Folks at Gawker Wonder When Republicans Will Speak Out Against the "Kill Obama" Fringe
Friday, August 14, 2009 at 12:00PM 
The folks at Gawker haven't been mum about their fears that all this fearmongering over the healthcare debate and other things is part of something far more dark and sinister that could lead to violence against President Obama. They've flat out said they're afraid someone is going to attempt to kill the man. This fear was further stated in a recent editorial where Gawker's John Cook chastized Republicans for not speaking up and against some of the coarser language being tossed about in the debate.
(E)ach publicized call for Obama's death adds to the public perception that we've reached a decision-point about whether it's time for killing. Every sign—even if the bearer is merely an angry loon who could never get close to Obama—is an inducement to someone who is willing to try. It's a message to fellow travelers, a signal that they are not alone in their rage, a promise of glory to come if they actually manage to get the job done. As we said before, there are always people who want to kill the president. The question is how many give it a shot. And the more of these signs there are in the background of Fox News' live report from some town hall in Missouri saying that someone should give it a shot, the more people actually will. And the more people that give it a shot, the more likely someone is to hit the jackpot ...
So what is the GOP's response so far to these threats? "Hey Democrats, They're Called The American People." "No Wonder Democrats Are Smearing Americans – They Read The Headlines." "AS CANDIDATE, OBAMA ENCOURAGED ANGER AND AGGRESSION AMONG HIS SUPPORTERS." Those are quotes from recent GOP press releases striking back at Democrats for calling a mob a mob. Where are the Republican politicians denouncing the violent rhetoric? Can we at least draw the boundary at threatening to kill his children?
If GOP politicians were to be outspoken in telling their supporters that strenuous political opposition is OK but that glorifying violence is not—how many signs have you seen reading "Sic Semper Tyrannis"?—it might go a long way toward tamping down the rage and decreasing the likelihood that someone actually becomes convinced that Sean Hannity will have him on the show as a reward for stopping Obama's march toward a "culture of death." But rage is all they've got, so rage it is. Not one GOP politician that we can find has distanced themselves from that rage. They've embraced it.
Read the rest here.
Email Article to Friend
Reader Comments (85)
Did the left ever speak out about the kill Bush fringe? Not that I ever recall. Let's also remember that Rahm Emanuel once sent a pollster that offended him a dead fish and he is a Dem darling for his pugnacious attitude. Or how about Pelosi encouraging disruptive protesters back in 06. The common thread here seems to be that when Dems do it is people's voices fighting the powers that be and when Repubs do it, it is racist hatred and fear mongering
See Pelosi here:
http://www.breitbart.tv/06-flashback-pelosi-tells-anti-war-protesters-im-a-fan-of-disruptors/
I just hope the Secret Service and FBI stay on top of things.
@ Scott
I don't recall anyone from the left endorsing those actions either.
What we are seeing now are people (who have been scared out of their minds) who want to kill the President and who in no uncertain terms are being egged on by various outlets of Right Wing media and Conservative Replublicans in office.
We are seeing people who are white and are screaming that they want their country back because Obama has stolen it and he's not American. We are seeing elected officials exciting this fear.
Glenn Beck pretended to kill Nancy Pelosi on his show.
Senator Grassley out and out told people that they should be afraid.
This is not about a difference of political opinion. This is something far deeper and I think that Gawker is right to point that out.
Erm... Republicans.
is the same as asking al and jesse to speak out against the 4 black marines who killed their white CO and his black wife?
"I don't recall anyone from the left endorsing those actions either."
have any republicans endorsed the "kill obama" guy?
I believe that some of our witless caucasian brothers ands sisters are terrified that recompense is coming due! They're keenly aware of the atrocities that their ancestors visited upon so many minorities as well as other nations. I'd imagine
that this fact along with an appalling sense of entitlement i.e "I want my country back",makes them feel more than justified
for their actions. Beck, Limbaugh ,Hannity and their ilk all radiate fear and deep-seated hatred toward our commander-in-chief and the direction he wants to take the country. Many of these SORE-LOSER-BASTARD republican's understand well that Obama's "failure" is their gain and they are holding the party line and indeed want his administration to fall on it's ass. Trust and believe, many, (not all) of these "fringe" fuckers are using the health care issue as their "white sheet" to hide behind! Hell, I though i knew what bullie's and thugs were until i got a load of these hateful mother-effer's. They're on
the effin' warpath! Obama ,Rahm, STICK TO YOUR GUNS.
I don't really recall democrats running out to Walmart to stockpile semi-automatic weapons. Or bringing concealed weapons to events where Bush was present (Oh and Ron Paul did defend the man's decision to threaten our President). I can go on and on.
I really don't think anyone is going to try and kill the President. What Redneck Bubba would want to go to a prison after shooting Obama? But there are obviously tons of crazy people out there - somebody voted for Palin.
Speaking of crazy people, tara111 why don't you channel that emotion into something positive instead of spewing ignorance like you were Palin. You make a blanket statement about all white people being aware of the "atrocities that their ancestors visited upon so many minorities". We are talking about Americans so pay attention to facts. Most white Americans have no ancestors that owned slaves, were Presidents that invaded other countries, etc. Remember that most white people in America today are descendant of people that immigrated to America after the civil war. The WASP's that have run this country since day one have descendants left, but they total about 2% of our current population.
Don’t be hatin’ – that goes for Bubba, Palin and Tara111.
@Tarheelio: "I really don't think anyone is going to try and kill the President. What Redneck Bubba would want to go to a prison after shooting Obama?"
Ever heard of "death by cop"? They don't intend to go to prison. THAT would take a set of balls most ring-wingers just don't have.
Hey, tarheelio, you're right,.I do get a little emotional when i see what's brewing out there so you'll have
to excuse me if i don't take YOUR word for it! I'm sure Mr. Reagan didn't see that bullet coming either! Or the Kennedy's!
You are the one who's crazy if you think our prez doesn't receive numerous death threats daily and given the chance,
some loon would definitely take a crack at ti! Maybe you need to check your history and see how many successful assassinations have taken place in our country. I have to say, I really wasn't trying to be racist or as you put it "ignorant"
but given our history in this country( blacks), im not backtracking on what i said. Health care is an issue that needs to be addressed NOW and all the rightwing obstructionists can kiss my ass including Palin (wink,wink).
@ Tarheelio
The term ancestor in this sense isn't used in a biological sense. Like the way people use the term "forefathers": meaning those who came before, to whom a history and common link is shared.
I can't speak on the percentage of yt people who were relationally connected to slaveowners, but I think it's kind silly to state this fact as if owning slaves is the only atrocity committed by whites against blacks in this country.
Even if your great-great grandfather didn't lynch a negro and burn his farm for being black and prosperous, or if your great-great grandmother didn't hold her baby up to see a nigger castrated and burned in the townsquare, they were very likely to have promoted and supported this evil culture by not resisting it. How many whites back in Jim Crow era we're just dandy with having segregated, sub-human conditions for black people because that is what they thought negroes were: subhuman? How many whites thought MLK was a communist for wanting equal rights for all? Hell how many whites continued to put Strorm Thurmond (in this day and age!) back into his Senate seat.
I may not agree with Tara111's position that whites are coming from a place of guilt (their belief that blacks need to just "get over" 400 years of violence and disenfranchisement speaks volumes), but I call shenanigans on just about all of that bs you posted.
preach!
what does any of this booty chatter have to do with the topic?
Not too much @ swiv. But if you have a problem with free discussion, start your own blog and go moderate it.
i have no problem. just commenting because i feel like it. i'm alright with things that are irrelevant to the original discussion.
It's about getting to the heart of all of the genuine and illegitimate fears that these protesters are talking (and screaming)
about.The heart most likely being the undercurrent of racism involved. What do you think the"birthers" and "deathers" are all about? Why none these things are being roundly criticized by the GOP leadership. They stoke the fires with their tireless rhetoric and sit back and watch with mock outrage! and it's not only the racism, but the abject greed that's fueling a lot of this shit .A lot of our politicians are sooo bought and paid for by big pharma and the insurance companies. THAT'S WHAT IT HAS TO DO WITH THE TOPIC,swiv.
I'm at a loss to understand these kinds of people. They are as alien to me as Islamic radicals, Black Hebrew Israelites, or any other group whose unifying glue is HATRED.
These people are beyond irrational. I mean, they're just GONE. I don't think there's any way of reaching them.
I know most of them neither desire or are capable of coldblooded slaughter, but you know there is a fringe among the fringe whose salivory glands go into overdrive at the thought.
I just wish I understood WHAT they were so consarn AFRAID of. Do they really, truly look at Barack Obama and see Kamau Kambon? I honestly think they do. I mean, wow. THAT is an asTOUNDing feat of mental acrobatics.
I'm sure you would forgive us white people for being a mite uneasy if Kambon really WAS president. XD
Many if us are praying for a good outcome to this mess.
"Why none these things are being roundly criticized by the GOP leadership."
you're spinning your wheels waiting for something that won't come and is foolish to wait on. and it's not because the president is black. or because they don't like the president. there's plenty of things said about the previous administration(s) that the dems didn't criticize. or even the republicans.
I miss being the only white person commenting on this blog.
Swiv and the rest of you clowns commenting negatively on this excellent article, stop for a moment and think about what exactly you are defending? This crap has to stop and while you are here proclaiming a lack of racism, we get to listen to "magic negro" songs and less than subtle hints that our president should be shot. How about you shut your *&^%$ pie hole, head on over to Fox (or from wherever you spawned from), and take those idiots to task for their actions? That's right, get off these boards and use your literary skills to point out the lies, the hate, and the fear mongering going on over there? You know, work to help the situation, and show that this is not a racial issue at all, it is a people issue... an American issue.
Instead of doing all of that, you come to a blog that that isn't white centric, and tell everyone its just our imaginations, that where were we when ..., and pfft, we are a bunch of idiots. Way to fail you racist puke, no one, and I mean NO ONE is buying your story.
I truly hope karma catches up with you.
Peace.
Rick Beagle
PS Every time I open my mouth about how much we have grown racially, these clowns show up and remind me just how foolish my hopes are. sadness
clearly your lack of logical thought would lead you to think i'm actually defending anything. unfortunately, you're a simpleton who's not intelligent enough to disect the real point that myself and other posters have attemped to intimate. we're not defending this guy. we're not saying what' he's saying is ok. what i'm saying is that expecting the republicans to defend this guy is about as effectuve, probable, or right as the democrats defending similar instances against previous administrations. let me know if i need to use smaller words so you can understand.
quit trying to impress everyone with how open minded and how "post racial" you are, because your ploy is laughable and disingenuine. quiet as kept, people are allowed to have differing opinions. only intelligent people are capable of attacking a position in lieu of a person. unfortunately, those who aren't able to come up with a adequate argument such as yourself are relegated to bumping your gums at a screen name instead of a screen name's post. and by the way, because someone disagrees with your view point doesn't make them a racist. just in case you needed to hear that.
i like consistency, non bias, and logic tempered with facts. unfortunately people who react with emotion rarely retort with anything of the like. and i'll continue to post here, because hey....i kind of feel like it. if you'd like to see less of my screen name or my posts, click on that "X" to your top right.
oh yea, i'm not white. so you as a white person ateempting to use white guilt on me is not only misguided, but entirely laughable.
@ swiv: "you're spinning your wheels waiting for something that won't come and is foolish to wait on. and it's not because the president is black. or because they don't like the president. there's plenty of things said about the previous administration(s) that the dems didn't criticize. or even the republicans."
Were swastikas involved?
i don't know. were there? and does that change whether or not the >insert political party< should or shouldn't say something?
@swiv: Actually it does! And the fact that you feel such a deep seated need to defend obviously racist behavior with NOTHING more than snide comments makes one wonder what type of person YOU are.