Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Glenn Beck and his fellow wingnuts proclaim Holocaust Museum shooter not a right-winger

I just posted about Michelle Malkin's denial of the Holocaust Museum shooter's being a right-winger, then saw this post from David Neiwart. Read it.


Glenn Beck and his fellow wingnuts -- the ones who have been whipping up hysteria among their right-wing populist followers since Obama's election and before -- essentially announced they have no intention of reflecting on their roles in today's horrifying shooting at the Holocaust Museum in D.C.

They did this by doing what they always do whenever these situations arise: First call it all an "isolated incident" committed by a "lone nutcase" who just happens to be acting out beliefs emanating from their own quadrant. Then, when that fails, blame it on the Left.

Beck offered the following rationale on his Fox News show tonight:

Beck: What they're missing is: The pot in America is boiling. And this is just yet another warning to all Americans of things to come.

Actually, Beck has this exactly right. But frankly, it's boiling because of people like Glenn Beck, ranting hysterically every night about impending apocalypses of various forms -- looming "liberal fascism," the "economic meltdown," the "New World Order," violence spilling over the Mexican border, even FEMA concentration camps.

As I tried to explain in the case of the shooting of Dr. George Tiller, when you spread far-right conspiracy theories through mainstream channels the way Beck does with such abandon, it not only validates their beliefs, it rather hyper-validates them: It tells these people -- who see the Becks and O'Reillys as part of the "liberal media" -- that things are even worse than they thought, and it often spurs them into action.

But Beck, naturally, has no intention of observing this reality. He's running as hard in the other direction as he possibly can:

Beck: This guy is a lone gunman nutjob. ... You're going to see a lot of nutjobs coming out of the woodwork now. There are two very important things that are happening here. First one: It's what I talked about two years ago, um, when I talked about the "Perfect Storm" -- I said that there is a storm formulating. And it is the economy, it is political correctness, it's corruption in Washington, it's militant Islam. It's all of these things.

I said when it comes onshore, there's going to be a "go go go" mentality. And that's what this is. There is a mentality in our enemies. Our country is now vulnerable. Those people who would like to destroy us -- our enemies like, uh, Al Qaeda. There are also enemies like white supremacists or 9/11 Truthers who would also like to destroy the country. They'll work with anybody they can.

... We are under attack in almost every shape and form in America. We need to look out for enemies foreign and domestic.

Second: There is gonna be a witchhunt, I believe, in this country, and quite possibly all around the world. For two groups. First group: Jews. It happens every time.

Second group: I think, Conservatives.

... Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security reports about right-wing extremists. You remember that came out a few weeks ago? Left-wing bloggers and some in the media have blamed conservative hosts like me or Bill O'Reilly for just stirring the pot! I'm not stirring the pot. I'm pointing out the pot is boiling and there is trouble in America. Since when -- have you ever heard of 'don't blame the messenger'?

Only when the messenger isn't also one of the people causing the phenomenon they're describing. Then it becomes celebration. And it's obvious that Beck has positively relished seeing the "boiling point" go higher and higher. Indeed, he's been doing his best to apply a white-hot flame to the pot.

Beck: This is not the work of right-wing conservatives. This is the work of someone today who is racist, crazy, or most likely, both. Common sense tells you that there are very hateful people on the Right and the Left.

Yes, but it seems that only one the Right do they do things like shoot up police officers who come to arrest them, or walk into Jewish centers of various kinds and start shooting (remember Buford Furrow?).

And there is little doubt that James W. Von Brunn was a right-winger -- a far right-winger:

Von Brunn has a long history of associations with prominent neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers. In the 1980s or early 1990s, von Brunn was employed by Noontide Press, a part of the Holocaust denying Institute of Historical Review, which was then run by Willis Carto, one of America’s most prominent anti-Semites.

Von Brunn is the author of the 1999 book, “Kill the Best Gentiles,” a racist and anti-Semitic tome that argues that whites are seeing “today on the world stage a tragedy of enormous proportions: the calculated destruction of the White Race and the incomparable culture it represents. Europe, former fortress of the West, is now over-run by hordes of non-Whites and mongrels.” A raging anti-Semite, von Brunn blames “The Jews” for the destruction of the West. The book is dedicated to prominent neo-Nazis and racists including Revilo Oliver and Wilmot Robertson.

In 2003, AP reported that von Brunn had painted a portrait of Rear Adm. John Crommelin, a raging anti-Semite who was a close associate of neo-Nazi William Pierce, whose book The Turner Diaries inspired Timothy McVeigh’s bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building.

He's also a "birther." But the truly telltale aspect of his record: In 1981, he was arrested for attempting a "citizen's arrest" of Alan Greenspan at the Federal Reserve Building in D.C. and was sentenced to a prison term for it. Von Brunn claimed "sovereign citizenship" at the time, which almost certainly means he was an adherent of the white-supremacist/far-right movement called Posse Comitatus, and was acting on those beliefs.

More to the point, this is precisely the same belief system that today fuels the cottage industry in conspiracy theories -- promulgated by the likes of Ron Paul and Alex Jones -- that the Fed is part of a massive conspiracy of "international [read: Jewish] bankers" to enslave Americans and destroy the country. It's been around quite awhile, but lately it's been gaining the patina of being regurgitated for mainstream consumption on right-wing media. And in particular, on Glenn Beck's programs.



To see the insanity that is Glenn Beck, and to read the rest of David's thoughtful article, click here...

7 comments:

Nachson said...

He was a registered Democrat who hated FOX News, Israel and Bush.

I'd say he had more in common with the Crooks and Liars crowd than he did with Beck.

Adam Holland said...
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Adam Holland said...

Nachson:

You're saying Von Brunn, the Nazi, is a liberal? I mean no offense to you personally, but that is complete BS. Not even those who are spreading it really believe it.

With all due respect, my advice to you is turn off Rush and work on unditto-ing your head.

Nachson said...

I'm saying that the far left and the far right has a lot in common, and trying to pin the blame on FOX news people whom Von Brunn hated as pawns of the Jews, you might take a closer look at the rabid anti-semitism that links the far and the far left together

Adam Holland said...
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Adam Holland said...

You may be new to this blog, but I've spent considerable time exploring the anti-Semitism of the left, as you can see if you look through the archives here.

With respect to Fox News, while of course they aren't directly to blame for the shooting, their irresponsible doomsaying concerning the threat of socialist, gun-snatching, Christmas-hating sodomites has been corrosive to the public discourse and has raised the fear and hate level on the right. In every crowd, there are some unbalanced people who can't differentiate between political BS and a dire emergency. That's a good reason for O'Reilly and Beck to simmer down. By the way, O'Reilly is responsible for calling Dr. Tiller "baby-killer" many times, in spite of his denials. That really should have gotten him kicked off the air.

I strongly object to Fox's groundlessly blaming President Obama and/or the left for the shooting. Moreover, the DHS report on the threat of domestic terrorism has been completely vindicated and the Republican/Fox objections to it now seem very hollow, misguided and completely motivated by partisan considerations. Now, perhaps, they will reap the whirlwind.

Nachson, by what logic have you come to believe that liberals are responsible for this? Crooks and Liars is a bastion of sanity and responsibility compared with Hannity, O'Reilly and Beck.

Adam Holland said...

Thank you for sharing.

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