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News & ArtsMonday, September 19, 2011
Politics / War Andrew Breitbart's Political Plan B: "We Have the Guns"
Posted by Goldy on Mon, Sep 19, 2011 at 1:35 PM
If you think conservative muckmaker Andrew Breitbart's lunatic longing for civil war—"We outnumber them in this country and we have the guns"—is just the paranoid rambling of a lone nutcase, well think again.
A few years back a righty critic at the losing end of an intellectual ass-kicking, concluded our email correspondence with almost the exact same threat: "You can have all your fancy words," he wrote back curtly, "but we own all the guns." Indeed, far from outliers, both Breitbart and my pseudonymous pen-pal are reflective of the sort of violent eliminationist rhetoric that has long permeated the mainstream of far-right-wing America. Their whole Second Amendment fetish—their open-carrying, and their angry "we have the guns" posturing—this is a glimpse at the far-right's Political Plan B: If they can't beat us at the polls or in the public debate, they'll just shoot us.
Really.
I've never actually had anybody explicitly threaten to kill me, but along with the usual collection of anti-semitic slurs and accusations of communism, I've received my fair share of warnings over the years. Emailers, callers, and commenters have threatened to "beat the crap" out of me, or beat me to a "bloody pulp" (apparently, I'm filled with crap and pulp), along with sundry variations on the "I know where you live" theme. (Um, I'm in the phonebook, Sherlock.) After I wrote a particularly scathing post on the BIAW, one angry reader emailed me a copy of my credit report, along with the caution: "Builders know how to build houses, but we also know how to tear them down." And then there was the troll who rather poetically pronounced: "When The Sweep comes, I want to be the first at your door."
It's like my own, personal online Kristallnacht.
Implicit in all these threats, but absolutely explicit in Breitbart's delusional rabble-rousing, is the notion that the left's refusal to arm ourselves will ultimately prove our downfall. "They can only win a rhetorical and propaganda war," Breitbart insists, belittling the persuasiveness of our words and ideas. Whereas he and his fellow righties: "We outnumber them in this country, and we have the guns."
And in case you thought he was kidding, Breitbart clarifies: "I'm not kidding."
Yeah, sure, coming from a paranoiac poseur like Breitbart all this comes off as an empty threat; he's the kinda guy you'd expect to be peeing himself in the foxhole rather than out on the frontline. (Come on... take the first shot, Andrew... I dare you!) But don't fool yourself that there aren't thousands, if not millions, of his fellow right-wing travelers who fantasize about the opportunity to bag themselves a few liberals.
Yes, the overwhelming majority of such threats are empty. It is the bully, after all, who is usually the biggest coward. But just because the Breitbarts currently lack the means or fortitude to carry out their threats, doesn't make their political objectives any less offensive or dangerous. I mean, I hate to go all Godwin on you, but Breitbart sure does seem to be itching for a Reichstag Fire-like moment, and anybody familiar with the political rhetoric and tactics of 1930's Germany should be well familiar with what we're hearing from Breitbart.
1
Of course, storing all that ammo in your house becomes something of a problem when a half dozen Molotov Cocktails come crashing through the windows...
2
But remember boys and girls,,,the right wing in the United States is nothing like the Nazi's...nothing at all.
(I watched "Triumph of the Will" this past weekend (terrifying really) and you know what? Not even the Nazi's yelled "Let him (or them) die!" at any point during the rally)
(I watched "Triumph of the Will" this past weekend (terrifying really) and you know what? Not even the Nazi's yelled "Let him (or them) die!" at any point during the rally)
4
Hate to break it to you, Andy old cock, but you're wrong. Plenty of left-wingers have plenty of guns. Some even know how to use them. Some are combat veterans.
5
That's the best thing about the second amendment. I don't have to own a gun. I just have to make sure you're not sure if I own one or not.
What makes Breitbart think all lefties, esp. union thugs, are unarmed?
What makes Breitbart think all lefties, esp. union thugs, are unarmed?
6
I want to apologize for ever saying you were a little thin skinned. I'm reminded of the radio personality, Alan Berg, that was murdered in his driveway by a right wing, white supremacist gangster.
7
A fallacy easily disputed by facts, gun ownership isn't really as partisan as made out by the media. look at some census data.
9
"It's like my own, personal online Kristallnacht."
You and Charles should have a pity party at the Stranger offices.
You and Charles should have a pity party at the Stranger offices.
12
@4, 5, & 7 Exactly! I doubt that lard ass, blow hard even owns a gun himself. Just because I don't make a fetish of them, doesn't mean I don't have guns, and a stint in the USMC taught me all I need to know about using them.
13
Goldy,
Actually, he is imagining the retaliation if “they” (you) were to “Fire the first shoot” and “walk over that line”.
He's daring YOU to take the first shot.
Please feel free to take him up on it. A world without either of you two shrill ass hats would be a better world.
Actually, he is imagining the retaliation if “they” (you) were to “Fire the first shoot” and “walk over that line”.
He's daring YOU to take the first shot.
Please feel free to take him up on it. A world without either of you two shrill ass hats would be a better world.
14
Actually, Canadians and Liberals own all the guns.
And, unlike the Tea Party, we don't need special mechanisms for our wheelchairs to use them.
And, unlike the Tea Party, we don't need special mechanisms for our wheelchairs to use them.
16
This is the exact same fearmongering that Republicans use whenever some Muslim fanatic rails against America cause he's a total moron. I don't even know who this retard is. It sounds like he's in a classroom, not in front of thousands. It's pointless to get us up in arms about how the Tea Party is going to kill us off.
In the freakish, hypothetical occurrence that this guy can get his softball team together and come at me, I still have my expert pistol and rifleman medals that I got my first time picking up the Beretta and M16 in the Navy. I may not own a gun, but I can certainly shoot one.
In the freakish, hypothetical occurrence that this guy can get his softball team together and come at me, I still have my expert pistol and rifleman medals that I got my first time picking up the Beretta and M16 in the Navy. I may not own a gun, but I can certainly shoot one.
18
@16
He’s a vapid little no body of no importance other than the importance that the left gives him by shopping his rants around when they want to draw attention from other stories like:
“Gallup: Obama's Approval at All-Time Low--Among Liberals” ( http://cnsnews.com/news/article/gallup-o… )
and
“Liberals vow to challenge Obama in Democratic primaries” ( http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011… ).
Gotta love Ralph Nader, he’s announced plans to challenge Obama in primaries next year!
He’s a vapid little no body of no importance other than the importance that the left gives him by shopping his rants around when they want to draw attention from other stories like:
“Gallup: Obama's Approval at All-Time Low--Among Liberals” ( http://cnsnews.com/news/article/gallup-o… )
and
“Liberals vow to challenge Obama in Democratic primaries” ( http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011… ).
Gotta love Ralph Nader, he’s announced plans to challenge Obama in primaries next year!
19
If someone does shoot Little Breity, it will surely be one of his own followers trying to make him a martyr in some twisted Turner Diaries fueled fantasy. That's how the right rolls.
20
How is Nader going to run against Obama in the primaries? Has he even been registered as a Democrat in the past decade?
Is Kucinich not planning on running against him?
Is Kucinich not planning on running against him?
21
@19
As long as it distracts from Fast And Furious, Solyndra, LightSquared and whatever shit storm is about to blow up next it will serve the Left’s agenda.
As long as it distracts from Fast And Furious, Solyndra, LightSquared and whatever shit storm is about to blow up next it will serve the Left’s agenda.
22
fact is, when most americans interact we do so politely and courteously and would help anyone out in day to day situations. the rest is policy argument, however nasty and important. in real life politics are usually left on the side. this is just huffing and puffing and trolling libs.
23
I've said it before, I'll say it again: The vast majority of this country just wants to be left alone to sit in their underwear, drink beer, and look at porn. The freaks get all the air time because they are good TV, and because their pseudo patriotic message sounds "authentic" to the people who decide what gets on TV (most of whom never, ever leave the NE corridor - and when they do, they got to places like LA)
24
I've received my fair share of warnings over the years. Emailers, callers, and commenters have threatened to "beat the crap" out of me, or beat me to a "bloody pulp" (apparently, I'm filled with crap and pulp), along with sundry variations on the "I know where you live" theme.
I admire your thick skin, Goldy.
Because if that was a regular feature of my working life...I'd give pretty serious thought to owning a gun.
I admire your thick skin, Goldy.
Because if that was a regular feature of my working life...I'd give pretty serious thought to owning a gun.
25
In the event of a Second Civil War, the number of guns the right wingers have in their houses will be basically irrelevant. What will matter is how the military goes, because they are the ones with the tanks, bomber aircraft and machine guns, against which rifles are basically useless.
A Second Civil War will happen only with a Democrat in the White House, so those who follow the orders of the Commander in Chief will be on our side. Most generals are Republicans, but they don't tend to be radical nutcases. The military rank and file are actually split fairly evenly - ideological liberals don't generally enlist, but plenty of minorities do. I don't doubt that there will be rogue units joining the right-wing rebels, but the idea that a "Second Amendment Solution" can work purely on the strength of teabagger militias is preposterous on its face.
A Second Civil War will happen only with a Democrat in the White House, so those who follow the orders of the Commander in Chief will be on our side. Most generals are Republicans, but they don't tend to be radical nutcases. The military rank and file are actually split fairly evenly - ideological liberals don't generally enlist, but plenty of minorities do. I don't doubt that there will be rogue units joining the right-wing rebels, but the idea that a "Second Amendment Solution" can work purely on the strength of teabagger militias is preposterous on its face.
27
If the right-wing wingnuts believed their own bullshit, it's the under 30 crowd they really should fear when the shooting starts. Those of us born after about 1980 have grown up being trained to murder people through our video games, and have been so desensitized to violence that it wouldn't affect us at all to murder a person. (I killed about 50 North Koreans just this morning while playing Crysis.) We have the hand-eye coordination, we're desensitized to violence, and we're more likely to be liberal.
29
make no mistake about it, the right wing in this country would be more than happy to round up undesirables (read: people who think/look differently from them) & throw us in prisons/camps. the republican party is a fascist/nihilist alliance at this point. and the democrats are largely complicit. we, the people, are FUCKED in this country.
30
@25. Thanks for the comment. If there truly is (another) civil war in this country, the country goes as the military goes. Unfortunately, as you state, it might split in two. Luckily, I also think @23 is right - it would take some seriously crazy shit (way beyond the crazy shit happening now) to get peoples asses off the couch.
31
So, does this mean that Briebart is advocating terrorism? Cause that's all it would be. Guns is one thing, but a cohesive, organized force with a chain of command is not something the Tea Partiers would be able to pull off.
32
I'm way to the left of liberal, and own guns. But I'd rather kick Breitbart's sorry ass with my bare hands.
33
@27 I like your initiative. Went the shit goes down, you go first. draw them out so me, and the rest of the armed liberal vets, will nail them from the rear. As much as I want to run between to burning trucks wearing 50 pounds of gear while shooting from the hip, it just isn't going to happen.
34
If all these Wingnuts were so tough and eager to shoot somebody they'd be in Afghanistan or Iraq. They're not.
Why? Because the 97% of these mouth breathing chickenhawks are lazy tubs of shit who get winded before one lap around the mall.
Not to mention every single one of them would poo their bulky out-of-fashion trousers if anybody ever actually shot back at them.
The remaining 3%? Well. As any resident of Sarajevo could tell you it doesn't take too many motivated gun toting dip shits to nearly ruin a society. But they can never build anything lasting.
I wouldn't lose any sleep over them.
Why? Because the 97% of these mouth breathing chickenhawks are lazy tubs of shit who get winded before one lap around the mall.
Not to mention every single one of them would poo their bulky out-of-fashion trousers if anybody ever actually shot back at them.
The remaining 3%? Well. As any resident of Sarajevo could tell you it doesn't take too many motivated gun toting dip shits to nearly ruin a society. But they can never build anything lasting.
I wouldn't lose any sleep over them.
36
@29: I admire your ability to decry your opponents' nihilism in one breath, and in the next explain that it doesn't matter what we do because we're all fucked anyway. Yours is indeed a subtle brand of ironic commentary.
38
@36 really, what can be done? when the train is hurtling down the mountain @ breakneck speed, does it really make sense to step in front of it? not if your goal is to stop the train. the republicans literally no longer believe in democracy or even really society. their political program centers on destroying infrastructure of and and all kinds, ending all safety nets & passing laws that keep people who don't agree w/ them from voting. and the democrats are pretty much on the same program, but they want it to happen spread out over 10 years or so, while the republicans want to tear the whole thing down in a month. so really, what is there to be done? what is so ironic about recognizing that someone has a nihilist agenda & there is no way to stop them from enacting it? do you live in washington? have you seen what the democrats are doing here? what avenue do the people have to pursue a different solution? i hate to be the one to break it to you, but democracy in this nation is dead & will remain so as long as our two political parties are the democrats & republicans.
39
@ Prompt
"I may not own a gun, but I still have my expert pistol and rifleman medals that I got in the Navy."
Oh good luck throwing those things hard enough to hurt . . .
"I may not own a gun, but I still have my expert pistol and rifleman medals that I got in the Navy."
Oh good luck throwing those things hard enough to hurt . . .
42
I hope for a Civil War of some kind. Not an armed conflict, mind you, but a national conflict between coalesced ideological poles: one progressive, the other deranged. The Civil Rights movement was, after a fashion, a second Civil War; long-simmering disputes about the fundamental role of government and society were settled, with only a small infusion of human blood relative to the Civil War. I think we're due for a similar reckoning. We need a new consensus in order to make any kind of progress against our unfortunate and entirely reversable national decline. That reckoning will probably be peaceful, an electoral war waged with arsenals of communications devices. If it came to blows, though, of course the liberals would win. How can people who hate government manage an army? How can people who hate taxes finance a war?
43
“I’m under attack all the time. You see it on Twitter . . . They call me gay. I mean, it’s just — they’re vicious, the death threats and everything. So there are times when I’m not thinking as clearly as I should, and in those unclear moments, I always think to myself: ‘Fire the first shot. Bring it on.’ Because I know who’s on our side. And they know that they can only win a rhetorical or propaganda war. They cannot win. We outnumber them in this country and we have the guns.”
-A. Breitbart
Typical Goldy, grab one sentence, ignoring context, then spew invective until the left wing echo chamber gets revved up. Lather, rinse, repeat.
-A. Breitbart
Typical Goldy, grab one sentence, ignoring context, then spew invective until the left wing echo chamber gets revved up. Lather, rinse, repeat.
44
So... If Breitbart is saying he wants to kill us... no, that he IS going to kill us at some date certain in the future, does that mean we can just kill him now in self-defense? Just asking.
45
The tea party is losing anyway. The polls show, that even in this discontented, sour stomach, constipated unsatisfying bowel movement economy, Obama is vastly more popular that the tea bagger Congress. So if scabby asshole union hating Breitbart got his civil war, he'd have his ass handed to him on a platter.
47
Violence is all the righties have -- they lack logical persuasive arguments, so they make threats.
Really nasty, ugly people.
Really nasty, ugly people.
49
Posted this in the other thread:
You know, something else struck me in the middle of all that. He talks about union guys going to picket or whatever at executives' houses, how this is bad and how the MSM doesn't cover it. (This would be an interesting discussion on its own.) He then talks about how his side doesn't go picket Katie Couric's house and frighten her teenage kids.
1) Disconnect--Couric isn't your enemy. Go picket Michael Moore or George Soros or someone who is actively opposing you, not a member of the MSM who, almost by definition, likes the status quo.
2) How does he know Couric has teenage kids? That's kind of creepy.
You know, something else struck me in the middle of all that. He talks about union guys going to picket or whatever at executives' houses, how this is bad and how the MSM doesn't cover it. (This would be an interesting discussion on its own.) He then talks about how his side doesn't go picket Katie Couric's house and frighten her teenage kids.
1) Disconnect--Couric isn't your enemy. Go picket Michael Moore or George Soros or someone who is actively opposing you, not a member of the MSM who, almost by definition, likes the status quo.
2) How does he know Couric has teenage kids? That's kind of creepy.
50
@47 Sorry, but so do the liberals, greens, indies, etc. .... pointing the finger means there's ten more pointing back at you. There are nuts on all sides.
51
@43 - what struck me was that he opened with "They call me gay." Like that is the worst thing in the world, and worthy of a violent response.
Sounds to me like someone is protesting too much...
Sounds to me like someone is protesting too much...
52
Kitten if we here on Slog all agree that:
ZOMG yr sooo rite KittenK! Srsly! Evrybody is JUSTASBAD as Evrybody ELSE....
Will you shut up?
ZOMG yr sooo rite KittenK! Srsly! Evrybody is JUSTASBAD as Evrybody ELSE....
Will you shut up?
53
@52 No, because then I'd know you were lying which is worse. ;) Binary thinking is a problem in the world, Us Versus Them is destroying the nation. I may just state the obvious a lot, but it seems to need restating a lot more.
54
I occasionally have to remind my authoritarian friends that just because I'm a "Librul" doesn't mean I'm a pacifist.
55
Just because I'm a "Librul" doesn't mean I'm a pacifist, and doesn't mean I don't believe in the second amendment either.
56
@53: " Us Versus Them is destroying the nation."
FALSE EQUIVALENCIES ARE ANOTHER FORM OF EXCLUSION, YOU MORON
FALSE EQUIVALENCIES ARE ANOTHER FORM OF EXCLUSION, YOU MORON
58
@53: Sigh.
Kitten, we are already aware that the world is not black and white, thank you. That being said, there are fundamental differences in the way the Right and Left approach and view the world, and those differences bear discussion. Your pearl clutching at the fact that posters here are perhaps intemperate in the expression of their views is inane, adds nothing to that discussion, and seems to stem (as do all your stunningly ignorant posts) from a ravenous need for attention rather than any genuine desire on your part to contribute. Do not imagine yourself to be a voice crying in the wilderness here. You are not.
Unless of course it is a voice crying "Hurf! Durf!!1! DUUURRRRP11!!!"
Kitten, we are already aware that the world is not black and white, thank you. That being said, there are fundamental differences in the way the Right and Left approach and view the world, and those differences bear discussion. Your pearl clutching at the fact that posters here are perhaps intemperate in the expression of their views is inane, adds nothing to that discussion, and seems to stem (as do all your stunningly ignorant posts) from a ravenous need for attention rather than any genuine desire on your part to contribute. Do not imagine yourself to be a voice crying in the wilderness here. You are not.
Unless of course it is a voice crying "Hurf! Durf!!1! DUUURRRRP11!!!"
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