Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The Most Dangerous Man In America
According to news reports, Byron Williams consumed something like 18-20 beers before stealing 3 firearms from his mother and setting off on his mission. He got in his pickup truck along with the guns and plenty of ammunition to, in his words, "start a revolution by traveling to San Francisco and killing people of importance at the Tides Foundation and the ACLU." The unemployed Williams, 45, was on parole for a 2002 robbery. He didn't reach his destination because his erratic driving attracted the attention of the California Highway Patrol, and he was pulled over. A gun battle ensued that saw two police officers wounded, and Williams himself receiving 5 bullet wounds. The body armor that he had donned before leaving the house likely saved his life.
By his own account, Byron Williams watched Glenn Beck's show on Fox News. It seems beyond a reasonable doubt that if not for Beck, Williams would never have heard of an organization called The Tides Foundation. While I suppose it is possible that he might have decided to launch his revolution anyway, I suspect that he would have settled for something less grandiose. Like knocking off a liquor store. Glenn Beck filled his head with a toxic stew of nonsense day after day and the result was mayhem. Beck doesn't happen to like what The Tides Foundation stands for, and felt free to attack it repeatedly employing language that seemed designed to provoke a reaction. A violent reaction.
Of course, Beck will throw up his hands and express astonishment that someone actually took him seriously. After all, Beck is nothing, but a "rodeo clown". His words. However there is nothing even remotely entertaining, much less enlightening, about what Glenn Beck does. He is a hate-filled demagogue who will surely inspire more Byron Williams before he is done.
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Kind of harsh.
ReplyDeleteI don't like Glenn Beck. You know the old analogy about not being able to "yell fire in a crowded theater"? Well, that should be applied to Beck. His rhetoric is incendiary, his "history" is not worthy of the name, and he is a menace to society. Mark my words. There will be more incidents like this one...
ReplyDeleteOh come on! Now having a political point of view that differs from those on the left is "dangerous?!"
ReplyDeleteShall we blame Keith Olberman (This might not be a good comparison as one has to actually have an audience to have an impact) every time someone with left leaning tendencies commits a crime? Is it the fault of MSNBC that Amy Bishop, a vociferous supporter of Obama, went on a shooting spree? Who do we blame for the attack by Joseph Stack III, a committed socialist, on the IRS building. Rachel Maddow for discussing her perceived inequality with our taxation system? (btw, she is correct about the system’s unfairness; however, needs to be corrected on just who is getting screwed)
We can safely assume that members of the left commit most violent crimes. DC has one of the highest crime rates in the world, and the place is 70% or more Democratic. The section of the city with the lowest crime rate is the upper Northwest area, which happens to be the very section that houses almost every Republican in the city. I am certain that if one looks into cities across the nation, one will find they are very similar.
For years the left spewed bitter hatred toward Bush and others with whom they disagreed, and we were told that this was "the highest form of patriotism" When we disagree with the direction of our government, the left is ready to round us up and charge us with "sedition" (the term actually used in the NY Times and by Joel Klein on television as a possible response to the right).
Unfortunately for the left, we still have article 1 of the United States Constitution, and I am shocked at how easily the left would sell this out to accomplish its objectives.
From what I just read, it sounds like Amy Bishop was upset over not receiving tenure at the university she taught at. Not sure how you connect that to Obama. As far as the man who flew the plane into the IRS Building, I seem to remember his action getting support from the Right, not the Left. We're the ones that like taxes, remember?
ReplyDeleteGlenn Beck is a hate-filled demagogue whose "history" lessons consist of little more then dusting off and regurgitating John Birch Society writings that were dismissed as nonsense 50 years ago. The conservative ascent, that culminated in Reagan's election in 1980, would never have occurred if the party had not followed Bill Buckley's leadership. Buckley was an erudite and cultured man who had no use for the Birchers and their insane ideas. There would be no place for a Bill Buckley, or even a Ronald Reagan, in today's Republican Party.
Glenn Beck serves up a angry and resentment-filled world view to his listeners. Whereas Reagan saw a "shining city on a hill" and "morning in America", Beck sees "rivers of blood" and "concentration camps". The fact that Byron Williams went on his mission because of what he learned from listening to Glenn Beck is absolutely unimpeachable. If the FCC can fine media companies over things like Janet Jackson's nipple, and Howard Sterns potty mouth, I see no reason why they can't go after Fox News. Beck incited someone to set out on a murderous rampage. And he'll do it again.
Please submit the name of the people "on the right" who supported flying a plane into the IRS building. I would love to know who it was.
ReplyDeleteThe left are the ones who like taxes, as long as they are taxing someone else and Mr. Stack, being a socialist, felt the wealthy were not taxed enough, a classic left-wing position.
The left were not nearly so kind to Reagan when he was making minced-meat out of their party, they used words like "war-monger", "racist", "senile", "ignorant", "stupid", "dangerous", "evil", etc.......
Reagan also had much to be optimistic about, he was on his way to victory from the moment he decided to run.
Beck was right. Was Van Joned not an admiotted communist? Yet Obama was going to pay him my tax dollars to decide what type of fuel I should use and which car I should drive.
Is using one's own words and writings against him a hateful act?
And again, I am shocked how fast the left is willing to toss out the first ammendment when they when they finally do not control all media!
Scott Brown, junior senator from Massachusetts, during a discussion about Joseph Stack said that "people are frustrated" and that "no one likes to pay taxes".
ReplyDeleteJon Alvarez, host of a conservative talk program on WFBL AM 1390 in Syracuse, says he put the (facebook tribute to Joseph Stack) page up Thursday just hours after the attack.
I could find other examples if you need them. Suffice to say, regardless of whatever drove Stack to fly his plane into the IRS Building, the action that he took was one sure to warm a right-wingers heart. Simply calling for the abolition of the IRS is probably the mildest of "remedies" that make up standard right-wing talking points.
I thought that Van Jones's sin was questioning the official line about 9/11. Is anybody really a communist anymore? It sounds so quaint and old-fashioned. Like duck and cover drills, Joe McCarthy, and Fats Domino. You guys need to update your material. There really were communists when the John Birch Society was in it's heyday. I challenge you to find me an authentic card-carrying communist party member (in this country) who is under the age of 90.
Some one responded, are you going to blame Olberman when a liberal commits a crime?
ReplyDeleteWhat nonsense. That kind of response might work in a grade school level debating team.
Follow along if you will.
If Some one watches Olberman and goes out and knocks over a fire hydrant or a newspaper paper vending machine with their car, or robs coins from a Laundromat there is no coloration.
If an Olberman fan watches the segment "The Worst Person In The World" Then goes out and tries to shoot that person and confesses to the cops that he did it after watching Olberman, then yeah- you can blame Olberman for abetting a crime.
Recall a fact stated in the original essay-
" By his own account, Byron Williams watched Glenn Beck's show on Fox News."
Beck targets a particular group, Beck sells fear by the bucket full and gives his listeners a list by name of who they should be afraid of.
It just adds to the atmosphere of general political malaise. There are other voices such as a political candidate who calls for "second amendment remedies"
Then there was a man who after listening to one voice of hatred on the radio, went to church and began randomly shooting liberals
( almost his exact words )
Blaming MSNBC hosts for liberal crimes. More Bovine Scatology.
ReplyDeleteCrimes in a "liberal district" committed by "liberals" are you serious?
Is there a liberal sign-up sheet?
Is there some one checking liberal union cards in this scenario"
Does the police desk sergeant on the night shift have a list so the liberals go in one cell block and the right wing whackos go in another in the interest of being politically correct?
Is the procedure- Mug shot, finger prints empty your pockets and state your political affiliation?
Does the script of the dialogue go something like this-
Night time overcast sky mid October broken street light above...
Man in "liberal district" steps out of his Volvo with the soccer mom sticker, clicks the remote "arm" button. Adjusts the hood on his Lands End fleece sweatshirt, stuffs a Saturday night special he bought in kit form on line into a brown cloth reusable Starbucks bag and checks around and heads for the convenience store... he needs cash desperately and the ATM was out of service
Suddenly a voice calls out from the alley-
"Hey Mo-Fo" Whatchyu be doin in my hood?" Show me yo liberal Mo Fo ID card, man
You know you can't be doin no crime round here if yo name ain't on no sign up sheet
You gotta be on the liberal sign up sheet or take your country azz outa here and go back were yo come from my man"
The word coloration in my first response was misspelled, was supposed to correlation.
ReplyDeleteI suggest you recalibrate your political spectrum, Scott Brown is nowhere neat the right, he is an upgrade from Teddy, but a downgrade from that level would have been impossible. I also do not see where Brown’s statement of the obvious, “people are frustrated” demonstrates any support or allegiance to the crazy liberal who flew his plane into the IRS Building. People ARE aggravated, and I have yet to meet the sane person who LIKES to pay taxes. Just look at what is about to happen to the Democrats in about two weeks!
ReplyDeleteRegarding Alvarez, I have never heard of him before, so I did what others probably did to locate this nobody, I googled him. To claim that people “on the right” were showing support for Stack, then present some obscure radio personality, who briefly had an hour show on a local Syracuse radio station, speaks highly of the information available on the internet, but not of your argument.
We can google-war each other all day, and see who can find more outrageous statements made by nutty people through the centuries, Al Gore’s invention has done wonders for research. Nonetheless, the “right” did not support this man, and he was an admitted leftist.
Blaming an MSNBC host does not even rise to the level of "bovine scatology." It would be best described as just plain silly, as would any blame for crimes committed being placed upon entertainers who venture into the world of political punditry. So you might get my point and we might be in agreement.
There is, in fact, a "liberal sign up sheet"; it is more commonly referred to as a voter registration marked "Democrat". That is about all one needs to know.
Perhaps it is simply a coincidence, but most crime is committed in areas that have a large population of people who register and vote Democrat.
Can one successfully argue that major parts of our inner-cities have not become areas where criminals control the evening hours, where schools have completely failed, where Democrats get re-elected, often unopposed?
Our prisons are also full of people who come from cities where a candidate without a "D" next to his name on the ballot will not likely win.
It is all in the statistics, I am sorry that I cannot change that for you, but you know, "facts are stubborn things".
I am open-minded, please show me the numbers that disprove this, not some silly script, that I believe was taken from the St. Louis Scene in National Lampoon's "Vacation".
It also seems to me that it has more commonly been the left that we had to fear with regard to the commission of crime to make political points (terrorism). The weather underground leaders probably did not spend much time listening to Beck. Where do you think Bill Ayers radio dial is tuned, Rush Limabaugh or NPR?
Were the '68 riots carried out by a bunch of angry members of the RNC? I do not believe those particular neighborhoods had a very long history of voting for conservative candidates.
I still blame Jodie Foster for the Reagan shooting!
ReplyDeleteEvery time I wastch the fil "Maverick" I cringe!
"18-20 beers before stealing 3 firearms"
ReplyDeleteUh oh, bet he is also a smoker!
Looks like this crime involved Alcohol, tobacco, and firearms. Don't we have a government agency that's supposed to handle such things?
The Weather Underground proved to be more dangerous to themselves then to anyone else, as demonstrated by the accidental explosion that destroyed a Greenwich Village, NY Townhouse. Yes, they were making bombs in the basement. And they intended to use them. But, the Weather Underground targeted property, not people. Their targets were symbols of government authority, usually linked in some way to the war in Vietnam. The Pentagon, draft offices, university labs, etc.. In most instances they gave advance warning so that the target could be evacuated prior to the detonation. All told, I would be very surprised if they killed or injured more then a 1/2 dozen people.
ReplyDeleteIf you read the history of the inner-city riots and the protests against the Vietnam War, you will quickly learn that the body count was all on one side. Rioters were shot down by the dozen when militarized police units, National Guardsmen, and private security outfits used live ammunition to protect property. The fact that nearly all of the rioters were black made it much more likely that they would become casualties. Up until Kent State, much more restraint was exercised in dealing with anti-war protesters, who were mostly middle-class and white. That all changed once you had Nixon in the White House and Reagan as governor of California. Reagan famously declared "Maybe we need a bloodbath" to put an end to student protests. The way he dealt with the "People's Park" protests at Berkley made clear that it wasn't just hyperbole.
Since you brought up the issue of domestic terrorism and proceeded to lay all the blame on the left, I will introduce Tim McVeigh into the discussion. The Oklahoma City Bomber most certainly was targeting people and was ruthless in the pursuit of a high body count. He showed absolutely no remorse when told that his bomb had destroyed a day-care center and killed a bunch of children. I believe he shrugged them off as "collateral damage". I don't have any knowledge of Tim McVeigh's radio-listening habits, but I will say this: He planned and carried out his crime in an atmosphere very similar to the one being created by the likes of Glenn Beck today. In the early '90's you had Gorden Liddy telling his radio listeners to "always go for head shots if you are confronted by a federal agent" He offered this helpful advice because of the fact that they would be wearing body armor.
As much as language has been debased, it still remains a powerful weapon in the hands of someone who understands how to manipulate people. Have you ever watched Glenn Beck? He's not educating or informing anyone; he's whipping up hate. It is easy to mock him and call him a clown. But, that's exactly what they called Hitler in the beginning...
We can safely assume that members of the left commit most violent crimes.
ReplyDeleteYou can quote stats and numbers all day. Your thesis is specious.
( Having the ring of truth or plausibility but actually fallacious: apparently good or right though lacking real merit; uperficially pleasing or plausible:)
So now, if one disagrees with the IRS, SEC, or any other federal policing organization, and one dares state his dislike in public, one is guilty of any act committed by his audience??
ReplyDeleteGood Lord! The left only defends the first amendment if it an issue defending a stripper or pornographer.
God help the American citizen who dares speak out against tyranny. He should be hanged for sedition!
I agree that any clown could rise to the level of the next Hitler, which is exactly the reason I am fearful of President Obama. I would remind you that Hitler did not begin his rise as an entertainer; it was as an elected leader of a free people.
Unfortunately we only have plausibility on which to rely. We are not perfect and can only come to conclusions based on the facts we can discover. The statistical fact is that liberals voters are convicted of more crimes in the US than conservative ones. Perhaps the system is flawed and more conservatives should be convicted, but last I checked, one is innocent until PROVEN guilty in a court of law. Or is this just another constitutional hurdle you liberals choose to overstep?
I love the “McVeigh” argument; it comes up so often because it is such a rarity. It is odd that such a person commits such an act. Of which Tea Party was Tim McVeigh a member? How many timed did he watch Glenn Beck? Was he a Limbaugh fan? Which church did he attend that instructed him to use terrorist tactics? Was he a conservative? You do not know.
To attempt to tie random nuts with a political movement or group with which you happen to disagree is dangerous.
Is Islam at fault for 9/11 and other atrocities done in the name of Allah?? If so, we know where and who they are and should be able to make them pay fairly quickly.
The weather underground is somehow forgiven because they were inept? Because after being caught they explained it was only "property" they intended to attack, it makes it all OK?
The left never ceases to amaze me, they describe a war that was approved by a bipartisan congress as "unconstitutional" and “illegal” yet the first, second and tenth amendments are ignored at its leisure.