winning the Nobel Peace Prize…..

Once again, this is not Beck or Limbaugh….this is the, you know, "liberal" NBC's Meet the Press moderator. Fluffy is gleeful in his mockery suggesting that because Obama was nominated for the award in February of this year that the entire process was laughable….despite the fact (as Matthews reminds him) that the decision was not made until September. Fluff, just like the Times' Nagourney, is completely oblivious to how the rest of the world regards the return of sanity to the American White House. To acknowledge the view of America by the rest of the world, to Villagers like Gregory and Nagourney, would be acknowledging their own slavish complicity with the totally disastrous "leadership" of the previous administration.

Often, my friend Da King, asks me what I mean when I talk about the Village or the Villagers.

Look no further for the answer.

_____________

For a non-Village, objective, historical look at Obama's Nobel Peace Prize watch this excellent segment from last night's Rachel Maddow show…

The United States is a uniquely exceptional country in the world and always has been. Take the former Soviet Union as an example of how superior the US. is. The Soviets were silly enough to allow communist authoritarians to rule over them. The U.S., on the other hand, is a much more advanced society in which only corporate oligarchs can be our authoritarian rulers. The U.S. is a Christian nation and the former Soviets were only godless atheists bound for hell.

The Soviets were foolish enough to invade Afghanistan in 1979 where they experienced a nine year quagmire of futility, and then left in 1989, not able to complete their mission of defeating the cave-dwelling Mujahideen. It is widely held that the Soviets foolish adventure in Afghanistan led directly to their disintegration as a superpower.

The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and are still experiencing a quagmire of futility 8 years later in what has been declared an attempt to defeat a medieval-Islamic group called the Taliban.

See? We're superior to the former Soviet Union. We're smarter. We don't make the same mistakes the godless atheists did.

The issue before the new American President is what to do now as we start our 9th year of quagmire. Having appeared 13 times so far this year on the Villager Sunday teevee morning shows, President John McCain, unelected but entitled to make our military decisions because….well…just because…..had this to say yesterday to Obama as 31 congressional members met with the elected President Obama to exchange ideas on our Afghan quagmire…..

Mr. McCain told the president that “time is not on our side.” He added, “This should not be a leisurely process,” according to several people in the room.

A few minutes later, Mr. Obama replied, “John, I can assure you this won’t be leisurely,” according to several attendees. “No one feels more urgency to get this right than I do.”
..[..]..
After the meeting, Mr. McCain warned against any middle ground. “Half measures is what I worry about,” he said. Citing the Bush administration’s experience in Iraq, he added that half measures “lead to failure over time and an erosion of American public support.”

Anyone remember the unelected President McCain chiding the genuinely-unelected President Bush about "half-measures" or "leisurely" approaches to Afghanistan when the genuinely-unelected President Bush was defrauding America into a new war of choice? Anyone?

More President McCain after the meeting….

McCain warns: "There's been this argument that the threat now is not Al Qaeda … The fact is, we all know that if the Taliban come back, Al Qaeda will come back. And they will come back in Afghanistan and they will come back in Pakistan."

The unelected President McCain's speciality is military strategy and foreign policy….and when it comes to those specialities, McCain is really, really smart. As Digby points out from this report….

The Taliban now has a permanent presence in 80% of Afghanistan, up from 72% in November 2008, according to a new map released today by the International Council on Security and Development (ICOS). According to ICOS, another 17% of Afghanistan is seeing ‘substantial’ Taliban activity. Taken together, these figures show that the Taliban has a significant presence in virtually all of Afghanistan.

President McCain: "if the Taliban comes back"…..umm, Maverick, they're back. And what of al-Qaeda whom Johnny Mac said emphatically, "will come back", if, you know, the Taliban comes back?

Petraeus, May 10, 2009….

The head of U.S. Central Command said Sunday that Al Qaeda is no longer operating in Afghanistan, with its senior leadership having moved to the western region of Pakistan.

McChrystal, Sept.9, 2009….

"I do not see indications of a large al-Qaida presence in Afghanistan now," McChrystal told reporters at the Dutch Defense Ministry, where he met military officials.

NSA Chief, James Jones, Oct 6, 2009….

He said that according to the maximum estimate, al-Qaida has fewer than 100 fighters operating in Afghanistan without any bases or ability to launch attacks on the West.

Whatever the Villager Choir and the Just Say No GOP Chorus have been, and will be, singing near term about al-Qaeda coming back if the Taliban comes back……it simply is not so.

There may be legitimate reasons to continue to strike at the skeletal remains of al-Qaeda inside Afghanistan…..but the "return of the Taliban" is not one of them.

We need to remove as many troops from Afghanistan as soon as we can, even if the Afghanis choose to support the already-returned Taliban. Our mission was to destroy the al-Qaeda network. We've made great progress towards fulfilling that mission.

We won't do any of that, of course, because we, unlike the former Soviets, are uniquely exceptional. Even when we make tragic mistakes, we don't. So, expect the same hew and cry from the neo-conservatives and the same braying from the military-industrial complex supporters in Congress…..and a continuation of a no-end-in-sight quagmire in Afghanistan accompanied with loud cheerleading about how we're "going to win."

No, crystal balling it ain't as arousing or provocative as, say, Teabagging it…but crystal balling it is a bit more coherent and understandable than TeaBagging it…so there's that.

One year ago on October 13th, in a blog post entitled, The Upcoming Obama Presidency, The Reverend typed out these predictions….

".…..after having paid very close attention to what took place between the years of 1992-2000, I think it's safe for me to predict…..if you liked the savaging-Clinton days, you're gonna' just love the savaging-Obama days starting after January 20, 2009."

A media so corrupt, so perverse, that they couldn't even use the word lie or liar in any article they had written or on any teevee appearance for 8 straight years of an openly fraudulent and lying Bush administration…..will….magically…..snap out of the spell they've been under….and begin microscopically examining every word that Obama speaks. A main media so covered-up in their own mistaken, propagandistic, slime encrusted wrongheadedness for 8 straight years, a media who never really ever considered impeachment as worthy of discussion for the worst president America has ever known….will be balls-to-the-wall aggressive in not only savaging a President Obama but encouraging an obstructionistic-minded Republican minority to gum up the federal works with impeachment talk and accusations."

"With the upcoming Obama presidency….Democrats will have near total control. This, in itself, will anger and frustrate the extreme right so badly that (I can't help but say this) actions of violence will follow. I believe that is what we witnessed last week at McCain-Palin gatherings. The first-fruits realization by the extremist nuts on the right that they've lost the game and lost it badly, is beginning to sink in."

Maybe I should change my name to The Prophet.

But wait….there's more.

Less than 9 months into the Obama presidency and just look at what is being suggested by some of the crazy folks at Newsmax…..

There is a remote, although gaining, possibility America's military will intervene as a last resort to resolve the "Obama problem." Don't dismiss it as unrealistic.

America isn't the Third World. If a military coup does occur here it will be civilized. That it has never happened doesn't mean it wont. Describing what may be afoot is not to advocate it.

…..

Will the day come when patriotic general and flag officers sit down with the president, or with those who control him, and work out the national equivalent of a "family intervention," with some form of limited, shared responsibility?

…..

Military intervention is what Obama's exponentially accelerating agenda for "fundamental change" toward a Marxist state is inviting upon America.

After only 9 months of a new Democratic president, radical conservatives are suggesting that America needs a "military intervention" to deal with the "Obama problem."

Newsmax is a primary source for American wingnuts. I am sure that main-whore-media will soon be asking conservative Democrats, and in all seriousness, whether, indeed, the military should intervene to stop President Obama from carrying out his Constitutional duties as president.

It is the job of main-whore-media to investigate and report on the unhinged and insane beliefs of the American wingnuts….as witnessed in the main-whore-media's coverage of Rush Limbaugh's "I want Obama to fail", the TeaBagger incoherent nuttiness, townhall bust-ups complete with semi-automatic weaponry, and most recently, the Beck-ClusterFox 9-12'er event attended by a minimum of one zillion people. (one zillion equaling approximately 60,000.)

No matter how crazy American wingnuts behave, or talk, (like in the cases of Sarah Palin or Joe "You Lie" Wilson), main-whore-media, just like they did during Bill Clinton's days, MUST take it very seriously and dwell on all the "implications" for weeks.

What I'm saying, after having predicted one year ago what we're now experiencing, is that the ugliness will get worse. The craziness, the frenziness, the threats, the intimidation, the witchhunts…..and, eventually, the calls for violence…unfortunately….will only get worse.

America has entered a domestic crisis period.

Nancy Pelosi made some very sobering comments yesterday about the potential for political violence inside America….

"I have concerns about some of the language that is being used because I saw this myself in the late '70s in San Francisco, this king of rhetoric. … It created a climate in which violence took place. … I wish we would all curb our enthusiasm in some of the statements and understand that some of the ears that it is falling on are not as balanced as the person making the statements may assume."

Naturally, Republicans disagree with Pelosi. Pete Sessions (R-TX), head of the National Republican Congressional Committee responded to Pelosi's comments…..

“Speaker Pelosi is right that the American people are upset, but it is her own words that continue to fuel voter frustration in America," Sessions said in a statement sent to POLITICO. "No longer content with criticizing concerned citizens for being ‘un-American,’ the Speaker is now likening genuine opposition to assassination. Such insulting rhetoric not only undermines the credibility of her office, but it underscores the desperate attempt by her party to divert attention away from a failing agenda."

Abortion doctor George Tiller experienced firsthand the "genuine opposition" Sessions refers to here. Tiller was assassinated while attending church. Tiller was murdered by a man genuinely opposed to legal abortion rights for women. Scott Roeder, the assassin, I'm sure, was frustrated that America elected a president who favors keeping abortion legal in the U.S. The assassination came after 4 months of heated and wildly irrational rhetoric from extreme conservatives over all things Obama.

Yet the Republican response from Sessions to Pelosi's honest and emotional assessment of today's thuggishly heated rhetoric aimed at all things Obama….is to blame the Speaker, herself, and the words she speaks as the reason for conservatives' "frustration." Sessions is saying that if there is any heated rhetoric, Nancy Pelosi fueled that rhetoric by the words she spoke.

What words? Pelosi and Steny Hoyer (D-MD) co-wrote these words in USA Today in August….

"These disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views — but of the facts themselves. Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American. Drowning out the facts is how we failed at this task for decades,"

Pete Sessions, as most Republicans are prone to do now, describes Pelosi's, "Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American"…as…"No longer content with criticizing concerned citizens for being ‘un-American,’ the Speaker is now likening genuine opposition to assassination."

Numerous examples of planned conservative disruptions at town halls, with all the ugliness, intimidation and hatred displayed there, are translated by Republicans, like Sessions, as only "concerned citizens", who, if angry and frustrated, were made that way by what Nancy Pelosi says.

Those "concerned citizens" very purpose in attending primarily Democratic town hall meetings was to "drown out opposing views." Many buster-uppers followed a shared playbook explaining how to bust-up a town hall. Many buster-uppers who traveled to Democratic representative's town halls came from other voting districts. The plan from the beginning was to raise hell and disrupt. To Sessions, that's what "concerned citizens" do. Everyone has seen the town hall videos…..there's no question that drowning others out, intimidating and disrupting was the "concerned citizens" goal from the beginning.

For Pelosi to recall the 1970's when domestic political violence seemed like a weekly occurrence….and for Pelosi to warn that 70's violence was also accompanied with heated and hateful rhetoric…simply a fact,…. is to Republicans like Sessions "likening genuine opposition to assassination."

Nancy Pelosi did not accuse the people using the heated rhetoric of being assassins themselves. She said…."some of the ears that it is falling on are not as balanced as the person making the statements may assume." Like Scott Roeder, or the guy who killed three cops in Pittsburgh because he'd heard that Obama was coming for his guns, or the guy who shot up the Holocaust Museum.

Perhaps….THAT'S the goal of people like Pete Sessions. Perhaps, Republicans want unhinged, hateful, lying rhetoric-spewing buster-uppers to be heard by citizens who are "not as balanced" as those spewing the rhetoric or throwing a tantrum.

Perhaps Republicans, conservatives….while never stating so explicitly….want national breakouts of political violence by dangerous lone-wolf, conservative nutcases.

All this time I've been thinking that the nonsense I've been hearing and seeing from conservatives since Obama's inauguration were all just attempts to "grab" those headlines, those teevee video bytes.

Is it possible that what's really going on with all the hateful language, all the displays of firearms, all the Obama-is-Hitler posters, all the thuggish intimidation,…..is a dog-whistle call to the "not as balanced" in the hope that random political acts of violence,….if nothing else works,….will bring down Obama's presidency?

Former President Jimmy Carter…..

2:34

“I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he is African-American," Carter said.

“Racism … still exists and I think it has bubbled up to the surface because of a belief among many white people, not just in the south but around the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It’s an abominable circumstance and grieves me and concerns me very deeply,” Carter told NBC News.

Is the former Democratic president correct?

If he is….does that mean that every TeaBagger and every Townhall Buster-Upper is a racist? Of course not. My blog friend King attended last Saturday's protest and I don't consider him a racist.

That said, do racial animosities play ANY role in what appears to be an organized and concerted effort to delegitimize America's first black president? Undoubtedly.

As I have observed the Tea Party opposition to virtually anything Obama it's been hard to rule out racial animosity as a major contributing factor.

Racial animosities played a role during the presidential primaries…..

From an ABC piece May 27, 2008….

In recent weeks, the role of race in the Democratic primaries has been increasingly discussed. And while racist caricatures and jokes about threats against Obama's life have been widely condemned, they seem to reflect an undeniable element of racism that still exists in the country and could play an unknown role in a general election.

……

The latest controversy centered on a depiction of Obama in the cross hairs of a rifle used that appeared on the cover of Georgia's Roswell Beacon newspaper. The controversy focused on the image, though the story, which included interviews with several white supremacists threatened by Obama's candidacy, reflected a deeper reality.

Racial animosities played a role AFTER Obama was elected president….

Arizona Daily Star, November 16, 2008…..

Cross burnings. Schoolchildren chanting, "Assassinate Obama." Black figures hanging from nooses. Racial epithets scrawled on homes and cars.

Incidents around the country referring to President-elect Barack Obama are dampening the postelection glow of racial progress and harmony, highlighting the stubborn racism that remains in America.

Ever hear the phrase, "we want our country back", from those at Tea Parties or Townhall Bust-up sessions?

Here's what the director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center said after the November election…..

Potok, who is white, said he believes there is "a large subset of white people in this country who feel that they are losing everything they know, that the country their forefathers built has somehow been stolen from them."

Grant Griffin, a 46-year-old white Georgia native, expressed similar sentiments: "I believe our nation is ruined and has been for several decades, and the election of Obama is merely the culmination of the change.

"If you had real change, it would involve all the members of (Obama's) church being deported," he said.

Who can forget the Obama-dressed-up-like-Aunt-Jemima waffle mix and the numerous signs alluding to Obama's race?

Who can forget the hours of wasted time by main stream media anchors and talking heads microscoptically analyzing the black/white vote count in every primary? Why was that done? At the very least it was done because of an awareness that there is still a racial divide in the U.S.

How many times did we hear folks like NBC's Chuck Todd or Nora O'Donnell tell us that the black presidential candidate Obama was having trouble with white voters?

Why is it that still today a majority of southern Republicans believe Obama is not a U.S. citizen? Why the drumbeat, even now after 8 months of the Obama presidency, about Obama's father's native country of Kenya? Is that explained by some coincidental big-bang randomness theory? Or more likely, does that southern belief, one which Jimmy Carter understands and has experienced first hand, reflect a predetermined rejection of a black Democratic president, because he's black?

How can the intense focus on ACORN by Fox enthusiasts during the primary and general election campaign….and again now by the Teabaggers and Townhallers….be explained away as an innocent non-racially tinged focus?

Why the triumphant jubilation over the black second-tier appointee, Van Jones, resigning? Why the recurring use of the word "uppity" by so many opposed to Obama? Why the projectionist claim by Glenn Beck that Obama "hates white people", "white culture?"

Conservative culture warriors are more sophisticated than during the 1960's,….not all but most….and I'm thankful for that. Modern forms of racial animosity are more subtle and oblique. It's Obama's policies, opponents say, not his skin color, which riles them up. Policies that many opponents say will take stuff from them and hand it over to the undeserving, however, are just barely thinly-veiled jabs reminiscent of Uncle Ronnie's southern strategy baiting over fictitious Cadillac driving "welfare queens".

Yes, racial animosities play a significant role in today's unhinged attacks on America's first black president.

Can we overcome these animosities that still exist in America? Will the "we want our country back" crowd ever be content with a black president?

I honestly do not have an answer. I certainly hope so…..but I fear that yet another generation will have to die off before it happens.

One classy sign from Glenn Beck's 9-12 event in D.C Saturday

Updated below

National Tea Party expectations….

We’re going to Washington to give them a piece of our minds(we have more to spare!). We are joining hundreds of thousands (maybe as many as 1,000,000) fellow patriots in DC. get in on the act now.

Number of attendees according to Michelle Malkin's extremist-right website……

Celebrating the 9/12 rallies; Turnout estimated at 2 million;

Number of actual D.C. Tea Party protesters this past Saturday from someone, unlike Michelle Malkin, who was actually present….

I went down to the protest on the mall today just to have a look. The crowd was actually pretty impressive. I didn't have a good vantage point of the whole crowd, but I would say there were easily tens of thousands, maybe upwards of 50 thousand. But I was amused to hear more than one person really inflate those numbers. I overheard a guy on his cell phone saying there were two million people there, and another woman say a million and a half.

Number of protesters according to the D.C. fire department…..

The DC Fire Department has issued an unofficial estimate of 60,000 to 70,000 people in attendance, which is smallish by big DC protest/event standards but definitely respectable.

What type of crowd was it?

Those are the 9-12 Tea Partiers gathered in the DC Armory. Take notice of the diversity of the crowd…..or lack thereof.

Here is the guy who organized the D.C. Tea Party (along with Glenn Beck). Dick Armey, the head of FreedomWorks,…….talking to the Tea Partiers..

A bit of the pageantry…..

An interview…..

What was the feel, the sense…..of the protesters?….

However, it was an angry group with a real sense of absolute entitlement. Something not focused on by many. This sense of entitlement that they deserve to be the dominant deciders and that it's being taken away.

A group of primarily white protesters with no central message of protest. A group of protesters, after months and months of promotion from Fox and Glenn Beck, totaling around 60,000. A group with no coherent complaint except that Democrats are in control of Washington. A mainly white group of poor political losers. Some with extremely-wingnutty ideas.

The 9-12 event promoted heavily by Beck and Fox, organized by Dick Armey and attended by a group of 60,000 incoherent protesters turned out to be….alas….only a pity party.

American conservatives must face reality. American voters have rejected Republican candidates the last two elections. Americans are living right now with the disastrous mess left over from 8 years of a GOP president, 6 of those years with a Republican Congress. The era of Ronald Reagan brand conservatism is over. Proven to be a terrible failure. Conservative policies have been tried….and they have failed miserably.

Instead of facing reality, accepting failure and voter rejection, conservatives have been circling the Wingnut Wagons to defend failure.

It has been pitiful to watch.

In my senior year of high school our football team beat a neighboring team by 52-6. Walking in to the locker room after the game, the visiting losers, upset about being trounced so badly, tried to start a fight with our team members.

The visiting want-to-fight players represent the American Tea Party conservatives today. Having their ass kicked in the election "games" has only made them madder, more defiant. Tea Partiers, no matter that their candidates and policies have been thoroughly rejected, still think they, and they alone, are entitled to have their viewpoints recognized and implemented. They alone, represent "real America." And so they continually pick fights.

America is changing. Tea Partiers don't want it to change….and so they held a pity party, sore-loser session in D.C. voicing their disapproval. America elected a black Democrat, installed a Latino woman to the Supreme Court and is currently working through a national health reform bill.

Tea Partiers have lost the political policy battle…and they want to fight about it.

Update: Must see teevee on the 9-12'ers….