Know many leftist types who are self-described "white Christian" supremacists who hate the government, have paranoid fantasies about a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world, hate blacks and have referred openly to the "browning of America"? And I don't mean colorful characters and eccentrics who identify with leftist causes when it suits their ends, I mean bona fide leftists.
Well according to some conservative pundits Holocaust memorial museum shooter, James Von Brunn - who subscribes to all of the above views and attitudes - is nothing less than 'a leftist.' So go figure.
These are the same pundits - Beck, Limbaugh et al - who raised the roof with their objections over a recent Homeland Security report that warned of the dangers of right-wing extremism.
So desperate are they to disassociate their brand of conservatism from anything that could remotely be described as domestic right-wing terrorism, they are prepared to call black white, and vice versa as the need arises.
Who are they trying to kid? America has plenty of right-wing loonies, armed and chalk full of hate. Fox News presenter, Shepard Smith, said recently that the email he has been receiving is "becoming frightening."
Aside from Fox News viewers who use email to fire off their bile, there are other more organized right-wing types who hold views similar to those of Von Brunn but who would strenuously object if you presumed to refer to them as leftists. Check out random websites. They regularly attack not only Obama, but leftists/liberals in general who they view as a threat to their version of America.
Playing down the threat from the right in America is typical of the denial conservative pundits practice - even to the point of spinning the theory that the lunatic racist Von Brunn is nothing less than... 'a leftist.'
White supremacist Jew haters of the James Von Brunn variety have their roots in the right side of the political spectrum. To try and argue he's a leftist because he hated neo-cons and had a beef about Israel, is to misinterpret where he was coming from on these issues. His hatred of Jews drove his world view, and given the number of Jews associated with neo-conservative thinking it stands to reason that Von Brunn would reject that ideology.
Moreover as the UK Guardian revealed this week, Von Brunn had connections with the right-wing, xenophobic British National Party (BNP). This is a party no self-respecting leftist would go near except to throw eggs or possibly shoes.
Guardian:
Part of the twisted rationalizations that allows the Limbaughs and Becks to theorize about Von Brunn-as-leftist comes from the influence of a book with an oxymoron for a title... Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg.
Despite the fact that European fascism was stridently anti-liberal and anti-communist, Goldberg argues that National Socialism was somehow or other left-wing.
There have been numerous attempts by right wing pundits to argue 'twin' associations between Nazism and Communism. Anyone can compare two seemingly distinct and different systems and find lots of seeming similarities. For example, an astute researcher could compare certain US corporations of recent years with mafia organizations and come up with an intriguing book.
The fact is, the number one enemy of National Socialism was the left... Bolsheviks and allied groups that subscribed to Marxist thinking. This indisputable historical fact exposes Goldberg's argument for the fallacy it is, quite aside from his many speculative considerations.
But this hasn't stopped American conservatives from seizing on Goldberg's book in order to find some other way to smear the left - even to the point of trying to paint James Von Brunn as a leftist. It just goes to show how desperate and empty they have become. Lies and inventions will do when you're fast running out of credible ammunition.
Well according to some conservative pundits Holocaust memorial museum shooter, James Von Brunn - who subscribes to all of the above views and attitudes - is nothing less than 'a leftist.' So go figure.
These are the same pundits - Beck, Limbaugh et al - who raised the roof with their objections over a recent Homeland Security report that warned of the dangers of right-wing extremism.
So desperate are they to disassociate their brand of conservatism from anything that could remotely be described as domestic right-wing terrorism, they are prepared to call black white, and vice versa as the need arises.
Who are they trying to kid? America has plenty of right-wing loonies, armed and chalk full of hate. Fox News presenter, Shepard Smith, said recently that the email he has been receiving is "becoming frightening."
Aside from Fox News viewers who use email to fire off their bile, there are other more organized right-wing types who hold views similar to those of Von Brunn but who would strenuously object if you presumed to refer to them as leftists. Check out random websites. They regularly attack not only Obama, but leftists/liberals in general who they view as a threat to their version of America.
Playing down the threat from the right in America is typical of the denial conservative pundits practice - even to the point of spinning the theory that the lunatic racist Von Brunn is nothing less than... 'a leftist.'
White supremacist Jew haters of the James Von Brunn variety have their roots in the right side of the political spectrum. To try and argue he's a leftist because he hated neo-cons and had a beef about Israel, is to misinterpret where he was coming from on these issues. His hatred of Jews drove his world view, and given the number of Jews associated with neo-conservative thinking it stands to reason that Von Brunn would reject that ideology.
Moreover as the UK Guardian revealed this week, Von Brunn had connections with the right-wing, xenophobic British National Party (BNP). This is a party no self-respecting leftist would go near except to throw eggs or possibly shoes.
Guardian:
The AFBNP treasurer, Todd Blodgett, also told the Washington Post that he and Von Brunn had attended fundraising meetings in Arlington County. The BNP leader, Nick Griffin, spoke to at least two AFBNP meetings and said the money raised by the organisation made a "significant contribution to the BNP's [2001] general election campaign".
Part of the twisted rationalizations that allows the Limbaughs and Becks to theorize about Von Brunn-as-leftist comes from the influence of a book with an oxymoron for a title... Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg.
Despite the fact that European fascism was stridently anti-liberal and anti-communist, Goldberg argues that National Socialism was somehow or other left-wing.
There have been numerous attempts by right wing pundits to argue 'twin' associations between Nazism and Communism. Anyone can compare two seemingly distinct and different systems and find lots of seeming similarities. For example, an astute researcher could compare certain US corporations of recent years with mafia organizations and come up with an intriguing book.
The fact is, the number one enemy of National Socialism was the left... Bolsheviks and allied groups that subscribed to Marxist thinking. This indisputable historical fact exposes Goldberg's argument for the fallacy it is, quite aside from his many speculative considerations.
But this hasn't stopped American conservatives from seizing on Goldberg's book in order to find some other way to smear the left - even to the point of trying to paint James Von Brunn as a leftist. It just goes to show how desperate and empty they have become. Lies and inventions will do when you're fast running out of credible ammunition.
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