John Boehner Encouraged Death Threats against Democrat
Harry Hope
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/1/9/934863/-Bone-chilling-prescience-from-Matt-Taibbi
Jan 09, 2011
Just under a week ago on January 5th, Matt Taibbi's expose of John
Boehner hit the Rolling Stone website.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/matt-taibbi-the-crying-shame-of-john-boehner-20110105?page=1
It's typical Taibbi: poignant, brilliant writing exposing the
hypocrisy and underbelly of Washington and one of its most detestable
politicians.
And after a brief flurry of attention, it was largely forgotten as
just another political hit piece among dozens of similar, if less
researched and artful, efforts on the new Republican congress.
But in light of the Giffords shooting, one part of Taibbi's article in
particular stands out with bone-chilling prescience:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/matt-taibbi-the-crying-shame-of-john-boehner-20110105?page=3
Another Ohio Democrat, Steve Driehaus, clashed repeatedly with Boehner
before losing his seat in the midterm elections.
After Boehner suggested that by voting for Obamacare, Driehaus "may be
a dead man" and "can't go home to the west side of Cincinnati" because
"the Catholics will run him out of town," Driehaus began receiving
death threats, and a right-wing website published directions to his
house.
Driehaus says he approached Boehner on the floor and confronted him.
"I didn't think it was funny at all," Driehaus says.
"I've got three little kids and a wife. I said to him, 'John, this is
bullshit, and way out of bounds. For you to say something like that is
wildly irresponsible.'"
Driehaus is quick to point out that he doesn't think Boehner meant to
urge anyone to violence.
"But it's not about what he intended � it's about how the least
rational person in my district takes it. We run into some crazy people
in this line of work."
Driehaus says Boehner was "taken aback" when confronted on the floor,
but never actually said he was sorry:
"He said something along the lines of, 'You know that's not what I
meant.' But he didn't apologize."
That bears repeating:
"It's not about what he intended -- it's about how the least rational
person in my district takes it."
And confronted with the obviousness of that appeal, the John Boehners
of the world don't apologize.
They just keep the steamroller of hate running right along through
Crazytown until somebody inevitably gets hurt.
.......................................................................................
The point we have been trying to make for the last couple of years is
that Republicans need to stop whipping up crazy people with violent
political rhetoric.
This is really not a hard concept to follow.
There are crazy people out there.
Stop egging them on.
.................................................................................
What matters is that when irresponsible charlatans like Sarah Palin
plant surveying targets bullseyes on members of Congress, that has an
effect on the least rational people in those districts.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/24/sarah-palins-pac-puts-gun_n_511433.html
Particularly on those least rational individuals given to potentially
violent paranoia.
This is the Becking of America: the promotion of hate speech to
provoke the irrational into violent conduct, while giving the promoter
plausible deniability.
http://veniceforchange.blogspot.com/2011/01/becking-of-america-how-right-wing-media.html
After all, that's not what they meant, right?
The conversation between Driehaus and Boehner, quoted presciently by
Taibbi last week, needs to be retold again and again in the wake of
the Giffords shooting.
Especially in the context of the paranoid lies and deceit that lay
like a dark shroud over the healthcare debate at the time, it is
exemplary of everything that is wrong with the modern Right.
If the John Boehners of the world are not deliberately shamed into
changing their rhetoric and their behavior, this sort of tragedy will
happen again and again, with devastating consequences.
_________________________________________________
Boehner's response will probably be....BOO HOOO
Harry
wy
> http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/1/9/934863/-Bone-chilling-prescien...
>
> Jan 09, 2011
>
> Just under a week ago on January 5th, Matt Taibbi's expose of John
>
> It's typical Taibbi: poignant, brilliant writing exposing the
> hypocrisy and underbelly of Washington and one of its most detestable
> politicians.
>
> And after a brief flurry of attention, it was largely forgotten as
> just another political hit piece among dozens of similar, if less
> researched and artful, efforts on the new Republican congress.
>
> But in light of the Giffords shooting, one part of Taibbi's article in
>
> The point we have been trying to make for the last couple of years is
> that Republicans need to stop whipping up crazy people with violent
> political rhetoric.
>
> This is really not a hard concept to follow.
>
> There are crazy people out there.
>
> Stop egging them on.
>
>
> What matters is that when irresponsible charlatans like Sarah Palin
> plant surveying targets bullseyes on members of Congress, that has an
>
> Particularly on those least rational individuals given to potentially
> violent paranoia.
>
> This is the Becking of America: the promotion of hate speech to
> provoke the irrational into violent conduct, while giving the promoter
>
> After all, that's not what they meant, right?
>
> The conversation between Driehaus and Boehner, quoted presciently by
> Taibbi last week, needs to be retold again and again in the wake of
> the Giffords shooting.
>
> Especially in the context of the paranoid lies and deceit that lay
> like a dark shroud over the healthcare debate at the time, it is
> exemplary of everything that is wrong with the modern Right.
>
> If the John Boehners of the world are not deliberately shamed into
> changing their rhetoric and their behavior, this sort of tragedy will
> happen again and again, with devastating consequences.
Typical of a phony right wingnut crier like Boehner to always get all
emotionally wrapped up in his own rags-to-riches story, but not even
apologize for using inciteful language that could've, and still could,
cause another wacko case to go on a shooting spree. Yeah, Boehner,
where were your tears for the victims, not sob-story worthy enough for
you?
Kevin Cunningham
Boehner's use of hate speech should be condemned by every one. Our
freedom to use hate speech is one of our strongest points as a nation,
we know who the ass holes are, they use hate speech.
Boehner is exactly what the repugs should expect, a leader willing to
cry about his average up bringing but unwilling to completely,
absolutely denounce a murderer.
Bret Cahill
>
> Jan 09, 2011
>
> Just under a week ago on January 5th, Matt Taibbi's expose of John
>
> It's typical Taibbi: poignant, brilliant writing exposing the
> hypocrisy and underbelly of Washington and one of its most detestable
> politicians.
>
> And after a brief flurry of attention, it was largely forgotten as
> just another political hit piece among dozens of similar, if less
> researched and artful, efforts on the new Republican congress.
>
> But in light of the Giffords shooting, one part of Taibbi's article in
>
> The point we have been trying to make for the last couple of years is
> that Republicans need to stop whipping up crazy people with violent
> political rhetoric.
>
> This is really not a hard concept to follow.
>
> There are crazy people out there.
>
> Stop egging them on.
>
>
> What matters is that when irresponsible charlatans like Sarah Palin
> plant surveying targets bullseyes on members of Congress, that has an
>
> Particularly on those least rational individuals given to potentially
> violent paranoia.
>
> This is the Becking of America: the promotion of hate speech to
> provoke the irrational into violent conduct, while giving the promoter
>
> After all, that's not what they meant, right?
>
> The conversation between Driehaus and Boehner, quoted presciently by
> Taibbi last week, needs to be retold again and again in the wake of
> the Giffords shooting.
>
> Especially in the context of the paranoid lies and deceit that lay
> like a dark shroud over the healthcare debate at the time, it is
> exemplary of everything that is wrong with the modern Right.
>
> If the John Boehners of the world are not deliberately shamed into
> changing their rhetoric and their behavior, this sort of tragedy will
> happen again and again, with devastating consequences.
>
> _________________________________________________
>
> Boehner's response will probably be....BOO HOOO
BushCo invaded Iraq but Repugs _really_ wanted to kill liberals.
Bret Cahill
Zinnic
I agree that some speech, especially by elected officials, should be
moderated but the bottom line is.. if you cannot stand the heat then
get out of the kitchen!
Sheldon Cooper
....and now they're complianing by the Republican's extreme tactics?
The "Daily Kos"? The fucking DAILY KOS is suddenly decrying death
treats?
Daily Kos 'Bull's-eyed' Giffords for Defeat
Monday, 10 Jan 2011 08:46 AM
Article Font Size
By Theodore Kettle
Liberals may be making the wild stretch of blaming Sarah Palin for
Saturday's shooting of Arizona Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle
Giffords, but one of the Internet's most popular progressive activist
sites targeted Giffords for electoral defeat in 2008 in much the same
way as Palin's "cross-hairs" map did in 2010 — with Daily Kos founder
and publisher Markos Moulitsas even using the term "bull's-eye."
On the day of the shooting, the Hillbuzz.org website reproduced screen
grabs of Moulitsas' posting, noting that "Daily Kos targeted Gabrielle
Giffords with a 'bulls eye' back in June of 2008."
Moulitsas was incensed at Giffords and 104 other House Democrats
he accused of having just "sold out the Constitution" by voting for
amending and enhancing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The
legislative revision retroactively protected telecommunications
companies from being sued for facilitating government monitoring of
suspected terrorists' phone calls and e-mails.
"Who to primary?" Moulitsas asked using his famous username "kos."
"Well, I'd argue that we can narrow the target list by looking at
those Democrats who sold out the Constitution last week." According to
Moulitsas, "This vote certainly puts a bull-s-eye on their district."
Beyond Giffords, the Daily Kos list of "bull's-eyed" Democrats
included the top two members of the House Democratic leadership— then-
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and then-House Majority
Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland — as well as all but four of Giffords'
fellow members of the moderate-to-conservative Blue Dog Coalition. The
105 Democrats who voted for the FISA amendments joined 188 House
Republicans, with the measure passing 293-to-129.
Moulitsas promised in his posting that "the corrupt, the tone-deaf,
and the reactionary within Democratic ranks will face the possibility
of primary battles," warning that "the combined might of the Pelosis
and Hoyers won't be enough to effect change."
Another Daily Kos contributor on Thursday — two days before Gifford
was shot but one day after Giffords, along with 18 other House
Democrats, voted against keeping Pelosi as Democratic leader — wrote a
posting blasting Giffords entitled, "My CongressWOMAN voted against
Nancy Pelosi! And is now DEAD to me!"
"BoyBlue," who claimed he "worked like a dog" for Giffords as a state
representative in Arizona, fumed that "Congresswoman Gabrielle
Giffords is dead to me now. I won't lift a finger, make one phone
call, nor will I EVER vote for her in the future."
Daily Kos removed the posting from its site after the shooting. Still,
Moulitsas is himself known for "hate" rhetoric that relies on violent
imagery. Last year, he wrote a book on conservative activism with the
title, "American Taliban: How War, Sex, Sin, and Power Bind Jihadists
and the Radical Right."
In it, he states, "Fact is, progressives hate the Taliban and other
Islamic fundamentalists precisely for the same reason we hate rabid
conservatives at home: their fear of change . their fascistic efforts
to impose their narrow
worldview on the rest of society."
Moulitsas even accused conservatives of mass killing: "Everything Bush
said about those radical jihadists could be said about our very own
American Taliban — that they have 'sacrificed human life to serve
their radical visions' (Iraq, for starters), and that 'by abandoning
every value except the will to power, they follow in the path of
fascism, Nazism, and totalitarianism.'"
The "dangerous" language liberals are attacking Palin for using, by
comparison, centers on a Twitter message in which she told supporters,
"Don't retreat, RELOAD!"
The Hillbuzz site also reproduced a Democratic Party U.S. map using
bull's-eye symbols to denote vulnerable states that were almost
identical to the cross hairs denoting vulnerable congressional
districts featured in the SarahPac U.S. map for which Palin is being
criticized.
The Democratic map is entitled "Targeting Strategy" and features a
captioned entitled "BEHIND ENEMY LINES." The bull's-eye symbols were
placed on nine states that President George W. Bush narrowly won in
2004.
"Democrats use 'bull's-eye' targets extensively in their political
graphics," the website noted. "This map shows states Democrats want
targeted. Arizona, which Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords represents,
is surrounded by these targets." On the Palin map, three Arizona
congressional districts featured targets.
SarahPac aide Rebecca Mansour told talk radio host Tammy Bruce, "we
never ever, ever intended it to be gun sights," describing the figure
used for the target districts as "a surveyor's symbol." Mansour
maintained there was "nothing irresponsible about our graphic," which
she said an outside professional graphic designer produced.
http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/Daily-Kos-Bullseyed-Giffords/2011/01/10/id/382350
Sheldon Cooper
> > Boehner's response will probably be....BOO HOOO
Yes, yes, I know ..... human emotion and compassion is beyond you
vampires.
> BushCo invaded Iraq but Repugs _really_ wanted to kill liberals.
And yet you're comfortable attacking the republicans for their
supposed "extreme rhetoric.
Sheldon Cooper
Usenet lefties are now condeming "hate speech"?
Where was all this when concern when you were targeting Bristol
Palin? When David Letterman called 14 year old Willow Palin a
whore?
Where was this when you called for George Bush to be killed?
Bret Cahill
>
> > > Boehner's response will probably be....BOO HOOO
>
>
You'll have to ask those at the Tucson bloodbath created by the anti
government gun nutter who got pushed too far and invoked his 2nd
Amend. right to spree shoot elected officials.
Dave Heil
> Typical of a phony right wingnut crier like Boehner to always get all
> emotionally wrapped up in his own rags-to-riches story, but not even
> apologize for using inciteful language that could've, and still could,
> cause another wacko case to go on a shooting spree. Yeah, Boehner,
> where were your tears for the victims, not sob-story worthy enough for
> you?
What are you doing?
Are you a spectator at a football game now, Canadian?
CliffB
So you're also condemning Obama's urging of hispanics to "punish their
enemies", and quoting mafia philosophy about bring a gun to a knife
fight.
Btw, Driehaus did get trounced out of office and Boehner's figurative
language evidently was not so far off, judging by the election results.
Sheldon Cooper
> On Mon, 10 Jan 2011 10:23:06 -0800 (PST), Sheldon Cooper
>
> <richarddead...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >Usenet lefties are now condeming "hate speech"?
>
> >Where was all this when concern when you were targeting Bristol
> >Palin? When David Letterman called 14 year old Willow Palin a
> >whore?
>
>
> Palins HYPOCRISY was called into account and telling the TRUTH about
> her slut daughter is not "hate speech".
David Letterman had a "secret bed room" in his office for banging
insecure interns to cheat on woman he refused to marry after she
squeezed out his bastard son....and Dave had the gall to call 14 year
old Willow a whore for no particular reason whatsoever.......?
And you want to talk about "hypocrisy"?
Sheldon Cooper
Annnnnnnnnnd.....you're condemning Hate Speech, huih?
Sheldon Cooper
> In article
> <4ef7131d-072c-476f-9385-7c9aed1ad...@f8g2000pri.googlegroups.com>, Sheldon
>
> Cooper <richarddead...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> > Boehner's response will probably be....BOO HOOO
>
> >Yes, yes, I know ..... human emotion and compassion is beyond you
> >vampires.
> Getting all choked up because your millionaire buddies might not get
> another in a long string of tax cuts is what I'd call a vampire.
Pelosi and read had a virtually filibuster proof majority for 2 full
years. They could have raised the tax rates to 70% on people who make
more than 50 million a year. They could have closed every loophole.
And there's not a thing the Republicans could do to stop them.
But they didn't.
They waited until the last minute, and tried to raise the tax on
married couples who make clear 1,500 dollars a year. Dentists who
work a 60 hour week earning 35 dollars an hour.
Why?
BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT TO SOAK THE SUPER RICH.