David Neiwert has an excellent post on his blog, entitled Headed for the big roundup, which describes his encounters in Montana and Idaho on his recent trip.
More below the fold . . .Neiwert has been following the rise of "Pseudo-fascism" for quite some time, and he reports that he is now hearing speech about killing liberals from the rank and file:
It's the natural outgrowth of the kind of rhetoric we've gotten from the national conservative punditry, manifesting itself on a less sophisticated but more direct and plain-spoken mode.
My very clear impression of the rank-and-file American right is that many if not most of them, at the behest of their leaders, now believe that opposing George W. Bush and the Iraq War, as well as his handling of the War on Terror, is an act of genuine treason worthy of the ultimate social condemnation, including incarceration and execution. They feel not only vindicated but profoundly empowered by the election result, empowered to silence their opposition, by force if need be.
After sighting examples of such speech, he also note the rise of the "defense of internment camps" coming from Michelle Malkin and more recently Daniel Pipes. Neiwert isn't a tin hat-type, so I encourage everyone to check out this article.
The dissemination of the ideas leading to such hatred come from the Republican talking points, as broadcast by their noise machine.
I believe that we must get our progressive leaders to stand up immediately to this rhetoric from now on, whenever it happens. It is no longer proper to laugh off Ann Coulter as she suggests to people that they greet liberals with a baseball bat. And it is especially inappropriate when a David Dreier equates protesting against the Republicans with the actions of terrorists on the House floor.
Neiwert has been following the growing fascist movement here for some time, but this is the first time I have heard him express a real fear that the real fascism might be around the corner. We need to fight back now, starting at the top - Democratic leadership in Congress and the new DNC leader.
