My name is Dan, though my nom de Kos is I Hate Republicans. Of course, by "hate," I simply mean I feel intense contempt for the Republican Party and all who subscribe to the failed conservative philosophy that guides it.
But that's it. My hatred is mere emotion. I have no desire to take arms against a sea of teabaggers, and by opposing, end them.
Unfortunately, and disturbingly, I am increasingly convinced the hatred the other side feels for us, for our president, our party and the progressive philosophy that guides us, is a malevolence altogether more dangerous.
I get bored with long Dkos diaries, so I'll try to be succint. When we won big in the 2008 election, we felt a deep satisfaction that the best man won, that the electorate had seen reason and did the right thing after 8 years of Bush.
We always assume people will, with enough evidence provided, see reason. That's an integral tenet of our progressive creed. Not so, the other side. The conservatives, and especially of the Beck variety, operate from other principles. Being anti-science, anti-enlightenment, and steered by an evangelical Christian premillenialism, they see the universe unfolding in a preordained order, one they interpret only as favorable to them. Thus, Obama could NOT have won. He could NOT possibly be an American. The Democrats (read: agents of Satan) cannot possibly do right by America.
As we see on this site, on Rachel Maddow's show, on HuffPost and even occasionally in the TradMed, the craziest among the right are ramping up the hysteria. With Beck, Limbaugh, Savage, Hannity, et. al., broadcasting their venom, with pockets of fury dotting the entire nation and slowly, clumsily, coalescing, and with our side and the Democrats in power seemingly unconcerned, I fear something terrible is brewing out there.
Remember this: we are unarmed; they are heavily armed.
I used to live in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley. I remember well that February morning in 1997 when two heavily armed bank robbers shot and wounded dozens, and held at bay for hours all of L.A.P.D. Two guys!
When the teabagger/militia/anti-abortion/Armageddon-loving crowd gets their act together, I believe it very likely they will send out an advance guard to create murderous chaos all across the country. They don't need to overturn the government. It will be enough to freak out the the nation, catch our side utterly by surprise, and thereby get underway the coup d'etat they promised.
Oh, but the police, or, if necessary, the military will step in to stop it, right? Not so fast. Regulars to DKos know very well of the insidious effort to infiltrate the military top to bottom with extremist "patriots" who would gladly take part in a coup if it would save this Christian nation and rid it of the communist Kenyan imposter.
And don't think they aren't serious about assassination, coup and insurrection. Don't think this is just the realm of pajama-clad chickenhawk losers. Out there, really dangerous people are plotting. We KNOW they are willing to kill. They have already killed doctors, police officers and security guards in D.C. Who, then, will save us?
They have announced their intentions. We must pay attention and respond.
Do we, too, arm? Aren't we the anti-NRA gun control crowd? Personally, I hate guns and have never shot one. It's not my style. Still, I worry we may someday be caught like caged mice.
I invite you to talk me down. But answer me this: how can we not take their threats seriously? And if we do take them seriously, what action are we then compelled to take?