Lines Blurring

Op-Ed Columnist – The Big Hate – NYTimes.com

Krugman is dead on. In the past 10 days, conservative extremist domestic terrorists have killed on U.S. soil. The rhetoric from Beck, Limbaugh etc. is toxic. Conservatives are laughably fringe at this point. There appears to be no such thing as a middle ground or moderate conservative in the U.S.

  • http://surfmonkey89.myopenid.com/ Paul Lukinich

    Good luck tonight Jon!

  • http://gwn3.pip.verisignlabs.com/ BN

    There appears to be no such thing as a … moderate conservative in the U.S.

    Well, sure there are. There are plenty! They’re called “Democrats”.

    Seconding the good wishes for tonight’s Big Push.

  • cmvbbay

    Welcome Lil Donette! Best to you all and can’t wait to see photos.

  • grrarghing

    I absolutly agree.

    I grew up in Wichita, KS, where every week either Dr. Tiller or Planned Parenthood was on the news because of protests or bomb threats. There was always someone protesting, so when there was a slow news day, it made a very easy story.

    During the summer, the story became even more of an issue….not only politically but economicaly as well, as thousands would flood into Wichita to protest Dr. Tiller’s Women’s Health Clinic.

    To hear of him shot down, in a Church I’d attened, at a location I passed at least once a day for over 10 years….this is first time terrorisim ever hit home for me. Wichita is my hometown, and not to be there now kills me, almost as much as Bill O’Riley’s and Beck’s fervent declarations that they have nothing to do with the matter.

    It astounds me that these two men are So Willing, So Happy, to take responsibilty for their words, so long as it serves their agenda. I have every believe that had Dr. Tiller only been severly wounded (instead of dead) they would have celebrated the deed as an equal action. Instead, they try and prended they believe their words have no weight, and that they have no responsiblity for them.

    It makes me sick, want to vomit, and even makes me wish them bodily harm, until I remember, that even while I dislike, vehimately dislike; they still don’t deserve to lose their life, nor do they deserve torture.

    *gah*

    On a much happier note….so much congratulations, so much happiness sent your way for yourself, your lovely, inspiring wife, your amazingly beautiful and lovely daughter Leta, and your brand new love and daughter. Thank you so very much for sharing your life, and letting all us strangers partake in such a small fracture of it. Mazel tof!

  • http://sayheyday.wordpress.com/ ikarl67

    Jon , First and foremost, Congratulations on your daughter. You and your wife are wonderful parents and the internet ( and world) is a better place with another Armstrong.

    Secondly , are you kidding me with the Krugman art ? Rather than blindly swallowing what liberal columnists feed you, try opening your eyes and looking at these people! Especially Beck. The accusations leveled against him are completely false.
    He has been warning that these fringe elements are growing for years now ( before Obama ! ) and begging people to stop.

    There is no doubt that you will disagree with his views , but do some investigation before you extend the hate even further.

    Back to the good stuff. As a 40+ guy trying to have another child, I would love to see some posts on being a new Dad at a slightly advanced age.

  • natatomic

    Exactly, because two people DEFINITELY represent a group as a whole.

    Except the holocaust museum shooter doesn’t quite fit into your neat little right-wing nut job box:

    “FBI agents visited the offices of the conservative Weekly Standard magazine yesterday after a shooting at the Holocaust Memorial Museum and told employees they’d found the magazine’s address.
    [...]
    Von Brunn’s published rants included attacks on “neocons,” and the Standard has been at the heart of the neoconservative movement.

    The suggestion that the Standard may have been a target complicates any view of the racist shooter in contemporary left-right terms. Von Brunn’s white supremacist roots put him under the rubric of a “right-wing extremist,” but the substance of his views — which included everything from believing that President Bush may have been in on the September 11 attacks to denying that President Obama is an American citizen — are too far on the fringe to fit into conventional political classification.”

    Source: http://is.gd/11GbL

    The bastard doesn’t perfectly fit on the right side any more than he perfectly fits on the left. Yes, clearly he was a hateful, possibly a down right evil man, but he hated people on ALL sides, which is true of most White Supremacists believe it or not, making them nearly impossible to accurately place on the right-left political spectrum. Besides, NO ONE in the conservative movement considers White Supremacists friends or allies. Don’t forget that conservatives are often the biggest supporters of Israel, which obviously doesn’t mesh with the anti-Semitic views of the White Supremacists whack-jobs.

    And let’s not forget that every true pro-life movement has come out against the murder of Dr. George Tiller. We do not celebrate his death, nor do we consider it a boon to our cause in any way. It was a senseless tragedy, his death; and we pray for his family as they mourn their loss.
    http://is.gd/11GOr
    http://is.gd/11H2K

    Also, don’t forget Army Recruiter murdered by a Muslim the day after Dr. Tiller. Where’s Krugman’s stereotype that all Muslims are murderers? After all, there were what? 19 Muslims involved in the 9/11 attacks? 20 men is far more than 2, so it seems to me that ‘Muslimz are teh killerz!’ is the much stronger argument to make. (I don’t agree with that at all, but I’m trying to explain how ridiculous this column is.)

    And finally, the words of a man do not pull the trigger of a gun of another (that is, if Rush/Beck/Limbaugh/whoever called Tiller a murderer, that does NOT equate them calling FOR the man’s murder). If that were the case, George W. Bush would have been dead 8 years ago. The only man to blame here is Von Brunn himself. His actions, his choice, his responsibility.

    Anyway, congratulations on your new baby. I truly wish your family all the luck in the world. And while I never expect to change your mind or switch you over to “the dark side” if you will, for the sake of your daughters try to be a bit more open minded and try to see beyond the stereotypes the media spoon feeds you.

  • Danger

    It frustrates me that the highest profile rhetoric on the right seems much more about being inflammatory than about having meaningful dialog and discussion of ideas. It feels more interested in dividing than in finding common ground, and tearing down rather than building up the best in people and the U.S.

  • SuzieQ

    PICTURES, PICTURES AND MORE PICTURES!! WHERE IS SHE?

  • Lesley

    Agree totally on the right wing.

    But I really just want to sneak in a congrats on the lovely addition to the Armstrong fambly. Your Gemini will be a handful: beautiful, charming, witty, fickle, demanding, secretly sentimental, creative, artistic, with a linguistic flair, and irresistable.

    And yes, I was born on June 12th, so no bias here at all. :)

  • antifuse

    I think you’re being just a little bit over the top when you say “There appears to be no such thing as a middle ground or moderate conservative in the U.S.” – Obviously there is a middle ground and moderate conservatives in the US (although, as a Liberal Canadian, even your left wingers still come off as conservative to me :) ) – but the media conglomerates have realized that moderates and middle-grounders don’t get nearly the same ratings as the nutbags do. Because, you see, the nutbags (on both ends of the spectrum) end up getting people of both sides to listen to them. Liberals listen to/watch crazy nutbag right-wingers (and vice versa) because some people just love getting outraged at things when it comes to politics, and nothing will outrage a person more than Rush Limbaugh, if you don’t agree with him. And therein lies the problem – if more people would listen to/watch middle-ground or moderate conservative news shows in droves the same way that people flock to Rush Limbaugh, then they would have a much bigger voice in the national media. But they don’t, and so you’re stuck with the nutbags all over the airwaves.

    Also – new baby? Hooza wuzza? Congrats!

  • Lesley

    Btw, speaking of home grown right wing violence, check out this story.

    Minuteman tied to home invasion, murder of father and his nine year old daughter: http://borderreporter.com/?p=2181

    “A 41-year-old woman involved with the Minuteman vigilante groups that hunt illegal migrants through the Arizona desert has been arrested for pulling a home invasion and murdering a father and his nine year old daughter last month.”

    “Then it gets ugly and weird. According to the Pima County Sheriff’s Office, Shawna Forde, 43, was arrested south of Sierra Vista, Ariz. today. Her accomplices, Albert Gaxiola and Jason Eugene Bush, were also arrested. Bush was picked up in Kingman on June 11 and Gaxiola in Tucson. The father and daughter, Raul and Brisenia Flores, were murdered May 30.”

    “The Pima County Sheriff’s Office says Forde and her two accomplices pretended to be police and entered the home. A woman in the home is recovering from her injuries.”

    Heraldnet.com is reporting that Forde has been charged with first degree murder, burglary, and aggravated assault in connection with the May 30 incident. Authorities hypothesize that the Minutemen intended to steal money and drugs to finance their illegal activities.

    Shawna Forde, 41, of Everett is executive director of Everett-based Minutemen American Defense. Forde’s family said she talked about a plan to rob suspected drug traffickers to raise money for her group.