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James von Brunn - Source: Reuters
The lead broadcast news story in the United States today, once again, is of the 88-year-old white supremacist who gunned down a security guard at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC.
Note: All Nazi-lovers long to live to be 88: those numbers exude a particularly Aryan tang, because they reference H, the eighth letter of the alphabet, twice, as in 'Heil Hitler'.
I'm sorry, I'm not kidding about this.
The hate merchant (though after decades, surely even unbalanced racial vitriol assumes some of the pedestrian and bureaucratic outlines of any menopausal hobby) James von Brunn shot 39-year-old Stephen Johns , after the African American guard had opened the door for him. Von Brunn was then shot in the face by two other guards.
As I write, he clings to a version of the life he so disparaged in others. As I write, Topic A in the US is what's called the hate movement, which is code for organisations devoted to furthering extreme racism, anti-immigrant fervour and homophobia.
Though much oxygen has been expended detailing why such positions are repugnant, for most people, disdain for them is a self-evident proposition.
While 'hate' is unlikeable, hate in its various forms, seems to a casual observer to be on the rise in the US. Membership in KKK groups and factions is increasing. The internet is awash with racialist poison, some of it badly misspelled. The political dialogue in the US remains polarised; Liberals on one side, Conservatives on the other.
Last night The Rachel Maddow Show, an MSNBC cable television show, connected the Holocaust Museum shooting to another tumourous outgrowth of the hate movement, the violent anti-abortion sects that populate - usually - the American Midwest.
Two weeks ago, George Tiller, a doctor who performed late-term abortions was shot to death by a member of The Army of God in his church in Wichita, Kansas.
The morality of abortion is more contentious than that of racism or homophobia. What is indisputable is that it's legal.
Maddow detailed a surge in the boldness of threats being made against abortion providers. Glutted with the blood of this killing, anti-abortion haters seemed to be begetting the possibility of more 'hate crimes', a phrase that, by the way, has the ring of '1984' .
Problematically though, no increase in general hate crimes has been detected. In fact attacks on Jews dropped over the last surveyed period; 2007-2008. It's possible that such activity may increase if the economy continues to tank (it's still tanking by the way, but the Fed is printing money to make that feel like something else entirely).
But the link between hateful rhetoric and hateful violence hasn't been firmly established.
Which may be good news for The Rachel Maddow Show. You see, like many on MSNBC, it's overtly political; Fox News for liberals. There are endless stories about the stupidity, cupidity, and ineptitude of Republicans.
Perhaps polarised cable news, and - by inference - the internet, may be part of the solution. Sticks and stones will break your bones, but names will never hurt you. Though cable news makes your pulse rise, it may, possibly, exercise the grizzling side we all have.
Of course this firm, clear resolution does ignore that those espousing non-liberal positions generally commit hate crimes. Hate crimes seem to be the preserve of those who don't want society to change. You rarely (I would say never, but it's a dangerous word) hear of anyone getting shot by the pro-choice lunatic fringe, for example.
Are they less violent, or do their beliefs fuel a different kind of hate?
What do you think? Share your view on the messageboard below.
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Add a Comment:
Post new commentNewzgal said on 2010-01-03 @ 15:46 NZDT: Report abusive post
Hi Tim, great blog. I agree right wingers have a Hobbesian view of existence, and like many I welcomed Obama’s presidency. However I always watched Fox News just to see how they were framing up the news (which far too many people rely on). I now find it more useful than ever to tune into the right just incase there is a kernel of truth in their rants as it seems the media and world have been far too soft on the new president and democrats, perfect recipe to slip things in!
jackdoitcrawford said on 2009-09-11 @ 23:24 NZDT: Report abusive post
Please don't label all people you disagree with, and put them in the same camp. Ayn Rand was pro abortion, achievement, reason, freedom, capitalism and happiness. She was definitely neither a conservative nor a libertarian. She also didn't want to live under a dictatorship. I see nothing wrong with this at all.
Kiwi in USA said on 2009-09-11 @ 17:58 NZDT: Report abusive post
I would have to disagree with Tim saying Bill ORielly is a right wing loon as if it were. He is defintly a independet and he always tells his viewers that. I know that there is plenty of loons like rush but come on, Obama is really turning America in the wrong direction. He has spent more money than all the presidents have combined. America is in trillions of dollars worth of debt.