The Axis of the Obsessed and Deranged, By FRANK RICH <-- *READ THIS*

[jefferson_dem]

The Axis of the Obsessed and Deranged By FRANK RICH

No one knows what history will make of the present — least of all journalists, who can at best write history’s sloppy first draft. But if I were to place an incautious bet on which political event will prove the most significant of February 2010, I wouldn’t choose the kabuki health care summit that generated all the ink and 24/7 cable chatter in Washington. I’d put my money instead on the murder-suicide of Andrew Joseph Stack III, the tax protester who flew a plane into an office building housing Internal Revenue Service employees in Austin, Tex., on Feb. 18. It was a flare with the dark afterlife of an omen.

What made that kamikaze mission eventful was less the deranged act itself than the curious reaction of politicians on the right who gave it a pass — or, worse, flirted with condoning it. Stack was a lone madman, and it would be both glib and inaccurate to call him a card-carrying Tea Partier or a “Tea Party terrorist.” But he did leave behind a manifesto whose frothing anti-government, anti-tax rage overlaps with some of those marching under the Tea Party banner. That rant inspired like-minded Americans to create instant Facebook shrines to his martyrdom. Soon enough, some cowed politicians, including the newly minted Tea Party hero Scott Brown, were publicly empathizing with Stack’s credo — rather than risk crossing the most unforgiving brigade in their base.

Representative Steve King, Republican of Iowa, even rationalized Stack’s crime. “It’s sad the incident in Texas happened,” he said, “but by the same token, it’s an agency that is unnecessary. And when the day comes when that is over and we abolish the I.R.S., it’s going to be a happy day for America.” No one in King’s caucus condemned these remarks. Then again, what King euphemized as “the incident” took out just 1 of the 200 workers in the Austin building: Vernon Hunter, a 68-year-old Vietnam veteran nearing his I.R.S. retirement. Had Stack the devastating weaponry and timing to match the death toll of 168 inflicted by Timothy McVeigh on a federal building in Oklahoma in 1995, maybe a few of the congressman’s peers would have cried foul.

It is not glib or inaccurate to invoke Oklahoma City in this context, because the acrid stench of 1995 is back in the air. Two days before Stack’s suicide mission, The Times published David Barstow’s chilling, months-long investigation of the Tea Party movement. Anyone who was cognizant during the McVeigh firestorm would recognize the old warning signs re-emerging from the mists of history. The Patriot movement. “The New World Order,” with its shadowy conspiracies hatched by the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission. Sandpoint, Idaho. White supremacists. Militias.

Barstow confirmed what the Southern Poverty Law Center had found in its report last year: the unhinged and sometimes armed anti-government right that was thought to have vaporized after its Oklahoma apotheosis is making a comeback. And now it is finding common cause with some elements of the diverse, far-flung and still inchoate Tea Party movement. All it takes is a few self-styled “patriots” to sow havoc.

<SNIP>

Whether consciously or coincidentally, Stout was echoing Palin’s memorable final declaration during her appearance at the National Tea Party Convention earlier this month: “I will live, I will die for the people of America, whatever I can do to help.” It’s enough to make you wonder who is palling around with terrorists now.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/opinion/28rich.html?pagewanted=print

[geckosfeet]

1. The lack of condemnation of this act, much less the heads nodding obliquely in it's direction

are indeed chilling.

Republicans half heartedly condemn the act, then find ways to backhandedly approve of the motives.

"It's enough to make you wonder who is palling around with terrorists now."

[FrenchieCat]

2. And of course, the media is no where to be found on this.....

But I forgot, they only condemn what they find dangerous,
and this Stack terrorism and murder of innocent
is exactly the kind of action that they have been encouraging.

[TankLV]

21. Wonder why any comparisons to the Germany's Brown Shirts aren't allowed...

How many MORE examples will we need?

This is EXACTLY how they began...

[JDPriestly]

23. Thank you, TankLV

The reason that the similarities between the Beck/Palin Tea-Baggers crowd and the NAZI movement are not acknowledged is that very few Americans, and virtually no American journalists have any expertise when it comes to the NAZI movement and how it came to power in Germany. They may know some of the basic history, but they don't understand that the economic and political environment of Germany in the late 20s an 30s was in many ways comparable to that of the U.S. today.

The worst of it is that we, as a nation, are very likely to become even more like the frustrated Germany of the 1930s than we are.

We are a once powerful nation whose power is quickly dwindling. We have lost some major political and military battles. We have resorted to aggression against other nations to try to save our image as the world leader.

In fact, we have very little industrial power, a negative balance of payments, high ever-growing unemployment and huge debt. We are in a mess and do not know how to get out of it.

That's Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. Germany and Austria lost WWI. Hitler's rise was directly related to that loss of power -- or the perception of having power.

Right-wing Americans are very, very touchy about the fact that not all people in the world view America as the uber-macht, the supreme power. The Germans were also very powerful before WWI. They had lots of allies. Few Americans understand just how powerful allied Germany and Austria were. Austria was a very large country. Americans don't realize how big the Austrian Empire was.

The NAZIs believed in German exceptionalism. Guess what the Tea-Baggers believe in? They are not yet full-fledged NAZIs. They are on their way, however. It is a matter of time.

[Hekate]

25. Both groups also believe in the "stab in the back" theory of their discontent...

... something I find chilling every time someone brings it up.

Why? Because the ultra-right that fathered the Teabaggers has spent 35 years turning "liberal" into a dirty word, used by them in the same way the Nazis used the name of a religion and an ethnic group as a dirty word -- and as a group they could blame for the "stab in the back."

Hekate

[Aviation Pro]

3. The tea baggers....

...and other assorted ball garglers represent a clear and present danger to the nation. They are not patriots but hate-mongers who are in the throes of their own delusional madness.

The murderer and criminal Stack is the natural progression from the original precursor ex-McVeigh and those who wink and nod (hi Sarah Swinger Motherfucker) in the direction of the deluded are traitors not patriots.

[indepat]

16. You've succinctly and eloquently hit the proverbial nail on the head: a clear and present

danger to the nation. I'll add my bit: they are also the antithesis of everything good this nation should stand for. :D

[Imajika]

4. This is a quite a stretch...

Other than hating the IRS (after having tried to avoid paying his taxes), there is precious little in Stack's manifesto to indicate he would have anything much in common at all with virtually any group on the right.

There are not many Tea Party types who are anti capitalist, are FOR healthcare reform, and hate organized religion.

The libertarian types that have begun to dominate CPAC are much more along the lines of the "South Park Republican". Anti IRS? Yup. Anti organized religion? Some, maybe. But anti-capitalist and pro health care reform? Most certainly not.

Lastly, while Ron Paul is a nut, and his poll spamming followers are pretty devoted - much like Larouchies, they are very often a more tolerant breed of "conservative". Many are anti-war, oppose moral laws (ie, drug laws), etc. In fact, as far as social policy goes, a lot of these libertarian conservatives might fit in just fine on DU. This younger breed of libertarian conservative type tend to be for marriage equality, more tolerant of differences in general (race, religion, etc), oppose "Moral Majority" type religious policy, etc.

I really think Rich is reaching pretty far here to try to somehow connect the Tea Party, CPAC and Joe Stack all together. Stack's diatribe just doesn't match the Tea Party or CPAC agenda at all.

I guess one could argue that hatred for the government in general may rise to the point it causes a spike in violent incidents, that could be true. But not only does Stack's manifesto not match up at all with many/any groups on the right, most of them would not endorse suicide missions into government buildings. Quite frankly, they just aren't the suicidal type.

[DrToast]

6. I'm not sure you got what Rich is driving at...

Other than hating the IRS (after having tried to avoid paying his taxes), there is precious little in Stack's manifesto to indicate he would have anything much in common at all with virtually any group on the right.

It's not that Stack was a Tea Partier, it's that some Tea Partier's sympathize with him. And worse, some on the right are careful in their condemnations of Stack because they know some of the Tea Party crowd sympathizes with him.

In other words, it's not that Stack identifies with the Tea Party, it's that they identify with him.

[Imajika]

8. Perhaps not...

I just have not seen some outpouring of Tea Party support for Stack.

Some one linked some nutty facebook groups that are populated by God knows whom, but the tea baggers have not adopted this guy as some sort of hero. From what I've read Stack would have almost nothing in common with them, and the Tea Party has made no move in any way, shape or form to rally around him.

This article tells me that Rich is trying to do what both Right and Left were trying to do all day once Stack suicided himself into the IRS building - looking for ways to tie him to their political opponents. Or, and I hope this isn't the case, Rich is just writing about something he knows virtually nothing about. I mean, if he is going to devote a whole article discussing the world of right wing politics, Frank Rich should at least be reasonably versed in their general philosophies. His article, perhaps unintentionally, conveniently leaves out virtually everything Stack wrote that would make it painfully clear that he does not fit the Tea Party or CPAC mold.

It is just not a very persuasive article in my opinion, and borders on being a bit ridiculous.

[jefferson_dem]

7. Stack embodied the same unbridled, irrational "populist" rage you would find at a tea party rally...

and at CPAC. At the core is a virulent anti-government hatred.

Sorry, I think you're trying to make a distinction...without a difference.

[Imajika]

10. No, thats just the thing, he didn't...

The only "rage" he shared with people who go to Tea Bagger rallies would have been his hated for the IRS. And that, apparently, is only because he tried to get away without paying taxes.

There is virtually NOTHING in his manifesto that matches the rhetoric of anyone attending tea parties. He is clearly soured on capitalist (the Tea Party is pro capitalist group), he is against organized religion (most tea party folks are probably all in organized religions) and he is FOR healthcare reform (the entire Tea Party movement got its start OPPOSING health care reform).

Stack simply has nothing, at least nothing he expressed in his manifesto, that would link him to either the Tea Party's or CPAC.

"At the core is a virulent anti-government hatred."

You realize there are LOTS of groups on the left that HATE the current government and believe social revolution is required to change it right?

Not saying Stack can be connected in any way to the left, just pointing out that he quite clearly doesn't fit in with any group I know of on the right.

Rich's argument that there is some dark connection is simply, well, wrong.

[jefferson_dem]

13. Let's play a game.

Who provided this quote below - Stack or a teabagger at a rally?

We are all taught as children that without laws there would be no society, only anarchy. Sadly, starting at early ages we in this country have been brainwashed to believe that, in return for our dedication and service, our government stands for justice for all. We are further brainwashed to believe that there is freedom in this place, and that we should be ready to lay our lives down for the noble principals represented by its founding fathers. Remember? One of these was “no taxation without representation”. I have spent the total years of my adulthood unlearning that crap from only a few years of my childhood. These days anyone who really stands up for that principal is promptly labeled a “crackpot”, traitor and worse.

Could be either, right? There's the rhetoric you say doesn't match up. As we know, teabagger idol Scott Brown concedes the connection. http://www.newshounds.us/2010/02/19/scott_brown_shrugs_off_joseph_stack_as_just_another_disgruntled_taxpayer.php

Honestly, I don't think this point is even debatable and I find it kind of curious why you want to pursue it.

Rich's point, I think fairly made, is that it's not so much an association rooted in substance but in underlying tone...and deeply disturbing paranoia. You read the title - "Obsessed and Deranged" - right?

[Enrique]

9. the CPACers made the connection themselves, at CPAC

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/02/babbin-jokes-about-norquist-im-glad-he-didnt-fly-that-plane-into-an-irs-building.php

At the CPAC conference, Human Events editor Jed Babbin introduced Grover Norquist, the top anti-tax conservative activist in the country. During his introduction, Babbin joked about the recent airplane attack on an IRS building in Texas, which reportedly killed both the alleged perpetrator and a person who was in the building.

"And let me just say, I'm really happy to see Grover today," said Babbin. "He was getting a little testy in the past couple of weeks. And I was just really, really glad that it was not him identified as flying that airplane into the IRS building."

[Imajika]

11. That could have just been a bad joke...

..and still does nothing to connect Stack to the tea party movement or CPAC.

I mean, seriously people, read Joe Stack's manifesto. It reads nothing like a Tea Party or CPAC call to arms. Much of what Stack had to say would be utterly revolting to most Tea Baggers and CPAC attendees.

[Enrique]

12. Rich's column is highly qualified

he says, for example,

Stack was a lone madman, and it would be both glib and inaccurate to call him a card-carrying Tea Partier or a “Tea Party terrorist.”

[geckosfeet]

18. The groups name - TEA - Taxed Enough Already, is rooted in their

discontent around taxes.

It's a stretch to try and paint them as anything other than a RW splinter group that hates pretty much everything related to the government.

[BrklynLiberal]

5. K&R!!

[Raine1967]

14. This is so key:

"The distinction between the Tea Party movement and the official G.O.P. is real, and we ignore it at our peril. While Washington is fixated on the natterings of Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Michael Steele and the presumed 2012 Republican presidential front-runner, Mitt Romney, these and the other leaders of the Party of No are anathema or irrelevant to most Tea Partiers. Indeed, McConnell, Romney and company may prove largely irrelevant to the overall political dynamic taking hold in America right now. The old G.O.P. guard has no discernible national constituency beyond the scattered, often impotent remnants of aging country club Republicanism. The passion on the right has migrated almost entirely to the Tea Party’s counterconservatism."

[geckosfeet]

19. Agreed. That may be the crux of the article. But the Wshington crowd knows

that the Tea Bagger types are not going to vote for 'socialist' dem types. They speak to the tea bags using their ignorant dialects, inflame them using their hatred of government people of color etc, in an effort to get their votes. All the while voicing their disapproval of terrorist acts.

In other words, "what you do on your own time is of course your business, as long as you vote for me".

[Jennicut]

15. They were fine when Bush was President. They only crawl out from under their rocks when a Dem

gets in the WH.

[indepat]

17. Bingo!

:D

[TankLV]

20. In Palin's case - I hope the latter of her wishes come true - very soon...

[patrice]

22. Thanks for the info!!

:hi:

[warm regards]

24. I bet this guy never dreamed he would get this much publicity.

[Ikonoklast]

26. I bet you're right.

But then again, the Teabaggers idolize murderers.

[warm regards]

28. The strange thing about this guy is that he appears to have been pretty much

apolitical.

[HughMoran]

27. Very interesting indeed

Scott Brown - terrorist

[Caretha]

29. We need to

tie Stacks name to McVeigh. Start calling the attack on the IRS building the "McVeigh-Stack Domestic Terrorist Attacks".

Every time you talk about the nut Andrew Stack, also talk about McVeigh and "Thank God he (Stack) didn't fly his plane into the children's nursery like McVeigh destroyed the nursery for Federal employees in OKL.

We have got to start hitting back against these radical right wing violent idiots with every bit of rhetoric we can, before something more disastrous happens and the media down plays these sick radicals as patriots.